THANK YOU TO THE BRACCIA AND LAPAN FAMILIES
We were extremely excited to announce a pair of gifts towards the new C.A.T.S. Academic Center this morning. Alums Andrew and Kirsten Braccia committed a $2.5 million leadership gift to assist with the construction of the new academic center for UA's student-athletes, while Dr. David Lapan and his family pledged a $1 million gift. These two gifts are being grouped with $500,000 of Steve and Margot Kerr's previously announced gift, a $500,000 anonymous gift, other gifts and athletics department funding to make up the $7.25 million project.
We can't thank the Braccias and Lapans, as well as the other folks involved, enough for this very significant level of support. As I mentioned in our official press release, Andrew and Kirsten transitioned their time at the UA into extremely successful careers and we appreciate their focus on the growth of both our academic and athletic success. The Lapans have also played a major role in enhancing the student-athlete experience on a number of different occasions. This group's generosity will go a long way in helping us provide a first-class experience for our current and future student-athletes.
With graduating our student-athletes as the first of our five goals and principles, we couldn't be happier to start a project that should have a major impact on the success of our student-athletes in the classroom. This new academics center will provide the tutor rooms, study areas and computer lab necessary to support our student-athletes and it will also house life skills, sports psychology and personal development services as well.
We will be holding a ground-breaking ceremony for the C.A.T.S. Academic Center, which will be located on the south side of Enke Drive across from McKale Center, this Friday, Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. If you'd like to read our complete release, you can do so by clicking HERE.
SOFTBALL OPENS YEAR 31 OF THE CANDREA ERA
Softball kicks off the 2016 season by hosting the Hillenbrand Invitational Feb. 11-14 at Hillenbrand Stadium. The 13th-ranked Wildcats open up their 2016 season this Thursday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. as they take on Southern Utah. The Wildcats welcome Southern Utah, North Texas, Nebraska Omaha, Purdue and UC Santa Barbara for the four-day, 16-game event. Arizona is hosting the tournament for the 20th time and owns a 96-3 all-time record in the 19 previous seasons. Don't miss any of the fun as the Cats open up the season. Single-game and season tickets are still available and you can purchase either by clicking HERE.
DIFFERENT APPROACH FOR SPRING GAME
If you attended the Night of OKGs event last week, you heard Coach Rodriguez address the philosophical changes he's making with spring ball. One of those changes will be replacing the spring football game with an additional practice. On March 4, we will hold a fan event at Arizona Stadium which will be open to all fans. It won't be a scrimmage, but the event will give you a good reason to quench your thirst for football. Look for more information coming soon.
GYMNASTICS BACK IN MCKALE
The GymCats have faced two tough road competitions in the last two weeks, but return home this Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. to take on Stanford. This will be a huge meet for the GymCats, as they look to build on their success this season. This meet will be our Hero/Mentor Night and we encourage everyone to bring the hero in their life out to cheer on the 'Cats. The first 500 fans will receive a rally towel sponsored by Hughes Federal Credit Union, as well as a Block A Super Hero Cape! Wear blue when you come to the meet so you will match the GymCats' leotards.
The support you have shown so far this season has been amazing and we hope you can continue to do so this weekend. Our goal each meet is to "raise the curtain" in the arena to open more seating, and only you can help us reach that goal. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by clicking HERE.
ARIZONA KIDCATS GYMNASTICS $1 DAY
We have another great offer for members of the Arizona KidCats Club. All members can receive a ticket to the GymCats meet this Saturday, Feb. 13 for just $1 thanks to our friends at Hughes Federal Credit Union. Please bring your membership card to the McKale Ticket Office on Saturday to receive the $1 admission. We look forward to seeing you there!
If you are not yet an Arizona KidCats Club member, join for free today at ArizonaKidCats.org.
CATS IN THE COMMUNITY
As we wrapped up our January Cats Give Back Challenge, many teams and individuals were involved with a variety of service events and projects. In total, the athletics department fulfilled 440 hours of community service around Tucson. Here is a sample of what we've done recently:
Feb. 1 – As they prepare for their season to start, members of the baseball team wanted to say thank you to a few of their season ticket holders and personally delivered the tickets to their homes.
Feb. 5 – The football team visited families and patients at Diamond Childrens' Medical Center. During their visit, they distributed Journey Journals created by fellow student-athletes.
Our student-athletes are looking to continue volunteering in the Tucson Community. If you know of a non-profit that would benefit from the helping hands of our student-athletes, please let us know by submitting an online request by clicking HERE. We won't be able to fulfill every request, but we try to get to as many as we can.
TWITTER GIVEAWAY
Congrats to Paige (@holmesp_) for being selected as this week's winner of the #ByrneTwitterGiveaway. A member of the athletics department staff will DM you with more information on how to secure your prize so make sure you're following @AZAthletics.
Here is this week's Twitter giveaway message:
Good luck to @CoachCandreaUA and @UA_Softball as they open the season this week.
@Greg_Byrne #ByrneTwitterGiveaway
Each week, we'll provide a phrase accompanied by the twitter handle @Greg_Byrne and the hashtag #ByrneTwitterGiveaway for Wildcat Wednesday subscribers to tweet. We'll select the winner(s) at random and announce in the following edition of Wildcat Wednesday. We hope you'll have some fun with this and participate each week. As long as we're seeing a lot of participation, we'll keep the giveaways going throughout the year.
COMPLIANCE CORNER
In today's technological age where everything from paying bills to purchasing tickets to watching games can be done online, there are also compliance concerns that arise with technology. Many times, that is in the form of social media and recruiting, about which we are constantly reminding our donors and other supporters.
A fairly new issue that has arisen on college campuses nationwide, however, is crowdfunding websites. Typically, these sites permit the general public to contribute to a particular goal, many times in the form of a business or charity they'd like to support. The compliance concern that colleges and universities are facing is that certain crowdfunding sites have been created to provide payment to student-athletes.
Although the sites state funding is not provided to the student-athlete until after graduation, the NCAA has stated that acceptance of these funds is a violation of NCAA rules. Therefore, please refrain from making donations to such sites, and if you have already done so, please contact our compliance office so that we may protect the student-athletes and the University of Arizona from potential penalties.
ARIZONA NUGGETS
Track & Field's Sage Watson set a school record in the 500 meters with a time of 1:10.52 at the Armory Invitational in New York City … Ryan Anderson from Men's Basketball was named USBWA National Player of the Week after averaging 26.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in a road sweep of the Washington schools … Women's Swimming and Diving won 12 of 16 events to take the dual meet against our rivals to the north. It's been at least 17 years since our women have lost a dual meet to the Devils … Rafael Quintero from Men's Diving was named Pac-12 Diver of the Month for January, his second-straight honor and fourth during his career … Volleyball'sLaura Larson was invited to USA Volleyball's Coaches' Clinic in Colorado Springs last weekend to help demonstrate drills. She was one of just two collegiate liberos to receive the invite … Women's Tennis swept No. 44 Houston, 7-0, last Friday.
WEAR THE COLORS – SHARE THE PHOTOS
Thank you for wearing the colors and sharing your Arizona pride! If your photo submission did not make this week's edition of the Wildcat Wednesday, please check our "Wildcat Wednesday" album at facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics.
NOTE: Please submit photos for Wildcat Wednesday with an original email touofaad@arizona.edu using the subject line 'Wildcat Wednesday photo.' Also, please ensure all submissions are clear and properly lit. We also ask that you identify everyone in the photo so we can highlight them accordingly.
