As soon as the final horn sounded in Arizona’s Elite Eight victory on Saturday night, Ryan Volin hopped in his truck and headed for McKale Center.
He didn’t go to celebrate. He had important business to attend to.
With his son, RJ, looking on, Ryan Volin, right, finishes adding 2026 to the list of Arizona's Final Four appearances inside McKale Center on Saturday night.
Volin’s custom sign company, Graphic Impact, is in charge of updating McKale’s display of tournament achievements by the men’s basketball program, which has grown to cover a long strip of bright red wall high in the southeastern corner of the arena: 22 Sweet 16s, 12 Elite Eights and now five Final Fours.
For the past decade or so, Volin has made it his mission to add the latest entries to that list almost as soon as the team earns them.
“I have my own code and CatCard” to get into the building, he said. “They don’t even ask. That’s just part of my job. It’s expected.”
Maybe you saw a picture of Volin’s handiwork on social media Saturday night — a gleaming white “2026” freshly added next to the Wildcats’ four previous Final Four appearances. Maybe you figured the image must have been photoshopped, since the athletics department posted it less than an hour after the game ended and the confetti fell.
That’s all Volin.
This sign inside McKale Center had already been updated less than an hour after the Arizona men's basketball team defeated Purdue to advance to its fifth Final Four on Saturday night.
The tradition goes something like this: He prepares a vinyl sticker of the current year and takes it home with him on the Friday before a big NCAA Tournament game. Then, when the game officially ends in victory, he drives straight to McKale to put up the new number, while someone snaps a few pictures and a video for Arizona Athletics to blast out to its fans around the world.
Joining him on Saturday’s run to McKale were his wife, Kelly Jo, a UA alum, and 20-year-old son, RJ, who is currently enrolled in the university’s Eller College of Management.
The arena was empty except for them, Volin said.
Each four-digit year is about 18 inches tall, 4 feet long and cut from a sheet of self-adhesive vinyl. Volin just has to position it on the wall, press it flat with a squeegee and peel off the transfer tape.
He said the whole process usually takes about an hour, including the drive to campus from their house on Tucson's northeast side and back again. Maybe he’s just being superstitious, but even in the event of a blowout, he never leaves home early to get a head start on his work. “I always wait until the game is over,” he said.
Volin does the same thing for the annual Territorial Cup football game between UA and ASU. If the Wildcats win, he will go straight to Casino Del Sol Stadium to add to the year and final score to a running list posted just inside the gates.
Tucson company Graphic Impact also maintains this list at Casino Del Sol Stadium of Arizona victories over ASU in the Territorial Cup.
“When (the game) is here and we win, we have to wait until the crowd leaves and things calm down,” he said.
As any long-time Arizona sports fan can attest, there have been years when Volin never got to put up the vinyl numbers he prepped in advance. “That’s the price of doing business,” he said.
So what does Volin do with a year that ends in disappointment like that? “Throw it in the garbage. Forget about it. Pretend it never happened,” he said.
Saturday marked the third weekend in a row that he had to make a special nighttime trip to McKale. He was also there on March 22 after the Wildcats advanced to the Sweet 16 and again on March 26 to add 2026 to the list of Elite Eight appearances.
Volin said working a few odd hours on weekends comes with the territory. “It’s a family business, so it’s 24-7.”
Besides, the university is one of Graphic Impact’s oldest and best customers. “We treat them well. They treat us well. It’s a good partnership,” he said.
The company has also produced custom signs and graphics for Hi Corbett Field, Hillenbrand Stadium, Hillenbrand Aquatic Center and Robson Tennis Center. If you’ve been to a UA sporting event, there’s “a 95% chance” you’ve seen something that was produced and put up by Graphic Impact, Volin said.
Ryan Volin from Graphic Impact also made a nighttime trip to an empty McKale Center on March 26 to update Arizona's list of Elite Eight appearances.
His father, Howard, founded the business in 1989, the same year Volin started working there at age 17. “This is the only job I’ve ever had,” the now-53-year-old said.
The company’s list of clients has grown to include Raytheon, Banner, Tucson Medical Center, the Tucson Roadrunners, the Tucson Sugar Skulls and the City of Tucson, among others.
Volin knows he won’t be needed at McKale on Saturday or Monday, regardless of how the NCAA Tournament turns out.
“My part’s done,” he said. “I’ve done what I was called on to do for this season.”
The Cats aren’t playing for vinyl numbers on the wall anymore. With two more wins, they get a banner.
