Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Tommy Lloyd joins Lute Olson, other coaching legends with hot start

The Star's longtime columnist checks in with a look at Tommy Lloyd's place in basketball coaching history, the budding rivalry between Arizona's Adia Barnes and ASU's Charli Turner Thorne and the big moves for ex-Cats Peter Hansen and Nick Hunley, and explains why Steve Kerr deserves his latest coaching honor:

Tommy Lloyd joins Lute, other coaching elites

A long time ago on a basketball planet far, far away, future Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal basketball coach Hank Iba set a standard that not even Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd can reach this season.

In his first season as a college basketball head coach, Iba went 30-0 at Northwest Missouri State. That was 1929-30. But that wasn’t Division I basketball. That was the equivalent of today’s Division III.

Yet Lloyd's season is Iba-esque in basketball history.

When trying to get a perspective on what Lloyd has done in his first season as a head coach — starting 20-2 and ranked No. 4 in the AP poll — it requires DNA on the first year Division I head coaches who also started 20-2 or better.

It’s a very short list of seven coaches that includes a familiar name: Lute Olson. Here are the first-year Division I head coaches who started 20-2 since the AP poll began in 1949:

• Digger Phelps, Fordham, 20-2, 1970-71

• Denny Crum, Louisville, 20-2, 1971-72

• Lute Olson, Long Beach State, 20-2, 1973-74

• Jim Boeheim, Syracuse, 20-2, 1976-77

• Gary Cunningham, UCLA, 20-2, 1977-78

• Jamie Dixon, Pitt, 20-1, 2003-04

• Brad Underwood, Stephen F. Austin, 20-2. 2013-14

But it’s not the start, it’s the finish, right?

Only one of those seven men who preceded Lloyd as the quickest to reach 20 victories as a rookie head coach reached the Final Four in Year No. 1. Here's how it went:

Phelps finished 26-3, losing in the Sweet 16. His highest ranking was No. 9.

Crum, whose team was ranked as high as No. 2 in the AP poll, lost in the Final Four.

Olson’s Long Beach State team was on NCAA probation, linked to penalties under former coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Boeheim, ranked No. 6, lost in the Sweet 16.

Cunningham’s Bruins, ranked No. 2, lost in the Sweet 16.

Dixon’s Pitt team, ranked No. 3, lost in the Sweet 16.

Underwood’s SFA club was never ranked; it lost to UCLA in an NCAA round of 32 game.

A more important variable is how those men completed their careers. Crum, Boeheim and Olson won national championships. Cunningham quit coaching after two years to become a career athletic director. Phelps went on to a Final Four at Notre Dame. Dixon reached one Elite Eight and is now struggling as TCU’s head coach. Underwood, now the head coach at Illinois, hasn’t gone past the NCAA round of 32.

If Lloyd can continue the trajectory of his first 22 games as a head coach, he will join the most successful first-year head coaches in Pac-12 history. So far that list is short and impressive: Here’s how I rank them:

• Washington State’s Tony Bennett went 26-8 and reached the NCAA round of 32 in 2006-07 before winning a national championship at Virginia.

• Steve Lavin went 24-8 in his first year at UCLA, 1996-97, inheriting the national championship platform from Jim Harrick. The ’97 Bruins reached the Elite Eight.

• Oregon State’s Jim Anderson, a career assistant at his alma mater, went 22-7 with the Gary Payton led team of 1989-90, tying Arizona for the Pac-10 title, but lost an NCAA first-round game. He never coached in another NCAA Tournament.

As for Mark Few, he was 26-9 in his first year as a head coach at Gonzaga, reaching No. 22 in the AP poll and losing in the Sweet 16. If Lloyd can match or surpass his mentor’s first year, it’ll be a success for Arizona.

Rivalry between Adia Barnes, Charli Turner Thorne began in 1997

No one could’ve guessed it then, but 25 years ago — Jan. 10, 1997 — Adia Barnes, an All-Pac-10 junior forward. began a rivalry with ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne that continues to grow in intensity and scope.

Thorne, then in her first season as ASU’s women’s basketball coach, has since won more conference games (247) than anyone except Stanford legend Tara VanDerveer. Barnes doesn’t remember much about the younger Thorne, except that she went 8-0 in her playing career against the Sun Devils.

"I remember that she wore short skirts," Barnes said with a smile. "I didn’t know about her. I was 17; you don’t pay attention to a lot of things."

The book on Charli Turner Thorne is that her teams are tough outs. They are physical. Thorne often uses a platoon system, rotating 10 players, and, said Barnes, "they never have a superstar."

Indeed, in Thorne’s 25 seasons, the Sun Devils have never had the Pac-12 Player of the Year, a first-team All-American or anyone who ranks in the top 80 scorers in league history (Arizona has five).

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But ASU has led the league in total defense seven times. A tough out, indeed,

That’s why Friday’s 81-77 ASU victory over No. 6 Arizona in Tempe was so surprising. Thorne’s teams had only scored 80 or more in regulation against Arizona five times in 53 games. How did that happen?

In some ways, ASU almost played the perfect game Friday. It shot 31 for 34 from the foul line. It out-rebounded Arizona 42-27. Arizona committed turnovers on 16% of its possessions.

"We deserved to lose," Barnes said after the game.

Referees called 52 fouls in Friday’s game. That’s more than any conference game Barnes has coached at Arizona with the exception of a 2019 three-overtime loss to UCLA, when officials called 60 fouls.

Part of it is the luck of the draw. Friday’s officiating crew of Kimberly Hobbs, Benny Luna and Tiffany Bird is probably a C-level group. None of the league’s Final Four officials of the last five years — Brenda Pantoja, Melissa Barlow, Chuck Gonzales, Micol Murray, Lisa Jones or Bob Scofield — were used.

Rivalry games deserve at least one of the league’s elite referees. Unfortunately, Pantoja, who is probably the top referee in Pac-12 women’s basketball — she has worked the last three Final Fours — can’t officiate UA games because she played for the Wildcats in the 1990s.

Sunday’s rematch at McKale Center should be every bit as physical and tense as Friday’s game in Tempe. Thorne has coached ASU to 14 NCAA Tournaments. Expect her team to give its best shot.

Ex-Cat Peter Hansen headed to the NFL

Peter Hansen was recruited to Arizona as a quarterback out of Palo Alto High School in 1997 and had a fully successful career, but not as a QB. He blocked seven kicks in his UA days, tied for the most in school history with Greg Boyd (1970-72), and also played in seven basketball games for Lute Olson, a willing practice player who, at 6 feet 7 inches tall, scored four points for the UA’s 2001 Final Four team. Hansen last week hit the career coaching jackpot: He was hired off the UNLV staff (he was the Rebels’ defensive coordinator) to be the linebackers coach for the Denver Broncos. Hansen is a winner with a personality to match; he spent 11 years on David Shaw’s staff at Stanford before going to UNLV. His blocked kicks against Washington in the famous "Leap by the Lake" game of 1998, and in the ’98 Holiday Bowl victory over Nebraska, are among the most memorable plays in school history.

Nick Hundley joins Rangers' front office

Nick Hundley, Arizona’s All-Pac-10 catcher of 2005, a key part of Andy Lopez’s 2004 UA College World Series team, is embarking on a new career. After playing 12 years in the major leagues, Hundley last week was hired to be a special assistant to Texas Rangers GM Chris Young. A year ago, Hundley worked under baseball commissioner Rob Manfred as an operations specialist with instant replay and umpiring. Hundley played 974 MLB games. … As UA baseball coach Chip Hale prepares for his season opener Friday in Texas, it’s likely his closer will be fifth-year senior Holden Christian, a transfer from Loyola Marymount. Christian’s background in the West Coast Conference is misleading. LMU played in 22 games against Pac-12 teams last year. He isn’t likely to be awed by better competition. Said Holden: "Our offense is the top of the top." He should know.

D-backs pitching coach makes cameo at Tanque Verde practice

Tucson's Brent Strom is the most high-profile pitching coach in baseball, rising to prominence with Houston’s powerhouse teams of the last eight years before moving to the Diamondbacks. Last week, Strom attended a baseball practice at Tanque Verde High School and spent time talking to and advising coach Tom Belter’s young baseball team, which opens the season Feb. 23. Talk about star power. Tanque Verde has had just one winning season since 2013, but Belter should change that. While the head coach at Vail’s new Empire High School, he coached the Ravens to the 2010 and 2013 state championship games. Belter is used to rebuild projects. In 2019, he took over the struggling Catalina High School program at mid-season and took a 2-8 team to the state quarterfinals. Before coaching baseball in Tucson, Belter spent 26 years in the military. …

New NIL supporters are Tucson's heavy hitters

Tucson's first coordinator public effort in the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) movement is an impressive one. The Arizona Assist program isn’t just some random, patched together effort with outsiders hoping to make a quick buck of UA athletes. The names behind the operation include former Sabino High School prep All-American football player Mike Saffer, an All-Pac-10 guard at UCLA, who has made a career in marketing, entertainment and property management; Thomas Conran, a former UA golfer who is now the Chief Strategy Officer for Good Juju, a digital marketing/strategy company of which Tucsonan Adam Lazurus is the CEO. Also involved with the Friends of Wilbur and Wilma, a group linked to tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, is David Smallhouse, a trustee at Salpointe Catholic High School and member of the Tucson Conquistadores. 

New coach Caitlin Lowe continues UA tradition

Caitlin Lowe’s debut victory as Arizona’s softball coach, a 22-1 victory Thursday over Southern Utah, fits nicely in the way Mike Candrea generated momentum for UA softball seasons. Over 36 years, Candrea was 33-3 in openers, outscoring opponents 253-45. Not all of them were pushovers. Candrea’s season-opening victories came against Michigan, Northwestern, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Ohio State, Alabama, Texas A&M and Cal, among others.

Badgers impress in high school soccer

Of Tucson’s high school sports teams from the winter season — more than 125 basketball, soccer and wrestling teams — the best might be Tucson High’s boys soccer team, which captured its Class 6A state playoff opener Saturday afternoon with a 5-0 win over Maryvale. Coach Ben Haouala replaced THS state championship coach Ismael Arce a year ago and went 13-2-1. Haouala took it a step beyond this season and both undefeated is seeded No. 1 in 6A, which is the conference of Phoenix-area superpowers. Haouala, a former financial advisor, is the technical director for RSL-Southern Arizona, involved in coaching Tucson youth teams, ages 4-12, for more than a decade, went 5-0 against Salpointe Catholic, Rincon/University and Sunnyside, all of which are multiple state championship winners.

My two cents: Steve Kerr's latest coaching honor is well-deserved

Steve Kerr received the most prestigious honor of his basketball career last week when the NBA announced Kerr was chosen as one of the 15 Greatest Coaches in the 75 years of NBA basketball.

The 43-person voting panel added to the legitimacy of the list; it included Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, Willis Reed, Bill Russell, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash.

Said Kerr: "That was kind of shocking to see my name on that list. I played for three of those guys on that list. It’s always strange to see your name next to people you’ve played for before because you don't necessarily look at your own coaches as peers."

The others on the Top 15 list included legends such as Red Auerbach, K.C. Jones, Jerry Sloan, Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson and Lenny Wilkens.

At 56, Kerr appears to be in his coaching prime. After coaching Golden State to 2015, 2016 and 2018 NBA championships, he will now become head coach of the 2024 U.S. Olympic team.

Not bad for Lute Olson’s final recruit of Arizona’s Class of 1983, an unheralded guard from Palisades, California, who didn’t have another scholarship offer a few days before he enrolled as an Arizona freshman. Five years later, Kerr wound up in the Final Four as perhaps the most popular athlete in school history.