Arizona men’s basketball head coach Tommy Lloyd has announced that former West Coast Conference Player of the Year Kevin Pangos is joining the Wildcats staff as an assistant coach. Pangos played at Gonzaga while Lloyd was an assistant coach and has gone on to a successful professional playing career.
“We are excited to welcome Kevin, his wife, Kate, and their family to Tucson,” Lloyd said. “As a player, both in college and professionally, he has shown the ability to impact winning at a high level. More than that, he is an incredible person and has a great mind for the game and we are looking forward to adding him to our staff as he begins his coaching career.”
Pangos played at Gonzaga for four seasons (2012-15) and was a Third Team All-American and the West Coast Conference Player of the Year as a senior. He helped the Zags to the second Elite Eight appearance in program history while setting a school record with 35 wins, including a 22-game winning streak. As a team, Pangos and the Zags won three straight regular season and conference tournament titles.
“I am grateful to Coach Lloyd for this opportunity to start the next chapter of my career in basketball,” Pangos said. “The success he has had as a head coach has been impressive to watch from afar the last five years, so being able to join an already incredible coaching staff is an honor. My family and I can’t wait to get to Tucson and get started.”
Individually, Pangos’ name can be found throughout the Gonzaga record book. He is the school’s all-time leader in 3-pointers (322) and is in the top five in points, assists and steals. He is the only player in school history to finish with 1,700 points, 500 assists and 150 steals while earning all-WCC honors all four seasons. Pangos was named to the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team and garnered all-WCC academic team distinction.
Earlier this month, he announced his retirement from professional basketball after 10 years competing all across the globe. He had stops in Spain, Lithuania, Russia, Italy and Turkey along with a season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2021-22.
He earned All-EuroLeague Second Team honors with Zalgiris in 2017-18 and then First Team All-EuroLeague honors with Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2020-21.
Pangos also has national team experience with his home country of Canada, winning a bronze medal at the 2009 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and then picking up another bronze medal the follow year at the 2010 FIBA U17 World Cup and was named to the all-tournament team.
A 2015 graduate of Gonzaga University, Pangos earned his undergraduate degree in Physical Education in addition to a minor in sport management.
Pangos, a native of Holland Landing, Ontario, Canada, and his wife, Kate, have three children – Olivia, Deklan and Luke.
