General 09/27/2023

Wildcat Wednesday - Join Us for Family Weekend

One of my favorite times of the year is Family Weekend when we host the families and friends of all Wildcats on our beautiful campus. It is a terrific time to connect with generations of the Wildcat Family while celebrating what it means to be an Arizona Wildcat. Family Weekend is centered around our football game versus Washington at Arizona Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.

Tickets for this Saturday's game against the Huskies are close to being sold out, so purchase yours now before it's too late. A sold-out Arizona Stadium is a tremendous setting for all University of Arizona campus visitors and their Wildcats to experience the tradition and excitement of our institution.

For those of you returning to campus after years away, or if you are coming to an Arizona Football game for the first time in Tucson, I would like to offer a couple of reminders:

Please remember that tailgating area open at 1 p.m. (MST) before gates open at 5:30 p.m. (MST).
Join us in cheering on the team at the Wildcat Walk at Cherry & University at 4:45 p.m. (MST)
Make sure you have your mobile tickets and parking passes downloaded on to your device before you leave for campus.
For more gameday information, please click here.

Saturday will be a tremendous day of entertainment and fun for the entire Wildcat Family on campus. We can't wait to see you there. Bear Down and Go Cats!

FIRST WATCH RED-BLUE SHOWCASE
This weekend also marks our annual Arizona Men's Basketball tip-off event, the First Watch Red-Blue Showcase. We shared with Wildcat Wednesday readers last week that this year's game will be hosted by proud alums Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson. The showcase will include a slam dunk and three-point shooting competition before the scrimmage portion of the evening. If history is any indication with this opening night of hoops, we will have some more familiar faces joining us in McKale Center on Friday night.

The First Watch Red-Blue Showcase is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. (MST) on Friday, Sept. 29 with doors opening at 6 p.m. There are a limited number of tickets available for Friday, so please click here to get yours. I look forward to seeing red and blue filling the seats of McKale Center as we get our first look at the 2023-24 Arizona Men's Basketball team.

SPORTS HALL OF FAME SPOTLIGHT
Our eight-member incoming class of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame includes our iconic volleyball coach Dave Rubio. Coach Rubio retired prior to the 2023 season after 31 years at the helm of our program. His tenure as head coach epitomized excellence with generations of student-athletes coming through the program as academic, athletic and life champions.

Dave amassed an impressive amount of wins with his 570 victories as a Wildcat helped push him in the top 12 all-time in NCAA Division I volleyball history. Under his guidance the Wildcats made 20 NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing to eight Sweet 16s, four Elite Eights, and one Final Four. Rubio molded three Wildcat Olympians for Team USA, four First Team All-Americans, four Pac-10/12 major award winners, and an AVCA Freshman of the Year.

In 2018, Rubio became just the second volleyball coach in Pac-12 history to amass 500 wins. He closes out his coaching career as the second-winningest coach in Pac-12 volleyball history with 570 wins. He also joined a legendary group of Arizona coaches to win 500 games, joining Mike Candrea (softball; 1986-2021), Jerry Kindall (baseball; 1973-1996), Frank Sancet (baseball; 1950-1972), Lute Olson (men's basketball, 1983-2007) and Fred Enke (men's basketball; 1925-1961).

You can attend the official induction of the 2023 class of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame at 5:15 p.m. (MST) on Friday, Nov. 3 at the Westin La Paloma by purchasing tickets.

BOWLING WITH BRUSCHI
Are you ready to strike up some fun with Tedy Bruschi and the Wildcats? Join us for an epic evening of strikes, spares, and a whole lot of entertainment as Desert Takeover Football Collective teams up with Arizona alum Tedy Bruschi to bring you the ultimate bowling experience at 7 p.m. (MST) on Monday, Oct. 9 at Main Event Tucson.

Desert Takeover NIL Collective is all about community engagement and empowering student-athletes, and we're rolling with them to make a BIG impact both on and off the lanes.
What to Expect:

Bowling like you've never experienced before!
Rub shoulders with legendary athlete and football icon, Tedy Bruschi!
Awesome giveaways and prizes
Exclusive merchandise from Desert Takeover NIL Collective
Delicious food and drinks
A chance to network and connect with like-minded sports enthusiasts and NIL advocates

Tickets are limited, so grab yours today and be part of this unforgettable evening! By attending Bowling with Bruschi, you're not just having a blast; you're supporting the Tucson Community and all the local non-profit with partner with. Proceed from this event will help support student-athletes.

Click Here to get your tickets now and let's show that we're ALL in for Desert Takeover

OUR STUDENT-ATHLETE STORIES
We want to continue to tell Wildcat Wednesday readers the stories of our student-athletes that proudly represent the Block A. The Bear Down Podcast, the official podcast of Arizona Athletics, has returned for a new season. The podcast features the Arizona Soccer trio of Gianna Christiansen, Meghan Chelf and Aranda Hurge speaking about their journeys as Wildcat student-athletes.

The Bear Down podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts as well as YouTube if you would like to watch rather than stream audio. We will continue to spotlight our the tremendous student-athletes in our 22 programs throughout the year in Wildcat Wednesday emails.

Wildcat Wins

Soccer Dominates in 3-0 Win Over Oregon
Arizona opened conference play on Friday night with a 3-0 win over Oregon. The victory marked the Wildcats' first in a conference opener since 2017 when Arizona defeated Oregon 3-1. Click here to read more.
More Wildcat Wins:
- Starkute Cards Cats' Lowest Round in Mason Rudolph Championship Finale
- Football holds off Stanford 21-20 to snap 6-game losing streak against Cardinal

Wildcat Headlines

Triathlon's Holánszky & Russell Set for U23 World Championships
Arizona Triathlon will have two student-athletes participating in the U23 Triathlon World Championships in Spain on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 7:45 a.m. (MST). Lydia Russell will compete as part of Team USA while Laura Holánszky will represent Hungary in the race. Click here to read more.
More Wildcat Headlines:
- Arizona Football at No. 8 USC on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. MST on Oct. 7
- Pac-12 Announces Women's Basketball's Conference Shell Schedule

Upcoming Home Games
Sept 29 - 7:30 pm
Men's Basketball's Red Blue Showcase
Tickets
Sept 30 - 7:00 pm
Football vs Washington
Tickets

Wear UofA - Share Your Wildcat Photos

Former football student equipment manager (class of 2011) and daughter Esme (future Wildcat) Bearing Down in Cartagena, Colombia.

Andy and Gary Harper on the Swilcan bridge at St. Andrews Old Course, Scotland, September 2023

Send us your photos of you wearing the colors!

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!

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.

Until Next Wednesday...
Bear Down and Go Cats!
Dave Heeke
Vice President and Director of Athletics
University of Arizona
uofaad@arizona.edu

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Wildcat Wednesday - Join Us for Family Weekend