At Arizona, Senior Day is all but obsolete.
The Wildcats’ best players almost always leave before they are seniors, leaving ceremonies around the last home game of the season typically for role players and the odd standout who decides to return in an effort to improve his NBA stock or get a degree.
But Gabe York put together a memorable, old-fashioned Senior Day in 2016. Actually, he made it a Senior Week.
First, York hit three 3-pointers over the final 2:39 to lead Arizona to a 64-61 comeback win over Cal in the second-to-last game.
Then, two days later, he tied a school record with nine 3-pointers in the Wildcats’ 94-62 blowout win over Stanford.
“When you leave the Cal game like we did, I didn’t know how that would translate today,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “I thought maybe we’d have to settle him down. But, geez, he just picked up where he left off.”
York, who is now playing in the D-League, will no doubt remember the night forever. And so might everyone in the sold-out, crazed atmosphere in McKale Center that day.
“I just talked to a couple of my family members who were here on Thursday and they talked about how they had never heard McKale so loud,” York said. “I had a couple of people who have been going to games for 30 or 40 years say the same thing. I think what happened in that scenario was even louder.
“It was just a great feeling. It’s a blessing to be a part of this.”
