– At Sunday's Super Bowl, UA fans might cringe when they see quarterback Sam Darnold starting for the Seattle Seahawks. In his two starts against Arizona, 2016 and 2017, the USC QB completed 40 of 58 passes for 546 yards and seven touchdowns. He also rushed for 64 yards. USC beat the Wildcats 48-14 and 49-35 in those two games, lopsided losses that probably cost UA defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel his job after the 2016 season, and Rich Rodriguez his job after the 2017 season. Note: Casteel, who reunited with RichRod and was his linebackers coach at West Virginia last season, retired in December.
USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold (14) skips out of a tackle attempt by Arizona Wildcats defensive lineman Parker Zellers (93) during the second quarter, Oct. 15, 2016, at Arizona Stadium.
– One of the top college wrestling matches of the season involved two Sunnyside all-stars (big shocker, huh?) last week. When No. 5 Oklahoma State defeated No. 3 Iowa State, the 141-pound match pitted ex-Blue Devils Sergio Vega, ranked No. 2 in the NCAA, against Anthony Echemendia, ranked No. 3 nationally. Vega won, 4-2. At Sunnyside, Vega went 140-2 with four state titles; Echemendia, a senior, was 52-0 as a Sunnyside senior.
Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire speaks with guard Akai Fleming (0) during the second half against North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C., Jan. 17, 2026.
– Predictably, chatter around the Georgia Tech basketball program involves the future of third-year head coach Damon Stoudamire, an All-American point guard on Arizona's 1994 Final Four team. Stoudamire's Yellow Jackets were 11-12 through games of Friday and just 19-37 in the not-so-tough ACC in 2½ seasons. Stoudamire has two years remaining on a five-year contract that pays him roughly $2.3 million a year, the lowest figure of an ACC men's head basketball coach. Georgia Tech has fired its last four basketball coaches — ex-Wildcat Josh Pastner, Brian Gregory, Paul Hewitt and Bobby Cremins — and has not finished a season ranked in the AP Top 25 since 2005. Tough job. If Stoudamire does exit Georgia Tech, he'd have no difficulty being hired as an NBA assistant.
– Former Arizona head football coach Larry Smith’s coaching tree continues to spread. In the last two weeks, the sons of his Arizona assistant coaches Mike Barry and Bobby April were hired by NFL clubs. Joe Barry was hired last week as Miami Dolphins linebacker coach. Bobby April III was hired as the linebackers coach of the Buffalo Bills. I remember seeing the young Barry and April running around the UA football practice field in the 1980s when Mike Barry was the UA's offensive line coach and Bobby April was defensive line coach. Smith's coaching tree at Arizona includes two more NFL coaches, Keith Rowen and Clarence Shelmon.
– Former Arizona 7-foot center Oumar Ballo is starting for Cantu in the Italian Euroleague, averaging 9.7 points and 8.6 rebounds. He recently played against the Milano EuroLeague that includes ex-UA point guard Nico Mannion, whose career seems to have ebbed. Mannion is averaging just 14 minutes per game for Milano. Another ex-Wildcat in the EuroLeague, point guard Alex Barcello, who transferred to BYU and became an all-conference player, is averaging 14.1 points for Obradoiro of Spain's EuroLeague. Barcello, twice the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year, has already played professionally in Belgium, Greece and Germany.
