Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd has been named the 2026 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year, capping off a historic season in which he guided the Wildcats to a program-record 36-3 mark and their first Final Four appearance since 2001.

Lloyd becomes the first coach in Arizona basketball history to win the prestigious award, presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The honor recognizes his outstanding leadership in transforming the Wildcats into one of the nation's elite programs during the 2025-26 season.

A Record-Breaking Campaign

Lloyd's Wildcats dominated from the opening tip, racing out to a school-record 23-0 start. They captured both the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles, finishing with a 16-2 conference record and earning the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament's West Region.

Arizona's march through March Madness included impressive victories en route to the Final Four, where the season ultimately ended in the national semifinals. The 36 wins set a new program benchmark, showcasing the depth and resilience of a roster featuring standout freshmen and veteran contributors.

This season's success also marked Lloyd's second major coaching accolade of the year. He previously earned the Sporting News National Coach of the Year award, along with Big 12 Coach of the Year honors.

Beating Out Elite Finalists

Lloyd edged out a strong field of finalists that included:

The winner was selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Clubs national voting academy, composed of media members, coaches, and conference commissioners.

Loyalty to Tucson Amid Speculation

Lloyd's award comes just days after he reaffirmed his commitment to the Arizona program by agreeing to a new five-year contract extension that will keep him in Tucson through 2031. The deal averages approximately $7.5 million per year, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball.

The extension followed reports of significant interest from North Carolina, but Lloyd chose to stay with the Wildcats, where he has built deep roots since taking over the program in 2021.

In a season filled with milestones, Lloyd's recognition as Naismith Coach of the Year stands as a crowning achievement validating the sustained excellence he has brought to Arizona basketball and silencing any doubts about his future in the desert.

FINAL SCORE: Michigan wins 91-73.

HALFTIME UPDATE:

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INDIANIAPOLIS, Ind (AP) - No. 2 Arizona and No. 3 Michigan meet in the NCAA Tournament Final Four.

The Wildcats record in Big 12 play is 19-2, and their record is 17-0 against non-conference opponents. Arizona leads the Big 12 in rebounding, averaging 39.8 boards. Tobe Awaka leads the Wildcats with 9.0 rebounds.

The Wolverines are 21-2 against Big Ten opponents. Michigan is second in the Big Ten with 18.8 assists per game led by Elliot Cadeau averaging 5.8.

Arizona makes 50.3% of its shots from the field this season, which is 11.9 percentage points higher than Michigan has allowed to its opponents (38.4%). Michigan has shot at a 51.1% clip from the field this season, 11.9 percentage points higher than the 39.2% shooting opponents of Arizona have averaged.

Arizona is in the Final Four for the fifth time in program history, and we're talking with ESPN game analyst Corey Williams, a member of the 1994 team that also reached the Final Four.

"Pollsters and pundits had them finishing in the middle of the Big 12," said Williams. "Arizona fans thought they were the best team in the country and it was Final Four or bust. I think this team has done a good job of putting all that aside and just playing great basketball."

36-2 Arizona plays 35-3 Michigan on Saturday in the second of the two games. UConn and Illinois play in the other game.

The 36 wins is the most in program history for the team that won the Big 12 Regular Season and Conference Championship.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGUN) Arizona is headed back to the Final Four for the first time in 25 years after the top-seeded Wildcats got 20 points from freshman Koa Peat to beat Purdue 79-64 in the NCAA Tournaments West Region final on Saturday night.

After years of disappointment in March, coach Tommy Lloyd has gotten Arizona (36-2) back to being a championship contender thanks to a talented freshman class led by Peat to go along with veterans like Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley.

Just being a kid from Arizona, to take this team to a Final Four, man, its a blessing, said Peat, who was named the regions Most Outstanding Player. Im proud of these guys. We worked for this. Were not done yet.

The Wildcats showed they can win in almost any style. They used a nearly flawless performance on offense to beat Arkansas in the Sweet 16 and then shut down one of the nations most efficient offenses against second-seeded Purdue (30-9).

When Oscar Cluff left Australia to begin his college career in the United States, he never could have imagined where he would end up.

A journey that started at a small junior college near the Arizona-Mexico border has taken Cluff to the Sweet 16 as a key member of No. 2 seed Purdue, which faces No. 11 seed Texas on Thursday in the NCAA Tournaments West Region semifinals.

It was always the goal, but I never imagined it, Cluff said Wednesday. It was something that was kind of so far out of reach at that point that now its just surreal.

Cluff has come a long way from his two years at Cochise College that started with some questioning whether he was good enough to play college basketball in the U.S.

He developed into a star big man at Cochise before transferring to Washington State, where he first established himself as a Division I player.

Getting from Cochise College to Pullman aint too easy. He had never experienced a winter before he came to Pullman, said former Washington State coach Kyle Smith, who is now at Stanford. Amazingly, he contributed to us without a conversation about NIL. We were able to get him a small amount and he was always appreciative. So happy that hes been able to blossom and reap the rewards for Purdue.

Cluff then transferred to South Dakota State after Smith left to take over Stanford, averaging 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds a game last season. Late in that campaign, Cluffs coaches reached out to Purdue to pitch coach Matt Painter on giving Cluff a chance.

With Painter looking for more size to support Trey Kaufman-Renn on the inside, it proved to be a perfect match.

He wanted to go somewhere where they needed him, Painter said. We played TK as a undersized 5 the year before, and we didnt have the rim protection and the overall rebound position even though we did get to the Sweet 16. So it was just a perfect fit for us. But hes been great. Hes been great. He works hard. He does a lot of dirty work for us, can rebound the ball, can pass the ball. Thats something I didnt know, how good of a passer he was. But very unselfish player.

Cluff has started all season for the Boilermakers, averaging 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for a program looking to make it to the Final Four for the second time in three seasons.

After a bit of a midseason lull, Cluff stepped up his game in the Big Ten Tournament, averaging 17.3 and 9.5 rebounds per game as he helped the Boilermakers capture the conference title.

He combined for 17 points, 18 rebounds and six blocked shots during the first two games of the NCAA Tournament and will likely need to play at a high level this weekend if the Boilermakers are going to make it to Indianapolis.

I think hes done an unbelievable job just literally doing his job, point guard Braden Smith said. We have meetings at the beginning of the year, just what each individual player wants to accomplish personal for the team, all that stuff. His was just to be the best rebounder in the country. He shows signs of that every single game. He really works hard toward that. Everybody has a role, and everybody has a certain task theyve got to do, and thats one of his. ... For him to keep doing that for us, it gives us extra opportunities and puts us in positions to win.

GAME RECAP TO BE POSTED SOON

GAME PREVIEW:

The Wildcats have gone 19-2 against Big 12 teams, with a 16-0 record in non-conference play. Arizona is the Big 12 leader with 39.9 rebounds per game led by Tobe Awaka averaging 9.2.

The Boilermakers are 17-7 in Big Ten play. Purdue has a 2-2 record in one-possession games.

Arizona averages 86.7 points, 16.4 more per game than the 70.3 Purdue allows. Purdue has shot at a 50.3% rate from the field this season, 11.1 percentage points above the 39.2% shooting opponents of Arizona have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jaden Bradley is averaging 13.3 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.5 steals for the Wildcats. Brayden Burries is averaging 18.8 points over the last 10 games.

Braden Smith is averaging 14.3 points, 8.9 assists, and 1.7 steals for the Boilermakers. Trey Kaufman-Renn is averaging 17.2 points over the last 10 games.

No. 2 Arizona plays Utah State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats have gone 19-2 against Big 12 teams, with a 14-0 record in non-conference play. Arizona leads the Big 12 with 28.4 defensive rebounds per game led by Tobe Awaka averaging 5.8.

The Aggies are 18-5 against MWC opponents. Utah State has a 3-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

Arizonas average of 5.9 made 3-pointers per game is 1.9 fewer made shots on average than the 7.8 per game Utah State gives up. Utah State has shot at a 50.0% rate from the field this season, 11.0 percentage points higher than the 39.0% shooting opponents of Arizona have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Brayden Burries is averaging 16 points and 1.5 steals for the Wildcats. Anthony DellOrso is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Michael Collins Jr. is scoring 17.7 points per game with 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists for the Aggies. Mason Falslev is averaging 16.1 points, six rebounds and 3.9 assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 10-0, averaging 81.5 points, 37.9 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 6.1 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 49.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.2 points per game.

Aggies: 7-3, averaging 77.5 points, 29.1 rebounds, 16.4 assists, 7.7 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.0 points.

No. 1 seed Arizona defeated Long Island University 92-58 in the first round of the NCAA West Regional in San Diego, California on Friday.

In front of many of their fans, the Wildcats were led by their three starting freshmen. Brayden Burries had a team-high eighteen points. Ivan Kharchenkov had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Koa Peat had 15 points and 7 rebounds.

Arizona, the Big 12 regular season and tournament champion, jumped out to a 15-4 fist half lead at Viejas Arena and never looked back.

The Wildcats, who have won seventeen games by twenty or more points improve to 33-2 on the season and will play the winner of Villanova and Utah State on Sunday.

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SAN DIEGO (AP) No school located anywhere close to the West Coast has won the NCAA men's basketball championship since Arizona did it in 1997.

The top-seeded Wildcats have another powerhouse team this March, and their quest to end the West's drought begins Friday morning in San Diego.

Their first task out here on the edge of the Pacific?

Avoiding the Sharks.

Jaden Bradley and the blue-blood Wildcats (30-2) open the NCAA Tournament against Long Island University (24-10), a No. 16 seed that has every hallmark of the scrappy small schools that annually rocket to national prominence by taking a bite out of March Madness.

Were not going to take this game lightly, said Bradley, the Big 12 player of the year. Were going to go out there (and) do what we do all year.

The nation is about to learn about an entertaining underdog coached by New York City hoops great Rod Strickland, who has swiftly led the Sharks from rock-bottom to the tournament. Just three years after LIU won only three games, the Sharks' reward for winning the NEC regular-season and tournament titles is a long shot at the No. 2 team in the AP Top 25.

Viejas Arena will be packed with Arizona faithful, but LIU will have a cheering section expected to be anchored by two unlikely superfans. The Brooklyn-based Sharks had meager attendance and almost no footprint in the crowded New York market when college basketball enthusiasts Cameron Koffman and David Pochapin who didn't attend this school, mind you adopted the team and started the Fins Up craze.

That's when one fan yells the phrase, and everybody else simultaneously claps their hands once above their heads, leaving them up to resemble a shark's dorsal fin.

It's simple and fun, and it's become a viral sensation as the Sharks got better and better. Players sometimes do it on the court, and other schools like Nebraska who don't have shark mascots have even picked it up.

It'll happen Friday in San Diego, and the LIU players can't wait.

I feel like the first Fins Up is going to send shivers down everybodys spine, said LIUs Greg Gordon, the NECs defensive player of the year. I feel like even Arizona would do it. Its such a great movement. Everyone loves it. It gives us the belief that no matter where we are, people, theyre rooting for us. It definitely helps us a lot.

With fans cheering them on, the Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team left McKale Center at Alkeme Arena for San Diego, officially embarking on their quest for a second NCAA national championship as the No. 1 seed in the West Region.

Fresh off a dominant 32-2 season, including Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles, the Wildcats boarded their charter for the short flight (or bus/air combo) to Southern California. The departure marked a familiar ritual for the program: the send-off from the historic home court where they've built one of college basketball's premier atmospheres, heading into the biggest stage of the year.

This marks Arizona's 40th NCAA Tournament appearancethe seventh-most in historyand the eighth time they've earned a No. 1 seed. Under head coach Tommy Lloyd, it's the fifth straight selection and the second No. 1 seed of his tenure. The team has advanced from San Diego each of the previous two times they've opened there (as a 1-seed in 2022 and 2014), adding extra optimism to this run.

First up: a Friday morning tip-off against No. 16 seed Long Island University (LIU) at Viejas Arena on the San Diego State campus.

The game tips at 10:35 a.m. MST on TNT, with announcers Kevin Harlan, Robbie Hummel, Stan Van Gundy, and Lauren Shehadi on the call.

Arizona enters as heavy favorites, with stars like Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley, freshman sensation Koa Peat, Brayden Burries, and a balanced roster that's been firing on all cylinders. The Wildcats are chasing their first Final Four since 2001 and aim to cap a remarkable season with a deep push to Indianapolis.F

ans gathered outside McKale this morning to cheer the team onhorns honking, "Bear Down" chants echoingas buses rolled out or players headed to the airport. It's the classic March scene: excitement, nerves, and unbreakable Wildcat pride.

"We have enough in the tank to go see if we can win this thing," Lloyd said after Selection Sunday, encapsulating the mindset as the team shifts focus from Tucson to the tournament grind.

The first round of the mens NCAA basketball tournament tips off Thursday, with Arizona playing its first game on Friday.

Arizona earned the No. 1 seed in the West Region. This is the eighth time the team has been a No. 1 seed in the tournament.

"They definitely look a lot stronger this year, said Oscar Salinas, who is a lifelong fan. I definitely think they can go the whole way.

Tucsonan Lee Johnson had to stop by campus to get a new jersey for the occasion.

"They were doing good, they lost two games in a row I was glad they lost the games so they know how it feels to lose a game, so then now they can take it all the way," Johnson said.

The first team that can put an end to Arizona's historic season will be Long Island University.

"Hopefully they dont have the hiccup, that first round hiccup," Johnson said.

Even for someone who is not a basketball fan, like U of A student Raelynn Salazar, she says the energy from fans is infectious. She says a deep run by the Wildcats could make her get more into it.

"I definitely would probably follow up with more games, because of it. I think a lot more people would be interested in it, too," Salazar said.

As for the fans who spoke to KGUN 9, they remain very hopeful this could be their year.

"Weve been waiting for a championship for a long time. I think this is it," Salinas said.