Arizona coach stays and Michigan awaits the Wildcats for heavyweight game at a distracted Final Four

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — More than 24 hours before the first shot flew at a Final Four that really feels like a five-team affair, Arizona already had a win.

The Wildcats kept their coach from bolting to that fifth team — North Carolina.

Tommy Lloyd dropped the news of the contract extension that will keep him in Tucson through 2031 at Friday's news conference in advance of a titanic matchup against Michigan.

The meandering coaching search at one of the country's most storied programs has shared headlines with Saturday night's much-anticipated national semifinal that happens to feature two of Carolina's reported coaching targets.

"We’ve been able to get some things done the past couple days," Lloyd said.

Like Lloyd, Michigan coach Dusty May has spent most of this tournament batting down speculation that he might be the replacement for Hubert Davis, who was fired after the Tar Heels blew a 19-point lead in a loss to VCU in the first round of the tournament last month.

Not surprisingly, May was asked about it again the day before the big game.

“Yeah, I love it at Michigan, but you’ll never hear me comment on any other job unless Michigan lets me go and then I’ll comment on every job,” he said.

It's no big surprise that these two coaches are among the hottest commodities in hoops. Just look at the teams they brought to Indy.

There are no fewer than nine potential NBA stars sprinkled across the two rosters, which is why the winner of this, the second of Saturday night's semifinals, will almost certainly be a favorite against the UConn-Illinois winner in the undercard.

“It's the Final Four for a reason. It's the best teams, the best four," Arizona freshman Brayden Burries said. "UConn, Illinois, they're great teams. If we do win Saturday, we know we have a great shot at it. But no, we're not thinking about that now.”

Depending on which mock draft you check, Arizona's top NBA pick will either be Koa Peat (14 points, 5.5 rebounds) or Burries, a 16-point-a-game, McDonalds All-American who is shooting 68% from 3 over the tournament.

It's a striking stat for a team that attempted the third-lowest percentage of 3s in the country, if only because of all the tall, lanky talent it has across the court.

“We're doubling down on what we're good at, and we're believing in Coach Lloyd," said Arizona guard Jaden Bradley, a senior who has spent three years in Tucson after transferring from Alabama. “I like to get in the paint and get fouled. And when teams take that away, we're capable from 3 and we can knock those down, as well.”

Michigan is a 1 1/2-point favorite, according to the BetMGM Sportsbook, in a matchup of the top two teams in the KenPom rankings.

Michigan's best — but hardly its only — NBA prospect is Yaxel Lendeborg, who has scored 25, 23 and 27 in three straight blowout wins in the tournament.

Lendeborg came to Michigan last offseason from UAB. He was part of a quick rebuild, the likes of which are made possible in the era of the rapid-fire transfer portal. The architect is May, who himself arrived in Ann Arbor two seasons ago, just a year removed from a Final Four appearance with Florida A&M.

Michigan's four top scorers — Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara and Elliot Cadeau — played at different colleges last season.

May conceded to feeling some relief now that the transfer portal is considered a legit way to build a roster. Gone are the days of spending hundreds of hours recruiting high schoolers, only to learn that they've chosen someplace else.

“When I say we’re saving time, we don’t waste time with all the other things,” May said. “We still have to do our research. We still have the intel. We still have to spend an inordinate amount of time. We just don’t have to spend it the way we used to.”

As this Final Four is showing, it's not just the players whose every move is under a microscope.

“I didn’t want to make this entire Final Four about that because I’m just a small part of something much bigger,” Lloyd said of his contract extension. “But on that same note, I’d also like to let you know that North Carolina is an amazing place. I mean, it’s a one of one. It’s an honor to even be considered for that job.”

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Arizona guard Brayden Burries smiles after a win over Purdue in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)

Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg passes during practice ahead of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Michigan head coach Dusty May watches during practice ahead of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd watches during practice ahead of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against against Michigan at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV lifted a wooden cross and held it aloft from his waist at the start of the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope has set out to carry the cross to every station.

“I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week outside of the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.”

Inside the Colosseum, Leo began the procession flanked by two young people holding torches, and followed by clergy.

At the first station, marking the moment Jesus was condemned to death, the meditation prepared especially for Leo's first Good Friday underlined that those with authority will have to answer to God for how they exercise their power.

"The power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge, or for reconciliation,'' read the meditation written by Rev. Francesco Patton, who was custodian of the Holy Land 2016-25, charged, among other things, with looking after sacred sites.

Thousands gathered outside the pagan monument, where the procession continued, following the stations as they were recited over loud speakers.

They included Sister Pelenatita Kieoma Finau from Samoa and a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.

"We have been part of our parish stations of the cross, but this is so exciting. It is very meaningful to have the experience of being with the people of Rome on this special occasion,'' she said.

John Paul II carried the cross for the entire procession from his first Good Friday as pontiff in 1979 until his hip surgery in 1995, when he carried it just part of the way, according to AP reports at the time.

For the first two years of his papacy, Benedict XVI carried the cross for the first station inside the Colosseum, then followed other bearers in the procession that ends on a platform on the Palatine Hill.

Pope Francis never carried the cross, but participated in the procession until his health worsened. He died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, which fell on April 21.

Pope John Paul II was just 58 when he became pope, and was known as a hiker and outdoorsman. His two successors were in their late 70s when they began their papacies, and Francis was missing part of a lung due to a pulmonary infection as a young man.

The Way of the Cross commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, from his death sentence to taking up the cross to his crucifixion, death and burial. The procession ends outside the Colosseum atop the Palatine Hill.

“The Way of the Cross is not intended for those who lead a pristinely pious or abstractly recollected life,” Patton wrote in his introduction. “Instead, it is the exercise of one who knows that faith, hope and charity must be incarnated in the real world.”

At 70, Leo is physically fit and an avid tennis player and swimmer. Before becoming pope, Leo would work out regularly at a gym near the Vatican, with a plan befitting a man in his early 50s, according to his former trainer.

On Holy Saturday, the pontiff will preside over a late night Easter vigil, during which he will baptize new Catholics, and lead Roman Catholics into Christianity’s most joyous celebration marking Christ’s resurrection.

On Easter Sunday, the pope will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his Easter message and offer the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the city of Rome and the world.

——

Barry reported from Milan.

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful attend the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession led by Pope Leo XIV at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV attends the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Catholic Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2026 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV attends the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Catholic Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2026 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)