Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd to receive contract extension through 2026-27 season

Tommy Lloyd has earned himself an extended, potentially higher paying contract.

The Arizona Wildcats basketball head coach is slated to receive a contract extension through the 2026-27 season, according to Jon Rothstein of College Hoops Today.

The contract is pending approval from the Arizona Board of Regents, which are set to vote on the new deal during their meeting Wednesday. The extension would take Lloyd through one additional year than his initial contract, which ran through 2025-26.

According to CollegeAD, the contract is for $19 million. Over the course of the next five seasons, Lloyd would earn an average $3.8 million per year.

That’s a considerable pay increase from the contract Lloyd signed last April, which was to pay him $15.5 million over a five-year period. Lloyd will make on average $700,000 more per year.

Per the Arizona Board of Regents web site, Lloyd would earn $3.6 million ($2.9 million base, plus $700,000 for “additional duties”) in 2022-23, going up $100,000 per season to $4 million in 2026-27.

The new deal also calls for a hefty buyout if Lloyd were to take another job. He’d owe Arizona $12 million if he left at any point during the next two seasons, with the buyout dropping to $6 million in the third year, then $4 million and $2 million.

Lloyd’s contract would make him the highest-paid coach in the Pac-12 — by a hair. Oregon’s Dana Altman is set to make $3.775 million annually through 2025-26.

Lloyd’s average salary of $3.8 million would also make him one of the highest paid coaches nationally. In 2021-2022, only 13 coaches made more than $3.8 million according to USA Today.

It would be hard to argue any college basketball coach is more deserving of a pay increase than Lloyd. The 2021-22 AP National Coach of the Year, Lloyd led Arizona to a 33-4 record in his first season as head coach that culminated in a Sweet 16 appearance. The Wildcats won both the Pac-12 regular season and conference tournaments.

The news of Lloyd’s reported contract extension also comes at an opportune time. Arizona is scheduled to host Kentucky transfer Keion Brooks and top 2023 recruit Kwame Evans Jr. this weekend.