The Big 12 men’s basketball coaching cycle appears over with the news that Tommy Lloyd has agreed to an extension with the Arizona Wildcats.
The league now has three new head coaches and it appears that North Carolina will miss out on its biggest (perceived) target. Oh, and that Bill Self guy is coming back, too.
Now that the dust has settled, here are four thoughts on the cycle.
Tommy Lloyd is Not Going Anywhere
And to think I have 500 words written on why Tommy Lloyd wouldn’t be tempted with the North Carolina job. In fact, he got to announce his new five-year contract extension during his media availability on Friday.
This is great work on Arizona’s part to get this done. It’s a great decision on Lloyd’s part because I firmly believe Arizona is the right place for him. I was trying to figure out why he would take the North Carolina job, outside of it just being North Carolina. At most major programs these days, the money is pretty much the same. So you’re only going if you want to wear a quarter-zip with an “NC” logo on it.
Lute Olson turned Arizona into one of the best jobs in the country. Sean Miller only reaffirmed it until he exited. Now, Lloyd has put the program on a trajectory where it can be a national title contender every year. It’s one of the best jobs in the country.
When you really get down to it there was no reason for him to leave. College basketball and the Big 12 are better for it.
Cincinnati Lands Their Jerrod Calhoun
I was 50/50 on whether Wes Miller would get fired or not (by the way, Charlotte is a great landing spot for him). But, once he was, like most people I felt Jerrod Calhoun was going to get the job.
You know it’s the right hire when Bob Huggins — who employed Calhoun as a student assistant at Cincinnati — shows up at your press conference. He even got his first assistant job at the same school where Huggins got his start as a head coach Walsh.
The other day he got the New Heights treatment with everyone’s favorite Cincinnati alums, Jason and Travis Kelce.
Calhoun has won nearly 300 games as a head coach in Division I and II. His last two years at Utah State were telling of what he could be — 55-15 and two NCAA Tournament bids.
The Bearcats haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019. The Bearcats hired Miller get them back there and he couldn’t do it. Now, it’s up to Calhoun. That’s the expectation — at minimum.
Kansas State Turns the Page
If the rumor mill was true, Kansas State was on Calhoun first and they couldn’t work it out, which worked out really well for Calhoun. Worked out well for Casey Alexander too, as he now takes over the Wildcats and tries to turn the page on the Jerome Tang era. By the way, how is that whole buyout thing going for him?
Alexander may not have been the first choice, but I think he’s a quality choice. He won more than 300 games at Stetson, Lipscomb and Belmont, the last of which is where he played college basketball and got his first assistant job. So, the Wildcats pried him away from someplace he wanted to be. That’s something.
The knock I see from those criticizing the hire is that he only took one team to the NCAA Tournament. He likely would have taken another one if the COVID-19 pandemic hadn’t canceled the 2020 NCAA Tournament. It goes without saying that it’s not easy getting to the NCAA Tournament in the conferences that only get the automatic bid most years.
He’s been consistent. He’s won 20 or more games 10 straight seasons. His teams have finished no worse than fourth in league action any of those seasons. You do that by having a plan and a philosophy. Alexander has that. Now, he just needs patience.
Randy Bennett’s Slow Start
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a coach’s introductory press conference pushed back by illness. But that’s how the Randy Bennett era started at Arizona State.
The biggest knock on the hire is his age. Bennett is 63. But he checks every other box and coaches are working well into their 70s these days so I don’t think that’s a huge issue. He won 589 games at Saint Mary’s and led the program to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, including each of the last five seasons. Of the three new hires, no one is more experience and more ready for this. He also has perhaps the hardest job. The facilities need an overhaul — which Arizona State is working on — and while the Bobby Hurley era ended amicably, the program has been .500 since it joined the Big 12.
His early hires have been astute. Landing Cal Baptist coach Rick Croy as associate head coach is a boon, as is luring his Saint Mary’s assistant Joe Rahon. Both will be high-major coaches soon enough. Now it’s time to go get some players.
