The Star's longtime columnist checks in with observations from a rare open basketball practice, an update on Arizona's 1989 baseball team, why small high school football crowds are concerning and how the Wildcats made the wrong kind of history against Colorado.
5 observations from practice
Arizona guard Dalen Terry smiles while Jim Rosboroough, Pima Community College assistant women's basketball coach and former Arizona associate head coach, walks by during Friday's practice.
On a freezing February afternoon in Pullman, Washington, 1999, I walked into WSUβs Friel Court to watch Arizona practice for the next dayβs game against the Cougars. Lute Olson was not in the best of moods; the Wildcats had lost at Washington a day earlier.
As I took a seat next to the court, Olson turned and, in his unmistakable bold voice declared "PRACTICE IS CLOSED!"
There was no official mandate, but from that day forth, local newspaper reporters were no longer permitted to regularly watch UA basketball practices, be the coach Olson, Kevin OβNeill, Russ Pennell or Sean Miller. (NCAA Tournament shootarounds are an exception).
I actually didnβt mind. Watching basketball practice is the second-most boring journalistic assignment on earth. Football practice is the only thing worse.
Things change. On Friday afternoon, 22 years later, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd permitted newspaper reporters, photographers and digital media people to watch his teamβs two-hour practice at the Jefferson Center.
The cold war has ended.
But this time it was neither tedious nor seemingly endless. I actually learned something. Such as:
β’ Lloyd is persistent, detailed, disciplined and does not let mistakes go uncorrected. He stopped a simple 3-on-2 fast-break drill after an unguarded player traveled. The drill was repeated until it was error free, doing so without shouting obscenities or demeaning anyone.
"Our (fast) pace is a constant," Lloyd said after the practice. "Youβve got to play well to score fast. But you canβt just run fast."
Heβs a positive re-enforcer, not an old-school, in-your-face Woody Hayes or Rich Rodriguez.
β’ Because the Jefferson Center is locked and off-limits to outsiders, I had not been able to see the massive, full-color tributes to the schoolβs Ring of Honor players that hang on the north wall. I was mildly surprised to see Zeke Nnaji as part of the group. Yes, Nnaji was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2019-20, which qualifies for Ring of Honor placement, although it seems a bit of a stretch. Nnaji isnβt one of the 40 or 50 best players in UA basketball history, yet his name and likeness is next to those of Steve Kerr and Damon Stoudamire.
β’ The UA womenβs basketball team completed its practice earlier Friday afternoon. As Adia Barnes and her entourage walked from the Jefferson Center, it seemed odd that there is not a Ring of Honor display for womenβs basketball players, and nothing to remember the schoolβs eight womenβs NCAA Tournament teams. The only likeness of female athletes at the Jefferson Center is a group image of Barnes and volleyball All-American Kim Glass with Sean Elliott. I suspect that it wonβt be long to see the 2021 Final Four banner and a large likeness of Aari McDonald on the wall. The Jefferson Center reeks of success and history. Itβll be more so when the accomplishments of Barnes and her coach, Joan Bonvicini, are added to the basketball shrine.
β’ Arizona sophomores Bennedict Mathurin and Azuolas Tubelis dominated the two-hour workout. It wouldnβt be a surprise if Tubelis leads the Pac-12 in scoring this season. Heβs such a force in the paint, fearless and in the attack mode. One prediction: Heβll lead the Pac-12 in free throw attempts. If those two remain healthy and if sophomore point guards Kerr Krisa and Justin Kier have the speed to play effective defense on those such as UCLA jet-like point guard Tyger Campbell, the Wildcats will be a very tough out.
β’ Lloyd is a connector. He hosted Pima College menβs basketball coach Brian Peabody and his staff Friday, as well as Olsonβs long-time No. 1 assistant, Jim Rosborough. Itβs sort of a "welcome to the family" thing that seems fitting in a city with Tucsonβs basketball bones. The visitors who most got my attention Friday were the son and daughter of Arizonaβs 2001 Final Four point guard Jason Gardner. His teenage son was often dribbling a basketball during the workout, looking a bit like his father did 25 years ago. It mustβve been a wonderful family moment when Gardnerβs children looked across the court and saw the large, color image of their father displayed on the wall. Gardner is starting his first season as the UAβs director for player relations.
Pima County Sports Hall of Fame class among the best
Arizona Diamondbacks' Scott Hairston hits a solo homer in the first inning against the Houston Astros on Monday, July 26, 2004, in Houston.
Fourteen members of the Pima County Sports Hall of Fameβs Class of 2021 will be introduced at a news conference Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel.
The Class of β21 is among the most accomplished in the 30-year history of the PCSHOF. Among those expected to be at the news conference this week is Tom Ansberry, who, with Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, is the top distance runner in Tucson history. (Abdirahman, at 44, finished 18th at the Boston Marathon last week).
Ansberry ran a marathon in 2 hours and 43 minutes when he was 13, which is almost unprecedented anywhere. He became a two-time state champion cross country runner at Santa Rita High School, led Arizona to the 1984 Pac-10 championship and was the leagueβs track and field athlete of the year. Ansberry, who is a software engineer in Oregon, finished fifth at the 1992 USA Olympics Trials.
He will be joined by former major-league ballplayers Scott Hairston of CDO, John Butcher of Sahuaro and Brian Anderson of CDO, the first-round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 2003.
The Class of β21 also includes Desert View High School and three-time UA All-American infielder/catcher Lety Pineda Boutte; 2012 Olympic bronze medal swimmer Caitlin Leverenz Smith of Sahuaro High School; CDO and Arizona volleyball standout Bre Ladd Walton, who was the 2001 Gatorade national player of the year; and Jay John, a football standout at Salpointe Catholic who went on to be one of Lute Olsonβs leading assistant coaches and the head coach at Oregon State.
Ollie Mayfieldβs undefeated 1970 Tucson High School football team and coach Mike Dyersβ 25-1 state championship Marana High School girls basketball team are to be inducted in the Class of β21 as well.
The PCSHOF induction ceremonies are scheduled for Nov. 14 at the DoubleTree. Tickets are available at pcshf.org or by calling 520-244-8907.
Arizona's 1989 baseball team not done
Former Arizona player and MLB Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman signs autographs, including his own bobblehead, before the Wildcats game against UMass-Lowell at Hi Corbett Field, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019.
Jerry Kindallβs 1989 Arizona baseball team went 23-7, probably the top individual conference season in modern school history, although the β89 Wildcats lost in the NCAA regional finals to Long Beach State.
That didnβt stop Kindallβs β89 players from establishing a legacy that continued this week, when All-Pac-10 outfielder Kevin Long was hired as hitting coach of the Philadelphia Phillies. Longβs career in pro baseball has been long and distinguished, He was the hitting coach of the New York Yankees from 2007-14, for the New York Mets from 2015-19 and for the Washington Nationals from 2018-21. He helped the Yankees and Nationals win World Series titles.
His 1989 UA teammates thrived after leaving Tucson. For example:
β’ Scott Erickson pitched 15 years in MLB, winning 142 games.
β’ First baseman J.T. Snow played in the big leagues for 15 years and won six Gold Glove awards.
β’ Shortstop Trevor Hoffman became a pitcher as a pro, playing 18 years in the majors and setting an MLB record with 601 saves. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
β’ First baseman Billy Owens is the assistant general manager of the Oakland Aβs and has been the club's director of player personnel for 14 years.
β’ Outfielder Damon Mashore is the director of hitting/minor leagues, for the Los Angeles Angels, a role he earlier filled with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
β’ Outfielder Kenny Lofton, who joined Kindallβs baseball team after starting at point guard for the 1988-89 UA basketball team, played 17 years in the majors and played in six All-Star games.
β’ Catcher Alan Zinter, the Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1989, played three years in the big leagues and has since been employed as a hitting coach in the Astros and Indians systems, and has been the hitting coach for the Cincinnati Reds (2019-21) and San Diego Padres (2016-17).
Adia Barnes says Cats have 'more options' this season
Arizona coach Adia Barnes, middle, gestures between Sam Thomas, left, and Cate Reese during Tuesdayβs Pac-12 media day in San Francisco.
At Pac-12 womenβs basketball media day last week, UA coach Adia Barnes said she expects the school to sell about 6,000 season tickets, average as many as 9,000 fans per game and "we will sell out McKale Center more than one time." Asked how the Wildcats can improve from playing in the 2021 NCAA championship game, Barnes said: "weβre better because we have more options."
New UA forward impresses
Arizona forward Ariyah Copeland, 22 during media day at McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. on Oct. 1st., 2021.
Those who have watched the UA womenβs team practice have told me that 6-foot 3-inch senior Ariyah Copeland, a transfer from Alabama, is a significant addition. No kidding. Copeland had 16 double-doubles for the Crimson Tide and shot 61% from the field last year, No. 3 in the NCAA.
Empty stands paint bleak picture of high school football
I drove by Amphitheater High School early Friday evening and saw the lights on at Friedli Field. I parked, bought a ticket and sat in silence, sobered by how much has changed in high school football over the years. There couldnβt have been more than 75 people at Amphiβs 42-7 victory over Douglas. More sobering, Amphi had just 26 players in uniform. Yet the reality is that it has been 24 years since Vern Friedli coached Amphi to an epic 1997 big-schools state championship game against Mesa Mountain View, losing in a heartbreaking final 90 seconds. I remember walking the sidelines at Friedli Field in the β80s and β90s, when close to 4,000 people squeezed into the facility, with 60 or 70 players in uniform. But demographics changed in those 24 years. The school district added another high school. Enrollment has plummeted. High school football in Tucson has become a suburban game. The two-time state championship program that regularly produced Division I (and NFL) prospects like Michael Bates, Jim Krohn, Riki Ellison, Sam Merriman, Mario Bates, Ransom Terrell and Steve Doolittle is now a faded memory.
Soccer showdown looms between Pima and Arizona Western
Tucsonβs game of the week: On Saturday night at 7 p.m., Pima Collegeβs No. 1 ranked menβs soccer team β 13-0 entering Saturdayβs game at Paradise Valley CC β will play undefeated Arizona Western College for the ACCAC championship. AWC, also 13-0, had outscored opponents 81-11 entering this weekendβs competition; coach Dave Cosgroveβs Aztecs had outscored opponents 59-9. The game will be played at PCCβs new soccer field at the west campus.
My two cents: Reeling Cats suffer unfathomable shutout
Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch looks on in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Colorado, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, in Boulder, Colo.
The Smithsonian Channel last month launched a six-episode series called "Impossible Repairs."
One of the episodes documents a failing wastewater treatment tunnel 250 feet below the streets of Toronto.
Thatβs the best Iβve got with which to compare the depths of Arizonaβs football program. It's underground. It doesn't smell good.
After Saturdayβs embarrassing 34-0 loss to the reeling Colorado Buffaloes, itβs going to be difficult for Jedd Fisch to preach patience. It will be equally difficult to convince eligible recruits to sign on to help the Wildcats out of what seems like a bottomless tunnel.
The highlight of the year in UA football? Gronk catching a football dropped from a helicopter.
The lowlight? It seemed impossible to get lower than a shocking home loss to NAU, but Saturdayβs failure to score in four attempts from Coloradoβs 1-yard line one-upped it. Or in this case, one-downed it.
Over the last 50 years, which covers 609 games, Arizona has been shut out just nine times. Almost all of the first eight were understandable:
β’ 31-0 to No. 9 ASU in 1971
β’ 28-0 to Syracuse in 1990
β’ 54-0 to No. 3 Washington in 1991
β’ 45-0 to No. 2 USC in 2003
β’ 38-0 to No. 7 Cal in 2004
β’ 28-0 to No. 12 Cal in 2005
β’ 33-0 to No. 20 Nebraska in 2009
β’ 49-0 to No. 3 Oregon in 2012
This one doesnβt fit. Colorado lost 30-0 at home to Minnesota a few weeks ago. It lost 37-14 to one of the least effective USC teams of the last 25 years.
Until Saturday, Arizonaβs 17-game losing streak was all on Kevin Sumlin and those who hired him. Now, even Gronk can help.
