The North Carolina Tar Heels fired head coach Hubert Davis after a total collapse and upset loss at the hands of the VCU Shockers in the round of 64 in this year’s NCAA tournament.
Now, the university is tasked with finding Davis’s replacement. One name that has been generating a lot of buzz to fill the role is Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd, who is preparing for a matchup with the Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four.
Lloyd certainly didn’t do much to quell the rumors in his post-game presser after the Wildcats’ Elite 8 win on Saturday.
“That’s what I feel like my number one responsibility is, for those who came before me and for those that are going to follow after me,” Lloyd said. “Because Arizona’s going to have another good coach after me, I promise you. The place is special.”
Now, another head coach in the college ranks, the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay’s Doug Gottlieb, is revealing what he’s heard about the situation and why Lloyd might be seriously considering a departure from Tucson.
“Arizona doesn’t have that much money. There’s some fracture in the relationship there with the AD. And I was told that Michael Jordan called him [Tommy Lloyd] two nights ago. That’s the working rumor,” Gottlieb said in an appearance on The Colin Cowherd Podcast.
This entire saga would be made all the more interesting if Arizona went on to win the national championship. Bad blood or not, could Llyod walk away from a program that successfully brought to the pinnacle of the sport for the rare opportunity to lead a vaunted blue blood?
The Wildcats will face the Wolverines on Saturday at 8:49 EST on TBS.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.