April 14 (UPI) -- The University of Arizona announced Wednesday it has hired former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd as its new men's basketball coach.
The school said in a statement that Lloyd received a five-year contract. He replaces former Wildcats head coach Sean Miller, who was fired earlier this month after 12 seasons in Tucson.
"We are thrilled that Tommy and his family are joining the Wildcat family and re-establishing our men's basketball program among the elite in the nation," Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke said in a news release.
"After speaking with a tremendous pool of candidates, and with so many in and out of the college basketball world, it became clear that Tommy has the passion, the experience, the knowledge, the coaching and recruiting acumen and the drive to lead us to championships."
Lloyd had been at Gonzaga since 2000, serving as an assistant under head coach Mark Few for the past two decades. The Bulldogs reached the NCAA tournament in every season since Lloyd joined the program, including two trips to the national championship game.
The 46-year-old Lloyd takes over an Arizona program that had been entangled in the 2017 federal investigation into corruption in college basketball. According to a notice of allegations released last month, the NCAA charged the Wildcats' men's basketball program with four Level I violations.
Arizona self-imposed a one-year postseason ban for this past season as a result of the violations.
"While there are certainly potential obstacles ahead for our program, I embrace the challenge as we will build on the foundation in place to compete for Pac-12 and national championships," Lloyd said in a statement.
