With all of the Arizona Wildcatsβ sports teams on break for the summer, itβs an optimal time to take stock of some of the programs we havenβt heard from in a while.
The Starβs nine-day long project is examining the state of several of the UAβs menβs and womenβs sports on campus, reflecting on the prior season and looking ahead to the 2021-22 slate.
Up today is the Arizona gymnastics program, coached by John Court.
βCoast-to-coast tripβ
Court and his coaching staff have wasted no time getting back on the recruiting road over the last month with restrictions now lifted. The Arizona GymCat coach recently returned home from a travel stint, making stops in Las Vegas, San Diego and North Carolina.
βYeah, it was a coast-to-coast trip,β Court said. βSeeing our recruits that will be freshmen here at Arizona in two months.β
Arizonaβs incoming class features three freshmen that Court believes will be crucial to the future of the program. Alysen Fears, Emily Mueller and Elizabeth LaRusso placed in the top-20 all-around at the 2021 Level 10 Junior Olympic National Championships in May.
βGreat people, awesome students and pretty darn good gymnasts, too,β Court added. βSo we checked all three boxes we wanted in recruiting.β
βThey put their best foot forwardβ
Despite the obstacles of playing a season during a pandemic, Court felt that there was no shortage of improvement even in such a short time span.
βI remember the growth we had the most,β Court said. βWe had 15 freshmen and sophomores (out of 19 athletes). Not a lot of rosters in the country have that imbalance. But we said that weβre going to thrive through it, and we did. They put their best foot forward.β
Arizonaβs youthful roster peaked at the right time during the spring, placing second in the Pac-12 Championships and tying for third at the NCAA Regionals in Salt Lake City.
βThey all killed it in the postseason and they didnβt even have any postseason experience going in,β Court said.
βWe had to send picturesβ
During the NCAAβs dead period for recruiting, Court had to get creative when he was virtually recruiting student-athletes. He had already received a commitment from Fears prior to the pandemic but needed a few more athletes to add to the 2021 roster.
Mueller and LaRusso took unofficial visits with their families at their own expense and were able to visit Tucson and the UA campus. The only hitch was that the McKale Center and the Mary Roby training center on campus were closed to visitors.
βThey were here, but they couldnβt get inside,β Court explained. βSo we had to send them pictures, videos and things like that.β
Courtβs closing proposal to both was that if they enjoyed the virtual tour, just wait until they saw it in person. That sold Mueller and LaRusso who will be Wildcats with Fears in the fall to form a talented freshman trio.
Assembling the 2021-22 team
Youth will once again be a hallmark of the upcoming GymCats roster. The team will have MacKinzie Kane as the lone senior on the roster and Court expects the group of seven juniors to lead the way.
βEvery one of the juniors is a leader, they all can step up and know the expectations that are set for themβ he said.
Combine the current makeup of the roster with the arriving freshman trio, and Court believes it could result in one of the best collections of talent heβs had since coming to UA.
βIt might be the best team on paper in I donβt know how many years,β he said. βBut paper has to show up in McKale. Right now, we feel really good about it.β
Must-watch athlete
Malia Hargrove was named the GymCatsβ MVP in the 2021 spring season and for good reason. In her sophomore year, Hargrove put together one of the best seasonβs by a UA gymnast and advanced all the way to the NCAA Championships, where she earned a 9.8625 on floor.