Michael Lev: What Arizona softball needs, how UA baseball collapsed and where Jedd Fisch’s program is headed

The Arizona Wildcats and their Pac-12 rivals are making news. We’ve got views.

News: The UA softball team wins a Pac-12 game — and a Pac-12 series.

Views: This sort of thing hasn’t been newsworthy around these parts since ... ever? I combed through the UA softball record book to try to figure out if Arizona’s 14-game conference skid, which the Wildcats finally halted Saturday night vs. Oregon State, was the longest in program history. The closest I could find was an eight-game losing streak ... last year. That obviously doesn’t reflect well on Caitlin Lowe, the handpicked successor to living legend Mike Candrea — especially when you consider that some of Candrea’s teams went entire seasons without losing 14 (or even eight) games.

Is it fair to compare the start of the Lowe era to the peak of the Candrea dynasty? Of course not. Youth and college softball have grown exponentially since the mid-1980s, creating a larger pool of quality players — and more widespread competition for those players. I’m not ready to say that UA softball is akin to, say, Nebraska football, where the glory days are over, never to be recaptured. Because one player — a true ace in the circle — can lift a program to championship heights.

Devyn Netz is a terrific all-around player, but she’s miscast as a top-of-the-rotation twirler. She’s serving that role by default. Maybe current freshman Aissa Silva or incoming freshman Ryan Maddox can fill that void. The Wildcats have everything else.

News: The UA baseball team gets swept at Oregon State, losing two games in walk-offs.

Views: Anything can happen — especially with the Pac-12 now staging a conference tournament that grants an automatic berth — but I feel pretty confident in saying that the Wildcats’ NCAA hopes evaporated Friday night in Corvallis, Oregon.

Arizona held a 1-0 lead entering the bottom of the ninth inning, riding the brilliant pitching of Cam Walty, whose early-season injury, we’ve learned, might have been the biggest factor in the 2023 team’s demise. Relievers Chris Barraza and Dawson Netz couldn’t preserve the advantage. The inning featured a four-pitch walk, a bunt single (the Beavers small-balled the Wildcats to death all weekend) and a really weird 5-2 fielder’s choice that could’ve been a 5-2 (or 5-2-5) double play. OSU won 2-1.

The hangover was too much to overcome the following day, a 10-4 defeat. On Sunday, Arizona managed to squander a 7-2 lead through six and waste a gutty ninth-inning comeback featuring Emilio Corona’s third home run of the game. The bullpen again faltered.

At 9-12 entering the series, Arizona needed to win two of three to keep a .500 Pac-12 record — the baseline for at-large consideration — within reach. At 9-15, the Wildcats would have to win out. Considering they’re 1-11 in league road games — and one of the two remaining series is at No. 8 Stanford — it feels close to impossible.

News: No UA football players are picked in the NFL Draft for the second straight year.

Views: This was the expected outcome. As I explained last week, it isn’t cause for alarm. It’s not great. It’s not what you want as a program. But it’s not a sign that Jedd Fisch is doing something wrong.

Fisch’s predecessors, Rich Rodriguez and Kevin Sumlin, mostly failed to recruit the type of talent the NFL covets. I say “mostly” because there were exceptions.

Oddly, almost every Rodriguez-era draftee was a defensive player, despite RichRod being an offensive coach. His system worked so well (and still does) that he didn’t need NFL-caliber players for that side of the ball to be effective.

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Likely 2024 draft pick Jordan Morgan and possible ’24 draftee Michael Wiley were Sumlin recruits. They, along with receiver Jacob Cowing, easily could have declared for the ’23 draft. Even with his injury, Morgan would have been picked. Cowing probably would have been too. Not sure about Wiley, given how the NFL has viewed running backs in recent years, but his receiving ability would’ve given him a shot.

That’s what we’ll be talking about next spring, when those three — and others — merit serious draft consideration. And the following spring, when Tetairoa McMillan and Jonah Savaiinaea — Fisch’s top high school recruits thus far — possibly enter the draft pool. The days of Arizona only appearing in the highlights of players drafted from other schools are coming to an end.

News: The UA spring football game draws an announced crowd of 23,273.

Views: This isn’t new news. But it didn’t get the attention it deserved at the time.

No matter how many people were actually in the stadium, this was a monumental achievement. And it’s almost all Fisch’s doing. He has relentlessly promoted the program since his arrival in December 2020 and has practically begged people to pack Arizona Stadium.

Fisch understands that Arizona, like most programs, needs every advantage it can get, even if it’s something that’s seemingly on the margins. A large, engaged crowd can be a real difference-maker. Not to equate Tucson with Knoxville, but would Tennessee have beaten Alabama last season if that game had been played in Tuscaloosa? That’s one of countless examples.

I wasn’t able to attend Arizona’s spring game this year, but I’ve been to plenty. Pre-Fisch, the UA would have been lucky to draw 2,000 fans, let alone 20,000. I believe there’s potential for more, and it’ll require a change — moving the spring game to a 6:30 p.m. start. The water wars are fun, but let’s face it: Most fans won’t sit in the sun for two hours to watch a glorified practice. I bet more would if it were conducted under the lights.

News: The Colorado spring football game draws an announced crowd of 47,277.

Views: What’s happening in Boulder is unprecedented on many levels. According to Brian Howell of the Boulder Daily Camera, the attendance for the first Deion Sanders-led CU spring game roughly equaled the combined attendance from the previous nine. Coach Prime is a phenomenon. He is by far the most compelling figure in college football.

Of course, it all comes with a cost. Sanders and his staff have purged the CU roster. As of a few days ago, Colorado had only 12 scholarship players left from last year’s team, per The Athletic. The Buffs have brought in more than 30 transfers, and that number is expected to grow. This is only possible because the NCAA last May lifted the limit on initial scholarships per recruiting cycle. It used to be 25. This year and next — and likely beyond — it’s unlimited as a concession to the transfer portal, which can cause personnel deficits.

But it also essentially enables coaches to cut players. No matter how he wants to frame it, that’s what Sanders is doing. It’s necessary, because the CU football program was in really bad shape; distasteful, because these are still student-athletes, not employees; and a reflection of the reality of modern-day college athletics in the portal/NIL era. Get used to it, folks.

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