Early on in his career as an assistant basketball coach, Tommy Lloyd started making a name for himself as one of the first to start recruiting international players.
It was a move that led to enormous success on the court, but one that Lloyd could only make because he himself had developed a mindset that was eager to explore the world and embrace different cultures.
Those are the same values Lloyd, now Head Coach at the University of Arizona, shares with the College of Humanities, where he spoke about leadership during a December retreat for the college’s heads and directors.
Alain-Philippe Durand, Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities, said he and Lloyd started conversing because basketball players, among many other athletes, regularly study in the college.
“We share a lot of the same values, things like intercultural competence, resilience, motivation, creativity and thinking outside the box,” Durand said.
After getting to know one another – and discussing world travels – Lloyd approached Durand about hosting a happy hour for College of Humanities heads and directors, deans and advisors. Durand in turn invited Lloyd to discuss leadership at the retreat and the coach, even in the midst of basketball season, immediately accepted.
“Travel is amazing – it’s changed my life and opened up my eyes to the world,” said Lloyd, who’s visited every continent but Antarctica on more than 50 international trips. “The most important thing you’re ever going to do in your life is travel.”
Now in his fourth season at U of A, Lloyd has recruited players from Canada, France, Sweden, Serbia, Lithuania, Estonia, Cameroon and Mali (unique enough for a story in The New York Times), alongside U.S. student-athletes who’ve never been outside the country.
“I’ve coached so many international players, these relationships are so normal to me now. I love the diversity of cultures and mindsets,” he said. “Bringing people in from different cultures, they can develop authentic relationships and that’s something they carry with them the rest of their lives.”
Lloyd has also guided players through international competitions, taking the Wildcats on a summer 2023 trip to Israel and the United Arab Emirates, during which the student-athletes earned study abroad credit through the Department of Public and Applied Humanities. Last summer, Lloyd coached the USA Men’s U18 team, which captured the gold medal in Buenos Aires in 2024, and in 2025, Lloyd will coach the USA Men’s U19 National Team in competition in Switzerland. Before joining the U of A, Lloyd was an assistant coach at Gonzaga for 22 seasons, where he started specializing in international recruiting.
Raised in a small town near Mount St. Helens, Lloyd said that his brother decided, out of nowhere, that he wanted to be an exchange student, and spent his junior year of high school in Sweden. Thereafter, Lloyd’s family hosted exchange students annually, welcoming students from Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Russia and Germany.
Lloyd didn’t take an exchange year himself because of basketball, but he did get the travel bug. After graduating from Whitman College, with a degree in biology, he played professionally in Australia and Germany. And after getting married, Lloyd and his wife took a trip around the world.
“It was an amazing year and ever since then, we travel, travel, travel,” he said. “I’ve seen more places overseas than I have in the U.S.”
Dean Durand said the College of Humanities and Coach Lloyd have plenty in common beyond the global mindset. Faculty and graduate teaching assistants in the College need to be able to identify talent to be effective recruiters, encouraging students to select Humanities majors and then mentoring them through the academic programs.
In discussing leadership, Lloyd told COH heads and directors that simple, authentic actions are the best way to set the stage for good things to happen.
“Leadership doesn’t need to be any crazy, over-the-top, agenda-driven deal. Just be the example,” Lloyd said. “I can’t have a steady team if I’m not steady. I can’t have a joyful team if I’m not joyful. It’s those simple equations.”
Lloyd said his leadership mindset involves creating trust and a sense of belonging, allowing others to contribute to the vision, controlling your ego and being comfortable making mistakes. Leaders build strong relationships by being steady day to day and showing others who they are in their most genuine and vulnerable moments.
“One of my main motivations is to deliver for the community. I’ve seen it and felt it since I’ve been in Tucson,” Lloyd said. “People have to feel you’re genuinely concerned more about their success than your own. Put your effort and energy into making people feel like they belong, every day.”