Clint Myers succeeded Mike Candrea as Central Arizona College’s softball coach in 1987. He went 429-102 at CAC and almost made them forget Candrea.
When Arizona State hired Myers, he immediately became one of the best in the game. He led the Sun Devils to 2008 and 2011 NCAA championships and was the first to establish the UA-ASU softball series as a “can’t miss” weekend.
But Myers left for Auburn four years ago and ASU went flat, finishing 42-50-1 in the Pac-12 under three head coaches. Myers, 65, last week announced he is retiring. Saturday, an ESPN report detailed a toxic culture centered around Myers and his son Corey, a former Tigers assistant.
Arizona has benefited from the chaos. Within 24 hours of Myers’ retirement, Chandler Hamilton High School outfielder Ali Ashner, who hit .455 for the two-time state champions last spring, backed off of her commitment to play at Auburn and committed to play at Arizona.
How good is Ashner? She went 4 for 4 with three doubles in the state playoffs against a 29-6 Tucson High team in May, and was one of the leaders of a team that has produced eight Division I recruits the last two seasons.
Recruiting is the most unpredictable variable in college sports. Brooke Hill, daughter of Arizona’s 1996 NCAA Player of the Year Jenny Dalton Hill, hit .483 for Louisville’s Dunbar High School last season. She has committed to play at BYU. Brooke’s father, Marc Hill, who formerly worked in the UA athletic department, is now the senior executive athletic director at Kentucky.
You never know.
