Tommy Lloyd instills cohesion, chemistry and culture as Arizona men’s basketball pushes for Sweet 16

SAN DIEGO – In today’s era of college athletics, one dominated by transfer portal moves and Name, Image and Likeness demands, building a stable foundation within a program is difficult. Roster retention is nearly impossible, forcing coaches to mesh a new band of players over the few offseason months. But as the 2025-26 season rolls into the postseason, Arizona men’s basketball coach Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats have constructed a squad built on togetherness. 

Arizona, which matches up with No. 9 seed Utah State on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament, has its fair share of returners in seniors Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka and Anthony Dell’Orso, but many of its contributors are new faces. Lloyd starts three freshmen in Brayden Burries, Ivan Kharchenkov and Koa Peat, while also mixing in a few international recruits. 

Lloyd has eight players on his squad who came from overseas, four of whom are a part of the rotation. 

Kharchenkov, both a freshman and an international recruit, credits the game of basketball for bringing the group together.

“We all do one thing that binds us together, and that’s playing basketball,” Kharchenkov said. “The game respects game, and I think that’s the biggest respect you can gain from the other teammates, and just clicked from the beginning.”

It’s one thing to pour talent onto a roster, but to form a true team around it takes coaching mastery. After their win on the road against Arizona State, Lloyd mentioned a trip the Wildcats took to Casa Grande earlier in the season. The trip showed his group how far they’ve come, both on and off the court. 

A team can take all the trips it wants to build culture, but the truth is simple: The players on this team like each other, and they enjoy winning together. 

“We work hard on our culture, and it’s a daily thing you’ve got to fight for,” Lloyd said. “And you’re going to have little ups and downs with it because we’re all human beings. But if you can work hard to get people on the same page and get them to care for each other, I think that goes a long way to creating a healthy environment.”

That healthy environment has propelled the Wildcats into the men’s NCAA Tournament round of 32, along with a 33-2 season and multiple accolades and achievements, including Big 12 regular-season and tournament champions.  

But the job’s not finished – not even close. On the Wildcats’ plate next: Utah State. 

The Aggies have built a program around sustained success, even with consistent coaching and player turnover. 

In the last eight seasons, Utah State has had four head coaches. Regardless, they’ve made the tournament in six of the last seven tries, not including the COVID year that took away the NCAA Tournament in which they had automatically qualified.

The three coaches before Jarrod Calhoun took over all eventually nabbed jobs at the power conference level. One of those coaches was Ryan Odom, who has revamped Virginia back into the proud program it once was under legendary coach Tony Bennett. 

“(Utah State has) made great hires,” Calhoun said. “They’ve made some unconventional hires. We’ve got great players.”

Now under Calhoun, the Aggies haven’t stepped back. He’s in his second straight tournament with the Aggies in his second year at the helm. He also led them to their first (and last) Mountain West Tournament title since 2020. 

“It’s like any good organization, right, it’s people,” Calhoun said. “What makes good companies? It’s people. It’s connectivity. It’s leadership. There’s a great tradition. All the great programs have it.”

Although the overall structure of the Aggies differs from the Wildcats, the way they play doesn’t. Utah State shoots extremely well from the field, getting to its spots in the paint at will. Against Arizona’s size, however, that could provide a much harder challenge. 

The Wildcats played a similarly paint-oriented team, with less talent, in Long Island University on Friday and were able to force the Sharks  into tough shots, resulting in their resounding victory. 

However, when Sunday comes around, and the ball is tipped, it won’t be size that pushes the Wildcaats over the edge. It will be how they come together as they have for 35 games this season.

“They’re just great guys,” Lloyd said. “Have wanted to be part of something bigger than themselves. The freshmen are obviously really talented, and they’re going to have great futures. But they’re also great teammates. It was just a good blend of guys that were about the right things, and we were able to put them together.”

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