At least one Final Four coach is sticking with his current school and won’t be coming to North Carolina.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd announced an extension with the Wildcats on Friday, ending weeks of speculation about him replacing Hubert Davis at UNC. The five-year deal is worth a reported $7.5 million per year.
“I’m happy to announce I’m staying at Arizona,” Lloyd said Friday at the Final Four in Indianapolis. “We’ve been able to get some things done the past couple days.”
Arizona takes on Michigan on Saturday in the national semifinals. UConn and Illinois meet in the other semifinal. Michigan coach Dusty May has also been mentioned as a potential candidate.
“I’d also like to let you know that North Carolina is an amazing place,” Lloyd said. “I mean, it’s a one of one. It’s an honor to even be considered for that job. The young kid, for me the college basketball junkie watching those games at home, never would have thought something like that could have happened to somebody like me. North Carolina is a first-class organization, and I appreciate them for the way they’ve handled this.”
Lloyd, who is 148-35 in five seasons with the Wildcats, denied reports that Tar Heel legend Michael Jordan reached out to him about the job.
“Michael Jordan, the phone call never did happen, so I’ll put that to rest,” Lloyd said. “But come on, we all idolized MJ. I don’t know how many hours I’ve watched that ‘Come Fly With Me’ video, and my kid grew up watching the movie he made and just — it’s amazing that that opportunity was even thought could be possible. With that being said, though, I made a decision that my Michael Jordan is Steve Kerr, and I’m proud to be an Arizona Wildcat.”
Steve Kerr, who played at Arizona, won three titles as a teammate of Jordan’s with the Chicago Bulls. He also won two titles with the San Antonio Spurs and has led the Golden State Warriors to four titles as head coach.
UNC fired Davis on March 24 after a second consecutive first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament. Davis, a former UNC player and assistant coach, was 125-54 in five seasons as the Tar Heels’ head coach.