Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Nick Foles, author of Super Bowl shocker, now a best-selling writer

Nick Foles, author of Super Bowl shocker, now a best-selling writer

Nick Foles’ new book “Believe It: My Journey of Success, Failure and Overcoming the Odds” debuted at No. 5 on The New York Times nonfiction hardcover list last week.

A few days later, the former Arizona quarterback won the 2018 ESPY for “Best Championship Performance,” leading the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl title.

Believe it, for sure.

So you ask: Where does Foles’ Super Bowl victory and his “Philly Special” touchdown pass — the QB caught a game-changing touchdown on a trick play — rank among former UA athletes and Tucsonans in their pro careers?

Here’s my list of the Super Seven:

1. Kerri Strug delivered an unforgetteable vault to capture the 1996 Olympic gold on an injured ankle.

2. Annika Sorenstam became the only woman in LPGA Tour history to shoot a 59 (13 under par) at the March 2001 Standard Register Ping Open in Phoenix.

3. Steve Kerr buried a last-moment 17-foot jumper in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals to beat the Utah Jazz and win the title for the Chicago Bulls.

4. Jim Furyk won the 2003 U.S. Open, tying a record (8 under par) for the lowest score in the event’s history.

5. Foles caught the “Philly Special” to help the Eagles win the 2018 Super Bowl, completing 28 of 43 passes for three touchdowns against New England.

6. Sean Elliott swished a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to beat the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 of the 1999 Western Conference finals, launching the Spurs to the NBA championship.

7. Jennie Finch went 2-0 with two shutouts, allowing just four hits, as Team USA won the 2004 Olympic gold medal by outscoring opponents 51-1.

Waiting list: Sorenstam, again. She played in the PGA Tour’s 2003 Colonial Invitational, the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since 1945. She shot 71-74.

Is now the time for Arizona, Khalil Tate?

I submitted my Pac-12 South ballot for this week’s Pac-12 Football Media Day in this order:

1. Utah.

2. USC.

3. Arizona.

4. UCLA.

5. Arizona State.

6. Colorado.

I chose Washington to edge Stanford in the Pac-12 North, followed by Oregon.

The Utes? They are loaded on both sides of the ball. Their defensive experience, toughness and special teams excellence should be able to separate them from both Arizona — as long as QB Khalil Tate improves from the last month of his up-and-down 2017 season. The Utes have a 1,000-yard rusher, Zack Moss, and a Tate-type athlete at QB, Tyler Huntley.

Utah has not been cowed by the Los Angeles schools, going 5-3 against USC and UCLA the last four seasons and beating them by an aggregate score of 245-223.

It won’t take long to see if this prediction holds: Utah plays host to Washington on Sept. 15, in Salt Lake City, in the Pac-12 opener and probably the national game of the week. The Utes also get USC, Arizona and Oregon at home. That’s a significant advantage.

Arizona has serious concerns on its offensive and defensive lines, and more notably on special teams. This will be Tate’s team, but will it be the magical Tate of October 2017 or the struggling Tate of November 2017?

Either way, both Los Angeles schools seem vulnerable. The Utes appear most ready to take command. Arizona is on the waiting list.

Still getting feet wet, Deandre Ayton will be fun to watch as a rookie

Watching several NBA Summer League basketball games was excruciatingly boring, but I wanted to see if an NBA coach could get more out of Deandre Ayton than Sean Miller did at Arizona. Answer: No. Ayton doesn’t yet have the instincts to be dominant. Remember Buffalo? He’s not strong in the low post and he doesn’t always play with confidence. He tends to drift. But he’s the age of a college sophomore and he hasn’t learned how to deal with the game-after-game reality of being a target for opposing defenses. It’ll be interesting to watch him during an NBA season when he is no longer the most feared player on the court. How will he respond? Here’s an answer: The fabulous Ken Griffey Jr. hit .264 when he was Ayton’s age. It’ll take a while.

Lute Olson disciple gives rookies a lesson or two

One guy who had a better summer league appearance than Ayton was Joe McLean, an important part of Lute Olson’s Arizona teams of the mid-1990s. The NBA asked McLean to speak to the summer league rookies and other hopefuls on topics of leadership, mental toughness, health and wealth. McLean played four years of professional basketball in Europe after leaving Arizona in 1996. He has since advised NBA, NFL, MLB, NASCAR and PGA Tour pros as managing partner of Intersect, a company near his Bay Area home.

UA's 'Rising star' Derek Radley named women's golf coach at Oregon

Before Greg Byrne left to become the athletic director at Alabama, he told me that assistant women’s golf coach Derek Radley was “a rising star.” Those were the same words used by Oregon AD Rob Mullens last week when the Ducks hired Radley to be their coach. Give Oregon credit: It did excellent research to find Radley.

“He has infectious energy and passion,” Mullens said.

It’s a significant blow to Arizona, the defending national champion; Radley is one of the NCAA’s leading recruiters, with terrific connections in Europe and Asia. Over the last 20 years, Radley was probably one of the five leading assistant coaches at Arizona, joining football offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes, track and field jumps coach Sheldon Blockburger, baseball’s Mark Wasikowski and swimming’s Augie Busch. 

George Cunningham still making a name for himself

Tucsonan George Cunningham, an All-Pac-12 golfer at Arizona in 2018, is No. 2 on the Canadian Mackenzie Tour, which is under the umbrella of the PGA Tour. Cunningham has earned $52,567 the last four weeks, including a victory and a No. 4 finish. The No. 1 money-winner on the Canadian Tour earns full Web.com Tour privileges for 2018-19. The next four finishers will receive a bye into the final stage of the Web.com Qualifying School in the fall. More immediately, Cunningham can earn a spot in this week’s PGA Tour event, the RBC Canadian Open, if he can remain in the top three on the money list. Unfortunately, he missed the cut Friday. It’ll be close.

You might catch this ex-Wildcat at the '19 Cologuard Classic

You never know who you’ll see on the PGA Tour. Two weeks ago, early 1990s Arizona All-American David Berganio, who is now 49, was given an exemption into the John Deere Classic in Iowa. Berganio, who was a Tour regular through the mid-1990s, playing in 164 events, injured his back about 10 years ago and was given eight exemptions by the PGA Tour. He has used three this year, failing to make the cut in all. It’s likely Berganio, who was a key part of Arizona’s 1992 NCAA championship team, will play in the Cologuard Classic at Tucson National next February, which could be his Champions Tour debut.

Sahuaro grad, Tucsonan play in inaugural golf event

Sahuaro High School grad Cindy Rarick, a five-time winner on the LPGA Tour, hasn’t lost her touch. At 58, she played in the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open last week and shot 79-80, missing the cut by one stroke. Tucsonan Christa Johnson, 60, a former Arizona All-American who won the Tucson Open in 1984 and 1991, finished 33rd. 

Tucson should be warm welcoming for new 'Runners coach

New Tucson Roadrunners head coach Jay Varady is only 40 but has already coached half of his life, including teams in Iowa, Washington, France, Canada, Pennsylvania and New York. He may enjoy the Roadrunners’ American Hockey League schedule, especially trips to California, Texas and Colorado. Last year, coaching for Kingston, Ontario, his team’s schedule was entirely in the Ice Belt, from Niagara, New York; and Saginaw, Michigan; to Owen Sound, Ontario. Varady grew up in St. Louis but played college hockey in Schenectady, New York. He’ll be Tucson’s third coach in three seasons.

Tucsonan Brent Strom makes first All-Star Game at age 69

Not only was Tucsonan Brent Strom the pitching coach for the American League in last week’s All-Star Game, former Catalina Foothills High School and UA point guard Julie Brase Hairgrove will be an assistant coach for the West team in the WNBA’s All-Star Game on Saturday. Hairgrove, who led Foothills to the 1997 state championship, and remains the state’s all-time leading scorer in girls basketball, will join the rest of the Phoenix Mercury coaching staff, leading the West team in Minneapolis. Hairgrove, who played at Arizona from 1998-2003, has been a Phoenix assistant coach since 2005. It was good to see Strom, the Astros’ pitching coach, in the AL dugout. He has been in pro baseball since he was 23. He got to his first All-Star Game at 69.

You might recognize BYU's tight end at Arizona's season opener

BYU tight end Matt Bushman was a first-team Freshman All-American tight end last season, catching 49 passes for 520 yards at BYU. The Sabino High School grad will return to Tucson for Arizona’s home opener on Sept. 1. He’s done more than just get ready for a homecoming this summer. In late June, Bushman married BYU volleyball player Emily Lewis. She is the daughter of Chad Lewis, a former BYU tight end who was a three-time NFL Pro Bowl selection. Bushman is a Rob Gronkowski-type threat, 6 feet 5 inches and 250 pounds, who is expected to be the centerpiece of BYU’s new offense.

Champion Wildcat Harry Messick dies at 82

Sad to learn that Tucsonan Harry Messick, 82, one of the UA’s first All-American baseball players, died July 9. He was a big part of Arizona’s 1956 and 1958 College World Series teams. After playing minor league baseball, he became an educator and coach in Minnesota and retired to Tucson in 1999. Messick was inducted into the UA Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, and last year was tireless in helping his Wildcats teammate, pitcher Burdette Morago, get selected into the UA Sports Hall of Fame. Messick was an All-American first baseman in 1958 when the team included future New York Yankees manager Dick Howser of Florida State and long-time major-league infielder Jerry Adair of Oklahoma State. Pretty good competition.

My two cents: Hall of Fame nod for Pima’s Stacy Iveson justified, overdue

The ACCAC created a Hall of Fame in 2015 and it is working on a serious backlog from more than 40 years of junior college sports in Arizona.

This year’s class includes former Yavapai College and Pima College softball coach Stacy Iveson. You wonder what took the ACCAC so long to get to her. Iveson, a Catalina High School and UA grad, coached Pima and Yavapai to four NJCAA championships in an eight-year period before rejoining Mike Candrea on Arizona’s coaching staff. She now serves in a non-coaching capacity with the Wildcats.

Iveson is just the fourth Tucson-connected coach from the ACCAC to be inducted, joining Candrea, who started his career at Central Arizona College, former UA Olympic medalist distance runner George Young of CAC, and Eastern Arizona basketball coach Chuck LaVetter.

Who’s next? How about former Pima College athletic director Larry Toledo and ex-Aztec coaches Rich Alday, Norm Patton and Roger Werbylo?

Iveson will be inducted Aug. 25 at the 50th anniversary celebration of Yavapai College in Prescott.