Kevin O'Neill, the opinionated and (to many) entertaining former UA and USC coach, will not be working Pac-12 Networks studio shows this season.
O'Neill said Saturday he isn't doing any basketball commentary work this season while focusing on family concerns, though he is doing some consulting for a few pro and college teams.
Once an assistant coach for former UA coach Lute Olson's first UA teams, O'Neill returned in 2007 and wound up serving as UA's interim head coach in 2007-08 while Olson took a leave of absence before he retired in Oct. 2008. O'Neill later served as USC's head coach between 2009-10 and 2012-13.
Pac-12 Networks host Mike Yam tweeted that KO is "the best," and former Star staffer Javier Morales first reported the change, saying he always enjoyed O'Neill's commentary.
Arizona indicated (and later confirmed) that the newly hired Richard Jefferson will return to McKale Center on Sunday for the first time at a Pac-12 Networks analyst to work the Wildcats' game with Cal Poly. After leaving UA as a junior in 2001, Jefferson spent 17 seasons in the NBA and retired in October.
Cal Poly coach Joe Callero made a fateful decision to go recruiting in the Thousand Oaks area during an off day Thursday: Not only was he recruiting at a school that had a service for the Thousand Oaks shooting, but wildfires kept him from getting home to San Luis Obispo that night.
"Spent five hours in the car from Los Angeles to Ventura," Callero said via text message. "The evacuation orders created gridlock. Finally found open hotel at 2 a.m., and drove the rest of the way home in morning!"
The Mustangs are scheduled to arrive in Tucson today in preparation for Sunday's game.
Washington's basketball team, meanwhile, had a couple of fires to deal with: Their own drubbing at Auburn and the fact that their team bus blew a tire and caught on fire afterward. Noah Dickerson shared their plight:
When thing couldn’t have gotten any worse tonight....
— Noah Dickerson (@NDickerson15) November 10, 2018
It did lol pic.twitter.com/1BaVleovZ0
A team spokesman said nobody was hurt, however.
Zeke Nnaji is scheduled to announce his college choice on Nov. 23.
Arizona's first opponent in Maui, Iowa State, was impressive in a win over Missouri.
And Buffalo started this season just about where it left off ...
