Tommy Lloyd may be adding another familiar Gonzaga name to his Arizona staff, and this one comes with a résumé that stretches from Spokane to the NBA and a long run overseas.
According to the report, former Gonzaga All-American guard Kevin Pangos is expected to join Lloyd’s coaching staff at Arizona this season as an assistant coach. If it happens, Pangos would step into the spot opened by Ken Nakagawa, who spent four seasons with Lloyd in Tucson. Nakagawa started as Arizona’s Director of Advanced Scouting, then moved up to assistant coach in 2024-25 before taking a job with the Salt Lake Stars of the NBA G League.
Pangos and Lloyd already share a Gonzaga connection that runs deep. Pangos played for the Zags from 2011-2015, while Lloyd spent years on the Bulldogs’ staff before taking over at Arizona.
Pangos also thanked Lloyd and Mark Few in his retirement announcement last week, ending with: "We left it all out there and accomplished everything you always dreamed of. Now it's time to do the same for the next chapter."
His path to Gonzaga wasn’t flashy. Pangos arrived as a 3-star point guard from Ontario, Canada, but he wasted no time making noise. In his second college game, he poured in 33 points and hit nine threes against Washington State.
That was the start of a decorated career. Pangos was named All-WCC First Team all four years, earned conference player of the year in 2015, and picked up Third Team All-America honors that same season. After college, he logged 10 professional seasons, including a brief NBA stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers at age 28, plus stops in Lithuania, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Turkey.
Arizona’s current staff includes Lloyd, Associate Head Coach Jack Murphy, and assistants TJ Benson, Brandon Chappell, and Evan Manning. Pangos has no coaching experience yet, but the report says his basketball IQ and his ability to work with young point guards Derek Dixon and JJ Mandaquit should be useful in Tucson.
Lloyd has leaned on the Gonzaga pipeline before. Rem Bakamus, who was a walk-on at Gonzaga from 2012-2017, later worked under Lloyd at Arizona after a stop on Scott Drew’s staff at Baylor, eventually rising to assistant coach before leaving for Texas Tech prior to last season. Przemek Karnowski also spent time with Gonzaga from 2012-2017 and then served as a graduate assistant at Arizona from 2023-2025.
Neither Arizona nor Pangos has officially announced the move yet. Arizona’s next game is Tuesday, Oct. 13, when it hosts San Francisco in a home exhibition at 7:00 PM MST on ESPN+.
In Other News...
Gonzagas 2027 Class Just Took A Hit At Guard
Gonzagas 2027 guard board took a turn this week when four-star Gene Roebuck made his college choice, leaving the Bulldogs to keep working deeper into the class. Roebuck had been one of the names in the mix after visiting Spokane and checking out other schools, but the decision now trims one of the more familiar guard options from Gonzagas early recruiting picture.
That leaves Gonzaga with a class that still centers on five-star guard Dooney Johnson, its lone commitment so far in 2027. The next big name to watch is five-star combo guard Jalen Davis, who is set to come to Spokane for a home game, giving the Bulldogs another swing at adding a headline guard to a class that could use one. [Read more 🡒]