The Arizona Board of Regents voted unanimously Thursday to approve a five-year contracts for University of Arizona men’s basketball coach Tommy Lloyd and new UA athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois.
While Reed-Francois will receive a five-year deal worth $6.75 million, Lloyd’s five-year contract from April 2022 was replaced by a new five-year deal that is scheduled to pay him a total of $29.7 million, including $1 million each from Nike and IMG.
No Regents had any comment before the public vote on Lloyd’s contract, while only Regent Lyndel Manson commented after UA president Robert Robbins’ proposed Reed-Francois’ deal.
“Well done,” she said.
While presenting the proposals, Robbins said he was “very excited” about the addition of Reed-Francois.
“She has turned around athletic departments at UNLV and the University of Missouri,” Robbins told the Regents. “We are confident she will help us get our athletic department not only back to financial sustainability but also change the whole culture of our athletic department.”
Desireé Reed-Francois has a list of pillars or "five priorities" that she has been sharing with UA athletes, coaches and staffers.
Earlier in the meeting, Arizona interim CFO John Arnold gave the Regents a financial rundown of UA in which he noted that the school’s athletics department lost $32 million during the 2023 fiscal year. UA athletics has taken a total of $86 million in loans from the school since 2018.
But UA noted in its proposals that the UA Foundation will pay for a fifth of Reed-Francois’ deal, $250,000 per year, and that athletics donors will cover about a fifth of Lloyd’s package, about $6 million over the five years.
“We’re incredibly grateful to our donors who love the U of A and provided this support,” Robbins said.
During his presentation for Lloyd, Robbins noted that he has built an “incredible culture” while winning at a high percentage. Robbins also noted that the Wildcats’ potential path through the NCAA Tournament “sets up very nicely” with likely stops in Salt Lake City for the first weekend, Los Angeles for the second weekend and Glendale for the Final Four if the Wildcats keep winning.
“Not putting any pressure on coach Lloyd,” Robbins said, generating chuckles. “It’s a made-for-TV movie right there.”
Robbins then added that, “coach Lloyd has been been mentioned in many high-profile jobs at other institutions and we’re incredibly appreciative to the board for supporting this contract extension.”
Lloyd will now become one of the top 10 highest paid coaches in college basketball, earning a $5.25 million guaranteed package next season plus performance and academic incentives. That package will include $4.85 million from the university and $200,000 each from Nike and IMG. Lloyd’s total guaranteed package is scheduled to rise after most seasons, to a total of $6.0 million for 2028-29.
Lloyd’s compensation package next season represents a 28% raise over his $4.1 million package this season, which includes $3.7 million in university funds plus $200,000 each from Nike and IMG.
UA said donor funds “have been secured” to fully cover the increase of Lloyd’s university-paid compensation throughout the term of the deal, a total of about $6 million over what Lloyd would have been paid under his current salary structure through the five-year period.
Reed-Francois will begin with a salary of $1.25 million through March 2025, with annual salary escalators of $50,000 through 2028-29. UA said the UA Foundation would pay $250,000 of her compensation each year.
UA also said it would use donated funds to pay up to $1.5 million toward Reed-Francois’ reported $2.5 million buyout at the University of Missouri, where she has been its athletic director.
Both Lloyd and Reed-Francois have seven-figure buyouts they must pay if they decide to leave within a year, and those buyout figures decrease each year to zero in the contract’s final years of 2028-29.
VIDEO: At a press conference introducing her as the University of Arizona's new athletic director on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, Desireé Reed-Francois gives her introductory remarks after being introduced by UA president Robert Robbins. (Courtesy Arizona Athletics)
