Filling out the coaching staff following the departure of Jason Terry, Arizona Basketball and Tommy Lloyd hire the Suns’ player development coach, Riccardo Fois.
It has been a busy week for Arizona Basketball and Tommy Lloyd as the Wildcats learned that Jason Terry would be accepting a head coaching job in the G-League. Well, it seems they already have their replacement in Riccardo Fois.
A former player development coach of the Phoenix Suns, Fois is a Pepperdine alumnus that played with the Waves from 2007-08, before playing professional basketball in Italy for a few years.
His path would eventually lead him to coaching where he eventually became the Director of Analytics with Gonzaga, staying with the program from 2014-19, which explains his ties to coach Lloyd.
Well, after two seasons in Phoenix, Fois is on to bigger and better, which just happens to be roughly 100 miles South of Phoenix.
Reportedly set to become the next assistant for Arizona Basketball, Riccardo Fois will soon step into his role with the Wildcats.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd is hiring Ricky Fois as an assistant coach, sources told @Stadium. Fois is from Italy, worked on Mark Few’s staff for 5 years & was with Phoenix Suns last two years in a player development role. Fois knows Lloyd’s system and can recruit internationally.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) August 22, 2021
Just 34 years old, Fois is considered to be a rising star in the sport, and he was a big part of Gonzaga’s success in the late 2010s, even helping the Bulldogs reach their first-ever Final Four in 2017.
He knows Lloyd’s system and coaching style well, which makes sense why Lloyd would bring him in. Plus, as Arizona continues to recruit international players, Fois’ ties to Europe could prove to be beneficial.
At this time, there’s no definitive timetable as to when Riccardo will officially join the team, but with the 2021-22 season just around the corner, I would think it will be soon.
Also, keep in mind that the Wildcats still have an open coaching vacancy too, so Lloyd will have to move quickly to get the staff finalized just ahead of the season starting!