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LUNCH TIME CHAT WITH STUDENT-ATHLETES
I am excited to once again spend lunch with our student-athletes later this month for an open conversation about Arizona Athletics, college athletics and any other subject related to our athletics department. Student-athletes are at the core of everything we do, and as Director of Athletics, it's valuable to have this important dialogue with the Wildcats in our department. These ongoing regularly-scheduled opportunities throughout the year, provide time for unrestricted and key communications to happen with our student-athletes. We aim to build academic, athletic and life champions as we develop the future leaders of our community, and it is one of my priorities to engage our student-athletes to help us in this important process.
MAKING HISTORY WITH WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The magical 2019-20 Arizona Women's Basketball season continues after the Wildcats topped No. 9 Oregon State on Sunday in Corvallis,
which was the program's first ever road win over a top-ten opponent. The team's record already stands at 19-4 in the middle of February entering this week's games versus the Washington schools in McKale Center.
Arizona Women's Basketball, ranked 12
th in the nation, has only four home games left in the regular season with half of those coming this week. The atmosphere in McKale Center has been tremendous throughout the season as Southern Arizona has rallied around Coach Barnes and the Wildcats. Our home venue has been a source of pride for our athletics department, and it's been truly awesome to see our fans cheering on the team.
Friday's game will be the program's annual Pink Game in promotion of breast cancer awareness. We will have an important in-game recognition with a special "I Stand" moment in addition to pink foam hands for fans arriving pregame.
Join us for a memorable night in McKale Center on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. (MST).
BASEBALL OPENING NIGHT
The 2020 Arizona Baseball season officially starts on Valentine's Day as the Wildcats host Albany for a three-game series at Hi Corbett Field. Coach Johnson and his staff return one of the top hitting lineups in the country from a season ago as
preseason accolades have already arrived for Austin Wells and Matthew Dyer. This season will also feature a robust
schedule of promotions, in-game entertainment and more.
All of this begins on Friday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. (MST) at Hi Corbett Field with a postgame firework show. Opening Day is one of the most exciting days of any season, and we can't wait for this weekend.
Click here to get your tickets for the season-opening series.
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Arizona Athletics began its month-long celebration of Black History Month last week with Arizona Men's Basketball.
We recognized Ernie McCray's 60th anniversary of his single-game scoring record and
his role as a trail blazer as the current team sported Black History Month warm-ups for its win over USC.
We also supported our campus partners and joined in on the Africana Studies-sponsored Black History Month Kickoff celebration in the Student Union Building while also hosting the Men and Women of Purpose's discussion on influential black icons in the Jim Click Hall of Champions. These were terrific events to host, and we are looking forward to more throughout the rest of the month.
ARIZONA SOFTBALL STARTS STRONG
Our fourth-ranked Arizona Softball program opened the 2020 season with five wins and no losses against the loaded field in the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe. The Wildcats won their five games by a combined score of 41-7 and capped off the weekend with an impressive 8-0 run-rule victory in five innings over No. 12 Tennessee.
Coach Candrea and the Wildcats return to Tucson to host the annual Hillenbrand Invitational with a field that includes No. 2 Oklahoma. Hillenbrand Stadium has been the home to decades of historic softball action, and this weekend's tournament will be no different. Come out and experience the electric softball environment on campus and cheer on the Cats. You can get your seats today by
clicking here for single game options.
400 WINS FOR COACH MILLER
We want to recognize and congratulate Coach Miller on earning his 400
th career win in Thursday's victory over USC. He is the 22
nd fastest coach in men's college basketball history to reach 400 wins in a career. It was an honor for University President Dr. Robert Robbins and I to celebrate this key milestone with Coach Miller at midcourt in McKale Center. Bear Down Coach Miller!
We also received news that our men's basketball home game versus Oregon has been moved up an hour from 8 p.m. (MST) to 7 p.m. (MST) on Saturday, Feb. 22. Please make the necessary adjustment to your gameday plans for the earlier tip off versus the Ducks.
RED-BLUE AT BEAR DOWN BEACH
Valentine's Day is a busy evening at Arizona Athletics, but you can catch Arizona Beach Volleyball in action on Friday afternoon. Coach Walker and the Wildcats are opening the 2020 season with their annual Red-Blue Scrimmage, which is a great opportunity to see the team in action. Arizona is coming off its winningest season in program history with 25 wins in 2019. Nine returners are back for 2020 led by All-Pac-12 Second Team honoree Olivia Hallaran.
First serve is at 4 p.m. (MST) on Friday, Feb. 14 with free admission at home matches at Bear Down Beach, which is located just east of the Ginny L. Clements Academic Center. Bear Down and Go Cats!
FOOTBALL SAVE THE DATES
Spring football is just around the corner for Coach Sumlin and the Wildcats, and we wanted to get some key upcoming dates to our fans' calendars. We will host a Behind the A fan event on
Monday, March 23 at Arizona Stadium for fans and season ticket holders to have a chalk talk with the football staff after a practice.
Saturday, March 28 will be a great day for the family with the third annual KidCats Spring Football Experience for members of our
KidCats Club to have some football fun with Arizona Football. Those two events will lead into the Arizona Football Spring Game, which is set for 5 p.m. (MST) on
Saturday, April 4 at Arizona Stadium with free admission. We will have more timing information and additional details as we get closer, but in the meantime get those calendars out and those reminders set to join us throughout the spring as we Bear Down with Arizona Football!
TRACK TIX
Arizona Track and Field is midway through its indoor season as we are just a little more than a month away from outdoor season with five home meets scheduled to be held at Drachman Stadium. We've got a variety of great ticketing options for fans, including a new Fast Pass.
The Fast Pass is $25 for the entire outdoor season that also gives fans expedited entry on meet days and re-entry options. Fans can also catch the Cats at Drachman Stadium with single meet tickets for $8 with youth and senior pricing at $5. The Willie Williams Classic is the first home meet of the spring, scheduled for March 20 and 21, and
you can get a package for the entire meet for $15 with youth and senior pricing as well.
#CATSGIVEBACK
Our student-athletes spend hours serving our Southern Arizona community in a variety of ways. Drop-in opportunities are one of the many community service programs organized through our athletics department where student-athletes and staff can work side-by-side to give back. This week Wildcats made Valentine's Day cards for patients at Diamond Children's Hospital to help brighten some days. Giving back to our community for its unwavering support is a crucial component of what we do at Arizona Athletics.
TAKING HOME SOME HARDWARE
Our athletics department staff is full of talented, dedicated and outstanding professionals who work tirelessly to help Arizona Athletics achieve greatness in everything we do. Our external operations staff earned a Star Award for Event of the Year from PacNet for ticketing, marketing and customer service operational excellence around Arizona Women's Basketball's WNIT championship run. Congratulations to our staff on this well-deserved award.
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:
- Bear Down with us today! Join the Wildcat Club to make an impact on our student-athletes' experience.
- Buy Season Tickets
- Wear the Colors (Especially on Friday)
- Encourage Others to Do the Same
Bear Down with Pride,
Dave Heeke
Director of Athletics
University of Arizona
uofaad@arizona.edu
