Hansen's Sunday Notebook: How Tommy Lloyd's Wildcats out-toughed Mick Cronin's Bruins

The Star's longtime columnist on Arizona's huge win over UCLA, longtime volleyball coach Dave Rubio's departure, Tedy Bruschi's telegenic "it" factor and Adia Barnes' hard-to-argue perspective on the current state of college athletics.

'Game of the Year' played at Bruins' pace, but Cats craftily adapt

Arizona’s spirited Tommy Lloyd and UCLA’s forever-cranky Mick Cronin exited McKale Center at almost the same moment Saturday afternoon. Different folks, different strokes.

Lloyd saw the sun shining and stepped into a crowd of donors on a patio near the Hall of Champions. “That was a heavyweight fight,’’ Lloyd told the boosters. “It shows that nice guys can kick ass.’’

He even laughed about the unusually low score, 58-52. “That’s usually our halftime score,’’ he said. “But if you score 58 and you win, it’s a good day.’’

It was a good day for Lloyd and the UA boosters.

Cronin walked alone to the Bruins' bus. A few minutes earlier in a corridor outside their locker room, Cronin sounded like a man coaching a team ranked No. 500, not No. 5.

“I’m not into excuses,’’ he said. “Our energy level wasn’t what it should be. So blame me.’’

There was no one to blame Saturday. UCLA’s lack of energy? That’s baloney. The Bruins were simply out-toughed, beaten at their own game.

The Pac-12's most captivating basketball rivalry lived up to its historic past. It was the Game of the Year in Tucson, and when the Wildcats and Bruins meet in the regular-season finale March 4 at Pauley Pavilion, it will be the Game of the Year in Westwood.

Both teams are good enough that an April game at the Final Four wouldn’t shock anyone.

Cronin isn’t at all like his UCLA predecessors, especially Steve Alford, Jim Harrick and Steve Lavin, who all chose to play run-and-shoot basketball. Cronin chooses to play as if it’s fourth-and-1 at the goal line.

For the first 15 minutes Saturday, the Bruins contested every shot. Azuolis Tubelis, Arizona’s Lithuanian Locomotive, couldn’t go anywhere without a Bruin or two in his face. It was a bump here, a forearm there. Tubelis couldn’t get comfortable. He shot 1 for 5 from the field in the first half, was in foul trouble and had three points.

But when the game was decided, in the first 15 minutes of the second half, Arizona was resourceful enough to adapt to UCLA’s style and play through the elbows and forearms.

The league’s most accomplished 1-2 punch, UCLA’s Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez, shot a combined 10 for 35. That’s a game-changer at any level, and it was because Arizona’s defense did unto the Bruins what the Bruins had been doing to the Wildcats.

Said Cronin: “Sometimes the other team’s defense causes (bad shooting). Even if it’s an open shot, you’re rattled just enough or sped up just enough.’’

Campbell and Jaquez were rattled and rolled. They have combined to play 133 games and 7,342 minutes for the Bruins — one of the most experienced and skilled twosomes in many Pac-12 years — but on Saturday Lloyd’s “40 minutes of hell’’ showed that after just 57 games as a head coach, he’s got the savvy to adapt to the challenge at hand.

“UCLA was able to get the game at their tempo,’’ he said. “But we were comfortable the whole time.’’

About all that was decided Saturday was that UCLA won’t become the first team of the Pac-10/12 years to go undefeated. This was simply Round 1 of a heavyweight fight.

“We’ll play again soon,’’ Cronin said.

We can’t wait, Mick.

Dave Rubio departs Arizona volleyball program after 31 years on his own terms 

Arizona’s Dave Rubio became the fifth Pac-12 volleyball coach to step down, part ways or bolt for greener pastures in the past month. That just about covers the options available to any coach, any sport.

Rubio took the high road. He chose to retire after 31 seasons — 20 of them resulting in NCAA Tournament appearances. He also chose not to make it a tear-fest or an ego-driven farewell.

“I don’t want any fanfare; I’d prefer to just step out the backdoor,’’ said Rubio, an immensely likable man “It’s not that big of news.’’

Rubio told me that his decision to retire is not complicated. “The position needs new leadership and new vision,’’ he said. “The generation gap is just too big for me to overcome now.’’

Two of his leading players, multiyear starters Emily Herman (to Colorado State) and Kamaile Hiapo (to BYU), left the program last month. That’s life as a college head coach in 2023. Loyalty? Hey, this isn’t 1992, the year Rubio was hired to be Arizona’s volleyball coach..

Rubio didn’t want to be part of the new, transient culture of college sports any longer.

“I’m going to ride my bike from the Canadian border to the Mexican border,’’ he said. “And I’m going to go back to where my family’s chicken ranch was near Carlsbad (California) and do a lot of surfing.’’

When you have the means to retire at 63 — and when your bucket list includes surfing and cycling — go for it.

Being a head coach in Pac-12 volleyball is wickedly difficult. Teams from the conference have won 17 NCAA championships in Rubio’s 31 seasons. If you can go .500 in the Pac-12, you’re a Top 25 team.

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That kind of relentless pressure takes a toll.

Since the Pac-12 volleyball season ended, ASU coach Sanja Tomasevic left the Sun Devils after a 74-104 career record. Parting ways? That’s a nice way to put it.

Oregon State’s Mark Barnard, who had 11 players transfer the last five seasons, announced he was retiring. He is 56.

UCLA’s Michael Sealy, 52, who coached the Bruins to the 2011 national championship, stepped down. Why leave his alma mater now? “There are too many days where my passion is less than the players’, so I know it is time to take a break, make a change,’’ he said.

Only Washington’s Keegan Cook went out on top: After winning four Pac-12 titles the last eight seasons, Cook accepted the head-coaching job at Minnesota, which is a full-blown heavyweight in women’s volleyball.

“For us old guys, the evolution of coaching this new generation is hard to swallow,’’ Rubio said. “Look at the young head coaches in the NFL. They’re so young. They’re in their 30s.’’

Rubio inherited an Arizona program that had gone 0-18 in the Pac-10 in 1991. He coached his way out of that hole and completed his career with a 31-23 record against ASU and an epic berth in the 2001 Final Four. Only one Pac-12 volleyball coach, Stanford’s Andy Banachowski, won more matches than Rubio’s 570.

Across more than 100 years, only five Arizona coaches served their school longer: softball’s Mike Candrea and basketball’s Fred Enke coached for 36 years; track’s Dave Murray was on the scene for 35 years; golf’s Rick LaRose excelled for 34 years; and baseball’s Pop McKale was on duty 33 years.

Rubio’s legacy in Tucson sports history is secure.

Short stuff: Su'a a big-time LB signee, Duncan's route back to the bigs and Fisch's local touch

• How long has it been since Arizona successfully recruited an elite linebacker? It goes back to 1999, when Dick Tomey signed two top-100 prospects, Joe Siofele of Honolulu and Lance Briggs of Sacramento. The UA beat Nebraska and USC, respectively, for Siofele and Briggs. That long drought ended Friday when Mater Dei High School four-star linebacker Leviticus Su’a made a commitment to play for Arizona. What next? Success is not guaranteed. Siofele had a so-so career, starting 2½ seasons at Arizona but did not become an all-conference or NFL player. Briggs was a full-blown star, Arizona’s best player of the early 2000s who went on to become a seven-time NFL Pro Bowl selection.

• I watched Tedy Bruschi on ESPN’s “ManningCast’’ version of last week’s Dallas-Tampa Bay playoff game. He’s got the “it’’ factor. Bruschi’s personality and football knowledge more than held up during the broadcast. He has chosen not to become one of ESPN’s game-day analysts, traveling from city to city each week for six months, electing to spend more time with his wife and three children in Boston. Bruschi is excellent in his Sunday “NFL Countdown’’ show on ESPN, which takes place in Bristol, Connecticut. Working with the Manning brothers, Bruschi laughed when a photo from his 1994 Arizona season was shown; he had a full-grown mullet. “I couldn’t afford a haircut because I spent my leftover scholarship money on beer,’’ he said, laughing. If Bruschi played college football at Arizona today, he would have enough money from NIL not to worry about paying for a haircut.

• Shelley Duncan hoped to replace Jay Johnson as Arizona’s baseball coach two years ago. But it’s not like his career has diminished since the UA chose Chip Hale. The Canyon del Oro High School grad — who remains the UA’s career home run leader and holds the record for most home runs ever by a Tucson prep baseball player — on Friday was hired by the New York Yankees to be the manager of their Triple-A franchise in Scranton-Wilkes Barre. His next move is likely to be as an MLB manager. Duncan spent the last four years on the coaching staffs of the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox. At 43, he’s just getting started.

• Jedd Fisch’s recruiting efforts touched home last week. He offered a scholarship to Phoenix Sunnyslope High School quarterback Luke Moga, who earlier had been offered scholarships by, among others, Oregon, ASU, BYU and Stanford. Moga? Sound familiar? In 1985, his father, Chris Moga, was the top high school football prospect in Tucson. He rushed for 296 yards as Sabino beat Pueblo one night and ended up becoming a starting defensive back at Kentucky. He is the regional sales manager for McKesson, a pharmaceutical and medical supplies operation.

UA’s Ring of Honor qualifications in question

In his one season at Arizona, 2019-20, shooting guard Josh Green scored 359 points. How good is that? It’s 165th on the UA’s career scoring list, trailing, among others, Pelle Larsson, Ira Lee and Brendan Lavender.

Green was not an all-conference selection in his brief stay at Arizona. Yet on Feb. 16, Green will return to McKale Center to be recognized in the school’s Ring of Honor. He is being honored because he played for Australia’s 2020 bronze-medal winning Olympic team. He scored six points over six games.

Is that enough for such a prestigious honor? Not for every school.

UCLA, for example, has not retired the jersey of ex-Bruin Don MacLean, who is the Pac-12’s career scoring leader (2,605 points) and a three-time all-conference choice. MacLean’s name is not visible in the arena at Pauley Pavilion.

My two cents: Adia Barnes' take on me-first era is spot-on

Arizona women’s basketball coach Adia Barnes spent much of the time in her weekly Q&A session leading to Sunday’s ASU game talking about “burnout’’ among coaches and the “changing times.’’

She talked about “entitled athletes,’’ “helicopter parents’’ and the “want for immediate gratification’’ among college athletes.

This is no misprint: 12 of Barnes' players have transferred over the last three seasons.

“The NIL has created a what-can-you-do-for-me situation,’’ she said. “How much can you make? It’s all about ‘me.’ Freshmen don’t want to wait to get better. They’re going to jump ship and go into the portal.’’

Perhaps the best example is USC wing Koi Love, who is averaging 3.2 points for the Trojans. A year ago, Love averaged 4.7 at Arizona. As a freshman and sophomore at Vanderbilt,, Love averaged 17.2 points and seemed to be on a trajectory toward stardom.

It’s a cautionary tale that transferring necessarily doesn’t lead to stardom.

"It’s all about them,’’ said Barnes. ““It’s all about scoring. The mindset is very selfish.’’

Amen.