Arizona baseball coaching search: Pepperdine, Steve Rodriguez, eliminate ASU from Fullerton Regional
The potential Arizona head coach already earning some fans in Tucson
If you want to win the favor of Arizona fans, the sure way of doing it is by crushing the spirits of ASU fans.
And that's what Pepperdine baseball head coach Steve Rodriguez did on Sunday evening, as the Waves eliminated the Sun Devils with a 7-4 win.
The game was tied 4-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Pepperdine loaded the bases, and Hutton Moyer unloaded them with a double to take the 7-4 lead, and eventually the win.
Rodriguez is in his 12th year as head coach of the Waves, and his contract runs through 2016. We've been talking about UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts a lot. But really, a lot. Checketts' contract does run through 2019, which makes Rodriguez slightly more plausible.
Rodriguez was part of the 1992 National Championship Pepperdine team that was coached by Andy Lopez, and became a fifth-round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox that season. He played pro ball for seven years before returning to Pepperdine first as an assistant, then taking over the head coaching duties in June of 2003.
In his 12 years as head coach, Pepperdine has made the postseason eight times, including this run where they will now face Cal State Fullerton in the Regional Championship.
Thanks for taking out ASU coach. Duly noted.
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Arizona offers 2017 5-star offensive tackle Austin Jackson
Rich Rodriguez going after the top 2017 talent in Arizona
Rich Rodriguez has been focusing a bit more on the in-state recruiting as of late, continuing to recruit into 2017. In the last month, he's offered four of the top in-state recruits, the most recent being Isaiah Pola-Mao.
This time, Arizona has offered Austin Jackson, the No. 1 rated recruit in the state of Arizona, ranked No. 5 among all offensive tackles in the nation, No. 33 among all recruits nationally.
Out of North Canyon High School (Phoenix, AZ), Jackson holds offers from Arizona State, Michigan, Utah and Washington among others. At 6-5 260lbs, he's actually considered to be one of the smaller offensive linemen. He is a very lean 260lbs and definitely has the frame to add some more weight. His sophomore year highlights are below.
Rich Rodriguez was able to land the No. 2 recruit out of Arizona in the 2015 recruiting class with Keenan Walker, who also happens to be an offensive lineman. Walker was ranked No. 10 among all offensive tackles in the nation, coming in at 6-6 280. He suffered an ACL tear this past year, and will likely redshirt this coming fall.
We'll see what kind of response Rich Rodriguez gets from Jackson with this offer. Rodriguez has always said that it's hard to get guys to even take a visit, but once they come, they love it. We're hoping that Arizona got the attention of Jackson early enough in his recruiting process and is interested in staying close to home, making time to visit Tucson no less than two hours down the road.
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Arizona football: Iowa transfer John Kenny will add toughness to defense
A Big 10 product making his way to Tucson
Arizona got some good news Thursday afternoon. Former Iowa fullback/linebacker, John Kenny, will be transferring to Arizona. He will have to sit out in 2015, giving him two years of eligibility to play linebacker.
can't wait to get out to Tucson and keep chasing my dream #beardown
Kenny left high school ranked as a 3-star linebacker, ranked 39th in the country. He coincidentally had an offer from Arizona, as well as Boise State, Illinois, Indiana, and Purdue, among others.
He came into the program as a linebacker his freshman year, redshirting in 2013. As a redshirt freshman in 2014, he made the move to fullback. He played in 11 games, starting in two, recording four receptions for 27 yards.
He will come to Arizona as a linebacker, giving the group much-needed depth. At 6-2 235lbs, he can fill the gaps nicely. Aside from Cody Ippolito, John Kenny will be the biggest linebacker on the roster.
The Big Ten is a different breed of football. Playing a much more physical, ground-and-pound brand, Kenny has the potential to bring that mentality to the desert. The addition of Kenny can bring a new nastiness to this defense, where he can thrive after sitting a year to learn the defense. Hopefully playing fullback allows him to see the field better on the defensive side of the ball.
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Arizona baseball coaching search: Greg Byrne visits Lake Elsinore Regional
Let's jump to conclusions about stuff!
The Arizona Wildcats are in need of a new baseball head coach, and since Greg Byrne probably has a lot of free time on his hands right now, he showed up on my television while watching the Lake Elsinore Regional Friday night.
Well, Checketts happens to be coaching in the Lake Elsinore Regional, where Byrne is....what a coincidence!
As I also touched on in that coaching candidate post, Santa Barbara is hosting this regional in Lake Elsinore because they have no lights on their home field.
Now, it's also possible that Byrne was there to #BackThePac, as USC is the 2-seed in this regional (lost to Virginia 6-1). But that's not likely. Byrne is there to observe Checketts in person, and see if he thinks that the UCSB head man is the right guy to bring to Tucson.
Arizona fans should be rooting for UCSB to lose two games this weekend, and be eliminated from the postseason, so that Byrne can work on Checketts ASAP. The MLB Draft starts June 8th, and having someone in place by then, or at least shortly thereafter, to be in contact with the current commits who may be drafted is crucial. Right now, there is the chance Arizona will miss out on some of its incoming recruits because of the coaching vacancy, and Byrne needs to move as quickly as possible.
Nice to see the A.D. out there and watching Checketts though. Very encouraging. Hope he also travels up the road to Fullerton to check out Pepperdine head coach Steve Rodriguez on Saturday. Rodriguez was on the Andy Lopez-coached 1992 National Championship team at Pepperdine, and seems like the second option behind Checketts for the time being.
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Talk about two organizations that are at the complete opposite of the spectrum right now. The Sixers are in the midst of an extreme rebuild. A team that has been "tanking" for the past two years for better draft picks. While that may not sound like a great situation to play in, for a prospective rookie like McConnell it could be a blessing. He could get more minutes than a rookie normally would.
The Spurs on the other hand, are an annual title contender. It's doubtful that T.J. would get many minutes if he were to play for San Antonio, but getting to grow in and experience the Spurs' winning culture is invaluable.
I'm probably getting a little too ahead of myself though, as the NBA Draft is still about a month away, and T.J. might have workouts with every team by then.
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10 top offensive recruits that held offers to Arizona
Might want to bring out the tissues
Since 2010, Arizona has offered many highly-touted recruits. Here's a look at ten of the most high-profile guys that at least held an offer, if not had a real chance of coming to Tucson.
Brady White (2015)
White is ranked as the No. 4 pro-style quarterback, No. 67 among all recruits. One of his first Pac-12 offers came from Arizona, which is strange considering his pro-style of play. He took an unofficial visit to Arizona and then an unofficial to Arizona State the next week. A few days after the visit to Tempe, he committed to the Sun Devils.
The top in-state recruit of 2014 didn't really consider Arizona, but had an offer. Out of Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, AZ), Allen was rated the No. 1 pro-style quarterback, No. 10 recruit overall. The 6-2 200lb 5-star made his way to Texas A&M, where he took over the starting the job of Kenny Hill and is in line to start for the Aggies in 2015 as a true sophomore.
One of the top in-state recruits, Devon Allen was ranked as the No. 31 receiver out of Brophy Prep (Phoenix,AZ). He had an offer to Arizona but didn't hold much interest, once again. He ultimately ended up at Oregon, where he also runs track as an All-American hurdler. He is the NCAA and USATF 110 hurdle indoor champion, planning to run in the 2016 Olympics. On the football field, he was one of Marcus Mariota's favorite targets, leading the team in touchdown receptions with seven. In the College Football Playoff semifinal, he tore his ACL on the opening kickoff, missing the title game against Ohio State.
The No. 3 dual-threat quarterback held an offer to Arizona, but wasn't heavily pursued. He started this season for the Ohio State Buckeyes and led them to an 11-1 record. He was carted off the field in the final regular season game of the season against Michigan, suffering a fractured ankle. Barrett will have to compete with Braxton Miller and Cardale Jones for the starting spot this fall.
Kenny Hill (2013)
A 4-star quarterback out of Texas, rated as the No. 10 dual-threat quarterback, Hill held an offer from Arizona. In his first collegiate game, he turned many heads, going into South Carolina and throwing for 511 yards and three touchdowns. Turns out South Carolina was just severely overrated in the preseason polls, much like every other SEC team. Nonetheless, he played the first eight games and was suspended for two games due to unknown reasons, which put Kyle Allen in the driver's seat. After the season, Kenny Hill announced he would transfer to TCU and sit behind Trevon Boykin for a year.
Another in-state product, who never really considered Arizona. Out of Saguaro (Scottsdale, AZ), he was ranked as the No. 8 athlete and No. 137 overall. He decided to stay close to home with the Sun Devils, where he has been a do-it-all guy for them. He'll spread out at receiver, lining up at the slot, and coming out of the backfield as a running back. A serious threat that will be the workhorse in the offense for his final season.
Another top in-state product, Hundley was ranked as the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback, No. 69 regardless of position. He didn't have an offer from Arizona State, which is odd considering his high school is just minutes down the road. He could have been a perfect fit if Rich Rodriguez were the one to have recruited him. But at the time, not much was going for Mike Stoops, which explains why he chose to go to UCLA, where he terrorized Arizona.
Some OKG material here with Brandin Cooks. He was ranked the nation's 49th best receiver in the country and ultimately ended up at Oregon State. The offensive scheme definitely allowed him to thrive, considering he had Sean Mannion throwing to him. Cooks was a consensus All-American, All-Pac-12 first team and the winner of the Biletnikoff Award, given to the best receiver. The New Orleans Saints then selected him in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
Possibly the most painful to see on this list is Cam Newton, because he was actually very close to committing, which could have changed the entire landscape of Arizona Football. Ranked as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback and No. 3 JUCO product out of Blinn College, Newton actually took an official visit on September 4th, 2009, where he saw Arizona beat Central Michigan 19-6. He went on to sign with Auburn, bringing them a national championship in his one and only year. Newton was then selected No. 1 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.
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Hill's knee must be a major concern for NFL teams, as the Raiders are already the third team to pass on him. He was originally slated to sign with the Seattle Seahawks, but the deal was shot down after Hill failed his physical.
Just a few days after the deal with Seattle fell through, he signed with the Raiders. In between, he went to New York Jets rookie mini camp. Obviously though, the team has already decided to go in another direction.
Hill was once a promising prospect after nearly racking up 1,400 receiving yards in his sophomore season. However, after tearing his ACL before his junior year, he's unfortunately never been able to return to his previous form.
I'm sure Hill will get at least another look or two from an NFL team, but if these last few weeks are any indication of where he's at health-wise right now, his chances of making an NFL roster look pretty bleak.
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Ray Smith plays in his first game since his ACL injury, scores 22 points while hitting a game-winner
The future Wildcat should be more than ready to go for the start of the season
Roughly ten months after tearing his ACL, incoming freshman Ray Smith returned to the court to play in the Southern Nevada Senior All-Star Basketball Game. It would be his first time playing in a game since the injury.
The forward scored 22 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and even hit the game-winning basket. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he felt like his usual self out there:
"This just tells me that no skill, no heart, no perseverance, no attitude, nothing is lost," Smith said. "It was a setback for a major comeback. I really believe that. And I just thank God for everything he’s done for me.
Smith was ranked as the 19th best prospect in the 2015 class by 247Sports.com, and his health is outstanding news for Sean Miller and the Arizona Wildcats as he should be more than ready to go for the start of the season.
Many envision the 6'8" forward as a potential starter this season for Arizona since he fits the prototypical mold of the forwards Miller has had success with in recent years - high basketball IQ, gifted athlete, can guard multiple positions, and is a versatile scorer.
Kenny only played fullback at Iowa, but he will be playing linebacker at Arizona.
According to his Iowa Bio, Kenny played in 11 games last season, but only made four pass receptions resulting in 27 yards. He did not record any tackles for the team last year.
His bio is very strange, because it says "saw action in....but had no statistics" many times. Many, many times.
Coming from Charlotte, NC, Kenny redshirted in 2013 before playing in those 11 games in 2014. After he sits out this season, he will have two years of eligibility left for the Wildcats.
In high school, he did make plays on the defensive side of the ball, forcing four fumbles in each of his final two years at that level. He also had 18 sacks in his three years, six fumble recoveries, and three blocked kicks. He also lettered in lacrosse and hockey, so apparently he likes to get physical.
Let's hope that a year of learning behind this year's group of linebackers helps Kenny transform himself from a fullback that didn't do much at Iowa into a productive linebacker at Arizona.
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It has been a remarkable year for Steve Kerr and his Warriors team. After winning 67 games in the regular season and storming through the Western Conference playoffs with relative ease, they are making their first NBA Finals appearance since 1975. Quite an impressive feat for a rookie head coach.
Aside from Kerr, the Warriors' season has largely come to be because of former Wildcat Andre Iguodala. He has provided lockdown defense and an offensive punch off the bench for Golden State all season long. His toughest task is yet to come though, as he'll likely be asked to guard LeBron in the Finals for significant periods of time, and his success doing so could be a key factor in bringing the Larry O'Brien trophy to the Bay Area.
Oh yeah, we can't forget Luke Walton too. He'll have a shot to win his third NBA title, though this would be his first as a non-player.
Bear down.
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Kingery is joined by teammates Kevin Newman and Bobby Dalbec on the 32-man (!!!!) first-team all-conference list. That is Newman's third time to receive the honor. Only Ryan Kellogg (3) and David Berg (4) have more than him that are on this year's list. Newman is only the second player in Arizona history to be named all-conference three times. Kurt Heyer achieved the feat from 2010-12.
Kingery, Newman and Dalbec are also on the all-defensive team, which is interesting.
Cody Hamlin, Riley Moore and Justin Behnke were listed as honorable mentions, because it seems like the Pac-12 put just about every baseball player who started almost every game they were supposed to on the all-conference teams.
Only Utah and Stanford didn't get any players named first-team all-conference. Every other school had at least two selections, with ASU and UCLA leading the way with six apiece.
This is the sixth time an Arizona player has won Pac-12 Player of the Year. The others are Alex Mejia (2012), Trevor Crowe (2005), Alan Zinter and Scott Erickson (1989), Chip Hale (1987) and Terry Francona (1980).
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Better one and done: Aaron Gordon or Stanley Johnson?
AG or SJ?
These past two years for Arizona Basketball have been pretty enjoyable. Back-to-back Pac-12 Championships, Elite 8 appearances, and two of the most talented rosters in all of college basketball. Both lineups featured prized freshmen with Aaron Gordon in 2013-2014 and Stanley Johnson in 2014-2015. Both spent one year at Arizona, eventually declaring for the NBA Draft. So now, we try and decide who the better one-and-done freshman was for Arizona.
Before we get started, a lot of people are going to say they both should have stayed, but that's just not the nature of college basketball now. General Managers prize these 18-year-old kids with such raw talent.
The next thing that needs to be mentioned when discussing success is Aaron Gordon's hype that surrounded him prior to him stepping foot on campus. Ranked as the No. 3 recruit in the nation, he is Sean Miller's most-coveted recruit.
Stanley Johnson was also ranked as the No. 3 recruit in the nation in a much more talented recruiting class, but just didn't have the same level of excitement as Aaron Gordon. It was Gordon's pure athleticism that always kept you on your toes, waiting for the next highlight reel play.
With that aside, we'll look at their contributions on the court. Both played 38 games in their career at Arizona, but in 2013-2014, the team faced a much more rigorous schedule, finishing the season ranked 5th in strength of schedule. In 2014-2015, the strength of schedule took a hit, finishing 38th. Will all of that in mind, we'll take a look at some stats.
Aaron Gordon
Per game, you could expect Aaron Gordon to finish with 12 points, eight rebounds, a few assists and a block. There typically wasn't a whole lot of fluctuation in his game night in and night out.
But Aaron Gordon started to breakout once Brandon Ashley went down. He was able to move freely from the 3-5 spots and still change the game. Now, having Nick Johnson and a healthy Brandon Ashley on both sides of you in the lineup is a nightmare for opposing teams. Coaches would pretty much have to pick which ones they'll focus on and hope that the others don't go off on them.
Some might think differently, but it might be fair to say that Aaron Gordon lived up to his hype coming into college. Although, you could also say there was less pressure on Gordon to score and take games over, with Nick Johnson being the heart and soul of the team.
Despite his position and role uncertainty, he really emerged as one of the best players in college basketball, eventually rising up to the No. 4 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, albeit in a weaker draft class.
Stanley Johnson
Stanley Johnson was good for 14 points, seven rebounds, and a few assists and steals on a per game basis. But it was his versatility that helped Arizona. At 6-7 240lbs, Johnson is a rare specimen, able to guard 1-4. He could score, go up and grab a rebound, play defense (when he wants to) and match anyone on the court in speed and athleticism.
There were times where he completely took over the game and was an unstoppable wrecking ball. But then you remember his games where he shot below 30% and just lost control. Yet, even on his worst nights, he still managed to get to the basket and finish with double-digit scoring figures.
Strange to say, but Stanley Johnson's continual shooting is exactly what Arizona needed this year, a shooter who didn't lose confidence on a team that didn't have a go-to scorer like Nick Johnson. Gabe York also served as this fearless shooter beyond the arc and become a pivotal piece to the success of the team, but Stanley Johnson's scoring abilities were second to none.
As the No. 3 recruit in his recruiting class, Stanley Johnson faces a much deeper draft class. Many people have him sliding to No. 8 or 9 in the draft, but those experts also had Aaron Gordon going around the same position as well.
Verdicts
Both had their growing pains and frustrations. Aaron Gordon shot 42.2% at the free throw line, meanwhile Stanley Johnson just made some head-scratching moves, trying to do way too much at times.
Aaron had so many plays that changed the momentum of the game, in a much tougher schedule. Might be a stretch, but the 2013-2014 team, even without Brandon Ashley, was better than the team this past season.
Yes, we saw great improvements from T.J. McConnell, Gabe York and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson this past season, but the way the team flowed on the floor opened up the game for everyone else during Gordon's freshman year. And of course, consensus All-American, Tucson's golden boy, Nick Johnson.
Stanley Johnson's size and athletic ability allowed him to go 1-4 with no problem. He was able to take a game over and put on a show, but Aaron Gordon was a complete game-changer no matter where he was on the court and had the ability to swing the momentum at any given time. Both will be among the greatest players in Arizona history, but given the circumstances, Aaron Gordon was the better freshman for Arizona. Not to diminish Stanley Johnson's talent, but Gordon just had that game-changing ability to turn things around or just give the opponent no chance of coming back.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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Arizona baseball: Scott Kingery goes from walk-on to Pac-12 Batting Champ
The three-year progression that Scott Kingery has had at Arizona is truly remarkable
Scott Kingery was not exactly a blue-chip prospect coming out of Mountain Pointe High School in 2012, despite being named a first-team Louisville Slugger All-American his senior season.
"I figured my small stature I wouldn't have very many teams looking at me," Kingery joked. "I think I was like 5-6, 150 pounds, so yeah, I wasn't thinking too much about (pro ball), I was looking more at college offers."
Kingery did not come to Arizona on a scholarship though. Head coach Andy Lopez offered the diminutive prospect a walk-on spot with the club.
"They give you an equal shot," Kingery said about the coaching staff. "If you can play, they're going to play you. So coming on as a walk-on, I knew I had to prove something, and I mean these past three years have been incredible."
"Given the opportunity my freshman year to just come in and have that fall roster spot, that meant a lot to me, and for me to be able to play and start three years it's been incredible."
Kingery played in 41 games his first year, finishing with a batting average of .261, and only recording eight extra-base hits.
But his sophomore season is really where he turned the corner, leading the team with a .354 batting average, and his slugging percentage went up more than a hundred points.
That .354 batting average wound up being fourth-best in the Pac-12.
Fast forward to this year, and Kingery finished atop the Pac-12 with a .392 batting average.
"That's pretty cool," he said of winning the Pac-12 batting title. "With how many great players there are in the Pac-12 it's pretty cool to have that."
"I knew this year that I wanted to be the guy on top at the end of the year. It was definitely one of my goals in the beginning of the year."
It wasn't just the batting average that went up. He was fifth nationally in total hits. He was second in the conference in slugging percentage behind Bobby Dalbec. He was 30th in the country and first in the Pac-12 in total bases. He led the team with five triples. Was second on the team with five home runs. He struck out fewer times than anyone not named Kevin Newman.
So what changed as he kept progressing in the college game?
"I'd say driving the ball up the middle and to the right side," he explained of his improvement. "Last year I think I was more of a pull-hitter. This year I kind of sprayed it all around the field, so that definitely helped a lot."
Kingery also changed positions this season, moving from center field to second base.
"It was awesome," shortstop Kevin Newman said about watching the transition. "He came in, helped out a ton in the infield. He wasn't just a fill-in. He was a star. A stand-out player. Really made our infield one of the best in the nation, and to have him be so effective, couldn't ask for anymore."
"He works hard, and he deserves everything that he's gotten and I'm very happy for him."
"After watching him for the last three years, he's a great young man and boy what a good baseball player," Andy Lopez added.
Fair to say that whatever MLB team picks up Kingery in the early rounds of the MLB Draft that they'll be getting a hard-worker who will fight his way through the system quickly. It's been amazing to watch him progress over the last three years, and he definitely deserves everything that's coming his way.
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Arizona offers JUCO All-American linebacker AJ Hotchkins
Another JUCO product on the rise
In this recruiting season, we're starting to see Rich Rodriguez go after more junior college products, particularly on defense. One of the more recent offers went to Riverside City College linebacker AJ Hotchkins.
Hotchkins was originally a two-star recruit from Portland, Oregon. He signed with the Wyoming Cowboys, declining offers from Idaho, Montana, Northern Colorado and Portland State. However, for whatever reason, he elected to go to Riverside City College after high school.
After spending his freshman year at Riverside, he accumulated 101 tackles, three sacks, one forced fumble and an interception returned for a touchdown. Hotchkins has perked the interest of several Pac-12 schools now.
Hotchkins would be an immediate boost for the linebacking corps, filling the void for Heisman vote recipient and consensus All-American linebacker Scooby Wright when he most likely declares for the NFL Draft after this season. But expect Hotchkins to gain more attention throughout his recruitment process.
His Riverside highlights are below
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Arizona transfer targets Matt Hegarty and Blake Countess commit elsewhere
Two potential huge pieces are not coming to Tucson after all
The Arizona Wildcats were on the trail of two grad transfers that would have made a huge impact in the 2015 season, but both of those players have decided to play their final college seasons at other schools.
Hegarty would have been a valuable addition, given that center is the one question mark on the offensive line heading into this season. Right now, it's a battle between Carter Wood, Zach Hemmila and David Catalano. Having a proven commodity like Hegarty would have been enormous for the offense.
The other guy who has spurned the Wildcats is Michigan corner Blake Countess, who was on campus a week ago, has decided to go to Auburn. Countess was a former RichRod recruit at Michigan, but never actually played for Rodriguez. Arizona could have used some more help at corner, with Cam Denson likely stepping up and being the primary corner, with guys like Jarvis McCall, DaVonte' Neal and Devin Holiday getting reps in there as well.
Both misses are very unfortunate, as they would have just helped the Wildcats that much more heading into a season with so much promise.
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2015 NBA Draft: T.J. McConnell works out for the Lakers
This will be one of many workouts for McConnell
With the NBA Draft just a month away, NBA teams are hosting dozens of players for pre-draft workouts. The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Tuesday that they had T.J. McConnell (among others) in for a workout:
It appears he'll get to matchup with Kevin Pangos one more time.
The Lakers have picks #2, #27, and #34, but it's extremely unlikely that McConnell will be selected with one of those. Every single mock draft I've seen has T.J. going undrafted.
T.J.'s road to the NBA is to impress during workouts like these, latch onto a Summer League team (likely to happen), and then perform at a high level during Summer League. If he can do that, he'll have a great shot to land a training camp invite and then subsequently he'd have to impress a team once again to make the final roster.
Frankly, I have a hard time seeing T.J. not getting a training camp invite, whether it be from the Lakers or another NBA team. He's a player that coaches love because of his unselfishness and intensity, not to mention he's a pretty skilled player.
Good luck, T.J.!
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Arizona football recruiting: Wildcats offer Calvary Baptist duo Andraez and Rodarius Williams
Arizona continues to hit up Louisiana for recruits, this time it's two corners
Calvary Baptist (Shreveport, LA) has been a hot spot for recruiting. Arizona will have two Calvary Baptist products on their roster this fall in Orlando Bradford and Shun Brown, who are both capable of finding a role as true freshmen. Arizona continues to target powerhouse Cavalry Baptist, offering cornerback duo Andraez and Rodarius Williams.
Now, there's one problem with Rodarius. He's already committed to Oklahoma State. He committed back in April, which ended his recruitment process, until Arizona offered him last week. He held offers to Arizona State, Mississippi State, Missouri, and Oklahoma, among others. Kids flip all the time, and the intrigue of his former teammates could sway him away from OSU, but for now we should expect him to stay true to his commitment.
Rodarius is ranked as the No. 85 corner in the nation, 49th overall in the state of Louisiana. At 6-0 170lbs. His junior year highlights are below.
Andraez, however, holds offers to nearly every SEC school, as well as Baylor, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, among others. At 6-2 170lbs, Andraez is ranked as the No. 22 corner in the country and No. 14 overall in the state of Louisiana. The 4-star corner has named LSU and Mississippi State as the leaders, with Texas A&M making a big push as well. His sophomore year highlights are below.
Orlando Bradford has already done some recruiting to play with his former teammates at the next level.
If Arizona were to land either of those corners, that would be a huge boost for the secondary. Even if neither commit to Arizona, it's still great exposure for the program in the state of Louisiana, as well as powerhouse Calvary Baptist. Arizona also offered Chanse Sylvie, 3-star safety out of Calvary Baptist back in February.
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Arizona gives 3-star offensive guard Matthew Gutwald first Pac-12 offer
Some OKG material here
Leave it to the Arizona recruiting staff to find the talent before any other Pac-12 schools. An up-and-coming recruit, Matthew Gutwald, received an offer from Arizona this weekend, making it his first Pac-12 offer.
Rated as a 3-star offensive guard by Rivals, Gutwald's recruitment has been heating up. This spring he's taken many unofficial visits to Pac-12 schools including Cal, Stanford, Arizona State and USC.
Owning a 4.4 GPA, he holds offers to Air Force, Brown, Columbia, Sacramento State, and San Jose State. Just one day after he was offered by Arizona, Oregon jumped in and offered him.
His junior year highlights are below.
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Arizona baseball: The last inning of 2015 one to remember
Knowing what we know now, this was the perfect way to end the 2015 season.
It was a meaningless game on a Sunday afternoon at Hi Corbett.
Arizona was playing Hawaii, with nothing on the line for either side. The Wildcats entered the bottom of the 8th inning with an 8-1 lead.
Juniors Scott Kingery and Kevin Newman each reached base after receiving love from the crowd, as it's widely accepted that those would be the final at bats for the highly-touted prospects.
But then senior Riley Moore came up with two outs, and the crowd rose to their feet for the four-year catcher.
"It was really special," Newman explained. "I was kind of in the zone. I didn't really notice it for myself, but Kingery I saw it, and Riley I definitely saw it, and it was really special for him. Been here four years and on a National Championship team, I just thought it was really cool."
"That was pretty sweet, wasn't it?," added Andy Lopez. "I thought that was good. Riley's caught for four years here and done a good job. It was well-merited. He's a good, young guy who's grown up a lot and a good baseball player and hopefully he gets to go play pro ball somewhere."
Now that we know it was also the last at bat by an Andy Lopez coached team, it must mean a lot for him to have experienced that with his senior catcher in his final game as a head coach.
Moore ended up grounding out to end the inning, making him the final batter of the 2015 season.
"I wish he could have gotten a hit there," Kingery said. "I mean, the crowd went nuts for RiMo, they love him out here. But it was definitely really cool that we all had a chance to bat in that last inning."
"It's awesome, no matter what, whether we're in the playoffs or not, (the fans) are still backing us," Kingery continued. "They're still out here supporting us, and they're happy for us and, I mean, RiMo doesn't have another year of eligibility left in college, and that was his last at bat, and it's awesome that the fans got behind him and gave him a standing ovation, because I guarantee that felt special for him."
Even though the last three years haven't exactly gone as planned, it seems like that time and the Andy Lopez era ended the best way possible. With Riley Moore in the batter's box and the fans on their feet.
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Arizona football recruiting: Wildcats offer 2-star safety Gavin Robertson
Arizona continuing to scout the secondary
Throughout the month of May, Arizona has made it clear that they want to reload at the safety position. In a base 3-3-5 defense, Arizona plays three safeties (free, bandit and spur). With William Parks, Jamar Allah and Anthony Lopez all departing after this season, it's a clear concern going forward.
This leads us to Gavin Robertson, a 2-star safety who was just offered last week. Out of Auburn Mountainview (Auburn, WA), Robertson ranks 17th in the state of Washington, ranked 117th among all safeties. At 6-2 190lbs, he holds offers to Arizona, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
Arizona has been recruiting out of Washington quite a bit this offseason and currently have two Washington products on their roster with Marcus Griffin and Sir Thomas Jackson.
He works up top at the free safety position but plays more like a bandit, the hybrid linebacker/safety spot. His junior year highlights are below.
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Coach Lopez led Arizona to a 459-300-1 record (174-165 in conference) during his tenure, which stretched from 2002 to today. During the fourteen years he led Arizona baseball, the Wildcats made the NCAA tournament eight times, made the College World Series twice, and won a national championship.
Prior to coming to Arizona, Lopez was the head coach at Pepperdine (where he won a national championship in 1992) and Florida.
Importantly, Lopez made Arizona baseball a big deal again. He brought Arizona baseball back to relevance after a tough stretch from about 1994 to 2001, when the Wildcats only made one NCAA tournament in an eight-year span. He helped move the team off-campus to Hi Corbett, which has been a resounding success. And during a time when Arizona football and Arizona basketball had some struggles and close calls that made me question whether we would ever win anything significant ever again, Andy Lopez led Arizona baseball to a national championship. He will be missed.
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Arizona baseball: Coaching names to keep an eye on
Some early candidates for the Arizona coaching job.
With Andy Lopez retiring on Monday, the attention should now turn to who will come to Tucson to get this program turned around.
The obvious name to keep an eye on is the current head coach at UC-Santa Barbara, Andrew Checketts. Checketts has been the head coach at UCSB since June 2011, and has the highest career winning percentage of any coach in UCSB history.
The Gauchos have been to the NCAA Tournament each of the last three years, including earning a No. 1 seed and hosting duties in this year's Regional play. But they will not host on their campus because of a huge issue the school has.
They have no lights on their baseball field.
Checketts has been outspoken about the lack of lights at Santa Barbara, which has led to several prominent games being declared a tie in extra innings over the past several years.
He did sign a contract extension through 2019 at the beginning of this season, but if Greg Byrne really wants him, he'll get him.
Checketts played for Lopez at Florida for one year in 1995, which was both of their first years at UF. Checketts wound up transferring to Oregon State, and was drafted in the 21st round of the 1998 MLB Draft.
D1Baseball's Aaron Fitt offers up a couple more options.
A few obvious names for Arizona job—UCSB’s Andrew Checketts, Pepperdine’s Steve Rodriguez, UNM’s Ray Birmingham, Oregon asst Mark Wasikowski
Rodriguez played for Lopez at Pepperdine, and Wasikowski was an Arizona assistant under Lopez from 2002-2011. He was also on Lopez' coaching staffs at Florida and Pepperdine.
Wasikowski brought in top-ten recruiting classes in each of his first four years at Arizona, and even though he was not around for the 2012 season, having departed to restart the Oregon program, there's no doubt that his influence and recruiting abilities were large parts of that team's success.
Other names that have come up include Terry Francona (not happening) and Pat Murphy (oh my god what). If you don't know, Murphy was Arizona State's head coach from 1995-2009, but was forced to leave ASU amid an education scandal, leading to the Sun Devils being banned from the 2012 postseason. Murphy is currently the El Paso Chihuahuas manager (San Diego Padres Triple-A affiliate).
I'm all in on Checketts, as he is just about to turn 40 years old. Wasikowski is five years older. Both have been instrumental in turning programs that had nothing just four years ago into yearly powerhouses. Both would be good fits, and both would be better at recruiting in this day and age than Andy Lopez was.
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Since winning the 2012 National Championship, Arizona has not been back to the postseason, finishing with just a 12-18 record in Pac-12 play this season.
Coach has been at Arizona for the past 14 years after coming to Tucson from Florida. He was also the head coach and Pepperdine and Cal State Dominguez Hills before becoming the head man for the Wildcats.
More to come later as he is scheduled to meet with media at 11 am Monday morning.
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Well, his health seems to be the primary reason for his departure at this time.
He talked about two instances this season that played heavily into the decision. The first was the Saturday morning of the Stanford trip. In the team hotel, he started feeling chest pain and thought he was having some sort of panic attack, which would have been the first of his life. He called his doctor and his wife to tell them about it, and the pain did go away.
The first happened at Stanford. Felt tightness in his chest. Felt like a panic attack was coming. Went away. Told doc about it.
The second incident happened on the flight back from the Oregon State series. He said he hoped that there was a doctor on the flight because he started breathing heavily and wasn't sure what was going to happen.
Lopez has a family history of heart disease, and when you add to that the stress college baseball brings on, it's probably the right decision for him to make to step away at this time. He said he'd had multiple lunches with athletic director Greg Byrne over the course of the past couple months, discussing what should happen. The ultimate decision to retire at the end of this season happened before the UCLA series.
"I think I'm going to be OK. I really do. I hate to say this, but I need to get away from games." Lopez
Since winning the 2012 National Championship, Arizona has not been back to the postseason, finishing with just a 12-18 record in Pac-12 play this season.
Coach has been at Arizona for the past 14 years after coming to Tucson from Florida. He was also the head coach and Pepperdine and Cal State Dominguez Hills before becoming the head man for the Wildcats.
More to come later as he is scheduled to meet with media at 11 am Monday morning.
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4-star shooting guard Bruce Brown will visit Arizona this fall
Another top guard is set to visit Tucson
Per 247Sports, Arizona will be hosting 4-star shooting guard Bruce Brown for an official visit this fall.
Brown is ranked 8th among all shooting guards in the nation, 45th overall regardless of position. He checks in at 6-4 200lbs out of Vermont Academy (Saxtons River, VT), holding 15+ offers. There seems to be no clear favorite for Brown, with Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, St. Johns, Texas and UNLV all in the mix.
He has already taken an unofficial visit to Boston College and has been visited by both the Indiana and Texas Tech coaching staffs. He will visit St. Johns this weekend.
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VIDEO: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson displays his improved jumper and discusses his future in the NBA
Rondae's jumper is looking a lot smoother lately
It's assumed that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will be an impact defensive player in the NBA from day one. It's the reason why he's virtually a lock to be selected in the first round.
It's the offensive end where he's seen as a question mark, especially due to his lack of shooting range and ability. I stumbled across this interview and workout video from DraftExpress.com, and it appears as though Rondae has smoothed out his shooting form.
While at Arizona, he had a bit of a hitch in his shot. However, from the clips in this video, it isn't nearly as pronounced as it once was:
Rondae will have a long way to go before he's even a respectable three point marksman, but if he impresses teams with his improvement in workouts, it'll be interesting to see how high he could rise in the draft. He did make 71% of his free throws this past year at Arizona, and that may also serve as hope for prospective teams that he can become a better overall shooter.
Aside from just improving his shooting ability, Rondae mentions that he's also working to improve his ball-handling and that he sees himself being a player that brings energy to his team both on and off the court.
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Arizona Football Recruiting: Wildcats offer 3-star defensive end Evan Weaver
Arizona continues to heavily pursue defense for 2016
Rich Rodriguez and gang typically make their big recruiting push in the summer, particularly June, which explains all of the recent offers by the coaching staff. The Wildcats currently hold the 46th ranked recruiting class, composed of four recruits on offense and just one on defense.
Weaver checks in at 6-3 230lbs, ranked 52nd among all defensive ends in the nation and 10th overall in the state of Washington. He holds offers to Boise State, California, Utah, and Washington, among others. Washington is currently seen as the front runner to land Weaver, as he's already taken two unofficial visits last fall. He also took an unofficial visit to Boise State in April.
Going forward, Arizona is going to need a lot of help on the defensive line, especially considering the loss of 5th year senior Reggie Gilbert in 2016. Rich Rodriguez is still in the mix to land any of the three linemen mentioned above, as well as Boss Tagaloa, who has Arizona in his top 12 schools. Expect Arizona to continue recruiting defensive linemen heavily.
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NCAA Softball Tournament results: Arizona eliminated by LSU in Super Regional
Another year without a trip to Oklahoma City
In the final college softball Super Regional of the weekend, the Arizona Wildcats were swept by the LSU Tigers, ending Arizona's season before the WCWS for the fifth-straight season.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first, and were also up 8-3 after four innings.
And then Arizona had its chance in the fifth to make some noise. The Wildcats loaded the bases with no outs thanks to singles by Eva Watson and Hallie Wilson. Chelsea Suitos then reached on an error.
A walk to Kellie Fox brought in Arizona's fourth run of the game, and brought the tying run to the plate. Katiyana Mauga grounded to the third baseman, who got Wilson on a force play at home.
Chelsea Goodacre followed that up with a walk of her own to make it 8-5. After an LSU pitching change, two strikeouts ended the threat.
The Wildcats had another chance to at least tie the game up in the sixth. Wilson and Suitos both singled, then both advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch for Fox. But the shortstop flied out to first base, and that would essentially be it.
LSU tacked on two insurance runs to make it 10-5 in the top of the 7th. Arizona was only able to get a double in the bottom half of the inning, with a couple of balls falling just short of being home runs.
This is the second-straight year Arizona's season has ended in the state of Louisiana in the Super Regionals. Last year, they traveled to Lafayette to take on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, and lost both of those games as well.
Next season could be a little concerning, as Fox, Wilson, Goodacre and Suitos are all graduating seniors. But more experience on the pitching staff should certainly help as the program looks to return to its first Women's College World Series since 2010.
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Get excited, folks, because Braxton Burmeister is deadly accurate. At 6-0 210lbs, he's the No. 6 six dual-threat quarterback in the nation.
The lone commit in Arizona's 2017 recruiting class showed off his accuracy on his Twitter account earlier, throwing a fade route from the 30 yard line to the back corner of the end zone. Not even going through his full progression, half way through the throw, you can hear him say "Got it."
We don't have any idea what the receiver situation will look like in 2017, but we do know that Braxton Burmeister will be elevating the heavy quarterback competition between Anu Solomon, Khalil Tate and Devon Modster.
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Arizona football recruiting: Wildcats offer Long Beach City College safety London Iakopo
An up-and-coming junior college product has been offered by Arizona
Arizona is continuing the trend of offering junior college products on the defensive side of the ball. A trend we saw in Rich Rod's 2015 recruiting class with early enrollees Anthony Fotu and Paul Magloire, as well as Dane Cruikshank and Timothy Hamilton. The latest offer goes to freshman safety London Iakopo of the Long Beach City College Vikings, checking in at 6-0 205lbs.
Iakopo came out of Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, CA) unranked, finding a home at Long Beach. In his freshman year for the Vikings, he played in 11 games, finishing with two interceptions and 66 tackles, six of which were for a loss.
Arizona becomes his first Division I offer and most likely won't be his last. His freshman year highlights are below.
Iakopo is a potential fit at the bandit position, a hybrid linebacker-safety spot, a role played by Jared Tevis. That position is expected to be filled in by the duo of Tellas Jones and Paul Magloire in 2015. Iakopo is definitely OKG material, but expect his recruiting to heat up throughout his sophomore campaign.
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NCAA Softball Tournament Results: Arizona gets run-ruled by LSU in Super Regional opener
A rare sight for Arizona fans
For just the third time in school history, the Arizona Wildcats were on the losing end of the college softball mercy rule in postseason play, as the LSU Tigers won the first game of the Baton Rouge Super Regional 8-0 in five innings.
According to ESPN, all three instances of Arizona being run-ruled in postseason play have come at the hands of an SEC school. They were also run-ruled twice during the 2015 regular season, again, both by SEC schools (Florida and Auburn, both on March 6th).
The Wildcats only managed to get one hit off of LSU pitcher Carley Hoover. That was a single by Mandie Perez. Hoover also walked three while striking out one in five shutout innings. Two of those three walks were the first two batters of the game, but after that, the Arizona offense could not get anything going.
LSU got out to a 4-0 lead before recording two outs. Freshman Trish Parks got the start on the mound, and gave up those four runs before being lifted for Siera Phillips.
Phillips would go on to pitch two innings, allowing just two hits, but three walks would contribute to three earned runs, four total.
Eight walks by the Arizona pitchers in their four total innings is not going to get the job done against an offense like LSU.
The Wildcats will have to win two games on Sunday to advance to their first Women's College World Series since 2010. The first game will start at 2 PM PT on ESPN.
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Arizona football recruiting: Wildcats offer 4-star safety Eric Burrell
Working out of a 3-3-5 defense, safety is a much needed position for Arizona
In a pass-happy Pac-12, a reliable secondary is pivotal. The Arizona Wildcats have now reached out to a top safety for the class of 2016 in Eric Burrell.
Eric Burrell is a 4-star prospect out of McDonogh School (Owings Mills, MD), ranked 16th among all safeties and 10th overall in the state of Maryland. Coming in at 5-11 170lbs, he could be the perfect successor to William Parks.
This is just his second offer west of the Mississippi River, holding offers to Duke, Nebraska, Maryland, Virginia Tech, and Virginia among others.
Arizona will be losing Will Parks, Anthony Lopez and Jamar Allah after this season, leaving a huge gap in the secondary. Arizona does have some youth from the 2015 recruiting class in early-enrollee Devon Brewer, who will later be joined by Demetrius Flannigan next spring.
Eric Burrell's junior year highlights are below.
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Kingery is the only Arizona player, and is one of just three players from the Pac-12 to receiver the honor. UCLA closer David Berg and Oregon State starting pitcher Andrew Moore are the others.
The junior second baseman is hitting .396 this season overall, and finished Pac-12 play hitting .373 in conference games, which will likely give him the Pac-12 batting title.
The surprising thing about Kingery has been his power. He's currently second in the conference in slugging percentage, trailing only Bobby Dalbec. His five triples lead the team, and his five home runs are second behind Dalbec's 14. He also currently leads the Pac-12 in total bases.
The other thing that makes this season somewhat surprising is that this is his first year playing the infield at the college level. He was the starting center fielder in 2013 and 2014, then with the departure of Trent Gilbert, moved in to play second base this season. He currently has the best fielding percentage among non-first-baseman infielders on the team.
Kingery will likely be a high draft pick in this year's MLB Draft, so if you haven't seen him yet this season, be sure to hit up Hi Corbett sometime this weekend to get your last glimpse in.
The Golden Spikes finalists will be announced on June 2nd.
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LSU was the top-ranked team in the country for much of the season, but a late-season skid dropped them to the five-seed overall. Last week, it took them all seven games to advance out of their regional, much like Arizona. The Tigers entered Sunday needing to beat ASU twice in a day, and they did so.
The Tigers have the 7th-best team ERA in the nation, which is troubling considering how poor Arizona's offense looked last weekend. But LSU is not a particularly good fielding team (123rd overall, 231st in double plays turned), so as long as the Wildcats can get the ball in play, they have a chance.
The two teams played earlier this season, and LSU won 4-3 in a game held in Palm Springs. Arizona is still 10-4 all-time against the Tigers after that defeat. The Wildcats out-hit them 9-7 in the game earlier this year, while Michelle Floyd threw four innings before giving way to Nancy Bowling for the final two frames. Only four LSU players had hits in that game, and both stud players Bianka Bell and Sahvanna Jaquish were held hitless by Arizona pitching.
That'll be key, as both Bell and Jaquish have hit 17 home runs this season, which is tied for the team lead. Bailey Landry is another name to keep an eye on, as she's hitting a potent .431 this year.
It should be an evenly-matched series, and one that's fun and stressful to watch. Let's hope Arizona makes it back to its first WCWS since 2010 on this trip to Baton Rouge.
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Blair was known for being instrumental in the development of Arizona's big men, namely Kaleb Tarczewski and Dusan Ristic. Blair, nearly a 7-footer himself, not only coached them up, he also competed against them on the court as his size made him a perfect post defender to practice against day in and day out.
It's likely that Blair is not going to go coach elsewhere, but is planning to focus on his charity group instead.
At this point, it's uncertain who Sean Miller will get to replace Blair, but the replacement will have some big shoes to fill. Literally.
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The Pac-12 South Champs now have a target on their back
Arizona will be returning the nucleus of the team, putting them in great position to repeat as Pac-12 South Champs. Although, they're stuck in the most competitive division in college football (looking at you, SEC West), so how can Arizona keep the crown? Here are three keys for Arizona this season.
Special Teams/Return Game
For whatever reason, Arizona hasn't had a great return game over the last few years. Arizona has had one kick return go the distance in the Rich Rodriguez era and that was Cayleb Jones with a return of 44-yards, courtesy of an onside kick by Wazzu. Arizona has the speed, but just maybe not the blocking or reads to really put themselves in good field position to start a drive. But with Tyrell Johnson another year wiser, there's no reason why he shouldn't be the main kick return man, especially considering his speed in the open field.
DaVonte' Neal has the speed and shiftiness to return kicks, but sometimes he just makes you shake your head on the punts he decides to field, or stay dangerously close to after the first bounce. Johnny Jackson and Nate Phillips are also viable options to help in the punt return game, which might help ease the nerves on 4th down.
Depth
Arizona is going to be playing through 12 straight games this season. We're going to need a healthy Anu Solomon, a Heisman hopeful, to lead the offense. That also includes keeping Nick Wilson involved, yet mindful of his touches and workload. Having Jared Baker and either Jonathan Haden or incoming freshman Orlando Bradford as the second and third options will help relieve the pressure.
On the other side of the ball, Arizona is going to need some younger guys to step up on the defensive line and make big time plays. With Jeff Worthy, Parker Zellers, and Reggie Gilbert holding the most experience, JuCo transfer Anthony Fotu, redshirt freshman Marcus Griffin and redshirt sohpomore Calvin Allen will have to contribute.
But when you take it to the next level, there might be a lack of depth at corner. Jarvis McCall will most likely hold down one corner spot, which leaves DaVonte' Neal and Cam Denson up to the last spot. But with former Michigan corner Blake Countess visiting campus this week, he could easily slide into the second spot, should he decide to transfer.
This incoming recruiting class is also loaded with corners that can see the field early, including Dane Cruikshank, Antonio Parks, and Sam Morrison.
Arizona's safety depth took the biggest hit this season, with Tra'Mayne Bondurant, Jourdan Grandon and Jared Tevis all graduating. It's up to William Parks to continue his leadership role in the secondary. He'll have Tellas Jones and Jamar Allah backing him, with great depth including Arizona Western College transfer Paul Magloire and senior Anthony Lopez.
Stalled Drives
Arizona ran just over 84 plays a game last season, ranked 6th in the nation. But there were times were the offense completely stalled out for long periods of time, giving the defense no break.
Yes, sometimes the play call has you scratching your head. Now, with Rich Rodriguez and his offensive mindset, you have to believe it's called for a reason, whether it may be him thinking it's the best play call in that situation, or a setup to bait the defense later in the game.
But with the games listed above, the defense did all that it could to keep Arizona in the game. But when you have consecutive three-and-outs, that can gas the defense and create some issues.
Arizona has a relatively favorable schedule this season, but it will be no easy task to repeat as Pac-12 South Champs, especially considering the target on their back.
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Pac-12 Baseball Power Rankings: One weekend left to settle it all
The race for second is going to be awesome this weekend
UCLA took any drama out of the Pac-12 Championship this weekend by dominating Arizona, and clinching the outright title.
But the race for second place is on, and luckily for all of us, the four teams in the hunt are all playing each other!
Here's a look at how I have the power rankings heading into the final weekend before Regional play starts, with some shifting around from last week's rankings.
All UCLA's playing for this week is national seeding as they have wrapped up the conference title. And the Bruins added a special moment to this season by tossing a 10-inning no-hitter Friday night against Arizona, the first no-hitter in program history. If they want to help the conference, they'll let Oregon win at least two games this weekend, to maybe give the Ducks a shot at the postseason. Maybe.
OSU went out and swept Stanford pretty easily to continue their recent surge. All of the sudden, we may be looking at a regional in Corvallis after five-straight series wins, and a record of 13-3-1 over that span. The Beavs host Oregon on Tuesday, followed up by a weekend series against USC in Corvallis. OSU seems to have the inside track for second place.
Cal, just like Oregon State, used Arizona as a way to propel themselves to a lengthy hot streak. The Bears have now won four-straight series, and looked very impressive in the final two games of this past weekend's series against USC. Win two at Oregon State, and finish second.
Also, shoutout to this guy for shaving during the middle of the game.
I have not been impressed by USC of late. Since sweeping Arizona, the Trojans have a 10-12 record, and have fallen out of a regional hosting spot. They really need a series win against ASU this weekend in L.A. to get back on track before heading into Regional play.
I can't believe that Oregon is above .500 in conference play, and has a realistic shot of playing themselves into the postseason if they can get at least three wins this week against OSU and UCLA. It's crazy to see how they've turned it around, especially after how pathetic they looked when they came to Tucson and got swept.
They had a really good chance to take the ASU series in extra-innings on Saturday night, but couldn't quite close the deal. Still, this team overall has looked better than say Arizona and UW throughout the season, and can still finish with a strong series win by hosting Stanford.
I don't even know what to say about this team, and can't even imagine what the lack of effort will look like in meaningless games against Abilene Christian and Hawaii this weekend. Something's gotta change.
Man, talk about an embarrassing non-conference performance. UW got swept at home by Cal State Northridge this weekend, and didn't even score a run in the final two games. That's some serious mail it in mode.
Just now realizing Utah could finish ahead of Stanford in the standings, especially if the Utes get the same Washington team that showed up against CSUN. Get a sweep and get to ten wins Utes!
GCU's been on here a couple of times before, but it's time to recognize their outright WAC regular season title. Now the Lopes are done for the season because they're still not eligible for NCAA postseason play for two more years, but man, in their second year at D-1, they won a conference title outright. Props to them. I will be spending time at the WAC Tournament this weekend in Mesa, where I wish GCU was playing. They're the true WAC champs.
Even though there still isn't a Pac-12 tournament, the way the scheduling worked out, the top six teams are all playing each other this weekend anyway, so there's a lot of drama, and a lot on the line throughout the top half of the conference. Here's hoping to a lot of #Pac12AfterDark and some extra-inning thrillers.
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Arizona football recruiting: Wildcats offer 2017 safety Isaiah Pola-Mao
One of the top prospects in the state has been picking up a lot of momentum in the recruiting game
Arizona has offered one of the top in-state products of 2017 in Isaiah Pola-Mao. He has passed the NCAA Clearinghouse eligibility, giving him the green light to play at the next level.
AZCentral has him ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the state of Arizona, meanwhile 247Sports lists him as a 3-star safety, ranked 21st in the nation among all safeties. Out of Mountain Pointe High School (Phoenix, AZ), he's picked up a lot of steam this offseason, receiving seven Pac-12 offers including Arizona State, Utah, and Washington.
He comes in at 6-4 190lbs and runs an unofficial 4.60 40. His sophomore year highlights are below.
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Arizona football: Previewing the 2015 Wildcats with Campus Insiders
Some preview videos to get you ready for the 2015 season
With just about every sport in the offseason now, and graduation over, it's time to turn our focus to the 2015 football season, and Campus Insiders is here to help us with that.
FIrst, the crew talks to Brian Jeffries about a wide variety of things, but primarily what's going to change on defense. The leadership aspect of William Parks is brought up, as well as DaVonte' Neal moving to corner. But really, there's still a lot up in the air, especially with Michigan transfer Blake Countesson campus this week.
And then, we all need hype videos, so here's a couple of hype videos, with Anu Solomon getting his own. When SI put Solomon on their Heisman watch list, it was met with a lot of skepticism, but I'm not sure why. As a redshirt freshman, Solomon was strong at the beginning of the season before fighting through an ankle injury during the second half. A healthy, experienced Solomon should flourish in the system this year, and these numbers in the video should only get better.
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