Follow Dave Heeke on Twitter | Sign Up for the Wildcat Wednesday

 
DAVIS SPORTS CENTER GRAND OPENING

Sunday marks a very important day in Arizona Athletics history as we celebrate the grand opening of the Cole and Jeannie Davis Sports Center. This critical piece of our Arizona Athletics Capital Campaign will support the first-class experience of student-athletes and serve as a key fan experience enhancement for Arizona Football game days.
 
The powerful generosity of Cole and Jeannie will make an everlasting impact on Arizona Athletics, the University of Arizona and our Southern Arizona community. Their passion and dedication to helping young men and women achieve their dreams and strive for success is truly inspiring.
 
It will be a tremendous honor to dedicate this new and beautiful landmark with the Davises alongside our Arizona Athletics family. We can't thank Cole and Jeannie enough for their tremendous generosity and for being incredible ambassadors of our campus and community.
 
BEST WISHES TO COACH OLSON



On behalf of Arizona Athletics, I want to wish Coach Lute Olson the best as he recovers from a recent minor stroke. Coach Olson is an iconic figure of our men's basketball program and all of college basketball. He is a symbol of excellence for our athletics department, our great University and our outstanding Tucson community. Our thoughts are with Coach Olson, his wife Kelly and all of his family and loved ones during this time. We wish Coach O all the best in his recovery.
 
BEACH VOLLEYBALL OPENER

It is an exciting time in our athletics department as Arizona Beach Volleyball officially starts the 2019 season at home with a doubleheader versus Colorado Mesa and Boise State at 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Coach Walker and the Wildcats will play another doubleheader on Saturday at 10:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. Make sure to include Arizona Beach Volleyball in your plans this weekend and visit Bear Down Beach with free admission.


 
UNITY GAME



Arizona Women's Basketball's victory over Colorado on Sunday marked our second annual Unity Game. We were honored to have former United States Representative Gabby Giffords join us for the game, which made Sunday afternoon truly a memorable and powerful experience. The Unity Game is an important collaboration with the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE) as we bring leadership and educational programming to promote understanding, respect and equality through sports. Arizona was the first collegiate partnership with RISE and Sunday's game was another success for our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans.
 
SEE YOU AT MCKALE

Our men's basketball program is back at home for a pair of games, and we know McKale Center will be ready to welcome the Wildcats home. We have two of our three remaining home games this week as Arizona hosts California on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. and Stanford on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, click here. Wear the colors, Bear Down and I will see you all at McKale this week.
 
MORE WINS FOR ARIZONA WOMEN'S HOOPS

Arizona Women's Basketball continues their excellent season after sweeping Colorado and Utah at home last week. The two wins marked the program's first Pac-12 weekend sweep since the 2010-11 season. Arizona already has 17 victories this season, which is an increase of 11 wins from last season. Coach Barnes and the Wildcats have upped their conference win total by five with four games remaining before the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas. I want to congratulate the entire program on an excellent season, and we are all looking forward to an exciting remainder of the season.
 
STAFF SPOTLIGHT

One of the many things that makes Arizona Athletics great is the many outstanding people who work in our athletics department. Dr. Amy Athey is one of the many gifted Wildcats working with our student-athletes and staff to provide a first-class experience for anyone donning the Block A.
 
As our Associate Athletics Director for Psychological Services and Wellness, Dr. Athey is continuing her groundbreaking research on the impact of sleep on student-athletes alongside Dr. Michael Grandner of the UA College of Medicine. They recently received a second grant to continue and expand their research, earning the NCAA Innovations in Research and Practice Grant. The duo is providing research that is enhancing the lives of student-athletes across the nation. I want to recognize and thank Dr. Athey and Dr. Grandner for making a difference in the lives of all Wildcats and representing our great university proudly!


 
WILDCAT NUGGETS

• Arizona Men's Tennis is red-hot and rolling after winning their fourth consecutive match with a victory over Fresno State on Sunday. The Wildcats are off to an impressive 6-1 start and will look to continue the momentum this weekend in Alabama.
   
• Arizona Baseball opened up the 2019 season with a bang, sweeping UMass-Lowell by an impressive score of 69-17. The weekend began with our honoring of MLB Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman on Friday night.
   
• Coach Harvey and the Wildcats soared into the national track and field rankings, coming in at No. 23 this week. Jordan Geist, Carlos Villarreal and Justice Summerset are continuing their All-American ways as Geist and Villarreal have earned top three marks in the nation in the shotput and the mile respectively. Best of luck to the squad as they travel to Seattle this weekend for the MPSF Indoor Championships.
   
• Defending national champion, Arizona Women's Golf, won its second tournament of the season by besting an impressive field at the UNLV Rebel Beach in Las Vegas. The Wildcats downed No. 17 Virginia, a pair of Pac-12 teams and host UNLV as Bianca Pagdanganan finished tied for third. Arizona also got top-20 finishes from Haley Moore (T-6^th), Ya Chun Chang (8^th), Yu-Sang Hou (T-13^th) and Sandra Nordaas (T-20^th).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
 
To view the list of upcoming events, broadcast information, start times and stat links, click HERE. (Note: All times are listed as Mountain Standard Time, i.e. Tucson time.)
 
To access live stats from your desktop or mobile device, visit ArizonaLiveStats.com.
 
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 "Wear the Colors" album at facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics on Fridays.
 
NOTE: Please submit photos for Wildcat Wednesday with an original email to uofaad@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.
 
 
 
 
 
Continue to do what you can to help Arizona Athletics and: 

1. Bear Down with us today! Join the Wildcat Club to make an impact on our student-athletes' experience.
2. Buy Season Tickets
3. Wear the Colors (Especially on Friday)
4. Encourage Others to Do the Same

 
Bear Down with Pride,

Dave Heeke
Director of Athletics
University of Arizona
uofaad@arizona.edu