Greg Hansen: Who would you hire between Damon Stoudamire and Tommy Lloyd? Here's a tale of the tape

Gonzaga assistant basketball coach Tommy Lloyd almost fits the “too good to be true” category. Doesn’t he?

He prizes the atmosphere Mark Few created at Gonzaga. He is faithful to the cause. He has made his family the premium in his life. He hasn’t chased the almighty dollar for a head coaching job at say, Colorado State or LMU.

Lloyd has been a remarkably successful company man in a sport where loyalty almost exclusively finishes second to a what’s-in-this-for-me mentality.

Before UA athletic director Dave Heeke and president Robert C. Robbins hire Lloyd, or, say, former Arizona All-American point guard Damon Stoudamire, they must surely get the blessing of the Arizona Board of Regents. In a basketball-mad city like Tucson, it’s too big of a decision to just go on instinct.

Let’s break it down in 10 categories, Tommy Lloyd vs. Damon Stoudamire:

Head coaching experience: Stoudamire has been the head coach at Pacific for four seasons. If Stoudamire was afraid of a challenge, he would’ve gone elsewhere. Pacific was coming off seasons of 4-14 and 6-12 in a low-level West Coast Conference. By Year 3, Stoudamire had coached the Tigers to a 23-10 record and was the WCC Coach of the Year.

Lloyd has not been a head coach.

Importance of head coaching experience: Since Lute Olson was hired at Arizona in 1983, the nine most successful Pac-12 coaches all have one common thread — all were sitting head coaches. Stanford’s Mike Montgomery came from Montana. UCLA’s Jim Harrick came from Pepperdine. Washington’s Lorenzo Romar came from Saint Louis. Oregon’s Ernie Kent came from Saint Mary’s. Arizona’s Sean Miller came from Xavier. Cal’s Ben Braun came from Eastern Michigan. Colorado’s Tad Boyle came from Northern Colorado. Oregon’s Dana Altman came from Creighton. UCLA’s Ben Howland came from Pitt.

Recruiting: Lloyd is among the best in the game, specializing in European prospects. Stoudamire has recruited four years at Pacific, four years at Memphis and two years at Arizona. Advantage: Lloyd — with a qualifier: He sold European prospects on Mark Few’s system. If he becomes Arizona’s coach, he’s going to have to recruit against Gonzaga in Europe.

Of course, it’s not necessary for a program of Arizona’s brand and history to base its recruiting overseas. Arizona won big for three decades with mostly American ballplayers. Yes, the game has changed, but Los Angeles has always been the gold mine of UA’s recruiting success, overflowing with elite prospects, and should remain that way. Both men should understand that.

Mentorship: Stoudamire played for NBA coaches Gregg Popovich, Lionel Hollins, Mike Dunleavy, Maurice Cheeks and Mike Fratello, among others. He played for Olson in college. That’s a blue-ribbon list. Lloyd has coached for Mark Few, which is a superb education.

Fan support: Stoudamire is one of the three or four greatest players in UA history, with a 1994 Final Four to his credit. He is beloved in Tucson. Lloyd has strong credibility via his Gonzaga résumé. There’s little doubt UA fans would be welcoming to Stoudamire, Lloyd, or anyone hired.

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Finances: Since both work for private schools, their salaries are not easily accessible. However, nonprofit tax filings show Stoudamire made about $600,000 in 2018-19, while Lloyd made just under $1 million. Both are affordable.

Diversity: Stoudamire, if hired, would be the lone Black head basketball coach in the Pac-12. The lack of diversity among the Pac-12’s head coaches doesn’t reflect well on a league whose men’s basketball rosters are made up of a strong majority of Black student-athletes.

Personality: Stoudamire is not an “overcoacher” like Miller was. Stoudamire is relaxed and collected. He’s soft-spoken, but he can handle an audience at the Boys Club or a room full of donors. Don’t expect him to dance up and down the sidelines or to be booed in visiting arenas. Videos of Lloyd are impressive. He’s good on his feet, a public speaker with an engaging approach. He doesn’t wear ties on the sideline. Two totally different personalities.

Player development: Stoudamire began his college coaching career at Rice under Braun, the former Cal coach; his title was “player development specialist.” He coached three years with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, mostly in player development. He played in 793 NBA games, so his word and reputation would resonate with high school prospects as well as college players trying to improve their game. Lloyd has worked with a long list of NBA prospects the last 20 years, and if there is one trademark about Gonzaga, it’s that it gets the most out of what it has. I suspect both would be superior to Sean Miller in relating to young and insecure players.

Building a program: All three of Stoudamire’s UOP assistants have been with him the full five seasons. That’s unusual continuity in a transient game. His lead assistant, Leonard Perry, is the former head coach at Idaho. It’s unknown if Miller assistants Jack Murphy or Jason Terry would be part of Stoudamire’s projected coaching staff, but it’s difficult to imagine Stoudamire doing any better at Pacific than his 60-55 record of the last four seasons. It’s also unclear who Lloyd has told Heeke and Robbins would be his top assistant and lead recruiter. For either man, one assistant would surely have to be an ex-Wildcat.

As far as off-court issues, Stoudamire was suspended 90 days by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2003 for possession of marijuana. When he was hired by Pacific in 2016, he was vetted by UOP athletic director Ted Leland, who was the AD at Stanford from 1991-2005 and ranks as one of the leading bosses in league history.

Lloyd has no known history of legal issues.

It’s unknown to the public why Stoudamire left Miller’s staff in 2015 to return to Memphis. Working for the autocratic Miller isn’t for everyone. That wouldn’t seem to be an issue with those working for either Lloyd or Stoudamire.

Who would you hire? If Heeke and Robbins narrow their choices to Stoudamire and Lloyd, it’s going to be a tough call, which is what they get paid to do. The Board of Regents should insist on a thorough evaluation rather than giving credence to agents and boosters.

Stoudamire understands the culture of Arizona basketball, from four years as a player and 20 years later as an assistant coach on Miller’s two Elite Eight teams. Lloyd, who has bathed in success at Gonzaga, would face a significant learning curve but appears to have Jedd Fisch-type ability to win a crowd and sell his vision.

Stoudamire and Lloyd have both successfully traveled the Road to the Final Four. If Arizona is to get back to the Final Four in the next decade or so, one of them is likely to be the man at the wheel.