Arizona women's basketball join UA men for December 'Hall' event in Phoenix

When the Arizona men’s basketball team takes on Alabama this December, the Wildcats will have some familiar company on the premises at downtown Phoenix’s Footprint Center.

The UA women’s team is now also on the docket for what is being billed as “Jerry Colangelo’s Hall of Fame Series” — 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 Suns’ home court.

The Arizona women’s team will face Gonzaga, while ASU’s women’s program will take on Fresno State. Rounding out the field, ASU’s men’s 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 men’s teams become public in March, with the game between major conference powers one part of a deep non-conference slate in coach Tommy Lloyd’s third season in Tucson.

For the UA women’s team, coach Adia Barnes said in a team-issued release that she’s excited for the chance to “promote basketball and the state of Arizona,” 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 women’s basketball coach Adia Barnes said she “love(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,” Barnes added. “For us, it's a big game against Gonzaga, and people are going to see some really good basketball.”

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 Bulldogs’ first NCAA tournament game.

The familiarity amongst the event’s participating teams extends to this game in a way, too, as Gonzaga head coach Liza Fortier enters her 10th season — the first eight of those simultaneous with Lloyd’s time as the lead assistant for the Gonzaga men’s program before his first head coaching job in Tucson.

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UA men vs. Alabama

The men’s matchup of the two “UAs” 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 season’s NCAA basketball committee. Byrne was Arizona’s athletic director until January 2017, while Heeke, who once worked for Byrne’s father in Oregon’s 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 schedule 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.

— Bruce Pascoe