Gonzaga assistant coach Brian Michaelson, left, and head coach Mark Few speak during the second half of a game against San Francisco, Jan. 20, 2022, in Spokane, Wash.
1. Gonzaga coach Mark Few turns 63 this season, and speculation exists that the Zags will target Arizona's Tommy Lloyd, who spent 18 years on the Zags staff. Forget it. Few has announced that Lloyd's replacement, Brian Michaelson, will be his successor and that it is already in Michaelson's contract. Michaelson, a former Gonzaga walk-on, joined the staff in 2013. He absorbed Lloyd's responsibilities when Lloyd moved to Tucson four years ago.
2. Bobby Hurley's nonconference home schedule is a lightweight list: Southern Utah, Utah Tech, Santa Clara, Georgia State, NAU and Oregon State. To be fair, he also scheduled Gonzaga for a game at the Phoenix Suns arena. If the Sun Devils can go 7-0 in those home games, it won't likely save Hurley's job (he's in the final year of his contract). ASU has neutral court games against UCLA, Texas and Oklahoma. Best case scenario: ASU goes 7-4 in the preseason and 5-13 in the Big 12. That's 12-17 entering the Big 12 Tournament. That's probably not going to earn Hurley a new contract.
3. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, probably the best in the business, picked an All-American first team that includes Braden Smith of Purdue, Donovan Dent of UCLA, P.J. Haggerty of Kansas State, JT Toppin of Texas Tech and Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan. It reflects the modern transfer nature of college hoops. Of the All-Americans, four are transfers. Dent was last at New Mexico, Haggerty played at both Tulsa and Memphis, Toppin was a New Mexico Lobo and Lendeborg played at UAB. Welcome to 2025-26.
Texas' new coach Sean Miller gives a "Hook'em Horns" sign after he was introduced during a news conference in Austin, Texas, March 25, 2025.
4. When Sean Miller moved from Xavier to Texas, he hired five ex-Arizona Wildcats for his Longhorn staff. Former UA forward Ryan Anderson is on the coaching staff, as are ex-UA assistants Adam Cohen and David Miller. The chief of staff at Texas is Ryan Reynolds, who served in a similar role under Miller at Arizona. The director of analytics is Miller's son, Cam, a former point guard at Salpointe Catholic.
