Hansen's Sunday Notebook: These guys with Arizona ties wouldn't cut it as Sean Miller's replacement

Arizona coaching tree offers few reasonable option if Cats make a change

The supply of basketball coaches with Arizona blood goes 15 deep, but you can quickly reduce that to 13 because Luke Walton and Steve Kerr aren’t walking in the McKale Center door to clean up Sean Miller’s mess if the UA coach is soon fired.

Here’s the status of the remaining 13:

James Whitford, Ball State. One of Miller’s original UA assistants, Whitford, 46, has restored Ball State to something resembling a power in his fifth season. The Cardinals are 19-10 and in second place in the MAC West division.

Josh Pastner, Georgia Tech. That ship has sailed.

Joe Pasternack, UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos are 20-7 in Pasternack’s first year in the Big West. But his name is all over the FBI investigation. Next.

Damon Stoudamire, Pacific. The former UA All-American and two-year assistant coach did not click with Miller. That might be a good thing. The Tigers are 14-16 in his second year.

Jack Murphy, NAU. The Lumberjacks have tumbled dramatically and are 5-23, in last place in the Big Sky Conference. Once a rising star in the coaching game, Murphy has been told he will be given another chance in 2018-19.

Ken Burmeister, Incarnate Word. At the end of his career, one of Lute Olson’s original Arizona assistants and former head coach at UTSA and Loyola-Chicago is 0-15 in the Southland Conference.

Jason Gardner, IUPUI. The 2001 Final Four point guard has struggled mightily in the Horizon League for three years, sitting at 11-17 this season, in danger of losing his job.

Russ Pennell, Central Arkansas. After two last-place seasons in the Southland Conference, Arizona’s 2008-09 interim head coach has rebounded nicely, 13-15 this season.

Mike Dunlap, Loyola Marymount. Pennell’s No. 2 man in Arizona’s ‘09 Sweet 16 season is in his third down year at LMU, Dunlap is 9-19. He’s not moving up soon.

Matt Brase, Rio Grande Valley Vipers. After reaching the G League finals last year, Brase is near the top again, second place in the Southwest Division. He’s 35. He’s respected. His career is on an upward trajectory.

Archie Miller, Indiana. Next.

Lorenzo Romar, Arizona assistant. A week ago I would have bet Romar would be the next head coach at Pepperdine, where his head coaching career began. But now that a former Washington player has been linked to the FBI investigation, Romar will be viewed as untouchable by some.

Jesse Mermuys, Lakers assistant. An NBA assistant coach for 11 years, now on Walton’s staff with the Lakers, Mermuys is a Salpointe Catholic grad and former UA director of operations. He was the Toronto Raptors’ summer league head coach and seems to be a head-coach-in-waiting.

Arizona’s search for a basketball coach will be operated as much with risk-management in mind than won-lost records.

Ex-Lancer, Wildcat Mike Crawford acting as Utes' head coach

Former Salpointe and UA pitcher Mike Crawford, later a UA assistant coach, has been acting as Utah’s head coach the first five games of the baseball season. He is unfortunately 0-5. The Utes suspended head coach Bill Kinneberg, a former Arizona pitcher and assistant coach, for the first 14 games of the upcoming season for an NCAA rules violation involving a former staff member who engaged in impermissible practice and coaching activities. Kinneberg cannot participate in team functions, including practices and games during the suspension. He may return to the bench March 12 against UNLV.

Kevin Sumlin offers five-star D-lineman, who holds offers from Utah and UO

Arizona football coach Kevin Sumlin has been aggressive, as one should expect, in his initial recruiting activities. He offered a scholarship to Salt Lake City five-star defensive lineman Siaki Ika of East High School, who has already been offered by Utah and Oregon, among others. It’s promising insofar as Sumlin wasted no time in establishing connections with Polynesian recruits. Ika last week withdrew his commitment to play at BYU.

How times change

Sabino High School used to play the heavy-hitters of high school football in Arizona, winning three state championships and playing in the title game nine times in a 25-year period under Jeff Scuran and Jay Campos. But enrollment shifts in the TUSD have changed the landscape; second-year coach Ryan McBrayer last week announced a 2018 Sabercats schedule that includes Safford, Lakeside Blue Ridge, Ben Franklin, Casa Grande, Tanque Verde and Pusch Ridge Christian.

Arizona doing the right thing by legend Jerry Kindall

As you drive in the area’s surrounding Hi Corbett Field, you will see street banners honoring some of the top Arizona MLB players, including Terry Francona, Shelley Duncan, J.T. Snow, Nick Hundley and Mark Melancon. The UA has also done the right thing by putting Jerry Kindall's jersey No. 9 on the right-center field wall. Coach Jay Johnson's team will play in a Super Bowl setting this weekend, playing Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan State in the U.S. Bank Stadium in the Pac-12 vs. Big 10 challenge. Maybe the Wildcats will inherit some Nick Foles karma.

Sam Beskind wraps up stellar career at Catalina Foothills

Catalina Foothills High School senior guard Sam Beskind completed one of the most productive careers in Tucson history last week. He averaged 22.1 points, 11.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists this season, and was part of 87 victories for coach Doug D’Amore over the years. Beskind scored 1,383 career points.

Utter father-son combo not to be overlooked

Last week I listed six of the top father-son basketball combinations in Tucson prep basketball history. I omitted two that belong high on that list: Rincon/University coach Rich Utter, who is nearing 500 career victories, and his son, Chris Utter, a two-time All-Southern Arizona first-team selection — Chris now coaches with his father at Rincon — and Pat Derksen of Amphi, who won more than 300 career games, and his son Tim Derksen, who was Arizona’s 2011 state player of the year. Tim Derksen has returned to action in Spain’s EuroLeague after a productive career at USF.

Former CDO star Nick Ames tearing it up at UNLV

Nick Ames helped CDO win the 2015 state baseball championship. Now in his third year at UNLV, he is as productive as ever. He was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week last week, hitting three home runs in four games, as well as hitting a double and triple in a victory over Oregon. Ames starts at first base for the Rebels; he hit a team-high 11 home runs a year ago.

Pima freshman could be trending toward player of the year honors

Pima College freshman point guard JJ Nakai, from Flagstaff, last week was named the ACCAC Player of the Week for the fourth time. That’s Khalil Tate territory. Nakai has a chance to be the ACCAC Player of the Year when awards are distributed this week. She averages 17.3 points, second in the league, and is tops in assists, with 6.8 per game. PCC coach Todd Holthaus should be seriously considered as coach of the year, again. He replaced all five starters from last year’s 23-8 team and went into Saturday’s game against Mesa College with a 21-7 record. It might be his best coaching job yet.

Dave Cosgrove will double dip with FC Tucson, Pima Aztecs

When Pima College men’s soccer coach Dave Cosgrove last week agreed to become head coach of FC Tucson, it meant you won’t be seeing him on a SoCal beach this summer. Cosgrove, who has won 302 games at Pima and was inducted into the NJCAA Soccer Hall of Fame five years ago, will coach FC Tucson from May 12 to late July. His Pima College season begins in late August. The teams will often practice and workout together. Cosgrove, who was 19-5-3 last year, reaching the NJCAA finals tournament, has double-dipped for years. From 1998-2002 he coached Pima College and Amphitheater High School teams in the same year. In addition, he has been the backbone of the exceptional Tucson Soccer Academy, a year-round program, for more than 15 years. When you ask Cosgrove if he’s got a few minutes for an interview, you know the clock is ticking on those “few minutes.”

Brian Peabody, coach of No. 8 Aztecs, candidate for coach of the year

Pima College’s men’s basketball coach, Brian Peabody, is sure to be the ACCAC’s men’s basketball coach of the year when the awards are announced this week. The No. 8 Aztecs won their 25th game last week, at Central Arizona, breaking the school record of 24 wins set in 1989-90. I watched the PCC-Phoenix College game last week and the Aztecs played without their leading player, Cienega grad Keven Biggs, who was out with an ankle injury. Once Biggs returns, the Aztecs are in position to challenge for the national championship next month.

Heisman Trophy winner golfs, raises money in Tucson

1983 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier of Nebraska was in Tucson last week to help raise money for former Cornhusker athletes in need of financial assistance for injuries and health issued that may be connected to their college sports days. Rozier played golf in a fund-raiser at Starr Pass and then attended a dinner and auction at a downtown hotel for the Nebraska Greats Foundation. Good cause, for sure.

Tucson Festival of Books flush with top sports authors

One of the best sports days of the year in Tucson — at the Tucson Festival of Books — promises to be Saturday, March 10 on the UA Mall at 1 p.m.

That’s when four of America’s leading sports authors — Leigh Montville, Jim Johnson, Erica Westly and Scott Simon — will appear on a panel with moderator Dana Cooper.

Montville, who was a world-class sports columnist at the Boston Globe and for Sports Illustrated, will discuss his new book “Sting Like a Bee,” about Muhammad Ali’s political and cultural implications.

Johnson, a distinguished former UA professor, wrote The Black Bruins, which is, among other things, a look back at the career of Jackie Robinson at UCLA.

Simon wrote “My Cubs: A Love Story,” which, of course, reaches a happy ending at the 2016 World Series.

And Westly wrote “Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game.” That topic should play in Tucson as much or more than any other community.

About 15 years ago, Montville wrote “The Big Bam,” a book on Babe Ruth that I believe is the best of its kind on America’s leading sports legend.

My two cents: Ismael Galindo built Pueblo's girls hoops program from the ground up

If you comb through the history of high school basketball in Tucson, you might never come across a story to match that of Pueblo High School’s girls basketball team.

The Warriors lost in the state championship Saturday to Seton Catholic, which is something like the UConn of girls prep basketball in Arizona, but the fact that coach Ismael Galindo's team got that far is remarkable.

Seven years ago, he applied for five coaching positions in Tucson. Only Pueblo gave him an interview. His background was coaching youth leagues.

He inherited a program that had gone 19-58. It was so tough that he went 4-18 in his first season.

“I was overwhelmed,” he told me.

Then, steadily, he went on to go 25-5, 26-2 and 31-2. His teams had no size, no college prospects. They just won.

Galindo dropped out of high school at 16, got his GED at 25, graduated from college at 33. He worked in neighborhood youth centers and now works full-time for the Tucson Parks and Recreation department.

And, in his “spare time,” has developed one of the top stories ever to come down the street in Tucson sports.