Because he was scheduled to receive a break during NBA All-Star weekend, Christian Koloko was invited to stop by McKale Center and receive his official Ring of Honor induction Saturday.
As it turned out, unfortunately for the center who was known at UA as C-Lo, Koloko has been on a break all season while dealing with a blood clotting issue. He was waived by the Toronto Raptors last month to complete a trade, and can’t return to the NBA until he is cleared by the NBA’s Fitness-to-Play panel.
Koloko said during a press conference before Saturday’s game that he’s still going through the Fitness-to-Play protocol, while living in Los Angeles and figuring out what may come next as a free agent.
Meanwhile, the visit to McKale gave him a chance to look back at his three-year Arizona career, which included a final season in 2021-22 under then-new UA coach Tommy Lloyd. Koloko won the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year award that season, qualifying him for the Ring of Honor.
“I loved my time at Arizona,” Koloko said. “It was an amazing time.”
Koloko watched Saturday’s game from a front-row seat along the south baseline, nearly behind the south basket. He was honored with video highlights and a presentation at midcourt, joined by family members and interim UA athletic director Mike Candrea.
Vacation stop at McKale
Several other former Wildcats took advantage of the All-Star Break to show up at McKale Center on Saturday.
Among those on hand were two NBA assistant coaches: Jason Terry of the Mavericks and Joseph Blair of the Wizards — along with more recent former Wildcats including Justin Kier, Kyle Fogg and Jordan Mains. Kier has been playing with the Austin Spurs of the G League while Fogg is a standout in China.
Blair sat next to his former UA teammate from the mid-1990s, Reggie Geary, who is now UA’s senior director of development and a radio analyst on many UA road games.
Recruiting event
The sold-out crowd at McKale on Saturday also allowed Arizona to show off its homecourt atmosphere not only to UA signees Jamari Phillips and Emmanuel Stephen but also several active recruiting targets.
That included two Phoenix-area five-star players expected to be on hand: Gilbert Perry forward Koa Peat and Goodyear Millennium guard Cameron Holmes. Phillips and Stephen were also joined by several of their Dream City Christian teammates, including 2026 five-star guard Ikenna Alozie.
“The road ends here” is an official slogan for the Final Four; That “end,” in a manner of speaking, is just up the road from Tucson and the University of Arizona campus this year with Glendale’s State Farm Stadium playing host to men’s college basketball’s final weekend in April. On Saturday outside McKale Center on the UA campus, the Final Four “Fan Jam” was on display, and the Final Four committee made a presentation on the court at McKale during a second-half timeout.
Final Four “Jams” at McKale
As part of its statewide tour, the Phoenix Final Four’s “Fan Jam” made a fitting stop outside McKale Center on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the Wildcats were assigned a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed at that point, indicating a preferred path through the West Region for a chance to get to the Final Four at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium.
Then, on Saturday night, Arizona hosted ASU in the state’s biggest college basketball rivalry.
“We’re excited to be here,” said Jay Parry, CEO of the Phoenix Local Organizing Committee. “We thought it was the perfect game to come to in Tucson because it’s a big rivalry.”
The Fan Jam, which included three baskets fans could shoot at and a table where free sunglasses were given out, has traveled to schools around the state, to ASU, Flagstaff and the Tohono O’odham rodeo earlier this month outside of Sells.
During a second-half timeout, the Final Four committee made a presentation at McKale.
Final Four bookworms
While the Phoenix Local Organizing Committee also hosted the Final Four at the end of the 2016-17 season, Parry said the touring Fan Jam was added to create excitement among the state’s local fans. Other elements remain, including a third-grade reading competition in which 15,000 students, including 1,200 in Tucson, are participating.
Parry said students log minutes they spend reading at home and in class, then schools compete in a “bracket” format until a winner is chosen. The top school will be bused to Glendale for recognition at the public practice day before the national semifinals are held. In 2017, Casa Grande’s Mary C O’Brien Elementary School won the competition.
“We’ve heard great stories of kids wanting to read during their recess, so everybody’s really into this `Final Four’ competition,” Parry said. “It’s optional, but it’s a free program and as we know, reading at the third grade level is really important to future success with academics. All the research shows that, so the NCAA really loves the idea of the intersection of sport and education.”
Parry said the reading program has been expanded this year so that schools who are knocked out of the program can still compete in a “best of the rest” competition and win other prizes. She said another new addition is a “supplier diversity initiative” that helps match Arizona-based businesses with companies who have needs resulting from the Final Four, such as catered events.
“We want to make sure we have a robust local impact,” she said.
Streaking Cougs
While Arizona was hosting ASU on Saturday, Washington State kept breathing right behind the Wildcats.
The Cougars beat Stanford 72-59 earlier Saturday to stay a game behind the Wildcats at the top of the Pac-12 standings. At 20-6 overall and 11-4 in the Pac-12, the Cougars will ride a seven-game winning streak into McKale Center for a rematch with Arizona on Thursday.
UA lost 73-70 at Washington State on Jan. 13 in Pullman.
Arizona center Oumar Ballo (11) lets out a roar after starting the scoring with a big dunk against Arizona State in the first half of their Pac-12 matchup Saturday at McKale Center. Ballo finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds — his fifth straight double-double.
The big number
5: Straight double-doubles by UA center Oumar Ballo
Quotable
“We give no forks.” — Message on T-shirt worn by former UA golf star Haley Moore to Saturday’s game.
