Arizona jumped ahead of the annual “Suits and Sneakers” week on Saturday with its own cancer awareness and fundraising effort.
As part of its “Cats vs. Cancer” event, the Wildcats’ coaches and staffers wore shoes painted earlier this month by pediatric patients at Diamond Children’s Hospital, giving them varied splashes of color up and down the McKale Center sidelines.
UA coach Tommy Lloyd was seen wearing a pair painted in red, light blue and purple, with a green outline and red sparkles on the Nike swoosh. Among his staff, player relations director Jason Gardner flashed a light green left shoe that was bordered by light blue, and assistant coach TJ Benson had a clean look of gold on the right shoe and purple on the left.
The Arizona staff sports a colorful array of shoes for the “Cats vs. Cancer” game against Colorado at McKale Center on Jan. 25, 2025.
But as to who had the best-looking shoe? Lloyd wasn’t gonna go there.
“Hey, listen, I think it’s a really cool thing we’re going for the Diamond Children’s Hospital but I don’t know if I’m on the spectrum when it comes to those things,” he said. “I just don’t notice those things.”
Arizona coaches will also wear the shoes on Monday against No. 3 Iowa State, when the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ annual cancer-awareness week officially begins.
“Suits and Sneakers” officially runs from Monday through Feb. 2, with staffs all over college basketball wearing basketball shoes – though many of them, including Arizona, no longer wear suits for any games.
UA’s shoes will later be auctioned off, with the proceeds benefiting the hospital.
During the first half of Saturday’s game, Arizona also introduced Ginny Clements, namesake of UA’s Breast Cancer Research Institute.
