INDIANAPOLIS — Every time Paul Volpe walked downstairs to the basement of his home, he was reminded of Arizona's Final Four drought.
Volpe, a senior vice president and branch manager at Nova Home Loans in Tucson, converted his basement into a man cave, also known as the "Bear Down Bar."
University of Arizona fan Paul Volpe inside his man cave dedicated all things UA and UA sports at his home in Tucson in March 2022.
If you're a fan of the Wildcats, it's heaven. The hardwood floor is the old floor from McKale Center prior to the renovations over a decade ago, there's memorabilia and pieces of Arizona history at every turn, and an Arizona State logo sits inside of the toilet.
Sitting in one of the corners is a wooden case with a bottle of "Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon." The plaque on the case reads: "Do not open until Final Four or Rose Bowl. Bear Down!"
Volpe received a bottle of the Kentucky-based bourbon, which was aged in barrels for 15 years, about a dozen years ago. Volpe helped an alcohol distributor "through some tough times with a divorce situation" and refinanced his home. A bottle of Pappy Van Winkle is priced at just over $3,200 on the company's website.
"He gave me a smoking deal on the bottle for how difficult of a situation I helped him with," Volpe said. "His life was changing, and I had to take care of him. It all worked out. ... People say they get these bottles for special occasions. It's kind of sad people do that, because why would you wait?
"I waited, of course, because I want it to be special. In the 'Bear Down Bar' downstairs, I came up with this idea to put it in a case."
When Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd was first hired and went to Volpe's bar, Lloyd told him, "'When we get to the Final Four, I want a little bit of that,'" Volpe said.
A sign instructing a bottle of 15-year-old Pappy Van Winkle whiskey not be opened until Arizona makes the Final Four or the Rose Bowl sits in Paul Volpe’s “man cave.”
At the time Volpe received the bottle, former Arizona head coach Sean Miller was at the height of his career at the UA, taking the Wildcats to three Elite Eights. Volpe thought his celebration toast with Pappy Van Winkle would be sooner than later.
"Obviously it sat in my bar for 11 years," Volpe said. "I saw it every single day that I went out there. It was lit up with an LED strip. It's a friendly reminder that I could possibly never open the bottle. Now we're here."
Volpe took the Pappy Van Winkle out of the case and wanted to have a celebratory moment with other UA boosters and donors, but he didn't trust himself to keep it in one piece during his travels from Tucson to Indianapolis. So, he called in an expert: longtime Arizona equipment manager Brian Brigger, who's nicknamed "EMOY" for Equipment Manager of the Year.
"I didn't want to chance it with my carry-on luggage, so I figured there's no better man for the job than the guy who's carrying our precious cargo across the country for Arizona basketball," Volpe said.
Brigger wrapped the Pappy Van Winkle with seven towels, put it in a bag "that had other towels in it and multiple layers of athletic tape."
The night before the battle between top-seeded Arizona and Michigan in the Final Four, Volpe shared shots of the bourbon with fellow UA faithful at Westin near Lucas Oil Stadium. About 10 people "got a swig" of Pappy Van Winkle.
"It was pretty awesome," Volpe said. "Now I've got about a third of the bottle left, so I gotta be careful with the pours. I want to save some for Monday."
Paul Volpe’s Arizona-themed bar has served beer to Wildcats celebrities — including first-year coach Tommy Lloyd.
Now that Arizona football coach Brent Brennan is aware of the bourbon, "I gotta get a new bottle for the Rose Bowl," Volpe said.
Faces in the crowd
Miles Simon hoists the 1997 national championship trophy during a jersey retirement ceremony after the Arizona men's basketball team's Red-Blue scrimmage on Oct. 14, 2016, at McKale Center.
Several former Wildcats traveled to Indianapolis for the Final Four, including Miles Simon, who led Arizona to a national championship in 1997 and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Simon signed autographs for UA fans at "Fan Fest" in the Indianapolis Convention Center.
Other former UA players include Reggie Geary, Donnel Harris, Bob Elliott, Bennett Davison, Kevin Flanagan, Stone Gettings, Fendi Onobun and Harvey Mason, who's now CEO of The Recording Academy.
Former Arizona football star Rob Gronkowski attended Saturday's game, along with Michigan basketball royalty Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson — also known as the "Fab Five," Michigan's iconic 1991 recruiting class. They became the first all-freshman lineup to start in a national championship game in 1992.
Former NBA center Boban Marjanovic, who attended the Arizona-BYU game in February, sat with UA fans at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Lloyd's mentor, Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, along with former Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, were in the first few rows for the Arizona-Michigan game.
By the numbers
2: Teams UConn had in the Final Four for the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments. The UConn women's team lost to South Carolina at the Final Four in Phoenix on Friday.
3: The Final Four has a three-day concert festival at American Legion Hall headlined by Twenty One Pilots, Zac Brown Band and Post Malone. After the UConn-Illinois game and Arizona's pregame warmups, The Chainsmokers performed at Lucas Oil Stadium.
$100: Price for parking about 100 yards from Lucas Oil Stadium.
125: Miles between Champaign, Illinois, and Lucas Oil Stadium, which is equivalent to a trek from Tucson to Phoenix. The Fighting Illini made up about 75-80% of the fans at the Final Four.
14,688: The total capacity at McKale Center, which had a sell-out crowd for the Arizona-Michigan watch party, albeit parts of the lower bowl weren't used.
He said it
"I think going home has helped. ... I think that our fans have great appreciation for one of their own. And then the way he's handled himself, he's just been elite. He's been a joy to coach. He's been unselfish. He's been a guy that is all about winning. When I think of Kylan, I think of those things. He's been a great teammate to everybody. He's as much a part of this success, and it's pretty unusual to do it from your hometown." — Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, on point guard and former Wildcat Kylan Boswell, who's from Champaign
