Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Wildcats have proud baseball heritage; time to display it
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Star sports columnist Greg Hansen offers his opinion on recent sports news.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Wildcats have proud baseball heritage; it's time to display it
The outfield fence at Hi Corbett Field has seven tastefully displayed advertisements and the names and numbers of three Arizona players who died too young — Kelsey Osburn, Lee Franklin and “Button” Salmon.
The school displays the name and number of just one of its many star-level players, Terry Francona, No. 32, who has the left-field wall to himself.
It seems so minimalistic, especially when the growing McKale Center Ring of Honor includes Stanley Johnson, who was in Tucson for a few months and averaged just 13.8 points per game.
By comparison, the “Wall of Honor” at ASU’s Municipal Stadium celebrates the Sun Devils’ remarkable baseball history with the names and numbers of 17 players, from Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando to Dustin Pedroia and Barry Bonds.
Arizona needs to do more to magnify its baseball tradition, one that ranks with any in college baseball.
ASU’s requirements are tough; one must have been a conference player of the year, a first-team All-American, belong to the school’s Hall of Fame, or, beyond that, a MLB standout. It also retired the jersey numbers of coaches Jim Brock and Bobby Winkles, and put them on display.
It’s not too much. It is done tastefully.
Arizona should re-think its process and re-do the outfield walls with, at minimum, the names and numbers of future MLB Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman, and conference players of the year Chip Hale, Scott Erickson, Alan Zinter, Trevor Crowe and Alex Mejia.
But that’s not all. First-team All-Americans such as Eddie Leon, Dave Stegman, Carl Thomas, Shelley Duncan, Donnie Lee and distinguished major-leaguers Ron Hassey and Hank Leiber, the latter a former New York Giants All-Star, are conspicuously under-celebrated at Hi Corbett Field.
A visitor to Hi Corbett Field might notice a subtle “Baseball Legends Wall of Fame” plaque on the concourse behind home plate. It’s nice but far too understated.
Some baseball stadiums are cluttered with too much nostalgia and signage. Not Hi Corbett Field; it is notably underdressed.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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For Stevenses, state championships a family affair
Mark and Kristie Stevens met while working in the genetics department at University Medical Center. She had been a tennis player at Division III Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.; he was a baseball player who had been part of the Yavapai College program.
Yada, yada, yada, they got married, and Kristie became a teacher and tennis coach who has piloted Catalina Foothills’ girls tennis team to an impressive 13 state championships. Mark became head of the UA’s anatomical pathology department and a Little League baseball and softball coach.
Last week, Mark added to the family’s state championship bounty, coaching the Catalina Foothills softball team to the state Division III championship. To make it a better story, their daughter, Natalie, a .317-hitting third baseman, accepted a scholarship to play softball and study at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott.
Their son, Patrick, is a walk-on defensive back on the Arizona football team.
As far as I can research, there has never been a husband-wife coaching combination to win state championships in Arizona. This shouldn’t come as a surprise for those who followed Mark’s coaching career in the Canyon View Little League. After four years as president of the CVLL, one of the softball fields at Mehl Park was named Mark Stevens Field.
The Foothills state championship is filled with good story angles. The club’s pitching ace, sophomore Nicole Conway, who struck out 302 batters in 198 innings, is the daughter of Kevin Conway, who was a manager for Dick Tomey’s UA football teams. Nicole’s private pitching coach is former UA All-American Alicia Hollowell Dunn.
The club’s No. 2 pitcher, junior Sophie Plattner, is the granddaughter of Dr. David Alberts, former director of the UMC Cancer Center.
A year ago, Stevens’ third at CFHS, the Falcons lost games to traditional powers CDO, Ironwood Ridge and Sahuaro by scores of 25-3, 18-2 and 19-0. All of that has changed.
About the only disappointment in the Stevens’ house this season was that Kristie’s CFHS tennis team finished second in the state finals, narrowly missing her 14th state championship.
But a few days later her husband moved the family total to 14 – and growing.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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UA coach Nallen to attempt golf comeback at Sewailo
Arizona assistant men’s golf coach Chris Nallen, a three-time All-Pac-10 player who won his Web.Com Tour debut in 2004, will attempt something of a comeback Thursday in the U.S. Open local qualifying event at Sewailo Golf Course. Now 34, Nallen hasn’t played in a pro event since 2012 when he was forced to stop playing because of back surgery. The field at Sewailo includes many of Tucson’s top young players, including Trevor Werbylo, George Cunningham, Gavin Cohen and Jordan Gumberg, who finished second in the Pac-12 finals two weeks ago.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Salpointe, UA grad Prouty plays final stage of U.S. Open qualifying
Salpointe Catholic and UA grad Brian Prouty advanced to the final stage of U.S. Open qualifying last week, shooting a 4-under-par 68 at Southern Dunes in Maricopa. Prouty survived a four-man playoff for the final spot Thursday.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Ex-Arizona OC Canales reunites with ex-Cat Tuitama
Former UA offensive coordinator Mike Canales was out recruiting last week — he is the assistant head coach at Utah State — and one of his stops was at Pasadena’s La Salle High School. He walked into the coaching offices and there stood Willie Tuitama, the program-changing QB who Canales recruited to Arizona 11 years ago. The two men embraced and chatted about the Mike Stoops years. Tuitama works at the school and is an assistant coach; his sister, Tiare, has coached La Salle to four state volleyball titles.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Sabino grad Skuro helps Central Arizona to ACCAC title
Former Sabino High pitcher Ben Skuro helped pitch Central Arizona College to the ACCAC regular-season title. He was 7-2 with 55 strikeouts in 40º innings (and six saves) after transferring from Pima College. Skuro is likely to attend NAIA baseball power Missouri Baptist next season.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Flowing Wells grad Bracamonte a key to Phoenix College's run
Flowing Wells grad Arryanna Bracamonte had one of the top softball seasons of anyone in Tucson. She led Phoenix College to the regional title, eliminating Pima, with a home run to advance to the NJCAA World Series this week. Bracamonte hit .372 with 13 homers as the starting shortstop.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Tomita's team pulls off 'unthinkable' at gymnastics meet
Never one to disappoint on the national level, Gymnastics World coach Yoichi Tomita’s team of boy gymnasts “pulled the unthinkable” at last week’s Junior Nationals in Battle Creek, Michigan. Cienega’s Caleb Rodriguez won the national championship in the junior boys 18 division, winning the all-around and parallel bars competition. Tomita, whose gym has produced a national-high 13 gold medalists over the years, said Rodriguez’s performance was “unthinkable” because he won by 0.05 points in his last routine, the floor exercise. Angel Leon, who is probably Arizona’s leading boys gymnast, a 16-year-old at St. Augustine, was fourth overall in the USA Junior National Team finals. He will compete in St. Louis next month for a chance to make the USA Junior National team.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Former Wildcat Ashley averaging decent numbers in EuroLeague
In his first year after leaving the UA, Brandon Ashley has played in 13 games for ALBA Berlin in the EuroLeague. He was averaging 8.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 20.2 minutes per game entering a playoff game Saturday.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Onetime Wildcat Chol graduates from SDSU
Angelo Chol, who left Arizona and transferred to San Diego State after the 2012-13 basketball season, didn’t average more than 4.4 points for the Aztecs. But he graduated last week, earning a degree in general studies.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Cats can certainly use new transfer Smith's shooting
As recently as October 2014, Mobile, Alabama, shooting guard Dylan Smith was committed to play basketball at UT-Pan American. Now he’s on Arizona’s roster for his final three college seasons. Think the UA can use him? In an NCAA tournament loss to Villanova in March, Smith made four 3-point baskets for UNC-Asheville. In Arizona’s exit loss to Wichita State, no one made more than two 3-pointers.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Triathlete, UA grad Kanute headed to Rio for Olympics
If you know who to look for, you’ll see Ben Kanute swimming the dawn shift at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, pedaling furiously on the Rillito Bike Path and running some off-the-beaten-path trails in the Tucson Mountains. It all paid off for the 2014 UA grad on Saturday: By finishing 17th at the ITU World Triathlon in Yokohama, Japan, Kanute made the three-man 2016 USA Olympic team for Rio. Kanute, whose first competition this year was the Oro Valley Bicycle Omnium, trains with the UA TriCats, the school’s club triathlon organization.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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UA basketball's Cruz heavily invested in Rio Olympics
UA freshman walk-on basketball player Paulo Cruz is heavily invested in the 2016 Rio Olympics. His father, 1984 gold medal 800-meter runner Joaquim Cruz of Brazil, returned to Brazil last week to carry the Olympic torch through the streets of his hometown, Taguatinga.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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RichRod taking advantage of satellite camps
Rich Rodriguez is taking advantage of the NCAA’s decision to allow satellite scouting/evaluation camps. He has aligned with ex-UA and NFL linebacker Antonio Pierce, head coach of talent-blessed Long Beach Poly High School, and will join coaches from Boise State and Texas A&M in a camp at Poly on June 12.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Track and field finals cap best athletic season in PCC history
Greg Wenneborg’s Pima College No. 9 women’s and No. 11 men’s track and field teams compete in the NJCAA finals this week in Texas. It will cap the best athletic season in PCC history. There are three 7-foot high jumpers in Tucson — Mountain View’s Justice Summerset, the UA’s Bryant O’Georgia and Pima College freshman Sam Shoultz. What other city can make that statement? Pima jumps coach Chad Harrison, who coached Kaysee Pilgrim to multiple NJCAA high jump titles, is one of the top coaches in the country. His latest pupil is Amity Brown of Immaculate Heart High School, who won the girls state Division IV high jump for a second time last week and accepted a scholarship to Pima for 2016-17. Brown had a terrific career at Immaculate Heart; she became an “A” student and then a state champion under coach Tom Danehy, even though the school has neither a track, a high jump pit or a weight room. When she gets to Pima, she’ll have access to all those things.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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My two cents: Things lining up for Arizona's women's golf team
Arizona’s women’s golf program has been the school’s most consistently successful team over the last 25 years. You can look it up.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 10 entering the NCAA championships Friday in Eugene, Oregon, have qualified for the finals 23 times in the last 25 years. They’ve finished in the top 10 in 14 of those seasons, and won NCAA championships in 1996 and 2000. They’ve also won eight Pac-12 titles.
Coach Laura Ianello’s club played the No. 1 schedule in the country this year. Their opponents had a scoring average of 72.86; Arizona’s average is 71.63.
And there’s some good karma at work. When the Pac-12 championships were held at the Eugene Country Club in 1991, 2000 and 2010, Arizona finished first twice and second.
To make the story a bit better, the UA’s leading golfer is a Tucsonan, junior Krystal Quihuis, a Salpointe Catholic grad and former state champion who enters the finals ranked No. 29 nationally.
Last year, Arizona reached the final group of eight that engage in a team match-play elimination series. To get there again, the team of Quihuis, Jessica Vasilic, Lindsey Weaver, Haley Moore and Gigi Stoll will have to play the way the Wildcats did in 2000, when the NCAA finals were at Crosswater Golf Course outside Bend, Oregon.
That year, led by national champ Jenna Daniels, Arizona won the title by 21 strokes. And one more thing: The Eugene Country Club is the “home course” of UA athletic director Greg Byrne, who grew up playing that course when his father, Bill, was Oregon’s athletic director.
If nothing else, the stars seem to have aligned for another deep UA run in the NCAA finals.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The Big Four of the week in Tucson sports:
1. Kevin Brice, outfielder. In his junior year at Salpointe Catholic (2011), Brice hit .527. You could say he has always been on top of the numbers. He accepted a scholarship to NCAA Division III Pomona-Pitzer, hit .398 this season and in the summer of 2014 was the MVP of the New York Collegiate Summer League, hitting .400 for the Sherrill Silversmiths.
Brice graduated from Pomoma-Pitzer last week with a degree in mathematics. One of his favorite classes was “Combinatorics.” It’s complicated. It’s about numbers.
He had planned to play professional baseball in Europe for the Brussels Kangaroos, but something else popped up. On Monday morning, the new college grad will report to work for the Los Angeles Angels. He has been hired to be part of the club’s quantitative analysis department. He’ll analyze all of the new numbers that have become an integral part of baseball: ISO, WAR, WHIP, RC27 and on and on.
And Brice won’t have to go to the minor leagues to prove himself.
2. Greg Byrne, athletic director. Because Byrne’s budget is not that of more affluent Power 5 conference ADs, he hired a women’s basketball coach, Adia Barnes, with financial restraint. He will pay her $260,000 a year, up from the $215,000 her predecessor, Niya Butts, was paid.
During the same hiring period, Colorado AD Rick George fired and hired a new women’s basketball coach for a much greater price. CU will pay new coach JR Payne $300,000 this year and up to $350,000 in the fourth year of her deal. In addition, George is paying ex-coach Linda Lappe $930,000 to go away. He also paid a search firm $40,000 to identify Payne (from Santa Clara), which is probably the biggest waste of money in college sports.
Byrne did not hire a search firm. He spent more than $1 million less than rival CU to replace a women’s basketball coach. Good move.
3. Alex Bowman, NASCAR driver. The 22-year-old Ironwood Ridge High grad spent all of 2015 driving NASCAR’s Sprint Cup circuit for Tommy Baldwin Racing. He was often described as one of the sport’s rising young stars.
But after failing to finish any higher than 16th in 35 races, the TBR team fired Bowman. It was a long offseason. Bowman didn’t race for seven months.
Finally, last week, hired by the JR Motorsports organization, Bowman was back on the track. He made the most of it; Bowman finished third in the Xfinity’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200, and is scheduled to be back in the car June 4 in Pocono.
Not bad to get a second chance at a career when you’re only 22.
4. Steve Kerr, basketball coach. On Dec. 3, 1983, Kerr, a freshman guard, accompanied Arizona for a Saturday game at Providence. It was the third game of Lute Olson’s UA career. Kerr was the fourth man off the bench, shooting 1 for 6 in 24 minutes. The Friars won 72-69.
Providence also had a freshman guard breaking into college basketball that night: Billy Donovan. He played eight minutes for the Friars and made four foul shots.
On Sunday, Kerr’s Golden State Warriors will play Donovan’s Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the NBA’s Western Conference finals. Small world.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Dunagan moves back, will run Tucson Country Club
It was a good week in Tucson golf. The Tucson Country Club hired ex-UA golfer Wade Dunagan to be its general manager. Dunagan had been operating Phil Mickelson’s M Club at Chaparral Pines near Payson. Before that, he was the executive director of Tucson’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, and the head pro at, among others, TPC Sawgrass, TPC Starr Pass, the Omni Tucson National and the Gallery Golf Club. That’s a golf résumé like few others.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Jonathan Khan to make Canadian Golf Tour debut
Former UA and Salpointe golfer Jonathan Khan will make his debut on the Canadian Golf Tour early next month. But first he’ll have to play in the U.S. Open sectional qualifying in Vancouver, Washington. Khan shot a 4-under-par 68 Thursday at Sewailo Golf Club to win one of four spots in the U.S. Open local qualifying competition and advance. UA assistant men’s golf coach Chris Nallen just missed advancing, shooting a 71, but he appears to have recovered from back injuries that knocked him off the Web.com Tour four years ago. Nallen recently shot a 65 at Tucson Country Club. “I’ve never seen his swing any better,” said Nallen’s former UA coach, Rick LaRose. “He’s ready to go.”
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Jennie Finch goes 15-0 against Arizona State
Jennie Finch was part of UA softball teams that went 14-0 against Arizona State in her UA softball career, 1999-02. She moved that total to 15-0 on Friday when McNeese State — where she is in her second season as a volunteer coach — beat the Sun Devils 5-2 in the NCAA regionals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Finch, married to ex-Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Casey Daigle, has three children and lives in Sulphur, Louisiana.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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UA 2016-17 nonconference schedule complete
The UA’s 2016-17 nonconference basketball home schedule is now complete. Here are the nine opponents in order of appearance: College of Idaho; Chico State; Cal State Bakersfield; Bucknell/Northern Colorado and/or Sacred Heart/Norfolk State; Texas Southern; UC Irvine; Grand Canyon; New Mexico. No, this is not an April Fool’s joke. And it’s not the schedule from 1916-17, when Pop McKale or Fred Enke or someone else coached the Wildcats. It’s so bad it doesn’t seem real.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Ohio State no longer fears Arizona
Rich Rodriguez and some of his UA coaches will take part in a satellite camp at Ohio State June 11-14. Can you imagine an ex-Michigan coach on Buckeyes turf? Clearly, the Buckeyes no longer fear RichRod, nor Arizona. Here’s what UA grad Ari Wasserman, the Ohio State beat writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote: “Ohio State’s recruiting numbers in 2017 are clearly tight, and the prospects who will be taking the remaining spots in this year’s class are going to be the elite of the elite. Nothing against the programs attending Ohio State’s camp, but Arizona isn’t beating Ohio State out for those guys, so there’s no harm in having them around.” Times change.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Ohio State has deep, deep pockets
Ohio State has so much money, among the top five revenue producers in college athletics, that it pays its softball coach, modestly successful Kelly Kovach Schoenly, a base salary of $219,000 per year. Arizona’s Mike Candrea, who has won eight NCAA titles, has a base salary of $183,967, although he probably makes two or three times that in endorsements, clinics and camps.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Vinnie Tarantola headed to Liberty University
Vinnie Tarantola, who was a key part to Sahuaro High’s 51 baseball victories in 2013 and 2014, accepted a scholarship to Liberty University last week. Tarantola, a lefty pitcher, went 4-4 at South Mountain Community College this season in 51º innings. He visited Lynchburg, Virginia, last week to watch Liberty play Radford.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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New UA men's tennis coach reminds Byrne of baseball coach
The UA bypassed Loyola Marymount head men’s tennis coach Tom Lloyd, a former UA team captain, to hire Utah State’s 29-year-old Clancy Shields last week. “Clancy reminds me a little bit of what (baseball coach) Jay Johnson was able to do at Nevada,” said athletic director Greg Byrne. Shields, who grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado, and played at Boise State, became the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2016. If he can win in tennis at USU (my alma mater), he should be able to hold his own at Arizona. Playing in the modest Utah State indoor tennis facility, which is shared by the public, is not exactly like taking on UCLA and Stanford in the powerful Pac-12.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Pima College lands two of Tucson's best basketball players
Two of Tucson’s leading high school basketball players, Cienega’s 6-5 Isaiah Murphy and Tucson’s 5-10 Parker Trujillo, have signed to play basketball for Brian Peabody next year at Pima College. Peabody might be the busiest man in Tucson in June. He will hold five separate camps at PCC between June 3-30, for boys and girls aged 6-17. Information: 979-4946 or tucsonhoops.com.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Salpointe's Deng already collecting scholarship offers1
Salpointe sophomore-to-be wing forward Majok Deng has already been offered basketball scholarships by San Francisco and Grand Canyon. Gonzaga is interested. By the end of the July AAU sessions, it’s likely Deng will get Power 5 conference offers. He averaged 9.6 points and 6.5 rebounds as a freshman.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Pima high jumper wins NJCAA championship
Tucson athlete of the week: Pima College freshman high jumper Sam Shoultz won the NJCAA national championship last week in Texas, clearing 7 feet, 1¾ inches. Every Pac-12 school is already interested in Shoultz, who has progressed quickly under PCC jumps coach Chad Harrison.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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No more free parking at MGM Grand
The MGM Grand announced it will no longer offer free parking for the Pac-12 basketball tournament, or any event. It will charge a minimum of $8 per day. Is that the last freebie in revenue-producing college sports? Maybe the Pac-12 will pick up the parking tab. Dream on.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
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Pac-12 commissioner highest paid in college sports
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott was paid $4.2 million in his compensation package of 2014-15, CBSsports.com reported last week. He was the highest-paid commissioner in college sports. He spent $726,000 in expenses for his “Pacific Rim Initiative,” which seems like such an extravagance. Scott’s staff of lieutenants are surely the highest paid in college sports: Nine of his top staffers are paid in excess of $427,000 annually. By comparison, the four highest-paid members of Greg Byrne’s executive staff at Arizona were all paid $167,000 for fiscal year 2014-15.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Tucson has been a hockey town before
The Arizona Coyotes ranked No. 29 of 30 NHL teams in home attendance this season, at 13,433 per game (or 78 percent capacity).
The Coyotes examined their ticket base, and while in Tucson last week, owner Anthony LeBlanc said “tens of thousands” of their ticket accounts were traced to Tucson zip codes.
That was one of the reasons the Coyotes bought the Springfield (Massachusetts) Falcons and moved the AHL franchise to the Tucson Community Center.
Pro hockey’s initial appearance in Tucson was in 1975. That’s when the Tucson Mavericks, a CHL affiliate of the WHA Phoenix Roadrunners, Houston Aeros, and San Diego Mariners, began play. Hockey was a coveted ticket in Tucson way back when, 41 years ago.
Hockey legend Gordie Howe, representing the Aeros, flew to Tucson and skated with members of the Tucson Youth Hockey League. That appearance drew 2,000 fans. Alas, the Mavericks went out of business at season’s end.
The Tucson Icemen and Rustlers followed in the ‘70s, and both expired in less than a year.
At the conclusion of the ‘79 season, after the league had taken control of the Rustlers’ operations, it was announced there would be no admission charge for the final game of the season. Attendance: 6,000.
That was a long time ago, when Tucson was half the size it is today.
Howe is now 88. In the four decades since he skated at the TCC, Tucson has grown so much that it at last seems capable of supporting professional hockey.
Of the 38 home games the Tucson team will play at the TCC in 2016-17, I’d guess at least 20 will draw 6,000. It might be my best prediction in years.
Wildcats have proud baseball heritage; it's time to display it
The outfield fence at Hi Corbett Field has seven tastefully displayed advertisements and the names and numbers of three Arizona players who died too young — Kelsey Osburn, Lee Franklin and “Button” Salmon.
The school displays the name and number of just one of its many star-level players, Terry Francona, No. 32, who has the left-field wall to himself.
It seems so minimalistic, especially when the growing McKale Center Ring of Honor includes Stanley Johnson, who was in Tucson for a few months and averaged just 13.8 points per game.
By comparison, the “Wall of Honor” at ASU’s Municipal Stadium celebrates the Sun Devils’ remarkable baseball history with the names and numbers of 17 players, from Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando to Dustin Pedroia and Barry Bonds.
Arizona needs to do more to magnify its baseball tradition, one that ranks with any in college baseball.
ASU’s requirements are tough; one must have been a conference player of the year, a first-team All-American, belong to the school’s Hall of Fame, or, beyond that, a MLB standout. It also retired the jersey numbers of coaches Jim Brock and Bobby Winkles, and put them on display.
It’s not too much. It is done tastefully.
Arizona should re-think its process and re-do the outfield walls with, at minimum, the names and numbers of future MLB Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman, and conference players of the year Chip Hale, Scott Erickson, Alan Zinter, Trevor Crowe and Alex Mejia.
But that’s not all. First-team All-Americans such as Eddie Leon, Dave Stegman, Carl Thomas, Shelley Duncan, Donnie Lee and distinguished major-leaguers Ron Hassey and Hank Leiber, the latter a former New York Giants All-Star, are conspicuously under-celebrated at Hi Corbett Field.
A visitor to Hi Corbett Field might notice a subtle “Baseball Legends Wall of Fame” plaque on the concourse behind home plate. It’s nice but far too understated.
Some baseball stadiums are cluttered with too much nostalgia and signage. Not Hi Corbett Field; it is notably underdressed.
For Stevenses, state championships a family affair
Mark and Kristie Stevens met while working in the genetics department at University Medical Center. She had been a tennis player at Division III Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.; he was a baseball player who had been part of the Yavapai College program.
Yada, yada, yada, they got married, and Kristie became a teacher and tennis coach who has piloted Catalina Foothills’ girls tennis team to an impressive 13 state championships. Mark became head of the UA’s anatomical pathology department and a Little League baseball and softball coach.
Last week, Mark added to the family’s state championship bounty, coaching the Catalina Foothills softball team to the state Division III championship. To make it a better story, their daughter, Natalie, a .317-hitting third baseman, accepted a scholarship to play softball and study at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott.
Their son, Patrick, is a walk-on defensive back on the Arizona football team.
As far as I can research, there has never been a husband-wife coaching combination to win state championships in Arizona. This shouldn’t come as a surprise for those who followed Mark’s coaching career in the Canyon View Little League. After four years as president of the CVLL, one of the softball fields at Mehl Park was named Mark Stevens Field.
The Foothills state championship is filled with good story angles. The club’s pitching ace, sophomore Nicole Conway, who struck out 302 batters in 198 innings, is the daughter of Kevin Conway, who was a manager for Dick Tomey’s UA football teams. Nicole’s private pitching coach is former UA All-American Alicia Hollowell Dunn.
The club’s No. 2 pitcher, junior Sophie Plattner, is the granddaughter of Dr. David Alberts, former director of the UMC Cancer Center.
A year ago, Stevens’ third at CFHS, the Falcons lost games to traditional powers CDO, Ironwood Ridge and Sahuaro by scores of 25-3, 18-2 and 19-0. All of that has changed.
About the only disappointment in the Stevens’ house this season was that Kristie’s CFHS tennis team finished second in the state finals, narrowly missing her 14th state championship.
But a few days later her husband moved the family total to 14 – and growing.
UA coach Nallen to attempt golf comeback at Sewailo
Arizona assistant men’s golf coach Chris Nallen, a three-time All-Pac-10 player who won his Web.Com Tour debut in 2004, will attempt something of a comeback Thursday in the U.S. Open local qualifying event at Sewailo Golf Course. Now 34, Nallen hasn’t played in a pro event since 2012 when he was forced to stop playing because of back surgery. The field at Sewailo includes many of Tucson’s top young players, including Trevor Werbylo, George Cunningham, Gavin Cohen and Jordan Gumberg, who finished second in the Pac-12 finals two weeks ago.
Salpointe, UA grad Prouty plays final stage of U.S. Open qualifying
Salpointe Catholic and UA grad Brian Prouty advanced to the final stage of U.S. Open qualifying last week, shooting a 4-under-par 68 at Southern Dunes in Maricopa. Prouty survived a four-man playoff for the final spot Thursday.
Ex-Arizona OC Canales reunites with ex-Cat Tuitama
Former UA offensive coordinator Mike Canales was out recruiting last week — he is the assistant head coach at Utah State — and one of his stops was at Pasadena’s La Salle High School. He walked into the coaching offices and there stood Willie Tuitama, the program-changing QB who Canales recruited to Arizona 11 years ago. The two men embraced and chatted about the Mike Stoops years. Tuitama works at the school and is an assistant coach; his sister, Tiare, has coached La Salle to four state volleyball titles.
Sabino grad Skuro helps Central Arizona to ACCAC title
Former Sabino High pitcher Ben Skuro helped pitch Central Arizona College to the ACCAC regular-season title. He was 7-2 with 55 strikeouts in 40º innings (and six saves) after transferring from Pima College. Skuro is likely to attend NAIA baseball power Missouri Baptist next season.
Flowing Wells grad Bracamonte a key to Phoenix College's run
Flowing Wells grad Arryanna Bracamonte had one of the top softball seasons of anyone in Tucson. She led Phoenix College to the regional title, eliminating Pima, with a home run to advance to the NJCAA World Series this week. Bracamonte hit .372 with 13 homers as the starting shortstop.
Tomita's team pulls off 'unthinkable' at gymnastics meet
Never one to disappoint on the national level, Gymnastics World coach Yoichi Tomita’s team of boy gymnasts “pulled the unthinkable” at last week’s Junior Nationals in Battle Creek, Michigan. Cienega’s Caleb Rodriguez won the national championship in the junior boys 18 division, winning the all-around and parallel bars competition. Tomita, whose gym has produced a national-high 13 gold medalists over the years, said Rodriguez’s performance was “unthinkable” because he won by 0.05 points in his last routine, the floor exercise. Angel Leon, who is probably Arizona’s leading boys gymnast, a 16-year-old at St. Augustine, was fourth overall in the USA Junior National Team finals. He will compete in St. Louis next month for a chance to make the USA Junior National team.
Former Wildcat Ashley averaging decent numbers in EuroLeague
In his first year after leaving the UA, Brandon Ashley has played in 13 games for ALBA Berlin in the EuroLeague. He was averaging 8.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 20.2 minutes per game entering a playoff game Saturday.
Onetime Wildcat Chol graduates from SDSU
Angelo Chol, who left Arizona and transferred to San Diego State after the 2012-13 basketball season, didn’t average more than 4.4 points for the Aztecs. But he graduated last week, earning a degree in general studies.
Cats can certainly use new transfer Smith's shooting
As recently as October 2014, Mobile, Alabama, shooting guard Dylan Smith was committed to play basketball at UT-Pan American. Now he’s on Arizona’s roster for his final three college seasons. Think the UA can use him? In an NCAA tournament loss to Villanova in March, Smith made four 3-point baskets for UNC-Asheville. In Arizona’s exit loss to Wichita State, no one made more than two 3-pointers.
Triathlete, UA grad Kanute headed to Rio for Olympics
If you know who to look for, you’ll see Ben Kanute swimming the dawn shift at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, pedaling furiously on the Rillito Bike Path and running some off-the-beaten-path trails in the Tucson Mountains. It all paid off for the 2014 UA grad on Saturday: By finishing 17th at the ITU World Triathlon in Yokohama, Japan, Kanute made the three-man 2016 USA Olympic team for Rio. Kanute, whose first competition this year was the Oro Valley Bicycle Omnium, trains with the UA TriCats, the school’s club triathlon organization.
UA basketball's Cruz heavily invested in Rio Olympics
UA freshman walk-on basketball player Paulo Cruz is heavily invested in the 2016 Rio Olympics. His father, 1984 gold medal 800-meter runner Joaquim Cruz of Brazil, returned to Brazil last week to carry the Olympic torch through the streets of his hometown, Taguatinga.
RichRod taking advantage of satellite camps
Rich Rodriguez is taking advantage of the NCAA’s decision to allow satellite scouting/evaluation camps. He has aligned with ex-UA and NFL linebacker Antonio Pierce, head coach of talent-blessed Long Beach Poly High School, and will join coaches from Boise State and Texas A&M in a camp at Poly on June 12.
Track and field finals cap best athletic season in PCC history
Greg Wenneborg’s Pima College No. 9 women’s and No. 11 men’s track and field teams compete in the NJCAA finals this week in Texas. It will cap the best athletic season in PCC history. There are three 7-foot high jumpers in Tucson — Mountain View’s Justice Summerset, the UA’s Bryant O’Georgia and Pima College freshman Sam Shoultz. What other city can make that statement? Pima jumps coach Chad Harrison, who coached Kaysee Pilgrim to multiple NJCAA high jump titles, is one of the top coaches in the country. His latest pupil is Amity Brown of Immaculate Heart High School, who won the girls state Division IV high jump for a second time last week and accepted a scholarship to Pima for 2016-17. Brown had a terrific career at Immaculate Heart; she became an “A” student and then a state champion under coach Tom Danehy, even though the school has neither a track, a high jump pit or a weight room. When she gets to Pima, she’ll have access to all those things.
My two cents: Things lining up for Arizona's women's golf team
Arizona’s women’s golf program has been the school’s most consistently successful team over the last 25 years. You can look it up.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 10 entering the NCAA championships Friday in Eugene, Oregon, have qualified for the finals 23 times in the last 25 years. They’ve finished in the top 10 in 14 of those seasons, and won NCAA championships in 1996 and 2000. They’ve also won eight Pac-12 titles.
Coach Laura Ianello’s club played the No. 1 schedule in the country this year. Their opponents had a scoring average of 72.86; Arizona’s average is 71.63.
And there’s some good karma at work. When the Pac-12 championships were held at the Eugene Country Club in 1991, 2000 and 2010, Arizona finished first twice and second.
To make the story a bit better, the UA’s leading golfer is a Tucsonan, junior Krystal Quihuis, a Salpointe Catholic grad and former state champion who enters the finals ranked No. 29 nationally.
Last year, Arizona reached the final group of eight that engage in a team match-play elimination series. To get there again, the team of Quihuis, Jessica Vasilic, Lindsey Weaver, Haley Moore and Gigi Stoll will have to play the way the Wildcats did in 2000, when the NCAA finals were at Crosswater Golf Course outside Bend, Oregon.
That year, led by national champ Jenna Daniels, Arizona won the title by 21 strokes. And one more thing: The Eugene Country Club is the “home course” of UA athletic director Greg Byrne, who grew up playing that course when his father, Bill, was Oregon’s athletic director.
If nothing else, the stars seem to have aligned for another deep UA run in the NCAA finals.
The Big Four of the week in Tucson sports:
1. Kevin Brice, outfielder. In his junior year at Salpointe Catholic (2011), Brice hit .527. You could say he has always been on top of the numbers. He accepted a scholarship to NCAA Division III Pomona-Pitzer, hit .398 this season and in the summer of 2014 was the MVP of the New York Collegiate Summer League, hitting .400 for the Sherrill Silversmiths.
Brice graduated from Pomoma-Pitzer last week with a degree in mathematics. One of his favorite classes was “Combinatorics.” It’s complicated. It’s about numbers.
He had planned to play professional baseball in Europe for the Brussels Kangaroos, but something else popped up. On Monday morning, the new college grad will report to work for the Los Angeles Angels. He has been hired to be part of the club’s quantitative analysis department. He’ll analyze all of the new numbers that have become an integral part of baseball: ISO, WAR, WHIP, RC27 and on and on.
And Brice won’t have to go to the minor leagues to prove himself.
2. Greg Byrne, athletic director. Because Byrne’s budget is not that of more affluent Power 5 conference ADs, he hired a women’s basketball coach, Adia Barnes, with financial restraint. He will pay her $260,000 a year, up from the $215,000 her predecessor, Niya Butts, was paid.
During the same hiring period, Colorado AD Rick George fired and hired a new women’s basketball coach for a much greater price. CU will pay new coach JR Payne $300,000 this year and up to $350,000 in the fourth year of her deal. In addition, George is paying ex-coach Linda Lappe $930,000 to go away. He also paid a search firm $40,000 to identify Payne (from Santa Clara), which is probably the biggest waste of money in college sports.
Byrne did not hire a search firm. He spent more than $1 million less than rival CU to replace a women’s basketball coach. Good move.
3. Alex Bowman, NASCAR driver. The 22-year-old Ironwood Ridge High grad spent all of 2015 driving NASCAR’s Sprint Cup circuit for Tommy Baldwin Racing. He was often described as one of the sport’s rising young stars.
But after failing to finish any higher than 16th in 35 races, the TBR team fired Bowman. It was a long offseason. Bowman didn’t race for seven months.
Finally, last week, hired by the JR Motorsports organization, Bowman was back on the track. He made the most of it; Bowman finished third in the Xfinity’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200, and is scheduled to be back in the car June 4 in Pocono.
Not bad to get a second chance at a career when you’re only 22.
4. Steve Kerr, basketball coach. On Dec. 3, 1983, Kerr, a freshman guard, accompanied Arizona for a Saturday game at Providence. It was the third game of Lute Olson’s UA career. Kerr was the fourth man off the bench, shooting 1 for 6 in 24 minutes. The Friars won 72-69.
Providence also had a freshman guard breaking into college basketball that night: Billy Donovan. He played eight minutes for the Friars and made four foul shots.
On Sunday, Kerr’s Golden State Warriors will play Donovan’s Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the NBA’s Western Conference finals. Small world.
Dunagan moves back, will run Tucson Country Club
It was a good week in Tucson golf. The Tucson Country Club hired ex-UA golfer Wade Dunagan to be its general manager. Dunagan had been operating Phil Mickelson’s M Club at Chaparral Pines near Payson. Before that, he was the executive director of Tucson’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, and the head pro at, among others, TPC Sawgrass, TPC Starr Pass, the Omni Tucson National and the Gallery Golf Club. That’s a golf résumé like few others.
Jonathan Khan to make Canadian Golf Tour debut
Former UA and Salpointe golfer Jonathan Khan will make his debut on the Canadian Golf Tour early next month. But first he’ll have to play in the U.S. Open sectional qualifying in Vancouver, Washington. Khan shot a 4-under-par 68 Thursday at Sewailo Golf Club to win one of four spots in the U.S. Open local qualifying competition and advance. UA assistant men’s golf coach Chris Nallen just missed advancing, shooting a 71, but he appears to have recovered from back injuries that knocked him off the Web.com Tour four years ago. Nallen recently shot a 65 at Tucson Country Club. “I’ve never seen his swing any better,” said Nallen’s former UA coach, Rick LaRose. “He’s ready to go.”
Jennie Finch goes 15-0 against Arizona State
Jennie Finch was part of UA softball teams that went 14-0 against Arizona State in her UA softball career, 1999-02. She moved that total to 15-0 on Friday when McNeese State — where she is in her second season as a volunteer coach — beat the Sun Devils 5-2 in the NCAA regionals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Finch, married to ex-Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Casey Daigle, has three children and lives in Sulphur, Louisiana.
UA 2016-17 nonconference schedule complete
The UA’s 2016-17 nonconference basketball home schedule is now complete. Here are the nine opponents in order of appearance: College of Idaho; Chico State; Cal State Bakersfield; Bucknell/Northern Colorado and/or Sacred Heart/Norfolk State; Texas Southern; UC Irvine; Grand Canyon; New Mexico. No, this is not an April Fool’s joke. And it’s not the schedule from 1916-17, when Pop McKale or Fred Enke or someone else coached the Wildcats. It’s so bad it doesn’t seem real.
Ohio State no longer fears Arizona
Rich Rodriguez and some of his UA coaches will take part in a satellite camp at Ohio State June 11-14. Can you imagine an ex-Michigan coach on Buckeyes turf? Clearly, the Buckeyes no longer fear RichRod, nor Arizona. Here’s what UA grad Ari Wasserman, the Ohio State beat writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote: “Ohio State’s recruiting numbers in 2017 are clearly tight, and the prospects who will be taking the remaining spots in this year’s class are going to be the elite of the elite. Nothing against the programs attending Ohio State’s camp, but Arizona isn’t beating Ohio State out for those guys, so there’s no harm in having them around.” Times change.
Ohio State has deep, deep pockets
Ohio State has so much money, among the top five revenue producers in college athletics, that it pays its softball coach, modestly successful Kelly Kovach Schoenly, a base salary of $219,000 per year. Arizona’s Mike Candrea, who has won eight NCAA titles, has a base salary of $183,967, although he probably makes two or three times that in endorsements, clinics and camps.
Vinnie Tarantola headed to Liberty University
Vinnie Tarantola, who was a key part to Sahuaro High’s 51 baseball victories in 2013 and 2014, accepted a scholarship to Liberty University last week. Tarantola, a lefty pitcher, went 4-4 at South Mountain Community College this season in 51º innings. He visited Lynchburg, Virginia, last week to watch Liberty play Radford.
New UA men's tennis coach reminds Byrne of baseball coach
The UA bypassed Loyola Marymount head men’s tennis coach Tom Lloyd, a former UA team captain, to hire Utah State’s 29-year-old Clancy Shields last week. “Clancy reminds me a little bit of what (baseball coach) Jay Johnson was able to do at Nevada,” said athletic director Greg Byrne. Shields, who grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado, and played at Boise State, became the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2016. If he can win in tennis at USU (my alma mater), he should be able to hold his own at Arizona. Playing in the modest Utah State indoor tennis facility, which is shared by the public, is not exactly like taking on UCLA and Stanford in the powerful Pac-12.
Pima College lands two of Tucson's best basketball players
Two of Tucson’s leading high school basketball players, Cienega’s 6-5 Isaiah Murphy and Tucson’s 5-10 Parker Trujillo, have signed to play basketball for Brian Peabody next year at Pima College. Peabody might be the busiest man in Tucson in June. He will hold five separate camps at PCC between June 3-30, for boys and girls aged 6-17. Information: 979-4946 or tucsonhoops.com.
Salpointe's Deng already collecting scholarship offers1
Salpointe sophomore-to-be wing forward Majok Deng has already been offered basketball scholarships by San Francisco and Grand Canyon. Gonzaga is interested. By the end of the July AAU sessions, it’s likely Deng will get Power 5 conference offers. He averaged 9.6 points and 6.5 rebounds as a freshman.
Pima high jumper wins NJCAA championship
Tucson athlete of the week: Pima College freshman high jumper Sam Shoultz won the NJCAA national championship last week in Texas, clearing 7 feet, 1¾ inches. Every Pac-12 school is already interested in Shoultz, who has progressed quickly under PCC jumps coach Chad Harrison.
No more free parking at MGM Grand
The MGM Grand announced it will no longer offer free parking for the Pac-12 basketball tournament, or any event. It will charge a minimum of $8 per day. Is that the last freebie in revenue-producing college sports? Maybe the Pac-12 will pick up the parking tab. Dream on.
Pac-12 commissioner highest paid in college sports
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott was paid $4.2 million in his compensation package of 2014-15, CBSsports.com reported last week. He was the highest-paid commissioner in college sports. He spent $726,000 in expenses for his “Pacific Rim Initiative,” which seems like such an extravagance. Scott’s staff of lieutenants are surely the highest paid in college sports: Nine of his top staffers are paid in excess of $427,000 annually. By comparison, the four highest-paid members of Greg Byrne’s executive staff at Arizona were all paid $167,000 for fiscal year 2014-15.
Tucson has been a hockey town before
The Arizona Coyotes ranked No. 29 of 30 NHL teams in home attendance this season, at 13,433 per game (or 78 percent capacity).
The Coyotes examined their ticket base, and while in Tucson last week, owner Anthony LeBlanc said “tens of thousands” of their ticket accounts were traced to Tucson zip codes.
That was one of the reasons the Coyotes bought the Springfield (Massachusetts) Falcons and moved the AHL franchise to the Tucson Community Center.
Pro hockey’s initial appearance in Tucson was in 1975. That’s when the Tucson Mavericks, a CHL affiliate of the WHA Phoenix Roadrunners, Houston Aeros, and San Diego Mariners, began play. Hockey was a coveted ticket in Tucson way back when, 41 years ago.
Hockey legend Gordie Howe, representing the Aeros, flew to Tucson and skated with members of the Tucson Youth Hockey League. That appearance drew 2,000 fans. Alas, the Mavericks went out of business at season’s end.
The Tucson Icemen and Rustlers followed in the ‘70s, and both expired in less than a year.
At the conclusion of the ‘79 season, after the league had taken control of the Rustlers’ operations, it was announced there would be no admission charge for the final game of the season. Attendance: 6,000.
That was a long time ago, when Tucson was half the size it is today.
Howe is now 88. In the four decades since he skated at the TCC, Tucson has grown so much that it at last seems capable of supporting professional hockey.
Of the 38 home games the Tucson team will play at the TCC in 2016-17, I’d guess at least 20 will draw 6,000. It might be my best prediction in years.
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