These athletes, teams gave Tucson plenty of reasons to cheer in 2021

It’s been … well, it’s been a year.

The Arizona Wildcats replaced their baseball, softball, men’s basketball and soccer coaches while extending four others — one of them twice. There were good streaks sustained and bad streaks broken. There were legends returned and chances taken.

Despite a global pandemic, things weren’t half-bad around here.

Here are the top 10 sporting moments of the year for Tucson:

10. Arizona makes a racket in tennis, golf

Coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history, the Arizona men’s tennis team was already soaring. The Wildcats advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever, while knocking off Pac-12 rivals UCLA and USC in the same season for the first time in years. Filip Malbasic passed Alejandro Reguant for most singles wins in program history. Even a season-ending 4-3 loss to No. 3 Tennessee had UA optimistic heading into the offseason, with Colton Smith — the No. 7 recruit in the country — joining coach Clancy Shields’ program.

The UA women’s tennis team shined as well, first bringing in the first ranked recruiting class for the program since 2010, then signing local five-star recruit, Tanvi Narendran, a star for University High School and the 2021 Southwest Junior Player of the Year.

It was a good year at the nets — and on the tees, too. Arizona’s women’s golf team stunned top-seeded Stanford in the NCAA quarterfinals before falling to Ole Miss in the semis. Vivian Hou advanced to the U.S. Women’s Amateur finals. And on the men’s side, Brad Reeves was named the Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Year.

9. Fisch story includes one big flip

Coming off a 1-11 season, Arizona wasn’t the obvious choice to make a splash in recruiting. But people were underestimating the charm of coach Jedd Fisch. Arizona’s 2022 class ranks second in the Pac-12 and No. 23 in the country, according to 247Sports.com. That represents the Wildcats highest class ranking in at least 15 years.

The class is led by a Tetairoa McMillan, a five-star wideout from Southern California who originally was headed to Oregon. The Wildcats also snagged three of his Anaheim Servite High School teammates: tight end Keyan Burnett, quarterback Noah Fifita and linebacker Jacob Manu.

8. FC Tucson stages big turnaround

FC Tucson’s transition to USL League One did not start well. The team won eight and six games, respectively, in its first two seasons in the league and started 2021 slowly.

But former coach and general manager Jon Pearlman returned to the helm midsummer and the Men in Black made a run to remember. The team went 7-2-3 down the stretch, then advanced to the USL League One semifinals before losing to Union Omaha. Along the way, FC Tucson signed Pearlman up for another season as coach.

7. UA beats the streak

Arizona fans who woke up on Oct. 6, 2019, must have felt pretty good. The Wildcats had defeated Colorado in Boulder the night before to move to 4-1 in Kevin Sumlin’s second season. Then came a 51-27 home drubbing from Washington, a similar 27-point embarrassment at USC … and loss after loss after loss heading well into the 2021 season.

On Nov. 6, the Wildcats tasted victory once more, snapping a 20-game losing streak that was the nation’s worst. To watch Arizona celebrate a 10-3 win over a depleted Cal team was to watch 20 weekends of frustration and sadness wipe away. It was a raucous celebration, and it needed to be.

6. Wildcats advance to WCWS, then promote a legend

One more try chasing greatness to cap off a career defined by it. While the Wildcats’ wild softball ride fell short, it was a fitting ending for a legend, the 22nd appearance in the Women’s College World Series for Mike Candrea.

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But sad endings begat happy beginnings, as Candrea’s hand-picked successor — Arizona legend and associate head coach Caitlin Lowe — within hours of Candrea’s retirement. That kind of continuity is rare in college sports these days, but befitting of the respect Candrea deserves after one of the iconic careers in all of sports. Now Lowe takes over a team chasing its first championship since 2007.

5. Wildcats swing their way back to Omaha

When you set sky-high expectations right out of the gate, you can’t be surprised when fans get restless. Some Arizona baseball fans went from jumping for joy over Jay Johnson to wondering what happened in the span of three years — from 49-24 and the College World Series runners-up in 2016 to 32-24 and out of the NCAA Tournament entirely two years later.

So when the Arizona baseball team bounced back in a big way this year — improving to 45-18, winning the Pac-12 with a 21-9 league mark and getting back to the College World Series — Johnson found himself back in the good graces of the Wildcats faithful. Then he up and left for LSU, but what a way to go out. Now UA baseball is in the capable hands of Chip Hale, and the standard is set pretty high.

4. UA men, women cap ‘21 with 21 straight

It would have been one thing if this was an either/or situation we were talking about. But both the Arizona men’s and women’s basketball teams were untouchable early in the 2021-22 college basketball season. There were early tests and early romps, close calls and no-calls.

Arizona’s women knocked off No. 6 Louisville in its second game and watched as only one other team — Vanderbilt — got as close as single-digits on the way to a 10-0 start. Not to be outdone, Arizona’s men’s basketball team got off to an 11-0 start, beating Wichita State and No. 4 Michigan in Las Vegas. It wasn’t until Dec. 22 and a test at No. 19 Tennessee that the Wildcats men fell, losing a close contest to the Volunteers.

Now, with the teams at a combined 21-1, times are good in Tucson once more.

3. Heeeeere’s Tommy

The Wildcats’ search for a new men’s basketball coach found them starting fresh. And, in a way, thinking outside the box.

In replacing Sean Miller, Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke and president Robert C. Robbins ventured to the Pacific Northwest, plucking top assistant Tommy Lloyd from Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs. In Lloyd, the Wildcats found one of the best international recruiters in the game and arguably the top assistant coach. Other schools had tried to pry Lloyd free before, but he stayed true. This time, the blue blood of Arizona convinced him to take the leap.

2. Adia picks Arizona (again)

Think you had a good year? Adia Barnes made one Final Four and got two massive raises in a span of weeks.

Barnes signed a five-year, $5.85 million contract after leading the Wildcats to their first-ever Final Four — they would advance to the national championship game before losing to Stanford by one point. Her raise came one month after Barnes’ contract was reworked for the first time — and shortly after Barnes was linked to a lucrative coaching vacancy at Baylor. The new deal all but ensures that Barnes, a star forward during her time with the Wildcats and one of the most visible and popular coaches in the sport, will stay in Tucson as she attempts to build a consistent national power.

1. Cats make first Final Four, then nearly win it all

The UA women’s basketball team accomplished a series of firsts on their way to the national championship. No moment was bigger than when the Wildcats took down mighty UConn and its venerated head coach Geno Auriemma. If there were any nerves, it didn’t show, and Barnes made sure of that. Arizona jumped to a 10-point halftime lead before cruising 59-49 in the national semifinal game, putting the Wildcats into the championship game.

While Aari McDonald and Arizona fell just short of its ultimate goal in a 54-53 title-game loss to Stanford, it was a season of great triumph that has carried into the 2021-22 season. Arizona in undefeated and ranked No. 4 nationally as the calendar changes to 2022. Last month, Barnes secured the highest-rated recruiting class in program history.