Arizona Basketball officially adds Jason Gardner to staff

With Arizona Basketball still in the midst of their busy off-season, Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats have officially added Jason Gardner to the staff. 

It has been a whirlwind of events since Arizona Basketball fired Sean Miller and brought in long-time Gonzaga assistant, Tommy Lloyd. From building their staff to filling out their roster, the work hasn’t stopped for Arizona, and their latest addition is former Wildcat legend, Jason Gardner.

As you may recall, we had previously stated that Jason would soon be joining the staff in some capacity, and finally, on Thursday it was announced that he will officially return to Tucson.

Arizona Wildcats

Making news via social media, Gardner will be joining the Arizona staff as Director of Player Relations.

Joining fellow Wildcat legend Jason Terry, Jason Gardner is the second former Wildcat to join the Arizona Basketball coaching staff.

For those that remember, Jason was a Wildcat legend from 1999-03, and he was a part of some pretty fantastic Arizona teams back then. Earning All-American honors four times while in Tucson, Jason was also the National Player of the Year in 2003, and is just one of six former Wildcats to have their number hanging in the rafters inside McKale Center.

However, since then, he has seemingly found his path in coaching, which coincidentally for us, has brought him back to Tucson.

Serving as the head coach at IUPUI from 2014-19, Jason compiled just a 64-93 record, even making the CIT Tournament in 2019.

Unfortunately for him, his tenure as a head coach was short-lived as Gardner ran into some off-court struggles and failed to post a winning season.

However, perhaps a change of scenery will be good for the former Wildcat guard. Bringing his experience and wealth of knowledge, Gardner will surely be a welcomed addition by the fans, and it further cements the intent that Lloyd wanted to bring an Arizona flare to the staff.