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REMEMBERING JIM LARUE
Arizona Athletics and the Tucson community are mourning the loss of former head football coach Jim LaRue, who passed away on Sunday night at the age of 89. Jim served as Arizona’s head coach from 1959-66 and amassed a record of 41-37-2 in his eight seasons. He continued his coaching career until 1989, which included a stop with the Chicago Bears, where he helped them win the 1985 Super Bowl as the secondary coach.
Jim was a positive representative of our department and our football program. His teams and his legacy are an important part of our football program’s history. Our deepest condolences go out to Jim’s family and friends. A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. on Mon., April 6 at Christ Church United Methodist.
ANOTHER FANTASTIC YEAR IN MEN’S BASKETBALL
For the second year in a row, head coach Sean Miller, his staff and the men’s basketball team took Wildcat fans on a special ride. The fact that we played in consecutive Elite Eights is something I know we are all very proud of. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it isn’t a matter of if Sean Miller will lead the Arizona Wildcats to the Final Four but when.
This year, the team finished with 34 wins, which are the second most in school history, and they repeated as Pac-12 Regular Season Champions, while adding a Pac-12 Tournament Championship. It’s also the first time in Arizona history that the program has won 30 games in back-to-back years.
While a number of our current student-athletes are making the decision to either remain at Arizona or enter the NBA Draft, we will have a talented core returning that will combine with one of the best recruiting classes in the nation. Academically, the men’s basketball program continues to be one of our top performers. In fact, under coach Miller, every player who has exhausted his eligibility has earned a degree.
The present is excellent and the future is bright as we look forward to seeing what the next chapter holds for Arizona men’s basketball. Considering we haven’t lost a home game over the last two seasons, we’d encourage everyone that wants to be a part of next season in McKale to sign-up for season tickets now. You can get on the request list by clicking HERE or call (520) 621-CATS (2287).
POTENTIAL BOWL GAME BACK IN TUCSON
If you saw the news earlier this week, the Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission is applying to host a bowl game here in Tucson as early as next season. If details can be worked out, the game would be played here at Arizona Stadium between teams from the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA in mid-to-late December. This would be the first time Tucson has hosted a bowl game since the 1999 Insight.com Bowl.
While nothing has been decided, we obviously want to try to promote Tucson and the state of Arizona as much as we possibly can. We’ve seen through our success in football and men’s basketball that athletics can be the nation’s window into all the great things Tucson has to offer. Arizona Athletics would not play a major role in the organization and implementation of the bowl game, but we do want to be good community partners and assist if the Commission is granted the opportunity to put on the game.
This could be another fun event headed to the Tucson area, so we’ll look forward to the NCAA’s decision and continue to provide updates as necessary.
CORDES COMPLETES CAREER NCAA SWEEP IN 100 BREASTSTROKE
Swimming’s Kevin Cordes completed a career sweep last week when he won his fourth consecutive NCAA title in the 100-yard breaststroke. He is just the third swimmer ever to win the event four times at the NCAA Championships and just the 14th ever to complete a career sweep in any event. His time of 50.25 is the second-fastest in history to his own NCAA and American record of 50.04. In fact, Kevin owns the top six fastest times in the event’s history. Kevin finished his career with six NCAA titles.
Great job Kevin and congratulations on a wonderful career.
FOOTBALL PARTICIPATES IN CFF’S GREAT STRIDES 5K
Arizona football's chapter of Uplifting Athletes volunteered at and participated in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Great Strides 5K on Sunday on the UA campus. The Wildcats helped set-up and break down the event and the team walked the 5K with campus and community members. Uplifting Athletes is a national non-profit organization aligning college football with rare diseases. Each campus chapter is run by football student-athletes and works to elevate its chosen rare disease as a national priority through outreach, research, education and advocacy. UA's chapter works closely with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Southern Arizona and chose to support this rare disease after visiting many of the associated patients at UMC and Diamond Children's Hospital. To date, Arizona football's chapter of Uplifting Athletes has raised nearly $6,000 for CFF.
BACK-TO-BACK SWEEPS FOR NO. 22 ARIZONA BASEBALL, NO. 9 USC UP NEXT
After a series sweep of Stanford two weeks ago, baseball did it again by sweeping No. 18 Oregon last weekend. Riding a six-game win streak, the 22nd-ranked Wildcats will host the ninth-ranked USC Trojans this week at Hi Corbett Field with conference standings on the line. Because of Easter weekend, the series will begin on Thursday, Apr. 2 at 6 p.m. Make sure to arrive early as the first 500 fans will receive a free t-shirt. Game two is “Social Media Night” and it will also begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Apr. 3 and the final game will be on Saturday, Apr. 4 with a noon first pitch and postgame Easter Egg hunt for children 12 and under. Click HERE or call (520) 621-CATS (2287) to get your tickets.
SPRING FOOTBALL
Coach Rodriguez and the team are in the final stretch of spring football camp. The team has been working hard to pick up right where they left off. Our spring football game is Friday, Apr. 10 at Arizona Stadium. The game starts at 6 p.m. and admission is free. Check out our spring game central for more information by clicking HERE.
The spring football game is the signature event of Super Wildcat Weekend. Super Wildcat Weekend kicks off on Thursday, Apr. 9 with Movie Night at Arizona Stadium. We’ll be showing Little Giants on the video board. Gates open at 6 p.m. and the movie will start at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. We also have a webpage for Super Wildcat Weekend. Check it out – www.ArizonaWildcats.com/sww.
CATS IN THE COMMUNITY
Arizona’s student-athletes continue to be active in the community. Here is a sample of what they’ve done recently:
March 23 - Volleyball spoke to Marana Middle School. Coach Rubio and several student-athletes shared some drills and tips for success to the school volleyball players.
March 25 - Volleyball traveled to Flowing Wells Jr. High School to share their love of the game and offer encouragement to the students to not only be successful on the court but also in the classroom.
March 27 - Volleyball was again visiting local schools and sharing their skills and experiences. At Corona Foothills Middle School, student-athletes showed younger athletes drills and spoke about life as a student-athlete.
March 28 - Several student-athletes from baseball and track and field helped at the Special Olympics Track and Field competition. They helped escort athletes to and from their events, setting up field events and assisting the participating teams.
Our student-athletes are looking to continue volunteering in the Tucson Community. If you know of a non-profit that would benefit from the helping hands of our student-athletes, please let us know by submitting an online request by clicking HERE. We won’t be able to fulfill every request, but we try to get to as many as we can.
TWITTER TRIVIA
Congrats to Brian Fitzgerald (@uafitz_brian) for answering the last question correctly. Here was the last edition:
Q: T.J. McConnell currently holds the school record for assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.12-to-1. Whose record did he break?
A: Steve Kerr
With baseball off to a strong start, here is this week’s question:
Q: Arizona has swept two consecutive series (Stanford and Oregon). When was the last time Arizona baseball swept two consecutive series?
In order to be eligible for the weekly prize, you must respond with your answer by tweeting to me @Greg_Byrne using the hashtag #ByrneTwitterTrivia. We’ll choose a winner randomly out of the group that answers the question correctly. Once you’ve won, you’ll have to wait at least six months to win again, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play along. I really enjoy awarding prizes so good luck.
COMPLIANCE CORNER
With the college basketball season coming to a close, we thought it would be a good opportunity to discuss declaring for the NBA draft, which is the potential next step for some of our student-athletes. Current student-athletes in all sports may contact professional organizations regarding their eligibility for the draft or request information regarding their market value without affecting their amateur status.
For a men’s basketball student-athlete, he can put his name on the draft list without losing his eligibility provided he removes his name from the draft list prior to the regular NLI signing period that begins on April 15. If the student-athlete does not remove his name by this date, then he is no longer eligible to play college basketball. Additionally, if the student-athlete declares for the draft after this date, then he is likewise no longer eligible to play college basketball.
ARIZONA NUGGETS
Track & Field’s Collins Kibet posted the second-best time in school history in the 800 meters at 1:46.87, which currently ranks first in the nation, at the ASU Invitational last weekend … Briar Preston and Shayne Austin fromWomen’s Tennis defeated the second and fifth-ranked doubles teams in the country last weekend … Gymnastics’Allie Flores was named first-team All-Pac-12 in the all-around and Jessie Sisler earned second-team honors on floor.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Here is a look at the upcoming events for Arizona Athletics (Home events in BOLD). All times are listed as Mountain Standard Time. To purchase tickets for home events, click here. To access live stats from your desktop or mobile device, visit ArizonaLiveStats.com.
Thursday
3:00 p.m.: Softball at Oregon St. (TV: Pac-12 Networks)
6:00 p.m.: Baseball vs. USC (Live Stream) (Radio: Sports Radio 1290 AM)
Friday
7:45 a.m.: Men’s Golf at ASU Thunderbird Invitational
12:00 p.m.: Track & Field at Stanford Invitational
1:30 p.m.: Women’s Tennis vs. USC
3:00 p.m.: Men’s Tennis at UCLA
3:00 p.m.: Softball at Oregon St. (TV: Pac-12 Networks)
6:00 p.m.: Baseball vs. USC (Live Stream) (Radio: Sports Radio 1290 AM)
Saturday
7:45 a.m.: Men’s Golf at ASU Thunderbird Invitational
12:00 p.m.: Baseball vs. USC (Live Stream) (Radio: Sports Radio 1290 AM)
12:00 p.m.: Women’s Tennis vs. UCLA
12:00 p.m.: Softball at Oregon St. (TV: Pac-12 Networks)
12:00 p.m.: Track & Field at Stanford Invitational
1:00 p.m.: Men’s Tennis vs. USC
2:00 p.m.: Sand Volleyball vs. New Mexico
2:00 p.m.: Soccer vs. NAU
5:00 p.m.: Gymnastics at NCAA Regional (in Columbus, Ohio)
Sunday
11:00 a.m.: Sand Volleyball vs. New Mexico
Monday
No Events Scheduled
Tuesday
No Events Scheduled
Wednesday
No Events Scheduled
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 “Wildcat Wednesday” album at facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics.
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.
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