SAN ANTONIO — Sam Thomas put out the call for Wildcats fans to pack the stands for Monday’s Elite Eight game.
Chris Brown listened.
Brown, a senior trumpet player in the Pride of Arizona, drove to San Antonio to cheer on the Wildcats on in Monday’s Elite Eight game against Indiana. He brought his horn, but was unsure if Alamodome security would let him bring it in.
Brown met Thomas at a pizza party that the Wildcats hosted for the band last season, and they became fast friends. When Arizona beat Texas A&M in the Sweet 16, Brown decided to head east. He drove from Tucson to San Antonio on Sunday.
“I love Arizona and this team so much that I could not imagine not being at this game,” Brown said. “The women’s team likes and supports the band so much that I feel super connected to this team and its success. Anything I can do to help them win is worth it.”
Meanwhile, Sue Alexander, a season ticket holder who has followed the Wildcats from the start, had a major decision to make on Monday.
Alexander is an Indiana graduate school product who worked in IU’s School of Continuing Studies. Yet Monday, she wore a UA women’s basketball Final Four T-shirt as she cheered the Cats on from Tucson. While Alexander she’s proud of both teams and wished they weren’t playing each other, her rooting interest was clear.
“Although I will always be a part of Hoosier Nation, I am a Wildcat for Life,” she said.
Arizona’s more famous fans were excited for Saturday’s game, too. Sen. Mark Kelly tweeted Monday that he and his wife, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, met the team last year and they are “not surprised at all that the team is making history under Adia Barnes’ leadership.”
Count UA softball coach Mike Candrea as a fan, too.
“The way they play defense, they are relentless,” he said. “You look at what makes them so good, they play every rep hard as can be. I think it’s been a marvelous thing to watch. I think Adia has done a wonderful job.”
Fans and fun
Handfuls of fans strolled along San Antonio’s famed River Walk Monday afternoon, many of them representing home-state Baylor and Indiana.
Lee Cavazos, a bartender at Agave Bar, said it’s been a very busy week on the River Walk. However, each passing round “minimizes the volume of fans,” he said. It makes sense: Only half of all teams move on to the next round.
Cavazos, 32, has seen fans from most teams. He said fans of the Texas schools come down for the day and travel back home, but everyone pre-parties on the River Walk. He shared the story of one zealous fan — he wouldn’t reveal which school — who drank two of Agave Bar’s signature 64-ounce margaritas and proceeded to fall in the River. After being fished out, he was fined $200.
He added “Go Cats” before he moved on to serve another customer.
Groundhog Day
Win, go to sleep, wake up and do it all over again.
That’s how it’s gone for Arizona over the past week. The Wildcats haven’t let any of distractions or the noise get to them — even if superstar guard Aari McDonald had a few more media appearances following Saturday’s 31-point showing against Texas A&M.
“It’s good to get some recognition and get in the spotlight, but we’re not worried about that,” she said Sunday. “It’s a business trip, and we’re here to take care of business and that’s winning the championship.”
The Wildcats weren’t even letting a little thing like being the first UA team to play in the Elite Eight phase them. Said Barnes: “We don’t feel any pressure.”
Parity in the game
The bracket is busted this year with three teams in the Elite Eight that, on paper, shouldn’t have been there. Third-seeded Arizona and fourth-seeded Indiana play each other Monday. Sixth-seeded Texas punched its ticket to the Elite Eight on Sunday, upsetting top-seeded Maryland.
“I think there’s a lot more parity in women’s basketball,” Barnes said Sunday. “It’s proof right now that there are two teams us and Indiana (playing each other) that have never been to the Elite Eight. And we’re there; we’re both making history at our school. Both have done a good job of changing a program.
“I think that’s exciting. I think years ago you would know who’s going to go … your brackets weren’t going to be mess up. I think now everybody’s brackets are all messed up. And that’s awesome.”
Youngest in the field
Four of the Elite Eight’s coaches — South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, Indiana’s Teri Moren, Louisville’s Jeff Walz and Barnes — are all 51 years old and under. Barnes, at age 44, is the youngest of them all.
Barnes said it’s important for younger coaches, especially women, to see they can do it.
“I’ve been a (head) coach for five years, and it’s funny because all season I go against Tara (VanDerveer), who is a great coach … I go against (Oregon’s) Kelly Graves, (Oregon State’s) Scott Rueck, (UCLA’s) Cori Close — really good coaches who have like 20 years of experience on me,” Barnes said.
“But I had 13 years of playing experience but I’ve only coach for 10 years and five years as the head coach. It’s fun. I’m not afraid. I work to get better every day and I learn. All through the Pac-12 it prepares me. … I’m excited that there are young coaches and different faces going further in the tournament and that’s good for women’s basketball.”
Rim shots
- Heading into Monday’s games, Arizona was listed at +3,800 to win the national championship, according to SportsBettingDime.com. While the 38-to-1 odds seem long, consider that the Wildcats were listed fifth among the eight remaining teams, behind UConn (+140), Stanford (+235), Baylor (+735) and South Carolina (+1,175). Monday’s opponent, Indiana, was listed at +4,250. McDonald was listed at +5,200 to be named the tournament’s most outstanding player. The odds favored UConn freshman Paige Bueckers to win the award; she was listed at +200.
- Washington Mystics guard Natasha Clou tweeted that McDonald “just exudes confidence and it carries to the entire team.”
- McDonald’s 31 points against Texas A&M were the most by any Arizona player in a NCAA Tournament game. She beat Barnes’ record; back in 1998, the Wildcats’ coach scored 30 against Virginia in a second-round game.
- VanDerveer on the success of the Pac-12 in both men’s and women’s tournaments, “The Pac-12 is doing awesome. … The West Coast is representing really well.”
