Probably wasn't too much of a surprise within the Arizona basketball program to see walk-on guard Paulo Cruz break the Sean Miller-era preseason mile run record with a time of 5:06 earlier this week.
If you were watching the opening ceremonies of the Rio Olympics, you might have briefly seen Cruz's dad, Joaquim, helping hold the Olympic flag (He's third from the left in this photo). That's because Joaquim won gold in the 800 meters at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and silver in 1988 at Seoul.
"His father, who has a gold medal, taught him well!" Miller posted on Twitter.
What might have been a bigger surprise, even after Miller raved last month about how Dusan Ristic has become the hardest-working big man he's ever had: That the Serbian 7-footer propelled his massive frame through a mile in just 5:41.
Miller also said Parker Jackson-Cartwright posted the third-best time ever in the annual preseason tradition, posting a 5:20, behind only T.J. McConnell and Cruz.
Joaquim Cruz, now living in the San Diego area and also known for his work with Paralympic athletes, had to keep his appearance in the Opening Ceremonies a secret.
New UA commit DeAndre Ayton says he hopes to get Miller to his first-ever Final Four in 2017-18. But there's also that matter of 2016-17, when the Final Four will be staged in Phoenix.
Ayton isn't dismissing that from happening, either.
"Oh yeah," he said this week. They now have "Kobi Simmons, Rawle Alkins? They're men against boys. Rawle, I've seen him play and he's a monster, and U of A has really helped him. He's got a little body fat off and is all muscle now. Kobi got a lot bigger as well.
"They're going to be a good team. They’re young, too, but it’s going to be a fun year for them."
Ayton had a chance to meet with the Wildcats during a relatively under-the-radar unofficial recruiting visit to Tucson last month. That visit may have convinced him so much that he decided to announce his college choice before the fall in-home visits started this weekend -- when a couple of guys named Bill Self and John Calipari were expected to visit and pitch some alternative options.
“I knew already. The first visit” to Arizona, Ayton said. “To be honest, I didn’t feel like that at Kentucky. Just couldn’t see myself playing there.”
Ayton should be easy to catch this season for UA fans. Though the date isn't set yet, his Hillcrest Prep team is likely to play at Pima College sometime next month, and will have a number of other games against junior college teams planned around the state in addition to its national high school schedule.
Hillcrest coach Kyle Weaver, who estimates he has eight Division I prospects on this season's team, says he likes facing juco teams because of their age and experience level. Ayton and Marvin Bagley III each had 30 points against Phoenix College last November before Bagley left the program.
"I like playing junior colleges because you're playing guys who are 18 or even 30 year old," Weaver said. "It's great, especially with DeAndre. He's playing against bigger guys who are gonna make him work."
Apparently, Nov. 11 is gonna be a busy day at Hawaii's Stan Sheriff Center, and not just because UA and the rest of the Armed Forces Classic doubleheader has been moved there. There's also a couple of Rainbow Classic games that need to be crammed in, including one involving the home team.
The Mercury-News' Jon Wilner says maybe all that effort the Pac-12 is putting into Australia will help recruiting, at least in basketball. Already, the Australian National Team had former WSU big men Brock Motum and Aron Baynes, plus ex-Utah center Andrew Bogut, facing the Pac-12's exhibition team in July.
Oregon coach Dana Altman (surprise) gets yet another 6-8 guy with versatility for 2017-18 in Georgetown transfer Paul White.
Retooling Utah has been downgraded on the Pac-12 TV slate.
