A few notes from a tattered notebook:

What makes a mid-level basketball team like Old Dominion fly about 2,000 miles to Tucson to get beat up 102-44 at McKale Center? To its credit, ODU hasnโ€™t often fallen into the trap of taking about $100,000 of a Top 10 teamโ€™s financial guarantee just to have its confidence crushed.

Maybe thatโ€™s because, in a space of five days in November 2007, ODU lost to No. 1 North Carolina, No. 5 Georgetown and No. 6 Louisville. The moneyโ€™s good, but the damage to a teamโ€™s psyche and reputation probably isnโ€™t worth it.

Until Saturday, ODU had played just two Top 25 teams on their home court since that five-day calamity in 2007 โ€” No. 14 Arkansas last year and No. 25 Syracuse in 2019. Two losses.

Now the Monarchs can stuff that $100,000 or so into a safe place, do some damage control and get on with its more favorable nonconference schedule of Radford, Maryland Eastern-Shore, William & Mary and Virginia Wesleyan.

I was hopeful McKale Center would hold a moment of silence Saturday, an appreciation for two notable Wildcat basketball players who died last week. In the absence of such, let me say a few well-deserved words about Tom Sutton, age 80, Class of โ€™66, and Gilbert Myles, age 68, Class of โ€™78.

Arizonaโ€™s Gilbert Myles, left, and Bob Elliott raise their hands after a 77-72 win on the final day of the regular season on March 6, 1976. Steve Lake (15) is in the background.

Sutton, the son of a miner from Marana High School, was known as โ€œTall Boyโ€ to his friends and teammates from the coach Bruce Larson years. He worked 30 years in the insurance business for former Arizona standout Bob Mueller, and later spent 15 years as a get-your-boots dirty rancher. He was my neighbor for a few years. Boy, did he love his Wildcats.

Myles was part of Fred Snowdenโ€˜s 1974 recruiting class, a slick-moving guard from Fresno, California, who averaged 12 points for the โ€™78 UA club. He went on to be a professor at Fresno City College, a psychologist who scored 622 points for the Wildcats. He was far more than a good basketball player.

The Big 12 had gone 26-1 against nonconference teams through Saturday afternoon, mostly against poor competition. The only loss was Baylorโ€™s unexpected and embarrassing 101-63 collapse to Gonzaga.

The two most anticipated Big 12 games this week both involve โ€” surprise โ€” Arizona State.

The Sun Devils play at Gonzaga on Sunday. Letโ€™s see if Bobby Hurleyโ€™s team can hang tough. ASU then returns to Phoenix to play Grand Canyon on Thursday on the Sunsโ€™ NBA court. Thatโ€™s a big risk by ASU. Imagine being tagged as the second-best college basketball program in Phoenix.


Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.

Contact sports columnist Greg Hansen at GHansenAZStar@gmail.com. On X(Twitter): @ghansen711