The Arizona men's tennis program wastes no opportunity to celebrate the team's victories, even when there's so much more to play for.
One of the team's mantras is "success without celebration is a sin," according to UA men's tennis coach Clancy Shields.
To celebrate the 10th-ranked Wildcats winning the Big 12 regular season championship after taking down No. 15 UCF in Tucson, "I took the guys to a nice meal" at Cheesecake Factory, Shields said.
"We're a pretty simple program, so we took the guys to Cheesecake Factory," Shields said. "That's about as expensive of a meal that I'll pay for. It was a cool moment."
Additionally, "they wanted Pokémon cards or something," Shields said.
"I'm not familiar with that world," Shields said of Pokémon. "But that's how they wanted to celebrate."
Pokémon, short for "pocket monsters," is a Japanese media franchise with trading cards, video games and animated series and films. Collecting Pokémon cards is how the UA men's tennis players bond together.
"It's a craze," Shields said. "Every road trip, these guys want to open cards. They were explaining it to me, 'It's like baseball cards!' I did that as a kid, so I know what that is. I'm very unaware of this Pokémon stuff, but that's what they like to do. It's healthy fun."
Even though Shields is oblivious to "Ash Ketchum" and "Blastoise," he knows better than to mess with the mojo. The Wildcats are 20-3 and have won their last 15 matches by a combined 71-6. The Wildcats went undefeated (8-0) in Big 12 play and beat No. 11 Arizona State, No. 8 Baylor, No. 2 TCU and No. 15 UCF.
Arizona's Big 12 championship marked the sixth conference championship since 2022, which dates back to the Pac-12 era. The Wildcats won three straight Pac-12 championships from 2022-24, then won the Big 12 championship outright last season and the conference regular season title.
Arizona tennis head coach Clancy Shields talks to his team before the Wildcats faced Denver in the NCAA Tournament on May 2, 2025.
"We took it one step at a time and then you look back like, 'Oh, my gosh, we did it,'" Shields said. "We won 15 in a row, we won a conference championship and we really did it with a young team. We have one senior and the rest of the guys are freshmen and sophomores, so this year was unexpected considering the youth of our team compared to other years. ... Our guys have been dominating."
The top-seeded Wildcats will now turn their attention to the Big 12 championship in Orlando, where they'll face the winner of ASU and UCF on Friday. The Sun Devils and Knights face each other on Thursday.
Ahead of the Big 12 championship, Shields joined "Spears & Ali" on ESPN Tucson to discuss the Wildcats' success, the team's camaraderie and bond and the face of UA tennis this season.
Since dropping your last match to No. 10 San Diego earlier in the season, what has been key to the 15-match win streak?
A: "I don't take losing very well. I don't think any coach does. We took three losses in January and went back to the drawing board of 'What is our identity?' Culture wins, that's our slogan and motto for our program. What is the culture of our team? I challenged the guys to find their competitive edge.
"I always felt like this team was good and we have good pieces, but we had to find our competitive identity. When we step on the court, our guys compete for every ball they play. I think that's the secret to our success. The guys are probably less talented than other years, but they fight and compete harder than any team I've had.
"They're so together as a group. We have a special senior in Jay Friend. Every season we play is for the seniors. I can't imagine having a more special senior than Jay Friend. He's our captain, he's our leader, the guys love him and will do anything for him. That's a recipe for success."
Jay Friend and Eric Padgham celebrate after winning a round of doubles play against Harvard in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center, on May 3, 2025.
How do you compartmentalize the success you had this season while looking ahead to the Big 12 championship?
A: "We'll celebrate our season and our success, and (the) championship will bond this group for the rest of our lives and I'm very proud of that, but we have some work to do. When you go undefeated in the conference, all it does is paint a huge target on your back. Everyone wants to beat us in the conference tournament and we're going to have to bring our very best and be ready to go."
How does your team find common interests and obsess over them together during a season?
A: "Last year, I got them into the (Boston) Red Sox team that was a gritty team and they were all about that. This year, as a coach, you gotta feel out the players and see how the wind is blowing, and if that's where they want to go, we'll take them to the card stores and let them hang out for a couple of hours. I'd much rather have that than worry about other things.
"This is a fun team, they're in it for the right reasons. It's the smallest group I've ever had and we only have nine players on our roster. They've come together. This is our sixth championship in five years, and the guys are living up to the standard we have here. The model of consistency is something I'm really proud of, because teams will have one or two good seasons and then fall off.
"I'm proud of this team for living up to some big shoes they had to fill, following the footsteps of really great players. They've stepped up and carved out a remarkable season."
The lone senior on the UA roster is Friend, who's rated as the fourth-best Division I player in the ITA rankings. The veteran from Tokyo has become one of the best players in UA history. How do you reflect on his UA career and his evolution as a player?
Arizona’s Jay Friend celebrates after scoring the winning point against Harvard in Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on May 3, 2025.
A: "None of these kids are born with leadership qualities, so you have to help them. ... I've asked a lot of Jay. I don't think he's a natural-born leader, but he's become maybe our best leader ever in our program. I think it's because he's so coachable. In my mind, he's the best player in the country. His humility and thinking that he's never bigger than the program or any individual on the team, and he's so coachable.
"Any time you tell him something, he puts it into action. ... You can't always lead from the top; you need to lead from the middle. When you have great leadership in the middle of the team, success follows. There's not a better human being and a better kid than Jay Friend, who's someone I dearly love.
"I also think he's going to be one of the best players in the world and is going to be playing on the ATV Tour, just like Colton (Smith). I think we're all going to be tickled knowing that kid played at Arizona for four years. Those guys that go four years in a program, especially this day in age, I really love and appreciate those kids. Jay is one of my all-time favorites."
What do you think has contributed to the consistency of your team's success over the years despite having new players and leaders?
A: "Being all-in, the commitment of being all-in. The staff, I don't think we've had a day off since the season started. On the days you're supposed to have a day off, you go in and watch film and prepare for the next week. Having a great work ethic starts at the top. Every day, the players see us in the offices working.
"I think that level of commitment is super important. What makes Tucson and Arizona so special is that everything this place stands for, it will shape our team into being a gritty and tough team.
Arizona head coach Clancy Shields talks to Jay Friend and Eric Padgham during their doubles game against Harvard in Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson on May 3, 2025.
"It was 105 degrees a couple of weeks ago and the team was out there loving the conditions. At 2 p.m., the wind shows up and it's 20-mile-per-hour winds and it's tough, then you get the dust storms, the bee swarms, the grasshoppers on the court — everything about this place shaped us into being the toughest team in the country.
"That was always my vision when I coached and where I wanted to be. All of these challenges that come their way is just an opportunity to grow. Obviously, when they go on to their own lives after tennis, it's important they carry the same values.
"One day, we're not going to have a great team, and I'll see how I handle it. But we keep our heads down, roll up our sleeves, work hard and develop the players the best way we can. We know the model of college athletics is shifting into so many different things, NIL and whatever. We haven't entertained that.
"We do what we do and operate how we operate. We're having success doing it, so we're not going to change what's broken."
