SAN ANTONIO — The night between the first and second-round games of the men’s NCAA tournament in sunny San Diego, Tommy Lloyd carved out some time for dinner. He brought his family and invited the Bakamus brood, from his mentor, Bill, to Bill’s son, Rem, now the director of player development on Lloyd’s coaching staff at Arizona.
In 24 hours, Lloyd’s team would play Texas Christian for a spot in the Sweet 16, hoping to continue a full-season, full-scale revival of a proud program that spent recent years swimming in scandal. As a result, in roughly 36 hours, Lloyd would be named one of four finalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year award, while becoming only the third head coach in Division I men’s basketball history to take over a program and secure a No. 1 seed in his first year. (The others: Bill Hodges, Indiana State, 1979; Bill Guthridge, North Carolina, ’98. And Lloyd matched them without Larry Bird and Vince Carter, respectively.) But the dinner group didn’t talk much about the Wildcats, their remarkably low expectations before the season, their 33–3 record or even basketball.
Instead, the diners caught up on life and children and new adventures, while the kids scurried about and another particularly relevant tournament game tipped off on nearby televisions. It featured Gonzaga—of course—against Memphis.
