LAS VEGAS –When Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark announced Tuesday that the league’s basketball tournament would remain in Kansas City through 2031, that left UA fans with no hope that McKale North could be revived anytime soon.
Luis Serrano was one of those fans.
“It hit me in the gut,” Serrano said of Yormark’s announcement. “I come here regularly. I don’t want to go to Kansas City.”
Serrano, an Orange County resident who attended UA in the 1990s, said he’s been a regular to Pac-12 Tournaments since they moved to Las Vegas in 2013, watching Sean Miller win one in 2015 and Tommy Lloyd win the past two.
The Wildcats have enjoyed what they informally call "McKale North" at T-Mobile Arena, which is often dominated by fans wearing UA red and blue during sessions when the Wildcats play. Even Wednesday, when the Wildcats weren’t playing, there were still several hundred wearing UA gear in the building during the afternoon and evening sessions.
But Yormark cited “tremendous” support for the Big 12 from Kansas City in the decision to keep the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments there.
“It feels like the Super Bowl every time we’re here,” he said.
Coincidentally, while the Pac-12 Tournament has been played at T-Mobile Arena since 2017, the Big 12 Tournament is played at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
Soon, neither building will be known as McKale North.
Bitter end for ASU
While ASU coach Bobby Hurley did not criticize standout guard/forward Jose Perez over his decision to leave the Sun Devils abruptly after their loss at USC last Thursday, he didn’t hold back after ASU was lifeless in a 90-57 loss to Utah on Wednesday night that ended its season at 14-18.
“We just have a vision for something better,” Hurley said. “That’s going to be the lasting memory of us playing in Pac-12? Wow, that's a terrible, terrible memory. Nine years of being in this league and coaching in this league and that's how we chose to go out? It's doesn't feel good.”
The Sun Devils shot just 31.4% from the field and allowed Utah to hit 59.3%.
Hurley said without Perez, he figured the Sun Devils’ best chance to score was getting the ball to guard Frankie Collins so he could penetrate or create a shot for himself. While Collins led the Sun Devils with 20 points on 8-for-21 shooting, ASU’s offense was still dysfunctional, setting up just six of its 22 field goals with assists while making just 3 of 19 3-point shots.
“Your season's on the line and that's the effort that you get?” Hurley said. “That's my responsibility and I failed miserably."
After saying Perez made a “business decision” to leave the Sun Devils – Perez joined a pro team in the Dominican Republic over the weekend -- Hurley said he had to revamp ASU’s roster and indicated more NIL resources would help.
“I have to get on the phone and I have to encourage people that have the wherewithal to try and support what we're doing,” Hurley said. “Especially with this transition. I've watched quite a bit of Big 12 basketball and it's strong physical games. It’s grown-ass men in that league. We have to make some changes.”
Pac-12 carnage
Stanford’s 18-point comeback to beat Cal in overtime during Wednesday night’s early game may not be enough to save the job of embattled Cardinal coach Jerod Haase.
But if he does return to Stanford, Haase will be competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of many new worlds his counterparts are facing with the Pac-12’s impending implosion.
“It's a little bit surreal to think that the Pac-12 is coming to an end,” Haase said. “Sad is probably the best description. Times are changing so fast in college athletics. And as we know, the realignment with all the schools, the advent of NIL, the number of transfers, I think the next few years it will continue to change.
“It’s sad and disappointing. But the reality is it's part of the carnage that's going on all across the landscape right now. And at the end of the day everybody's going to need to move forward and reinvent themselves a little bit."
Bear Up
While Cal’s loss ended the Bears’ season at 13-19, it was a double-digit win jump over their 3-29 disaster last season under then-coach Mark Fox, who was fired and replaced by former Stanford and NBA player Mark Madsen.
Known as "Mad Dog" during his playing days, Madsen said in the preseason that the Bears wanted to have a “historic turnaround." It wasn’t quite that but it was a big one, with the Bears winning 7 of 10 games until they lost their last four. They were picked to finiosh 11th in the Pac-12 preseason poll but finished in a three-way tie for sixth place at 9-11.
Madsen credited the Cal administration and his players for the improvement.
“It’s been an absolute team effort,” he said. “We made some modest strides this year, and we want to take this thing to a much higher level, a much more competitive level, but I'm incredibly proud of these players.
“That's what I told them in the locker room. There were a lot of naysayers at the start of the season. I think they predicted us to finish 11th or 12th, and we finished much better than that. That's because we had a lot of guys with a lot of heart that battled and fought and had some success.”
