Seen and heard in LA: On honoring Walton, Intuit Dome flashiness, and radio pinch-hitters

Seen and heard from Arizona men’s basketball’s Hall of Fame Series game vs. UCLA in Inglewood, Calif.

LOS ANGELES — Because producing a Pac-12 battle between Arizona and UCLA at Pauley Pavilion or McKale Center isn’t possible anymore, maybe Friday night’s game at the Intuit Dome was the best possible setting for paying tribute to Bill Walton.

The former basketball star and television analyst, who died in May 2024 at 71 just as the Pac-12 was breaking apart, was posthumously honored during Friday’s nonconference game between Arizona and UCLA.

Those were the two teams, of course, that featured the Bruins he played for and the Wildcats that his son, Luke, played for — and the program Bill Walton often praised during the frequent tangents that often marked his colorful broadcasts.

Meanwhile, the setting at the Los Angeles Clippers’ homecourt made for a tie to the five years Walton spent with the franchise between their days in San Diego and Los Angeles — and the game was sponsored by the Basketball Hall of Fame, of which Walton is a member.

During a halftime ceremony for Walton’s friends and family, UCLA legend Jamal Wilkes said he still remembers how Walton had balls bouncing crazily in the locker room before games.

“That’s kind of how he felt about everything,” Wilkes said. “He was so passionate and enthusiastic about everything. I love the man and I miss him.”

Before and during the game, UCLA students wore tie-dye T-shirts in Walton’s honor, while players from both teams wore No. 32 warm-up shirts in his honor. Music from Walton’s favorite band, the Grateful Dead, was occasionally played, too.

State-of-the-art facility

The Los Angeles Clippers never owned their own building before last year, but owner Steve Ballmer went all out when they finally built one.

The $2 billion Intuit Dome is built to resemble a giant basketball net, featuring a watertight mesh ceiling that manages to bring in natural light and air flow. It was designed for a light ecological footprint, with solar panels and low-carbon concrete and engineered to hold up in earthquakes.

Inside, instead of central air conditioning or heating, there are 8,000 “air plenums” that supply air systems behind individual seats. Fans can watch the action on the “Halo Board,” an oval-shaped structure full of video screens and stat board, with multiple screens available for every line of sight.

During timeouts, lights at the base of seats flashed whatever team colors were needed at the moment on Friday, including those for USC during its earlier game against Illinois State, as well as for UCLA and Arizona.

Pinch hitters

Fans who listen to UA men’s basketball radio broadcasts regularly received a surprise Friday.

Not only was play-by-play broadcaster Brian Jeffries unable to make it, with the UA football team scheduled to play Saturday morning in Cincinnati, but a scheduling conflict also knocked out road radio analyst Reggie Geary.

Jeffries was replaced by his son, Brody Dryden, while former UA standout Matt Muehlebach, who is normally a television analyst, filled in for Geary.

“They brought me out of the bullpen,” Muehlebach said. Like former Royals pitcher “Dan Quisenberry, since I’m from Kansas City.”

‘Economics of words’

Muehlebach, who is scheduled to work college basketball telecasts for FS1, Peacock and ESPN this season, says working a radio game makes for a notable change in “cadence and flow” from doing a television broadcast.

Muehlebach said air time during a typical television broadcast is typically shared about 50-50 between play-by-play announcers and analysts, with the analyst sometimes taking more of the air time. In radio, where the play-by-play announcer must verbally draw a picture of the action, analysts keep much quieter.

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“The economics of words,” Muehlebach said.

Home away from home

UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion may reek of tradition as much as any college basketball venue on the West Coast, but shiny new things are cool with Bruins coach Mick Cronin, too.

The Bruins played Gonzaga at Intuit Dome shortly after it opened last fall, and Cronin says he’s hoping to add other games after the Bruins faced Arizona there on Friday.

“It’s an unreal place to watch a game,” Cronin said before Friday’s game. It’s “maybe the best basketball arena that was built for basketball — in the world. It’s only a few miles away so we might as well try to play there once a year.”

Single Cam

Already with a commitment from four-star Goodyear Millennium forward Cameron Holmes in hand, UA coach Tommy Lloyd was asked earlier this week if he hoped to sign one or two players during the fall signing period that began Wednesday.

“Maybe we could pull a rabbit out of a hat or two, I don’t know,” he said. “Let’s see what happens.”

While Holmes announced his commitment to the Wildcats on Monday, another Cam, Phoenix St. Mary’s forward Cameron Williams, announced Friday that he chose Duke over UA and Texas, where former UA coach Sean Miller was recruiting him.

“I feel like the coaches have truly believed in me,” Williams said of Duke after announcing his decision on CBS Sports HQ. “I feel like they see me going there and producing a lot, having a big role. And it’s been childhood dream since I was little, playing for Duke. It’s just exciting. I can’t wait.”

Wiiliams was on hand when the Blue Devils beat the Wildcats at McKale Center last season, and also attended the Arizona-BYU game at McKale. He took an official visit last month during the weekend when UA played Saint Mary’s in an exhibition game.

While the Wildcats lost to both Duke and BYU at McKale Center, Williams indicated the experience didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for Arizona.

“It was amazing,” Williams told the Star during Section 7. “Just to see how those guys came together, even though they lost, it was a great game to see. I’m glad I went there. It was a great experience.”

Pretend Pac-12

Because the Big Ten has assigned UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon to play each other twice each season — and all other Big Ten schools just once — the formerly Midwestern-based conference has essentially created a mini-Pac-12 division.

And with UCLA also adding Arizona and ASU to its nonconference schedule this season, the Bruins will have a total of eight games against former Pac-12 teams overall in 2025-26.

But all this makes Cronin wonder: Is there really any extra meaning to the rest of the Big Ten games?

“What’s the difference between those and your non-league games,” Cronin said to the Star and Blue Ribbon Yearbook about the Midwestern-based Big Ten teams he now faces. “I don’t even know if conferences matter anymore. We’re just in an era, even football, where all that matters for us is the playoffs, the NCAA Tournament.”

The big number

7: Arizona wins in its past nine games against UCLA.

Quotable

“He’s everything you’d think a guy from Lithuania would be — tough as nails, big, strong. I probably couldn’t party with Krivas. I probably couldn’t stay with him.” — Cronin on UA center Motiejus Krivas, before Friday’s game