March 2, 2011
A COUPLE OF THANK YOUs
We dedicated the Cole and Jeannie Davis Strength and Conditioning Center in the Richard Jefferson Gymnasium on Monday, with many thanks to the leadership gift by the Davises and a considerable donation from Sean and Amy Miller. The gift also fueled the recent men's locker room remodeling and other improvements in McKale Center. The new 7,000 square-foot facility will help our men's and women's basketball teams and our volleyball team achieve better success through an outstanding performance enhancement center. It has significant recruiting benefits and it gives us more space to invite back our former student-athletes to train during their offseason. The Davises have been a huge part of our program since the mid-2000s, and our gratitude is boundless.
UPDATED CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE FOR THE "GAME-CHANGER"
We continue moving forward with our plans to install the new state-of-the-art audio system and videoboard in Arizona Stadium. One of our goals is to make sure we are respectful of our campus community during this process. We recently met with a group of students from the Navajo-Pinal Residence Hall to discuss our plans. They raised some very good points, including a concern that beginning construction during the spring semester would be disruptive to their studies and student experience. We listened, and as a result we will be adjusting our work schedule to minimize the disruption to students living in these residence halls.
After speaking with the contractor we plan to begin with prep work (i.e. removal of trees, bollards and sidewalks) during Spring Break, March 12-19. Much of the assembly and steel work will be done off site during the final weeks of the semester. Workers will be back on campus to resume full construction efforts after spring commencement, beginning May 16. We will work additional shifts to make up for any lost time, putting us on schedule to have the audio system and videoboard in place for our home opener against NAU on September 3.
LET'S REMEMBER SOME PRIORITIES
As we prepare for the NCAA tournament, we're reminded of some penalties that have made the men's basketball team's road to NCAA competition a real challenge for Coach Sean Miller and staff. Notably, reduced recruiting days, reduced official visits and scholarship limitations. These have been serious obstacles and we do not want to deal with these kinds of problems again.
Often, the actions of people who do not know all the rules are the cause of difficulties with regard to NCAA compliance. We'd like everyone to pay attention to the information we offer online, in game-day brochures and in other types of communication regarding following proper procedures.
A couple of items to heed:
- The offer of benefits of any kind to prospective student-athletes is strictly controlled. This basic guideline can be put forth like this: if it's not available to the general student population, it cannot be made available to student-athletes or prospects.
- While not limited to just these, here are a few prohibitions: offer of employment to a prospect's family, gifts of clothing or equipment, co-signing loans, offering cash or equivalents or merchandise, offering free or reduced-cost services or housing, offering the use of equipment, and helping to defray the cost of tutoring or test preparation -- among many others.
When in doubt, ask first. Basically we need our supporters to stay out of the recruiting process. It's that simple. And once we have our student-athletes on campus, we need our supporters to know the rules when it comes to any offer of benefits. Our compliance office welcomes questions and can be reached at 520-621-4796.
CHANGE IN MEN'S BASKETBALL TIME
Please remember the time for Thursday's men's basketball game has changed! Our matchup against Oregon State has been moved from 9 p.m. to 7 p.m. MST and will be aired on FSN Arizona. The game against Oregon, this Saturday, will still be held at its original start time at 12 p.m. MST and will be aired on CBS. Public reserved tickets for the Oregon State game are nearly sold out. There are also still a limited number of student general admission tickets for both games which are now on sale to the public. Don't miss the final two home games of the season - get your tickets now. We hope to see you at McKale as the Cats look to capture the Pac-10 championship.
MARCH MADNESS IN McKALE
I've mentioned previously that we are hosting the NCAA Men's Basketball 2nd/3rd Round games at McKale on March 17 and 19. The Wildcats are not eligible to play at McKale, but if you cannot follow our team on the road this is a great chance to watch eight tournament teams the first full weekend of March Madness. Having the NCAA tournament in Tucson is another terrific opportunity for us to showcase our community, and to bring visitors and new dollars into our economy. There will be six total games played at McKale over two days andtickets are still available!
COLORS ON THE JOB
Independent video producer Mark Borenstein, UA Class of '80, covered his head with a fine choice of cap while covering a rally at the Wisconsin Capitol for ABC News recently. Mark majored in RTV and film and minored in political science at the University. Remember to wear the colors every Friday and send your photos toFacebook@arizona.edu. We love to see what the Wildcat Nation is up to.
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NOTES...
...Supporters who wish to help support Joe Cavalieri, better known as the "Ooh-Ahh Man," can donate through the Ooh-Ahh Fund at Hughes Federal Credit Union... Mr. Cavalieri, a self-made part of UA tradition for more than two decades, suffers from Parkinson's disease... Our women's basketball team heads to Corvallis and Eugene to wrap up the regular season... Real-time scores and stats are available through GameTracker... Ourmen's swimming and diving team competes in the Pac-10 Championships in Long Beach, Calif. Thewomen finished 5th in last week's Pac-10 Championships and picked up another point in the State Farm Territorial Cup Series over ASU (current score is 6.5 to 3.5 points), as did the women's indoor track and field squad for an outstanding second-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships last weekend... Softball is home for the Wildcat Invitational, in which it plays five games of a 15-game total splurge Thursday through Sunday... Baseball is playing Rice tonight at Sancet Field and a series againstUtah Valley starting on Friday at home... Coach Vicky Maes' women's tennis team rose to No. 26 in the latest rankings, the team's highest in nearly a decade. The women will play Oregon Friday and Washington State Saturday, while the men's tennis team hosts Sacramento State on Friday and NMSU on Sunday, both teams at the Robson Center... Gymnastics will be at UCLA on Sunday, and we'll send some competitors to the Iowa State Last Chance Meet on Saturday in Ames... We apologize for an error in our own sports legacy, assigning former UA great (and current Boston Red Sox skipper) Terry Francona to the 1976 NCAA baseball title team here in a note last week. He helped lead the 1980 Cats to the crown in Omaha...
Continue to do what you can to help Arizona Athletics and:
- Buy Season Tickets
- Join the Wildcat Club
- Wear the Colors (Especially on Friday)
- Get Others to Do the Same
- Become a Fund Drive Volunteer
