Follow Dave Heeke on Twitter | Sign Up for the Wildcat Wednesday
ARIZONA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: HISTORY IN THE MAKING
What an honor and a privilege to be part of our
official welcome home celebration for Coach Barnes and the Wildcats on Monday in Arizona Stadium in front of the best fans in the nation. It was a fitting tribute to a team that achieved excellence, represented the Block A on the biggest of stages and showed the world what our Bear Down motto of determination means at the University of Arizona and in Southern Arizona. The program's march to the national championship game was a culmination of a season of firsts for the Wildcats, which included:
The student-athletes, coaches and staff captivated America during their three weeks in San Antonio, and their riveting stories and outstanding accomplishments shined through every interview, television broadcast and article. From Aari McDonald solidifying her legacy as an All-American and icon in college basketball and Arizona Athletics lore to Coach Barnes' trail blazing ways as a female African American head coach, there were countless stories and memories from the entire program that made you proud to be a Wildcat.
The Wildcats' have demonstrated academic excellence since Coach Barnes arrival, and this postseason run in San Antonio added to the program's many accomplishments off the court.
Sam Thomas was the 2021 NCAA Division I Elite 90 Award recipient as the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at a Final Four site as Sam holds a 3.97 GPA in Psychology. The program's first ever Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year, Sam also completed a prestigious internship with Nike last summer while being selected to numerous Pac-12 All-Academic teams throughout her career. Monday's event came with some surprise news that Sam will return to the team for a fifth year and utilize her extra year of eligibility from the NCAA. As Coach Barnes told the crowd, we will see you in McKale Center next season, so
get your season tickets now.
The theme of Monday's recognition was gratitude and honor, and I'd like to once again thank our women's basketball student-athletes, coaches and staff for all their hard work and dedication. Your accomplishments not only added to the history of the program, but your impact on the sport, our athletics department, university and community has created an everlasting legacy.
CHANGE IN MEN'S BASKETBALL LEADERSHIP
I want to share with all our Wildcat Wednesday readers our news from earlier today regarding a change in leadership with our men's basketball program. This morning's announcement is included below, in its entirety.
The University of Arizona announced today that men's basketball head coach Sean Miller will be leaving the program. The University will honor the terms of his existing contract.
Miller served as head coach for 12 seasons, compiling an overall record of 302-109, including a 150-68 record in Pac-10/Pac-12 play. He guided the Wildcats to seven NCAA tournaments, including three Elite Eight appearances. Miller also guided the Wildcats to five regular season conference championships and three Pac-12 Tournament titles.
"We appreciate Sean's commitment to our basketball program and to the university," said Director of Athletics
Dave Heeke. "After taking the many factors involved into account, we simply believe that we need a fresh start and now is the time. I want to thank Sean, Amy and their sons for their service to the university and wish them the very best in the future."
Heeke announced that associate head coach
Jack Murphy will serve as interim head coach.
Miller arrived in Tucson after serving as the head coach at Xavier University for five seasons, and serving as an assistant coach at Xavier, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Miami (Ohio) and Wisconsin.
"After conferring with
Dave Heeke since the season's end, it has become clear that our men's basketball program – and our University – needs to write a new chapter in our history, and that begins with a change of leadership," said University of Arizona President Robert C Robbins. "Arizona Basketball means so much to so many and, as stewards of the program, we must always act in the best interests of the university. I believe our future is bright, and I look forward to welcoming a new head coach to the Wildcat family."
The national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
"We have a storied men's basketball program with unbelievable fan support, facilities and resources," Heeke said. "While we will not put a timeline on our search, we will move as expeditiously as possible and will include a broad array of candidates, identifying coaches who exhibit integrity, competitiveness and a genuine care for the student-athletes. I am confident that we will have a diverse pool and find the right fit for Arizona men's basketball."
ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER DESI AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH
Arizona Athletics' annual celebration of APIDA Heritage Month, in conjunction with the University of Arizona, will take place this month. Our collaboration with campus partners this year began with highlighting the university's new heritage logo.
Diversity and inclusion are core values of the University of Arizona and Arizona Athletics, and we can't wait to share the amazing stories of our student-athletes and alumni throughout the month in our Wildcat Wednesday emails as well as on our
@AZAthletics social media platforms.
A WEEKEND FOR THE ARIZONA SOCCER RECORD BOOKS
Coach Amato and the Wildcats swept Stanford and California at Mulcahy Stadium over the weekend for the first time in program history. The team's Friday night
win over Stanford was its first in 16 years while Sunday's completion of the sweep with the win over Cal came, poetically, on senior day. Arizona Soccer honored its four seniors Jill Aguilera, Hannah Clifford, Sabrina Enciso and Jada Talley. These four outstanding young women have been a part of 44 wins and counting as Wildcats in their four seasons as well as three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with at least one postseason win.
Arizona, winners of three of its last four matches, will look to add to its win total with a trip to the mountain schools this weekend. The Wildcats will start things off with a Friday afternoon match at 1:30 p.m. (MST) at Colorado. Visit
ArizonaWildcats.com and
@ArizonaSoccer on social media for streaming information and live stats.
ARIZONA FOOTBALL SPRING PRACTICE CONTINUES
We are entering the third week of spring football practice, and it's been great seeing fans turn out at the Dick Tomey Practice Fields as well as Arizona Stadium. As a reminder,
practices are open to the public in a limited capacity on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
We've seen a ton of terrific coverage and content from these practices, including when
Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio spoke to the team after Saturday's practice at Arizona Stadium.
The program continues its service to our community during spring practice that included
volunteering at the Gospel Rescue Mission in Tucson with its Easter activities and helping build some gym equipment. It's part of Arizona Football's "Fifth Quarter Program" that prepares our student-athletes for life after football.
We've got three weeks of spring football left, which culminates in
our spring game on Saturday, April 24 at 12 p.m. (MST). As we announced in last week's Wildcat Wednesday,
we will be welcoming up to 5,000 fans at Arizona Stadium for the spring game. Come out to a practice, circle your calendar for April 24 and
buy your 2021 football season tickets today!
BEAR DOWN MALIA HARGROVE
We want to give a shoutout to Malia Hargrove from Arizona Gymnastics
for qualifying for the NCAA Championships as an individual on floor exercise. The sophomore from Sparks, Nevada posted a career high score of 9.900 in the event during NCAA Regionals in Utah. She is the first GymCat to make it to the NCAA Championships as an individual qualifier since Lexi Mills competed on beam following the 2016 season.
Malia will take the floor again at the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas on April 16 and 17 as she looks to continue her postseason excellence as a proud representative of Arizona Gymnastics and the University of Arizona. Bear Down Malia, and we will be cheering you on!
BEACH VOLLEYBALL CONTINUES HOME DOMINANCE
The Wildcats have dominated their home tournaments this season, capped by last weekend's win over No. 8 Pepperdine
. The win over the Waves marked Arizona's first-ever win over its regional rival and was the perfect way to round our senior weekend at Bear Down Beach. Coach Walker and the program paid tribute to its decorated group of seniors who have helped elevate the program nationally and posted some of the winningest seasons in program history.
With a record of 13-3 overall and 3-1 in Pac-12 play, Arizona Beach Volleyball will head to Tempe this weekend for four matches against conference foes as we head down the home stretch of the season. Best of luck to our student-athletes as well as Coach Walker as his staff as they carry their momentum north on Saturday and Sunday. Bear Down and Go Cats!
TRACK AND FIELD GOES THE DISTANCE
Arizona Track and Field competed in the
Antelope Invitational over the weekend at Grand Canyon University and put up some impressive numbers in a variety of distance races. Junior Victor Ortiz-Rivera won the 5,000 meter race with a blistering time of 13:59.85 as the Wildcats also got a top-five finish in the event from Shem Kemboi.
Camron Herron was the top collegiate finisher in the 800 meters when he ran a personal best of 1:49:97. The Arizona trio of Bailey Johnson, Keelah Barger and Grace Driskill all posted top-ten finishes in the women's 5,000 meters. The program also got strong performances from Peyton Heiden, Megan Bounds and Maddy Christopher in the 1,500 meters.
Coach Harvey and the Wildcats will return home for the annual Jim Click Shootout, starting Thursday, April 8 at Drachman Stadium. Bear Down Wildcats! We will be rooting for you all.
ARIZONA SOFTBALL RETURNS TO HILLENBRAND STADIUM
Arizona Softball brings an eight-game winning streak with them as they return to the friendly confines of Hillenbrand Stadium for its Bear Down Fiesta this weekend. The Wildcats just swept Stanford on the road as Alyssa Denham threw a no-hitter in the first win in the Bay Area. The no-no was Alyssa's third of her career and the 95
th no-hitter tossed in Arizona Softball history
as she was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week. The lineup was strong all weekend as the Cats scored 22 runs in the four wins over the Cardinal while allowing a total of four runs.
Arizona hosts its Bear Down Fiesta this weekend with Friday and Saturday games against New Mexico State before welcoming Team Mexico in an exhibition on Saturday evening. This will be a reunion for some former Wildcats on Mexico's national team,
including alumni Taylor McQuillin, Danielle O'Toole Trejo and Brigette Del Ponte.
Start times are 6 p.m. (MST) on Friday and 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. (MST) on Saturday for this weekend's trio of games.
ARIZONA VOLLEYBALL SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE
Arizona Volleyball's season has officially come to an end, and we want to recognize their hard work, accomplishments, and awards this season. The success on the court was punctuated by its February sweep of No. 7 Stanford, which marked the program's first series sweep of the Cardinal since 2005. The victory over the defending national champions was just one of several strong performances in McKale that included sweeps over Oregon State and Colorado and a win over Arizona State.
Sofia Maldonado Diaz emerged as a star being named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year after winning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors on three separate occasions. Sofia is the first Wildcat to win Freshman of the Year in the Pac-12 since Kim Glass in 2002 and led all conference freshmen in kills per set and aces per set. Her 272 total kills ranked fourth among all Pac-12 players while her 28 aces were tied for the Pac-12 lead.
Coach Rubio and the team finished the season by winning five of their final seven matches and have positive momentum building towards next season. We can't wait to catch them in action again when they return to the court at McKale Center later this year. Bear Down and Go Cats!
WEAR THE COLORS – SHARE THE PHOTOS
Send us your photos of you wearing the colors while staying safe!
Thank you for wearing the colors and sharing your Arizona pride! Make sure to take a picture the next time you are wearing the colors and send it to us, we just might include it in next week's Wildcat Wednesday! And even if your photo submission doesn't make next week's edition, 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.
Stay Safe, Bear Down and Mask Up!
Dave Heeke
Director of Athletics
University of Arizona
uofaad@arizona.edu
