Keshad Johnson, who averaged 11.5 points at Arizona last season, made his NBA debut last week when he was recalled by the Miami Heat after being the NBA G League’s Player of the Week for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Johnson scored two points in six minutes against Boston in his debut. Johnson thus becomes the 59th former Arizona basketball player to reach the NBA, and perhaps the most unlikely. He was undrafted last summer. It means that Arizona now has 12 active players in the NBA, most in the Big 12 conference — Kansas has 11 and Baylor 10. Historically, Kansas has had 84 players reach the NBA, Arizona 59, Cincinnati 39 and Houston 38 to lead the Big 12.
Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson dunks the ball during the second half of a preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks, Oct. 16, 2024, in Miami.
Julius Erving, the famed Dr. J of NBA history, will be the special guest at a Fireside Chat staged by the Southern Arizona African American Museum on Jan. 16 at Palo Verde High School at 6 p.m. Dr. J and Arizona basketball Hall of Famer Bob Elliott became friends during their NBA careers 40 years ago. Elliott, who now operates the African American Museum at the UA Student Union, will reunite with Erving on the “Night With Dr. J.” For ticket information, call 520-907-2585 or email aamuseumofsouthernarizona@gmail.com.
Arizona Hall of Fame baseball pitching coach Jim Wing, who died last month at age 88, was honored last week in a service in Oro Valley. Wing’s impact on the UA baseball program was immediately clear. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Trevor Hoffman flew in from San Diego to the memorial. At Arizona, Hoffman played shortstop and wasn’t one of Wing’s pitchers, yet he talked poignantly about what Wing meant to his career. The UA baseball team attended the service and sang “Bear Down, Arizona.” It was a special moment. The “Winger” will be greatly missed.
The Arizona Interscholastic Association charged $20 for tickets to Friday’s Mica Mountain 4A state championship game at Sun Devil Stadium. It was also $15 to park on the ASU properties. That’s way too much for a high school football game of any level. Imagine the parents of the Mica Mountain players, paying a combined $40 for tickets, $15 for parking, spending gas money to and from Tucson and buying dinner in Phoenix for the 4 p.m. game. That’s about $125, minimum, and more if siblings made the trip, as well. The AIA should cap ticket prices at $10.
Marana High School receiver Dez Roebuck was named Gatorade’s Arizona prep football Player of the Year last week. Well deserved. He broke the Arizona prep record with 352 career receptions, including 95 this season. Roebuck becomes just the seventh Tucson football player in the 40-year history of the Gatorade award to be Arizona’s top player. He joins Amphi running back Michael Bates, 1988; Sahuaro tackle Mike Ciasca, 1989; Sahuaro lineman Todd Thompson, 1993; Ironwood Ridge lineman Daniel Borg, 2004; Sabino running back Glyndon Bolasky, 2005; and Salpointe running back Bijan Robinson, 2019. Being the state’s Gatorade POY doesn’t always lead to success. Of the Tucson group, only Bates and Robinson became full-time college starters.
