Arizona coaching hot board: Early favorites to replace Sean Miller

Arizona has made the decision to move on from head coach Sean Miller after 12 seasons at the helm in Tucson. Miller's tenure leading the Wildcats comes to a close amid some controversy as UA awaits the ruling of an NCAA investigation that found the men's basketball program to have committed several Level I violations under the former head coach's watch.

Wednesday, athletic director Dave Heeke cited a lack of on-court success coupled with the off-court problems as the primary reasons Arizona has decided to move on from its longtime coach.

He also noted that there are high expectations in Tucson for the men's basketball program and the Wildcats have not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2017. UA likely would have been part of the tournament field this year, but the program opted to forgo the postseason by self-imposing a one-year ban in the winter.

The NCAA investigation and eventual punishment is a negative factor in the process for Arizona, but Heeke said that the program believes it will have a "diverse" group of candidates to pick from in the end.

Heeke explained Wednesday that Arizona is not going to limit its options as the pursuit of its next coach begins.

There have already been plenty of indications about who the frontrunners will be, and we have included several names to keep an eye on as the process moves ahead.

Here is our first Arizona coaching hot board as the Wildcats look to replace Miller.

CAREER RECORD (as a college head coach): 0-0

BIO: Lloyd has been at one place for the last two decades as he officially joined the coaching staff at Gonzaga ahead of the 2001-02 season. The 46-year-old assistant started his career as administrative assistant the year before that but has since become one of the hottest names in the coaching world thanks to the role he has played in building the Bulldogs into one of the top programs in the country. Largely responsible for the international recruiting success at Gonzaga, Lloyd has helped build his profile as a recruiter over the last two decades as he has helped make Spokane a destination for top prospects from all over the world. Though he has never been a head coach, the Washington native is the head coach in waiting at Gonzaga and has a contract with the school that will allow him to step into that role whenever Mark Few decides to step away.

WHY HE'S AN OPTION: GOAZCATS.com sources indicated in recent weeks that Lloyd is the coach UA president Robert C. Robbins wants to see take over the Wildcats' basketball program. As of now he has garnered the highest amount of momentum behind the scenes, and there have certainly been indications that he will eventually become the next coach at UA. Ultimately, there will be a number factors that come into play with his stance as the coach in waiting at Gonzaga being one of the biggest hurdles Arizona will have to overcome.