The great, late Lute Olson was on the minds of many Arizona Wildcats fans Saturday night but maybe none more so than current head coach Tommy Lloyd.
As the Wildcats were accepting the NCAA Tournament West Region trophy, Lloyd took a moment to acknowledge the trailblazer, who last led Arizona to the Final Four in 2001 and its lone national championship in 1997.
“There’s a good looking guy with white hair looking down on us right now that’s happy,” Lloyd said after his Wildcats overcame a seven-point halftime deficit versus Purdue in the Elite Eight.
Olson coached in Tucson from 1983 to 2007, posting an overall record of 587-190 and earning Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors seven times.
“There’s a good looking guy with white hair looking down on us right now that’s happy!” ?
Tommy Lloyd pays homage to the late Lute Olson in his postgame interview ?#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/QTYqlA4PbI
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2026
Under his leadership, the Wildcats soaked in the Final Four pageantry four times (1988, ’94, ’97, 2001).
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“(Lute’s) legacy in Tucson is so powerful. He’s the guy,” Lloyd told reporters postgame. “There’s others before him, but he’s the main catalyst to make our program the center of the community.
“When I got the job, I was like, ‘Wow. People in Tucson really want to like their basketball coach.’ And it wasn’t a contentious relationship at all. … Without Lute, without Sean (Miller) doing what he did for those 12 years he was here, I wouldn’t be able to do what we did today. I fully understand that.”
That relationship with the people of Tucson has been built over nearly five seasons, and the community is showing every intention to make Lloyd’s stay similar to that of Olson. Arizona athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois told CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein they have been “engaged with (Lloyd’s) representatives about a new contract since before the start of the NCAA Tournament.”
“Those guys, (Olson and Miller), this is for them, too,” Lloyd said. “I have no problem sharing the success of this team with the coaches that came before me.”
Lloyd’s Wildcats have run through No. 16 Long Island University, No. 9 Utah State, No. 4 Arkansas and No. 2 Purdue en route to the Final Four, in which they will face the winner of No. 1 Michigan and No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday.
Arizona’s 36 wins so far are a program-best with a possible two games remaining and a national title on the other side of that.
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