Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd took the microphone from TBS sideline reporter Allie LaForce to pay tribute to late Wildcats' head coach Lute Olson by stating, "There's a good looking guy with white hair looking down on us right now that's happy!"
Olson was the Arizona head coach from 1983 through 2007. Lloyd was hired as Arizona head coach in April 2021, less than a year after Olson passed away in August 2020. The most iconic interaction Lloyd had with Olson was in the handshake line after Arizona eliminated Gonzaga in double overtime in the 2003 NCAA Tournament second round.
Lloyd was an assistant at Gonzaga from 2001 through 2021. Arizona had success before Olson was hired as the head coach, but he rebuilt the program into a national power after the Wildcats won four games and lost 24 the season before he took over.
In 24 seasons as the Arizona head coach, Olson won 589 games and lost 187. After missing the NCAA Tournament in his first season in 1983-84, Olson led Arizona to 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 1985 through 2009.
"There's a good looking guy with white hair looking down on us right now that's happy!" 🥹
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2026
Tommy Lloyd pays homage to the late Lute Olson in his postgame interview 🙏#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/QTYqlA4PbI
"Lute's given me a great life....He and I shook hands only a few times...in a handshake line...at a game...at like a cancer event for him one time...his legacy in Tucson is so powerful...He's the main catalyst to make our program the center of the community...When I got the job, I was like, "Wow, people in Tucson really want to like their basketball coach...They want to love you and the reason...cuz they love Lute so much...he meant so much to the community...Without Lute...I wouldn't be able to do what we did today. "Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd
Lute Olson's legacy
After Olson stepped away from Arizona in 2007, Kevin O'Neill led the Wildcats to the 2008 NCAA Tournament, followed by Russell Pennell taking over as interim head coach in 2008-09 and extending the streak to 25 years with a Midwest Regional Semifinal appearance.
Tommy Lloyd on why it was important to him to mention the late Arizona HC Lute Olson on court postgame
— Thomas Dunn (@Thomasdunn24) March 29, 2026
"He gave me a better life. His legacy in Tucson is so powerful. He's the main catalyst to make our program the center of our community. People in Tucson really want to like… pic.twitter.com/2w6lMSYVPY
Lloyd also praised his predecessor as Arizona's head coach, Sean Miller, during the postgame. After two years of uncertainty if Olson would return while O'Neill and Pennell served as head coaches, Arizona finally hired Miller in April 2009.
Miller had 302 wins and 109 losses in 12 years as the Arizona head coach. Arizona advanced to the 2011, 2014 and 2015 West Regional Finals but was unable to break through and advance to the Final Four. Including losses in 2003 and 2005 under Olson, Arizona lost five consecutive regional finals before beating Purdue on Saturday.
Olson was alive during every season Miller was head coach with the exception of his final year. Miller will always be the main bridge between the Olson and Lloyd eras of Arizona basketball. In three very different eras with three different head coaches, Arizona has remained a nationally recognized program.