Basketball fever is running rampant at the University of Arizona campus, and for good reason. The Wildcats’ men’s basketball team is back in the Sweet 16.
“Everyone on my (dorm) floor is talking about it,” said Lexi Pepe, a pre-business major at UA.
Added Brenda Priya, an elementary education major: “When they won on Sunday night, everyone was outside yelling and cheering, ‘Bear Down!’”
Given that Arizona is traditionally seen as a basketball school, their march through the tournament isn’t exactly a revelation. But many of the current students weren’t on campus the last time the UA made the Sweet 16, in 2017. Many weren’t even born in 2001, the last time the Wildcats made the Final Four.
“It makes me really proud and fall in love with this school even more,” Priya said.
This year has been a refresher for fans and students alike considering that the program had been stuck in purgatory in recent years due to the pandemic and NCAA and FBI investigations.
“It’s once in a blue moon that your (school) is able to get this far in the tournament,” said Noah Overbeck, a biology major. “It reminds us that we’re all a family, and at UA, everyone’s so spirited.”
Added Priya: “It’s shining a new light into the program and showing everyone that we’re still here.”
Cashing in on the recent hype and energy around campus has been the UA bookstore, which has turned into a haven for men’s basketball gear.
Customers can purchase mini UA basketballs, shirts and hats celebrating the team’s Pac-12 Tournament title and Sweet 16 appearance. Merchandise also includes jerseys from Arizona players such as Benedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko and Azuolas Tubelis, among others. Thanks to the NCAA’s New Name, Image and Likeness rules, Arizona’s players will receive a cut of the proceeds.
Everybody seems to be getting in on the Wildcats’ hype. Eegee’s, a popular fast-food chain among Tucsonans and UA students, began selling a “Beary Down” flavor on March 17. The electric blue and red concoction is a fusion of strawberry and blue raspberry flavors. UA women’s basketball player Sam Thomas has been pitching the flavor as part of her own NIL deal.
Business is usually slow on Sunday nights at the Eegee’s on East Speedway Boulevard. But after the Wildcats won Sunday night, “it did get a little crazy,” Eegee’s employee Isaiah Coleman said.
The “Beary Down” drinks were popular.
Coleman said he expects business to pick up again on Thursday night, when the Wildcats take on Houston in San Antonio.
“We should be getting a lot of online orders and orders in general,” Coleman said.
Underneath the surface of all the hype and excitement surrounding the team, some fans are nervous about Arizona’s next matchup. The Wildcats had to work overtime, after all, to get past ninth-seeded TCU in Sunday’s second round.
“In the back of my mind (is), ‘are we going to flame out?’” said UA grad John Kluver. “Remember Buffalo (in 2018)? The last time we were in the tournament, we flamed out against (them).”
Despite the doubts, there are reasons to indicate that the Wildcats can go even deeper in the tournament.
“If you look at a championship run, there’s usually a game like the one vs. TCU where it could go either way,” Kluver said. “It went our way and it kind of makes you feel this might be legit.”
When Arizona and Houston tip off on Thursday evening, expect University Boulevard to be packed. Priya has made plans to watch at Gentle Ben’s, “which I feel a lot of people are doing,” she said.
Overbeck plans to watch at his fraternity house.
“We had a softball game planned and we canceled so we can watch the basketball game,” he said.
