The year in review: Tucson's top 10 sports stories of 2018

For a town so based on Arizona’s basketball and football fortunes, 2018 could have been looked at as a truly disastrous year.

Instead, with one pick in the NBA Draft and three touchdowns in the Super Bowl, things in Tucson took a turn for the better.

Here we look at the 10 top sports stories in Tucson for 2018. On Tuesday, we’ll look at the 10 worst, but hope springs eternal Wednesday, when we look forward to 10 of the stories that will dominate the 2019 sports landscape.

First, Deandre Ayton took over Brooklyn, becoming the first No. 1 pick in Arizona history at the Barclays Center on June 21.

Then, just a few months later, Allonzo Trier took a bite out of the Big Apple, giving the Wildcats two big rookie splashes this season.

Of course Ayton, off to a terrific start with the Phoenix Suns, is the bigger deal. Ayton opened his career averaging better than 16 points and nearly 11 boards in his first 10 weeks on the job, topping 20 points eight times, including four straight games in mid-late December. This wasn’t a surprise after Ayton averaged 20.1 points and 11.6 rebounds in his one season at Arizona, where he was named a consensus first-team All-American while earning Pac-12 regular-season and tournament MVP honors.

Trier’s immediate success in New York? More of a surprise. The embattled Arizona star, who missed parts of two seasons because of suspensions and was an undrafted rookie free agent, signed with the Knicks on a two-way contract. But by October, it was clear he’d be in the big leagues, rather than in the G-League. By mid-November, he blossomed into a scoring threat for New York, scoring a career-high 25 points in a Nov. 23 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Less than three weeks later, Trier signed a new, full-time contract with the Knicks, becoming the first two-way player to sign a guaranteed NBA contract within the first two months of the season.

Pair the man who turned Johnny Manziel into Johnny Football with perhaps the best combination of arm and legs since Johnny Football turned into Johnny Heisman? Sure, makes sense.

Arizona made a splash — though perhaps not the splash it wanted — when it reeled in former Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin in mid-January to become its 31st head coach, replacing the fired Rich Rodriguez.

Sumlin, who went 56-21 in six years at Texas A&M but only 5-7 in his first season with the Wildcats, was brought in for his offensive acumen and his ability to guide Khalil Tate, who opened the season with ample Heisman hype.

“This is a tremendous day for Arizona football and I am thrilled to welcome Kevin to our family,” Wildcats athletic director Dave Heeke said after the hire. “He is a proven winner who will have an immediate impact on not only our football program, but also on our department and university.”

Nick Foles, Super Bowl MVP.

Before last February, that may have seemed ridiculous. But after the miraculous run that Foles had in Carson Wentz’s stead late last year — and watching what he’s doing with Wentz injured this year — perhaps it’s not so crazy.

Foles stepped in after Wentz tore his ACL in Week 14, helping the Eagles clinch their first division title in four years. A week later, the former Wildcats star threw for four touchdowns in a win over the New York Giants.

But during the playoffs, and indeed in the Super Bowl, Foles was nearly flawless. The longtime backup had 352 passing yards and three touchdowns to lead the Eagles to an upset win over Minnesota in the NFC Championship game, then followed up with a 373-yard, three-touchdown game in the title game, even catching a touchdown pass.

Though thousands of miles away, Arizona fans cheered for their former QB.

It’s not often a Heisman candidate returns for his senior season. But Khalil Tate is nothing normal. The Swiss Army Knife quarterback gave Arizona and head coach Kevin Sumlin an early Christmas announcement as it was announced on Dec. 19 that Tate would be back in Tucson in 2019 in a bid to improve his draft stock and Arizona’s record. Perhaps, after rushing for just 224 yards as a junior while battling a sprained left ankle, Tate had few options.

But after he grew as a quarterback, finishing with 2,530 passing yards and a sterling 26-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio, Tate returns for his senior year hoping to be healthy and right as he shows off for pro scouts in his last season.

After an NFL draft evaluation pegged Tate’s draft status as outside the first two rounds, the decision became easier.

Still, it bodes well for the Wildcats.

Sure, Sean Miller collecting a top-five recruiting class in the face of mounting scrutiny from both the NCAA and federal investigators is a feat to be proud of. With Nico Mannion and Josh Green heading a heralded class, the Wildcats should right the ship in no time. As of press time, with the verbal commitment of Zeke Nnaji, Arizona had the top incoming class in the country. Astounding.

Maybe more shocking is the recruiting success of Adia Barnes and the UA women’s program. Despite a 6-24 record in 2018, Arizona brought in the best recruiting class in program history.

Led by Cate Reese, the first McDonald’s All-American in program history, and with Washington transfer Aari McDonald running the point — and ranking in the top five in the nation in scoring at nearly 25 points per game — the Wildcats are off to an 11-1 start in 2018-19.

After an 18-year drought, the Arizona women’s golf team claimed its third national championship.

Haley Moore dropped in a birdie putt on the sudden-death 19th hole to lift the Wildcats to the title over Alabama in late-May, the team’s third consecutive overwhelming upset. No. 8-ranked Arizona needed surprise wins over UCLA and Stanford to prevent the Crimson Tide from winning their second title in six years, helping lift the Pac-12 to its fourth consecutive women’s golf crown.

As if the success of the Pima College men’s basketball team wasn’t enough this year — and the Aztecs’ runner-up finish at the NJCAA championship tournament was pretty darned good — then the program’s men’s soccer championship became the feather in the cap the school coveted.

In setting a program record with 31 wins, shattering the previous mark by seven, the men’s basketball team eclipsed already lofty expectations for head coach Brian Peabody, advancing all the way to the title game before falling to No. 1 seed Triton College, 89-85.

The men’s soccer team, led by head coach Dave Cosgrove, a former Pima player himself, did one better.

The Aztecs won their first national title in program history with a dominant defense led by goalie Nils Roth and a star-studded offense led by 30-goal scorer Hugo Kametani, culminating with a double-overtime victory against No. 3 Barton in Daytona Beach, Florida.

“It’s historic,” Cosgrove said. “We won 18 games in a row, for the first time in school history. And in those 18 games, we trailed for nine minutes.

“We’ve given up less goals this year than any team in history.”

In just their second season, the Tucson Roadrunners clinched the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division and scored a 3-1 series win over San Jose in the first round of the playoffs before falling, 4-1, to the Texas Stars.

The Roadrunners rode the hot hand of goalkeeper Adin Hill, who posted a sparkling 2.28 goals-against average in a 19-11-4 season, sparking a 13-win turnaround for Tucson. Hill was at his best late in the regular season, including a 4-0 division-clinching win at San Diego, a game in which he saved a season-high 36 shots.

Tucson sports fans who are looking for some sports action during the mostly down time of February to June got a brand-new toy to play with as the Indoor Football League announced its seventh franchise in mid-August. The Sugar Skulls will join franchises in Phoenix; Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Sioux Falls, Iowa; Grand Island, Neb.; and Green Bay, Wis.

“It’s an untapped market,” said Kevin Guy, the team’s primary owner, along with his wife, Cathy. “This is a niche product that’s going to fill the lull season in the sports world from March to April and running until (UA) football starts up again in the fall.”

The Sugar Skulls will play at the Tucson Arena, which will be transformed from a hockey arena into a football venue.

Arizona thrower Jordan Geist entered college with high expectations. However, few could have predicted his immediate success.

The Wildcats freshman set an indoor freshman record in the shot put with a throw of 70 feet, 4.5 inches; this after taking home both the shot put and discus titles at the Pac-12 championships, for which he was named Pac-12 freshman of the year. He also piled up first-team All-American honors in the shot put and second in the discus.

By the time he’s done in Tucson, the potential future-Olympian will likely have shattered all of Arizona’s throwing records.