PHOENIX — Arizona has roughly 60,000 alums living in the Phoenix area and every one of them has the same obstacle in following the Wildcats’ sports teams.
It gets worse all the time, too: That round-trip drive of four hours — or more, if traffic and accidents factor in — up and down Interstate 10.
So for the first time in six years Thursday, UA coaches and staffers decided to pay everyone back.
They kicked off their first stop on the “Wildcat Welcome Tour” at a Culinary Dropout in Central Phoenix, with football coach Brent Brennan, men’s basketball coach Tommy Lloyd and new AD Desiree Reed-Francois among those reaching out to the roughly 300 fans in attendance.
The tour of seven stops around the state, including an event at the Union Public House on Tuesday, resumes and expands the sort of fan tour UA last did in 2018. Reed-Francois, who participated in similar spring tours around Missouri as the Tigers’ AD, said it was a team decision to start the tour this spring.
“We ask a lot of our fans,” Reed-Francois said. “We ask them to come to our games. We ask them to join our scholarship fund and donate. So we want to be able to go to them and say `Thank you.’ That’s what this caravan is about.”
The tour will continue Monday in Yuma and then Tuesday in Tucson, with stops to follow in Glendale, Prescott Valley, Nogales and Pinetop later this month and into June. Reed-Francois said she will be at all of them, while UA will rotate coaches in as their schedules allow.
On Thursday, Brennan, Lloyd and volleyball coach Charita Stubbs addressed the crowd, while gymnastics coach John Court and soccer coach Becca Moros were also on hand.
It’s “really to bring Arizona athletics to where you are,’’ Court said. “That’s what we’re doing, so eventually, you’ll come to where we are. I think we’re establishing connections with new fans and old fans, families. I really think it’s a place for everybody who can come support us.”
Court and Moros spent the early moments of the event facing each other in a spirited game of ping pong, while later chatting with fans they hope later might attend their teams’ events in Tucson.
“I was talking to a gentleman who comes down for football, and he said, `Well, I come down from football this day. I usually go back the next day,’ Court said. But he could also “go back a little later the next day, watch women’s soccer in the morning or early afternoon and then go home. You can still beat the traffic.
“So when all these stops are over, I think we’re all gonna have some new fans in the stands, new followers on social media. Those links go both ways.”
Lloyd told fans how “we love going to Phoenix and engaging with you guys,” while asking who attended the Wildcats’ game against Alabama last December in Phoenix, and saying he hoped to bring another game to the area soon.
“This Phoenix market is so important to our program,” Lloyd said. “We want you guys to make sure you feel connected to what we’re doing.”
The Phoenix-area fans helped the Wildcats create a home-court advantage at Talking Stick Arena for their Dec. 20 win over the Crimson Tide, and football coach Brent Brennan also credited them for helping the Wildcats survive the transfer portal frenzy this spring.
Brennan told the crowd, “we had a couple good wins on Tuesday when the (transfer) portal closed and we didn’t have people jump in there” and called it an exciting time.
“My favorite thing about being here so far is how much our fans and everybody in the state of Arizona rallies around the U of A,” Brennan said. “I think that’s one of those things that’s really special and unique. I think that’s why our players have chosen to stay.
“There’s been a lot of people that have stepped up and done incredible things to help encourage them to stay and I’m grateful for that involvement. But really, (players) love Tucson, they love U of A.”
Brennan, Lloyd and Stubbs spoke for about 15 minutes in between trivia contests, and fans also had a chance to meet them one-on-one. Lloyd even put his ping-pong game on display at one point with an attendee.
“I think it’s great for the people that don’t get to come to Tucson on a regular basis,” said UA broadcaster Brian Jeffries, who emceed the event. “Most of them don’t get to meet the coach. You never get to do that.
“People know who the coaches are, and they see them in interviews. But the fact that they might be able to shake their hand, you can’t put a price on that.”
After the Arizona football team's spring game on Saturday, April 27, 2024, UA coach Brent Brennan said he’s “been really impressed with where our defense is at,” and noted “it’s important to essentially throw punches” in practice. Added Brennan: “If it’s really lopsided, you’re gonna have a problem in the fall. … I’m so impressed with a lot of players on our defense.” (Justin Spears/Arizona Daily Star)
