When the Arizona menβs basketball team takes on Alabama this December, the Wildcats will have some familiar company on the premises at downtown Phoenixβs Footprint Center.
The UA womenβs team is now also on the docket for what is being billed as βJerry Colangeloβs Hall of Fame Seriesβ β an eight-team, four-game, full-day showcase Dec. 20 named after the legendary former Phoenix Suns owner and executive, and to be played on the Sunsβ home court.
The Arizona womenβs team will face Gonzaga, while ASUβs womenβs program will take on Fresno State. Rounding out the field, ASUβs menβs program is slated to square off with Northwestern.
Tickets are expected to go on sale in July, but pricing, game times and television coverage has not yet been announced.
News of the UA and Alabama menβs teams become public in March, with the game between major conference powers one part of a deep non-conference slate in coach Tommy Lloydβs third season in Tucson.
For the UA womenβs team, coach Adia Barnes said in a team-issued release that sheβs excited for the chance to βpromote basketball and the state of Arizona,β while taking on an opponent in Gonzaga fresh off a 28-win season and NCAA tournament berth of its own.
An early look at each Arizona matchup:
UA women vs. Gonzaga
In a team-issued press release, Arizona womenβs basketball coach Adia Barnes said she βlove(s) being part of anything the Naismith Hall of Fame does.
"I feel like there are not enough tournaments and recognition on the west coast, so we want these tournaments with marquee games,β Barnes added. βFor us, it's a big game against Gonzaga, and people are going to see some really good basketball.β
While Arizona won 20 games for the fifth consecutive season and reached the round of 32 in 2022-23, Gonzaga finished 28-5 (including a 17-1 West Coast Conference mark), bowing out as a nine-seed to No. 8 Ole Miss, 71-48 in the Bulldogsβ first NCAA tournament game.
The familiarity amongst the eventβs participating teams extends to this game in a way, too, as Gonzaga head coach Liza Fortier enters her 10th season β the first eight of those simultaneous with Lloydβs time as the lead assistant for the Gonzaga menβs program before his first head coaching job in Tucson.
UA men vs. Alabama
The menβs matchup of the two βUAsβ surfaced publicly in March, with next season's game planned at Phoenix and a return game scheduled for Birmingham during the 2024-25 season.
Alabama and Arizona last completed a two-year home-and-home series in 2018-19, and the renewal underlines the strong relationship between Alabama AD Greg Byrne and Arizona AD Dave Heeke, both of whom are serving on this seasonβs NCAA basketball committee. Byrne was Arizonaβs athletic director until January 2017, while Heeke, who once worked for Byrneβs father in Oregonβs athletic department, took over at Arizona two months later.
During the first basketball season the ADs were in their new roles, each team won on its home floor. The Wildcats won 88-82 at McKale Center on Dec. 9, 2017, and the Crimson Tide took the return game in Tuscaloosa 76-73 on Dec. 9, 2018.
Next season's game will give a chance for Arizona guard Jaden Bradley to face his old team after he transferred from the Crimson Tide following last season.
In addition to facing the Crimson Tide, Arizona's 2023-24 scheduleΒ includes a number of major-conference matchups, including on the road at Duke, at home against Wisconsin, as well as neutral site tilts against Michigan State and Purdue.
β Bruce Pascoe
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