Arizona's season came to an end earlier than fans would have liked, but Tommy Lloyd made his first year with the Wildcats count. The UA head coach guided the team to 33 wins, falling just two wins short of a record for a first-year coach, and an appearance in the Sweet 16.

Friday, the former longtime Gonzaga assistant earned the Associated Press Coach of the Year award to culminate his successful first season in Tucson. Lloyd received 28 votes from the 61-person panel allowing him to edge out Providence head coach Ed Cooley, who earned 21 votes.

No other coach received more than three votes.

"What an incredible honor," Lloyd said at the ceremony to award him the honor in New Orleans. "First I'd like to thank Dr. [Robert] Robbins. He was a big part of me making the decision to go down to Arizona. And just so thankful for the opportunity. And I want to thank you guys. This means a lot. I probably can't even process quite where it fits on the spectrum of things.

"But I'm really proud. I'm proud of my staff. I'm proud of our players at Arizona. And I'm proud to have been mentored by a great coach in Mark Few. It's pretty crazy that his name is on some of these awards and mine's right underneath it. I'm sure he and I, as we get older, will really cherish the memories and the time we had together. And just very thankful overall."

Lloyd is the first Arizona coach to win the award since it came into existence 55 years ago, and he is just the fourth Pac-12 coach to earn the honor.

Indiana State's Bill Hodges (1979) and Drake's Keno Davis (2008) are the two other previous winners who accomplished the feat in their first seasons as head coaches.

The Wildcats were picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the Pac-12 ahead of the season before ultimately becoming the outright champs in the conference by winning the regular season and league tournament titles.

UA nearly swept the conference postseason award with sophomore guard Benn Mathurin earning Pac-12 Player of the Year and junior center Christian Koloko being named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.

Friday, Lloyd credited the group around him for putting him in position to earn the honor from the AP.

"Well, obviously you need good players," he said. "And we inherited some good players. And I just think honestly what I did, I didn't have a grand plan. ... I knew how I kind of wanted to play and literally attacked it day-by-day. As things came up you addressed them.

"And that was my approach all year long. And I think I gotta remind myself that's always a good approach. Don't get too far ahead of yourself. Don't think you've got all the answers. And as things come up, find solutions."

The Wildcats are already seeing the reward from a strong first season under Lloyd. UA has locked up recent commitments from top-25 2023 prospects Kylan Boswell and KJ Lewis.

Now that Arizona's season has come to a close, Lloyd is already looking ahead to the next steps in the process as he continues to build the program.

"I have a responsibility to make myself and obviously my program as good as we can be," he said. "And then be an example for younger coaches like I was back in the day to follow, because it's a great life.

"It's not an easy life. But it's a great life. And it's very rewarding. And I want others to be able to have experiences that I'm having and feel the feelings that I feel about this job."

Lloyd has now earned two of the major coach of the year awards after picking up the NABC Coach of the Year honor earlier in the week. He was named coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association as well.

The honors might not be finished, either. Sunday the Naismith Coach of the Year award will be handed out and Lloyd is one of four finalists for that honor.

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