“It’s very similar to back home — a nice area, clean ocean right there, a lot of people eating at cafes ocean side, all that kind of stuff. Very similar.”
A limited view is all the players and coaches could really afford over the weekend. It was a business trip for them, the most serious sort of trip in their industry, and the tight turnaround from a Friday to Sunday game can ratchet the pressure even more.
“I’m losing track of coffee,” Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun said Saturday, stopping at a press conference while preparing to face Arizona on Sunday. ”It’s starting to taste like all the same, whether it’s a latte, a light roast, a dark roast.
“Four already today, to be honest with you.”
But unlike some NCAA Tournment sites, where players don’t even really have the option to be comfortable outside, San Diego at least allows a brief break from the routines.
“You can get out and you can walk,” Calhoun said. “I think it’s really important to keep perspective, obviously with all the media and the hoopla of the NCAA Tournament. I encourage our guys to get outside and walk. I think it’s refreshing for them.”
Having arrived on Wednesday, two days before the Wildcats’ first-round game against LIU, UA coach Tommy Lloyd and his family joined other staffers and families at a Solano Beach pizza restaurant owned by former Wildcat guard Matt Othick.
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, middle, reacts toward players during the second half in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against LIU, Friday, March 20, 2026, in San Diego.
There, they found not games, but the big picture that can build around them. A family.
“I think (Othick) told anybody that had any affiliation with the Arizona Wildcats to show up … I was expecting a small little get-together of a few players,” Lloyd said. “But man, the place was hopping. It was great to hang out with guys like (former UA players) Jud Buechler and Kevin Flanagan. These guys are great Wildcats. They’re the fabric to our program.”
