Friday, September 30, 2016

Complete viewing and listening guide for Arizona Wildcats vs. UCLA Bruins football

A late night ESPN date for Arizona in Pasadena

For the first time since the season opener, the Arizona Wildcats are not on Pac-12 Network.

You can watch the team look for its first win against the UCLA Bruins on a channel that is much more accessible. It will be the battle of sophomores at quarterback as Brandon Dawkins takes on Josh Rosen in the Rose Bowl Saturday night.

Here’s your complete Week Five viewing guide:

Viewing info:

Time: 7:30 PM PT

TV: ESPN

Streaming: Watch ESPN

Announcers: Beth Mowins (PxP), Anthony Becht (analyst) and Rocky Boiman (sideline)

Radio info:

Arizona broadcast

Tucson stations: 1290 AM and 107.5 FM

Phoenix station: 910 AM

Announcers: Brian Jefferies (PxP), Lamont Lovett (analyst) and Dana Cooper (sideline)

Streaming:

UCLA broadcast

Los Angeles stations: 570 and 1150 AM

Satellite radio: Sirius 112 and XM 198

Announcers: Josh Lewin (PxP), Matt Stevens (analyst) and Wayne Cook (sideline)

Full College Football Schedule:

Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
Matchup Time (ET) TV / Online
(7) Stanford at (10) Washington 9:00 p.m. ESPN / WatchESPN
Toledo at BYU 10:15 p.m. ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016
Matchup Time (ET) TV / Online
(22) Texas at Oklahoma State 12:00 p.m. ABC / WatchESPN
(14) Miami (FL) at Georgia Tech 12:00 p.m. ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Rutgers at (2) Ohio State 12:00 p.m. BTN / BTN2Go
(23) Florida at Vanderbilt 12:00 p.m. SECN / WatchESPN
(13) Baylor at Iowa State 12:00 p.m. FS1 / FSGo
Alcorn State at (20) Arkansas 12:00 p.m. SECN Alt. / WatchESPN
Notre Dame vs. Syracuse (East Rutherford, NJ) 12:00 p.m. ESPN / WatchESPN
Northwestern at Iowa 12:00 p.m. ESPNU / WatchESPN
UCF at East Carolina 12:00 p.m. CBSSN / CBSSports.com
SMU at Temple 12:00 p.m. ESPNews / WatchESPN
Georgia State at Appalachian State 12:00 p.m. ASN / ESPN3
Virginia at Duke 12:30 p.m. ACCN / WatchESPN
Buffalo at Boston College 1:00 p.m. WatchESPN
Oregon State at Colorado 2:30 p.m. Pac-12N / Pac-12.com
Ohio at Miami (OH) 2:30 p.m. BCSN/TWCS / ESPN3
Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green 3:00 p.m. ESPN3
(8) Wisconsin at (4) Michigan 3:30 p.m. ABC / WatchESPN
(11) Tennessee at (25) Georgia 3:30 p.m. CBS / CBSSports.com
North Carolina at (12) Florida State 3:30 p.m. ESPN / WatchESPN
Illinois at (15) Nebraska 3:30 p.m. ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Kansas State at West Virginia 3:30 p.m. ESPNU / WatchESPN
Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn 3:30 p.m. SECN Alt. / WatchESPN
Minnesota at Penn State 3:30 p.m. BTN / BTN2Go
Purdue at Maryland 3:30 p.m. BTN / BTN2Go
Wake Forest at NC State 3:30 p.m. RSN / WatchESPN
Navy at Air Force 3:30 p.m. CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Tulane at UMass 3:30 p.m. ASN/NESN / ESPN3
Akron at Kent State 3:30 p.m. ESPN3
Northern Illinois at Ball State 3:30 p.m. ASN / ESPN3
(9) Texas A&M at South Carolina 4:00 p.m. SECN / WatchESPN
San Jose State at New Mexico 4:00 p.m. ROOT SPORTS / CampusInsiders
Oklahoma at (21) TCU 5:00 p.m. FOX / FSGo
Troy at Idaho 5:00 p.m. ESPN3
(18) Utah at California 6:00 p.m. Pac-12N / Pac-12.com
Old Dominion at Charlotte 6:00 p.m. CUSA.TV
Kentucky at (1) Alabama 7:00 p.m. ESPN / WatchESPN
Memphis at (16) Ole Miss 7:00 p.m. SECN Alt. or ESPN2 / WatchESPN
USF at Cincinnati 7:00 p.m. ESPNU / WatchESPN
UTEP at Louisiana Tech 7:00 p.m. ASN
Western Michigan at Central Michigan 7:00 p.m. CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Florida Atlantic at FIU 7:00 p.m. beIN Sports / Stream
Middle Tennessee at North Texas 7:00 p.m. Twitter
Houston Baptist at WKU 7:00 p.m. CS Live
Incarnate Word at Texas State 7:00 p.m. TSSP/KEYE-TV / ESPN3
Missouri at LSU 7:30 p.m. SECN / WatchESPN
Marshall at Pittsburgh 7:30 p.m. RSN / WatchESPN
(3) Louisville at (5) Clemson 8:00 p.m. ABC / WatchESPN
(17) Michigan State at Indiana 8:00 p.m. BTN / BTN2Go
(19) San Diego State at South Alabama 8:00 p.m. ESPNews / WatchESPN
UL Lafayette at New Mexico State 8:00 p.m. ESPN3
Arizona State at USC 8:30 p.m. FOX / FS Go
Oregon at Washington State 9:30 p.m. Pac-12N / Pac-12.com
Utah State at (24) Boise State 10:15 p.m. ESPN2 / WatchESPN
Wyoming at Colorado State 10:15 p.m. ESPNU / WatchESPN
Arizona at UCLA 10:30 p.m. ESPN / WatchESPN
Fresno State at UNLV 10:30 p.m. CBSSN / CBSSports.com
Nevada at Hawaii 12:00 a.m. Oceanic PPV


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posted by Unknown @ 6:11 PM   0 Comments

Arizona football: Wildcats wearing all white at UCLA

A little exorcising of UCLA ghosts perhaps?

The last time the Arizona Wildcats wore all white, they got smoked by the Washington Huskies 49-3 in Seattle.

The Cats will look to put that behind them by going with the all-white look against the UCLA Bruins on Saturday.

For all things Arizona uniforms, you should probably bookmark this page by Scott Terrell on Wildcat Universe. The all-white uniform combo has gone just 2-6 since the 2009 Holiday Bowl vs. Nebraska. Those two wins came against ASU in 2011 and vs. Cal in 2014.

So, the Wildcats can kill two losing tendency birds with one stone on Saturday. It’s been since 2011 that Arizona beat UCLA in football, and now they can try and keep the all-white uniforms from dropping to a 2-7 overall record.

What are your thoughts on the all-white unis? They look clean, but they also produce bad results, so it’s the ultimate catch-22 for people who care about these things.



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posted by Unknown @ 2:11 PM   0 Comments

Arizona football: Wildcats to be featured on Pac-12 Network’s ‘The Drive’ Friday night

Get a behind-the-scenes look at a week of Arizona football

When Pac-12 Network introduced The Drive into our lives, it was super cool because it was like a season-long Hard Knocks for one or two of the conference’s teams.

As the show has evolved, so has how they’re doing things, and this year, each team is being featured for one week.

This week is the Arizona Wildcats’ turn. Friday night at 9:30 PM PT, the Arizona episode will make its debut, and will be replayed Saturday morning at 8 and 8:30 AM, and surely several times after that on Pac-12 Arizona.

Here are a couple clips that the Pac-12 sent along to give readers a sneak peek. This first one is pretty timely, as it focuses on how there’s always adversity out there, and how some of Arizona’s players go “overlooked”.

Then this one gives a little look at some of Rich Rodriguez’s personality quirks and also his yelling in practice.

Catch the entire show Friday night and let us know what you think of it.



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posted by Unknown @ 11:57 AM   0 Comments

Arizona vs. UCLA Cliff Notes

Your quick hits on the Bruins

The Arizona Wildcats face the UCLA Bruins on Saturday night at 7:30 PM PT on ESPN. You’ve seen plenty of previews, but here are some quick hits from a slightly different angle.

“Rosen Throws Darts“

Sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen was the 2015 Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year who already has eight 300-yard passing games under his belt. Rosen capped a strong collegiate debut season when he threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the Foster Farms Bowl loss to Nebraska. Plus he also had a hottub in his freshman dorm room and hosted a UA date it in after last year’s blowout win in Tucson.

This year he lives in an apartment with his frat brothers, throws darts, and admits to a “superiority complex” in this great profile. He may eventually be the 2018 No. 1 pick in the NFL draft; the Bruins’ first top overall selection since Troy Aikman.

Rosen averages 291 yards passing per game this season with three of his four interceptions coming in week one against Texas A&M. Last week he was a pedestrian 18-of-27 for 248 yards with a key fumble on the last play of the game that was returned for a Cardinal touchdown. The last minute score allowed Stanford to cover the point spread.

The Last 42

Junior linebacker Kenny Young will be the last Bruin to wear No. 42 as it will be retired in all UCLA sports to honor Jackie Robinson. Young has 15 tackles on the year, two sacks, and is proud of the No. 42 history.

Robinson wore No. 28 on the football field at UCLA and led the nation with an 18.76 punt return average during his 1939 and 1940 collegiate career (Reggie Bush, in comparison, had a punt return average of 9.9 yards in 2005). In his second and last football season, Robinson posted 383 yards rushing that translated into 5.9 yards per carry. He also threw for 444 yards.

In the football offseason, Robinson led the Pacific Coast Conference in basketball scoring for both the 1940 and 1941 seasons, was named the conference basketball MVP, and won the NCAA individual track broad jump. However, he hit .097 as a shortstop in his only collegiate season in 1940 as it is widely accepted that baseball was his worst sport.

UCLA and Arizona did not play each other in football during Robinson’s time in Westwood.

What’s in the UCLA Scrapbook?

UCLA leads the all-time series against Arizona 23-15-2. In 1927, Southern Branch University formally changed its name to the University of California at Los Angeles, but lost to Arizona 16-13 in the series’ first meeting. At the time of the game, UCLA was known as the Grizzlies. The following year, the school joined the Pacific Coast Conference and adopted the Bruins moniker. This was done to appease fellow conference member, Montana, who claimed themselves as “Grizzlies” first. The UCLA change may have already been in the works because its student newspaper switched from The Daily Grizzly to the Daily Bruin in 1926.

In 1928, the newly branded Bruins tied Arizona 7-7 in the schools’ second game against each other. It would be 43 years until the schools would meet again during which a huge UCLA scandal killed the PCC in 1956 and later opened the door for the creation of the Pacific 10 Conference. The series resumed in 1971 as UCLA beat Arizona 28-12 and the universities began playing each on a regular basis when UA joined the present day conference in 1978.

The Arizona/UCLA football series is the second oldest conference rivalry for the Bruins. Stanford, who beat Southern Branch 82-0 in 1925 in the inaugural tilt, is the oldest series for UCLA with a current Pac-12 Conference foe.



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posted by Unknown @ 10:16 AM   0 Comments

Sonoran Hot Reads: Hamidou Diallo eligible for NBA Draft

Will a top prospect be skipping college altogether?

Just a couple of days ago, we posted a story about how top prospect Hamidou Diallo had just been visited by the Arizona Wildcats’ coaching staff. On Thursday, Evan Daniels reported that Diallo will be eligible for the 2017 NBA Draft. Diallo says “it’s definitely something that I’m going to look into” but then follows that up with “but as of now I want to go to college." Our Kentucky colleagues at A Sea of Blue wonder if this means UK will back off and open the door for Arizona, Syracuse and UConn. This will be interesting to watch when March and April roll around

- Five-star small forward Brian Bowen released his top-six, and Arizona is there with Creighton, NC State, UCLA, Michigan State and Texas

- Five-star center Nick Richards is set to visit Tucson next weekend

- The current Arizona team had Media Day on Thursday. Ryan was there for us, and here are some of the biggest things he heard

- Rob Dauster’s Preseason All-American teams have no Wildcats on them

Football

- Is the Pac-12 Network finally paying off?

- Bruins Nation has a very ill-informed preview of Arizona’s offense. Their preview of the defense is a little better

- Here are the five Bruins you need to know about before Saturday

- Gehard de Beer is a guy and story that doesn’t get old. Here’s a Q&A Athletics did with him about leaving South Africa, playing multiple sports and more

- This week’s injury report is brutal

Baseball

- The Giants will probably pursue Mark Melancon this offseason. The former Wildcat notched his 45th save of the year on Thursday

Other sports

- If I had been able to get an SHR out on Thursday morning, this would have led it. Cross country thwarted a thief on their recent trip to Minneapolis

- Women’s tennis is hosting their Wildcat Invitational this weekend at Robson

- Beach volleyball has a new assistant coach. Her name is Kyra Ionne, and she used to coach current Wildcat Sara Pantovic in British Columbia

Tucson news

- The Downtown Transit Center appears poised for a major upgrade

- A Sunnyside elementary school was evacuated because of a strong odor. Four people — three sixth-graders and a staff member — were taken to the hospital as a precaution

- The poverty rate in Tucson has stayed about the same over the last three years

- Regency Beauty Institute closed out of nowhere Thursday afternoon



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posted by Unknown @ 7:21 AM   0 Comments

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Arizona basketball media day notes: Sean Miller discusses Wildcats’ 2016-17 roster, depth chart and more

Find out what Sean Miller had to say about the 2016-17 Arizona Wildcats

The Arizona Wildcats’ annual media day has passed, meaning we had our first access to Sean Miller for the upcoming 2016-17 season.

Miller was at the podium for nearly an hour and he shared a lot of information regarding the roster, depth chart and schedule. He also talked about things like Ray Smith's recovery, Lauri Markkanen's emergence, the rest of the newcomers, the point guard situation, the front court, and a ton of other things regarding Arizona basketball (including which emoji he likes best).

But here are the most important things you need to know in a string of tweets (read from the bottom to the top and make sure to click "read more tweets" when you get to the end).

We also had a chance to talk to the players afterward, so if you have any questions about the upcoming season, please don't hesitate to ask in the comments.



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posted by Unknown @ 6:11 PM   0 Comments

Arizona basketball recruiting: Five-star center Nick Richards to visit Arizona on October 7th, per report

Could Sean Miller land the two best centers in the country? He’s trying.

After having a “great home visit” with the Arizona Wildcats staff on Wednesday, five-star center Nick Richards is reportedly set to officially visit Tucson for the weekend of October 7, a week before the Red-Blue game.

The report comes from Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog on SNY.tv, who noted that Richards has strong praise for assistant coach Book Richardson, the second rated center’s lead recruiter. Richardson is known in many circles as one of the best East Coast recruiters in the country.

"Yeah, Book keeps it real with me. He's probably the only coach out of all of them that keeps it the most real with me."

Richards, who plays for St. Patrick’s in New York, released a top five of Kentucky, Arizona, Connecticut, Syracuse, and Indiana at the end of July. So far, the only other visit he has decided upon are the other Wildcats, which will take place this weekend.

Coach John Calipari has been hot on his heels, visiting Richards two times from September 14-22. Currently, all fourteen Crystal Ball selections on 247Sports have Richards going to Kentucky.

With DeAndre Ayton committed to Arizona, it’s intriguing to see the next best center still willing to give Arizona a shot. However, if Sean Miller was trying to assemble the most dominant post play in the nation, landing these two would go a long ways towards accomplishing that goal.

If you are wondering why the coaching staff is not having Richards in for the Red-Blue game, I have two theories. One, which may be the simplest, is due to scheduling conflicts.

However, I believe it’s because there are already two official visits that weekend (Ira Lee and Daejon Davis), two commits (Alex Barcello and DeAndre Ayton), and an unofficial visit from five-star point guard Brandon Williams. With all that commotion going on, Richards would understandably feel underappreciated. Having him on his own weekend allows the seven-footer to see the school and hang out with the players separate from the hectic Red-Blue weekend.

(Side Note: Five-star point guard Gary Trent Jr. was scheduled to visit fo the Red-Blue. That, however, has been scratched per Scout’s Evan Daniels. There does not appear to be a rescheduled date at this time. Duke continues to be the heavy favorite.)

Moving forward, Richards told Zagoria that he’s considering every school equally right now and doesn’t have a commitment date set yet. It should be noted he said his mom likes Calipari and Kentucky, stating, “She likes Cal, he keeps it real with her. She likes the energy that they give us.”

However, all of this uncertainty could fade if he finds the right spot, saying, “Whenever I have that feeling, I’ll just commit.”

Knowing Sean Miller, he’ll do his damnedest to ensure Richards gets the ‘feeling’ while in Tucson, Arizona.

If you missed the latest recruiting round up, you can find it here.

Follow Alec on Twitter: @UofAlec



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posted by Unknown @ 4:56 PM   0 Comments

Arizona football injury report: Several key Wildcats out at UCLA

Injury bug continues to bite Arizona

The Arizona Wildcats are headed to Los Angeles this weekend to play the UCLA Bruins, and Arizona will be missing quite a few key players, to say least.

Here is the full injury report:

Probable: Tellas Jones (Ankle)

Questionable: Nick Wilson (Ankle)

Doubtful:

Out: FB Jamardre Cobb (knee), LB DeAndre’ Miller (ankle), WR Shawn Poindexter (foot), QB Anu Solomon (knee), RB J.J. Taylor (ankle – out indefinitely), NG Parker Zellers (knee)

Good news — Arizona has a bye week this year, but the bad news is that it’s not this week. Last week we saw Tellas Jones listed as probable, but he didn't play. Nick Wilson is questionable for the second week in a row and questionable under Rich Rodriguez is usually out.

Anu Solomon has moved to out this week which begs the question on how serious his injury is. DeAndre Miller, Jamadre Cobb, and Parker Zellers will all be out for the second week in a row. The new addition to the injury report are J.J. Taylor (who is likely out for the year) and Shawn Poindexter.

If Nick Wilson isn’t able to suit up, Zach Green will get his first considerable amount of playing time on the road against UCLA. Tyrell Johnson is also supposed to get carries at running back.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT Saturday night at the game will be televised on ESPN.



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posted by Unknown @ 3:26 PM   0 Comments

Arizona vs. UCLA: Five Bruins to know before Saturday’s game

Here are five UCLA players who hope to make a huge impact against Arizona

This coming Saturday, the Arizona Wildcats travel to Pasadena, CA to take on the UCLA Bruins. UCLA is a team which Arizona has yet to figure out in recent years. Since Rich Rodriguez took over the Wildcats, they are 0-4 against the Bruins.

This year, the Bruins have shown to be inconsistent; whether it’s them almost beating Stanford, or being unable to catch the ball against Texas A&M. One thing is for sure, and that is Pac-12 play is unpredictable, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

Let’s take a look at some Bruins who hope to make a major impact on Saturday.

Josh Rosen, QB (#3)

Rosen had himself a breakout year last year as a true freshman. He took control of the UCLA offense and was able to move the team up and down the field effectively and efficiently. He did have some mistakes, which is understandable since he was a freshman, but overall had a solid year. His stat line was 292-for-487 for 3,668 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.

This year, the offense has looked a little different. It hasn’t been as efficient as Rosen or Jim Mora has wanted it to be. Rosen hasn’t been as sharp as he was last year, though sometimes his receivers haven’t helped him much (mainly dropped passes). He looks to get the offense back on track against the Wildcats. So far this year he is 93-of-151 for 1,165 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions.

Soso Jamabo, RB (#9)

Jamabo has some big shoes to fill now that Paul Perkins is gone, and he has done a pretty decent job. At 6-foot-3 and 216 pounds, Jamabo is a big back who can prove to be very tough to bring down. He is a hard runner and will smash it up the middle but has the speed to bounce it to the outside. He is also a threat to catch it out of the backfield totaling 67 yards on seven catches so far this year. His rushing stats are 198 yards on 41 carries and three touchdowns.

Jayon Brown, LB (#12)

Brown is a monster of a linebacker. He has the ability to find the ball carrier easily and, at times, it looks like he’s not even trying. He is athletic enough to drop back in coverage and powerful enough to come up and stop the run. Another thing he has working for him...he is a sure tackler. He is one of those players that flies all over the field, and his stats prove it. In four games he has 33 tackles, one sack, 1.5 TFL, and two PBU.

Takkarist McKinley, DE (#98)

UCLA has a lot of speed that comes off the edge, and McKinley is one reason. He explodes off the ball and engages his blocker, able to shed blocks with ease and get in the backfield to wreak havoc on whoever has the ball. He also has pretty good length, and has shown the ability to put his arms up to disrupt passes. So far this year he has 12 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 4.0 TFL, and a PBU. In his one and a half years of playing, his career totals are 47 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 11.5 TFL, and five PBU.

Fabian Moreau, CB (#10)

Moreau is an excellent cover corner who did miss a lot of time last year but, so far, is making up for it this year. He is a bigger corner — 6-foot, 202 pounds — and has good length. He is a threat to always make a play on the ball when it is in the air and can be a hard hitter as well. So far his 2016 stat line is nine tackles, five PBU, and a forced fumble.



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posted by Unknown @ 10:18 AM   0 Comments

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Arizona vs. UCLA: Previewing the Wildcats and the Bruins by the numbers

After nearly knocking off the Huskies last week, can the Wildcats get over the hump against the Bruins? We dove into the numbers to find out.

Every week, we take a look at some of the numbers underlying the Arizona Wildcats’ upcoming match-up. This week, we took a look at the UCLA Bruins’ pass defense, how their strengths stack up against Arizona, and whether the Wildcats have a chance to pull out the win on the road.

26% - Arizona’s win probability per S&P+

The advanced stats give Arizona a 26% chance of winning this game. That’s slightly higher than the odds were last week against Washington, but still not terribly high. I expected to see Arizona’s profile rise a little higher after nearly beating the Huskies last week, but the advanced statistics still see UCLA as a pretty big favorite, projecting the margin of victory at 10.9. Not great for the Wildcats.

96.7 - UCLA’s pass defense efficiency

UCLA is a weirder team than you’d expect this season. Despite Josh Rosen and Soso Jamabo returning for the Bruins, their offense has been underwhelming. They’re currently eleventh in the conference in scoring offense and ninth in total offense. This is, at least in part, because of the teams they’ve played - they’ve had to play Stanford and Texas A&M already, both of whom are very good defensively - but even against BYU, they only scored 17 points, fewer than the Wildcats did in the first game of the season.

UCLA’s strengths, then, are on defense. UCLA is fourth in the conference in scoring defense and fifth in total defense. UCLA hasn’t been able to stop the run, though - they’re middle of the road in rushing defense and allow more than 150 yards on the ground per game.

The defensive production, then, is fueled primary by their pass defense, which is ranked second in the Pac-12 so far. Opposing quarterbacks are completing less than 50% of their passes against UCLA, and defensive backs Nate Meadors and Fabian Moreau each have five pass break-ups already this season. In fact, as a team, the Bruins have twice as many PBUs as the Wildcats. The pass rush isn’t as stout as you might expect - the Bruins only have seven sacks on the year - but UCLA hasn’t allowed much through the air this season.

248.0 - Arizona’s rushing yards per game

But the joke’s on UCLA - Arizona doesn’t have much of a passing game! Arizona is tenth in the conference in passing offense and ninth in pass efficiency. The reason is simple: Brandon Dawkins isn’t a great passer. He is, though, great running the football. He already has seven touchdowns on the ground so far this season, and he’s averaging more than 10 yards per carry.

Admittedly, Arizona’s running back depth is lacking now that J.J. Taylor is out for the season. This week, though, things are looking up - Nick Wilson should return from his injury, and Tyrell Johnson gets another week in practice to get used to playing running back. Add in Zach Green (who is a fine reserve/change-of-pace back) and the Wildcats still have all the ingredients to run the ball effectively, especially against a just-okay UCLA rush defense.

Arizona +13 - the spread in this week’s match-up

Vegas currently pegs UCLA as a 13 point favorite in this game. That’s a little surprising to me: Arizona was pretty impressive last week, Nick Wilson should return for this game, and Washington is a much tougher opponent than UCLA. I’d expect the spread to be a little lower.

There are certainly reasons to doubt the Wildcats - the game is on the road, the running back depth is shaky, and there are certainly questions about whether the defense will be able to stop the Bruins.

Still, I’d take the Wildcats with the points. UCLA’s biggest strength (pass defense) is negated by the fact that Arizona can’t pass very well anyway. And Arizona’s biggest strength (rushing offense) is something that UCLA hasn’t been great at stopping so far this season. The Wildcats should be able to keep this game close, and, if they do, they’ll have a chance to steal the win.



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posted by Unknown @ 5:11 PM   0 Comments

Arizona football recruiting: Wildcats land Mater Dei defensive lineman Austin Faoliu

Arizona is adding nice size on the defensive line

The Arizona Wildcats now have 27 commitments for the 2017 recruiting class, after 2-star defensive lineman Austin Faoliu announced his pledge to Rich Rodriguez via his Twitter account:

Arizona has a glaring need for big bodies on the defensive line, and Faoliu can deliver just that with his 6-foot-3, 265-pound frame. He hails from Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, CA), which is the same school as current 3-star safety commit Xavier Bell. Faoliu had offers to Colorado State, Hawaii and Nevada, according to Scout.

This commitment is a bit of a surprise. The staff just offered him on Sept. 26, ending his recruitment process just two days later. I had not been able to get in contact with him about his recruitment, so it will be interesting to see how his decision process went down.

Many recruits, including Xavier Bell and Edgar Burrola in this class alone, pounced fast on their Arizona offers.

Arizona now has three defensive linemen committed the 2017 class, which includes Matt Leo and Elijah Watson. There are other options as well, with Bryce Brand and Kylan Wilborn also having bigger bodies that can translate to the line.

However, it should be noted that Leo is coming off an official visit to Iowa State.

Fauliu has 13 tackles and a fumble recovery on the season as he reaches the halfway point of his senior season. His junior year highlights are below:



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posted by Unknown @ 4:01 PM   0 Comments

AZ Desert Swarm Week Four College Pick’em results

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posted by Unknown @ 2:05 PM   0 Comments

Week Four Reader Pac-12 Power Rankings

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posted by Unknown @ 11:15 AM   0 Comments

Wildcat Radio: Arizona vs. UCLA football preview

The guys chat about the upcoming UCLA game and give their Pac-12 picks.

Click the play button below and subscribe for free to get new episodes straight to your phone, tablet, or computer on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast catchers.

Wildcat Radio's Bryant and Rick are joined by Arizona Desert Swarm's Ronnie to breakdown last week’s overtime loss to the Washington Huskies. The boys preview the upcoming game between the Arizona Wildcats and UCLA Bruins.

The team also discusses the upcoming week of Pac-12 action including picks against the Las Vegas spread for each game in the conference, rising and falling programs around the Pac-12, and the most likely of USC's Clay Helton, Oregon's Mark Helfrich and UCLA's Jim Mora to be fired this season.



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posted by Unknown @ 9:36 AM   0 Comments

Sonoran Hot Reads: UCLA staying the course with its offense

Despite early season struggles, the Bruins are sticking to the new plan

Rich Rodriguez alluded to the different offensive system the UCLA Bruins will bring to the field against the Arizona Wildcats this year, and that system has caught some heat after their last couple of games. But the Bruins are staying patient with the new system, and are sticking with it. Several times on Tuesday, UCLA QB coach Marques Tuiasosopo used the phrase “staying the course” when referring to Josh Rosen and the new offense. Hopefully their watered bamboo doesn’t decide to start growing like crazy this week

- Watch what their linebackers/special teams coach had to say on Tuesday as well

- GoJoeBruin has three keys for UCLA to win Saturday’s contest. Two of them have to do with the running games, which was the main conversation in this week’s Twitterbag

- Gotta get these new Gronk shoes. Also, be sure to check out our roundup of all the former Arizona players in the National Football League

- Zach Hemmila’s cause of death was announced, and it leaves more questions than answers

- We gave our thoughts on how Arizona will do in Pac-12 play the rest of the way

Basketball

- Ray Smith has had to be patient the last two years, but is ready to finally see the court

- We may see some new basketball uniforms released on Thursday

- Alec has updates on Arizona’s current recruiting targets

Baseball

- At one point on Tuesday, Steve Selsky had a hit in seven-straight at bats for the Reds. He finished the night 1-for-4 after having five hits on Monday. Overall, he seems to be making a good impression with the club

- Here, Selsky chats about his pre-med days at Arizona:

Other sports

- As a team, women’s golf placed 12th in their Orlando tournament, but Haley Moore finished T-3rd in the individual competition

- Volleyball hosts the Oregon schools this weekend

- Soccer is hosting Colorado on Thursday night and Utah on Sunday

Tucson news

- The adult smoking rate is at an all-time low in Arizona

- Caterpillar is one step closer to bringing new jobs to Tucson

- The Sunnyside School District is installing new security cameras



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posted by Unknown @ 7:30 AM   0 Comments

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Arizona football roundtable: On encouraging signs and how the Wildcats will fare in the Pac-12

How do we see this team now after one Pac-12 game?

There are no such things as moral victories in the Arizona Wildcats locker room, but their Pac-12 opener against the Washington Huskies has put the doom and gloom talk on mute for at least a week.

So what was the most encouraging part of the performance? And how does that change how we feel about how the team will do in the rest of the Pac-12 schedule? We discuss that in this week’s roundtable. Be sure to let us know your thoughts below!

Jason Bartel: What was the most encouraging takeaway from Saturday’s game?

Gabe Encinas: This team isn’t as bad as people have made it out to be through three weeks. This team seemed to have been completely written off by a lot of people during the middle of the Grambling State game. There are still question marks: you have an inexperienced quarterback who is continuing to learn as we head into Pac-12 play, a diminished backfield, and a defense that still has a lot of question marks as well. I’m not saying Arizona is still in the hunt for the Pac-12 South, but I think this team can still win a couple of Pac-12 games this season and put up a respectable record during a time that was already considered to be a rebuilding year.

Alec Sills-Trausch: Not ceding the game from the onset. RichRod wanted the ball to start the game and wanted to score. They did that. While the rest of the game didn’t go according to plan, when you’re on your “back up” quarterback and fourth string running back and force OT with the ninth-ranked team, I can’t fault them too much. Would a win have been nice? For sure. But the fact they came out with a purpose and fought for 60-plus minutes is all I can really ask for from the current team.

David Potts: The offense’s potential. This season is still in flux - there are virtually no healthy running backs and Anu Solomon’s status is still up in the air - but both J.J. Taylor and Dawkins were extremely impressive. Taylor, in particular, gashed a very good Washington defense, and Dawkins showed that his legs really can open up the offense. With Taylor’s injury, there is no guarantee that Arizona can even limp its way to a bowl game this year, but the offense’s performance on Saturday gives me a lot of confidence for next year.

Brandon Combs: The offense’s ability and the defense’s ability to keep the team in the game. Arizona showed that they have great potential this year against the ninth-ranked team in the nation. The offense is quite impressive when it is clicking and everyone is in sync. Even though the backfield is depleted I think Arizona can still have a potent running game. Dawkins still has some work to do with his reads but he is getting better and better in the passing game each week. The touch he's added to his deep throws is also something that is noticeably better.

The defense is undersized. It doesn't have the talent, etc, etc. It is something that has been said over and over again this year. But you know something, they have actually done their job and kept Arizona in every game...even against an explosive offense full of playmakers (Washington). It is something to keep an eye on as Arizona gets deeper into Pac-12 play.

Ryan Kelapire: As others have mentioned, I think the most encouraging thing is Arizona was a play or two away from beating a top-10 team. Considering the injuries and the lack of talent this team has, the fact they were able to compete with Washington tells you that this could actually be a fairly competitive team in Pac-12 play.

While that doesn’t sound like much, I think many — with myself included — thought after the Grambling State and BYU games that this team would be the victim of lop-sided Pac-12 losses.

While that could still prove to be true we at least know that, if the execution is there, Arizona has the ability to compete, and possibly win, any game it plays.

JB: After that UW game, what conference record do you expect Arizona to finish with?

GE: Tying into my answer above, I think Arizona can win at least three, with a lot of question marks given the volatility in the Pac-12. I’m not expecting much against UCLA. Utah is interesting simply because that is one team that Rich Rodriguez has taken care of in the Pac-12, although the Utes are becoming better and better every year, but always find a way to drop some really bad games. We don’t know much about USC because of their brutal schedule, but this certainly seems to be a down year for the Trojans and I find Clay Helton to be suspect. Another potential top-ten team in Stanford? That gives Rich Rodriguez another shot at his upset and crazier things have happened in college football. But as Arizona hits the backstretch of the season, it gets a lot easier. I think a trip to Pullman can result in a win now, even being that late in the season. Colorado is a wildcard for now, much like Arizona, but being at home certainly helps. Oregon State is a winnable game and despite being 4-0, I still don’t buy into ASU.

AST: I’ll break this up into sections. The two wins I feel most comfortable with are Oregon State and Washington State. I think they beat Utah. The Cats have had their number and will continue to. I also think they’ll beat USC. It’s a home game and while they’re talented, they seem to be discombobulated. Then Arizona plays Colorado and who knows. They shocked the entire state of Oregon last week. It’s a home game so I’ll say it’s a win. So there’s five wins right there. While UCLA doesn’t exactly look sharp, they probably win at the Rose Bowl. They definitely don’t beat Stanford and then it comes to ASU who is averaging more points than Virginia in basketball. But they don’t defend so I have no idea what will happen.

I’ll say 5-4 overall (maybe beat ASU and lose to USC/Utah?)

DP: 3-6. I think UA beats Oregon State, and I think they have a reasonable chance of stealing two other games on the schedule (maybe against Arizona State and USC). But I don't think they can squeeze four more wins out of this season. I hope I'm wrong.

BC: 5-4. I don't think Arizona beats UCLA, especially in Pasadena. Salt Lake City is a tough place to play but Arizona has owned Utah so I think they win. I believe they will win against a not-so-impressive USC team — it's an added plus that the Trojans come to Tucson. Stanford, even though it’s a home game, will beat Arizona. They are too big and physical at the line of scrimmage. Not to mention Heisman hopeful Christian McCaffrey. The Wildcats will beat Wazzu, Oregon State, and ASU. All three teams have some pretty awful defenses. Colorado...that's a wildcard and will say Arizona loses. I will caveat saying that it is highly likely Arizona could win against the so-far-impressive Buffaloes.

RK: 3-6. I have Arizona beating Colorado and ASU at home and then beating Oregon State on the road. The Washington State game is a good opportunity for a win as well, but I don’t think the Wildcats matchup well with the Cougars’ air raid offense. It certainly wasn’t pretty last season.

Meanwhile, I think best-case scenario would be 5-4 with wins over Washington State, ASU, Oregon State, Colorado, and USC. But almost all of those games are toss-ups, and to expect Arizona to win every single one seems to be a little much.

And I don’t think Arizona will beat UCLA, Stanford, or Utah considering two of those games are on the road.



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posted by Unknown @ 6:26 PM   0 Comments

Arizona football: Zach Hemmila’s death ruled accident, result of toxic combination of medications

The Pima County Medical Examiner released its findings on the late Wildcat

Arizona Wildcats offensive lineman Zach Hemmila passed away in his sleep the night of August 7th or the morning of August 8th at the age of 22.

The Pima County Medical Examiner released its autopsy findings on Tuesday. Hemmila’s death was ruled an accident, and the result of a toxic combination of a painkiller (oxymorphone) and an anxiety medication (alprazolam).

Alprazolam is better known as the drug Xanax.

According to AZCentral, the report also showed that chewing tobacco was found in Hemmila’s mouth, and that his lungs were notably congested.

The projected starting center was honored before the season opener against BYU, and again prior to the home opener vs. Grambling State. In addition to the team wearing helmet stickers and patches on the coaching staff’s hats, Hemmila’s number has been added to the Arizona Stadium facade above the south endzone.

You can watch the jersey presentation with his parents at the BYU game right here:



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posted by Unknown @ 5:10 PM   0 Comments

Arizona Tuesday Twitterbag: Examining the Wildcats’ running back situation

This is obviously the biggest question mark facing the team right now

Heading into the year, you could have made the argument that running back was the Arizona Wildcats’ strength.

Two injuries and 11 counts of domestic violence later, the Wildcats are moving wide receivers to running back, and walk-ons are close to playing.

You had plenty of questions about the situation on Twitter for our Tuesday Twitterbag, so let’s talk it out. As always, be sure to follow us @azdesertswarm and tweet us your questions on Monday nights and Tuesday mornings to be included in this.

I’ve been told they’re estimating 6-8 weeks, but Rich Rodriguez said Monday that J.J. Taylor is “more than likely” out for the rest of the year. I believe if they hold Taylor out for the rest of the year that he’d be eligible for a medical redshirt, so that’s probably the way that they’re going to lean, because you gotta keep that guy on campus for as long as possible.

I don’t know specifics on Nick Wilson’s injury, but I would be surprised if he was “healthy” for this weekend’s game. Maybe he can get limited snaps, but I think we’re going to get the Tyrell Johnson and Zach Green show at running back at UCLA. Brandon Dawkins’ composure on the road will be a bigger reason why Arizona can or can’t win than the running back position. This is the time to beat UCLA since its offense is in flux and there seems to be a little bit of turmoil there. I’m inclined to pick the Wildcats this week.

I think there’s a little correlation there, yes. Being the best conditioned team also means you’re typically smaller, which makes injuries more likely in a league like the Pac-12. Is it the sole reason? No. But you could certainly see it as being a contributor to what we’ve seen the last couple years.

My understanding is that Khalil Tate only wants to play quarterback, and that the odds of him transferring at the end of the season are pretty high. His Twitter account doesn’t really do anything to change those feelings either. So to answer your question, putting him at another position wouldn’t really impact the odds that he transfers out. With two more years of Brandon Dawkins after 2016, plus a guy like Braxton Burmeister coming in, I don’t see Tate ever being the starting quarterback at Arizona.

USC, Stanford and at Washington State seem like pretty good games to be day games. Also the game at Oregon State. One’s coming, but it is pretty frustrating that halfway through the season, Arizona will not have finished a game before 10:30 local time. That’s trash.



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posted by Unknown @ 4:11 PM   0 Comments

Arizona Wildcats in the NFL: Will Parks gets his first career NFL interception

Here’s a look at how some former Wildcats performed in Week 3

Week 3 of the NFL is now in the books and there was a first for one former Arizona Wildcat.

Here is a look at how all the former Wildcats did in their Week 3 games.

Will Parks, S (#34), Denver Broncos

Parks had himself quite a game on Sunday. He racked up two tackles, a PBU, and, more importantly, his first career interception. Denver won 29-17 over the Cincinnati Bengals.

2016 Stat Line: 3 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 PBU

Trevin Wade, DB (#31), New York Giants

Wade did play against Washington on Sunday, recording two tackles. These are his first tackles of the year. The Giants lost a close one by the score of 29-27. We don’t recommend Twitter searching Trevin Wade though.

2016 Stat Line: 2 tackles

Robert Golden, S (#21), Pittsburgh Steelers

Golden’s Steelers did not have a particularly good game on Sunday. In fact, they lost 34-3....to the Philadelphia Eagles. Golden only had two tackles and a stuff in the shellacking. He left the game with a hamstring injury.

2016 Stat Line: 17 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 PBU, and 1 stuff.

Nick Folk, K (#2), New York Jets

Folk was New York’s only bright spot on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. He scored the Jets’ only points on a 28-yard field goal as they lost 24-3.

2016 Stat Line: FG: 7-for-8, longest is 45-yards; PAT: 5-for-6

Rob Gronkowski, TE (#87), New England Patriots

Gronk was listed as “questionable” for New England’s Thursday night pounding of the Houston Texans. He did, however, end up playing. He had one ball thrown his way which was not caught.

2016 Stat Line: No recorded stats

Marquis Flowers, LB (#53), Cincinnati Bengals

Flowers did see action in Cincy’s 29-17 loss to the Broncos. He didn’t record any stats in the game.

2016 Stat Line: 2 tackles

Ka’Deem Carey, RB (#25), Chicago Bears

Carey was out for the Bears’ competition against the Dallas Cowboys due to a hamstring injury he suffered last week. He didn’t even travel with the team to Dallas.

2016 Stat Line: 3 carries for 7 yards; 1 catch for 3 yards

Nick Foles, QB (#4), Kansas City Chiefs

Foles, once again did not see the field Sunday against the Jets.

2016 Stat Line: No recorded stats

Earl Mitchell, DT (#90), Miami Dolphins

Mitchell did not play in Miami’s 30-24 overtime victory against the Cleveland Browns.

2016 Stat Line: 1 tackle

Brooks Reed, LB/DE (#50), Atlanta Falcons

Reed was listed as “questionable” for the Falcons’ Monday night game in New Orleans. He did not end up playing.

2016 Stat Line: No recorded stats

Of note, Scooby Wright was cut by the Browns, but ended up signing with their practice squad.



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posted by Unknown @ 12:00 PM   0 Comments

Arizona basketball recruiting: Updating the Wildcats’ big board, Red-Blue visitors and more

Updating you on the latest developments in the 2017 and 2018 class

Things are starting to heat up recruiting-wise for the Arizona Wildcats. Sean Miller and the staff have been zipping all over the country, letting recruits know they are a priority. Below are the latest updates, though nothing to blow your socks off:

Player Updates:

  • Sean Miller visited Nick Richards who is currently “considering every school” right now. Kentucky, UConn, and Indiana were also mentioned by the five-star center, though his official top five also includes Syracuse.
  • I talked to Hamidou Diallo’s coach Thomas Espinosa about Miller’s visit last week. He said Diallo is excited about a potential future at Arizona.
  • The coaching staff checked out 2018 Jarius Hamilton, a four-star wing from North Carolina, and offered him a scholarship. UNC is favored right now.
  • Arizona was ‘in’ for Jaylen Hoard last Tuesday. The 2018 five-star wing grew up liking Arizona which puts them in great shape going forward.
  • DJ Harvey, who had U of A in his top 10, committed to Mike Brey and Notre Dame after visiting South Bend.
  • Wendell Carter Jr., the fourth-rated player in the nation per 247Sports, trimmed his list to four and did not include Arizona. He’s now down to the odd list of Duke, Harvard, Georgia, and Georgia Tech. Of the 19 predictions on 247, all 19 of them are for Duke. Also keep an eye on Gary Trent Jr. It’s been rumored that these two want to play together and Duke seems to be the likely scenario.
  • However, Sean Miller will get a shot with Trent as he’ll be on campus for the Red-Blue game. Alex Barcello and DeAndre Ayton are also expected to be on campus for the Red-Blue game and will likely be recruiting those at the game just as hard as Miller and Co.
  • While PJ Washington will be in Tucson for the Red-Blue game, signs point to Kentucky as being the final destination. Scout’s Evan Daniels gives Big Blue Nation a ‘great shot’ to land him and I've heard that from other industry sources as well. He visited UNC last weekend and “really enjoyed it” per ZagsBlog.
  • Ira Lee, who is another Red-Blue game visitor, knocked Texas and Maryland off his list. He is now rolling with California, Oregon, and Arizona. We’ve kept in contact with him over the last few months and you can read what he has had to say about the schools here. I still feel Arizona is in great shape. He also officially visited California this past weekend.
  • Sean Miller flew out to Indiana last week to watch Brian Bowen, the 17th-ranked player in the nation. He talked to Evan Daniels and said Arizona is making him a priority. He could be someone to keep tabs on even though he’s in Tom Izzo’s backyard. Bowen also told 247Sports that he’s ‘Open to all schools’ but he’s looking to cut his list to six and then to five when he feels the time is right. While he doesn’t know about a commitment date, he’s looking to set officials soon.
  • Four-star center Ike Obiagu formally knocked Arizona off his list. He told me this was due to Ayton’s commitment, which is totally understandable.
  • Daejon Davis, a four-star guard, is excited for the Red-Blue game. He checked out Oregon along with U of A targets Troy Brown and Brandon Randolph. Davis talked to MadeHooops about the visit which he said was “sensational.” He also mentioned each school, even saying Sean Miller is on “track to be a hall of fame coach”.
  • Miller also checked in on the Bagley brothers (class of 2018 and 2020). The elder brother, Marvin, is the top-ranked player in his class and has offers from everyone on earth.
  • Arizona offered five-star forward Cassius Stanley, who hails from L.A. He’s one of the first offers handed out for the 2019 class.

If you missed the last recruiting update, you can view it here.

You can follow Alec on twitter: @UofAlec



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posted by Unknown @ 10:06 AM   0 Comments

Sonoran Hot Reads: Collegiate Baseball ranks Arizona’s 2016 recruiting class fourth in the nation

The 2016 CWS runner-ups have a lot of talent coming in this year

The 2016 Arizona Wildcats baseball team ended up being a good one in the postseason, but there’s plenty of reason to believe the 2017 version will be even better. Not only will it be Jay Johnson’s second year in Tucson, but the talent influx is at an elite level. On Monday, Collegiate Baseball released its top recruiting classes, and Arizona checks in at No. 4 thanks to six MLB draftees, headlined by Nick Quintana.

"We are honored to receive this ranking from Collegiate Baseball," Johnson said. "We are excited about how this class came together in one year's time, and believe these players will mix well in terms of ability and chemistry with our returning players. I think there is a good blend of immediate impact and future potential that will serve our team well in 2017 and the future.” Unfortunately for Arizona fans, ASU received the top ranking

Football

- There are four Pac-12 teams in Pro Football Focus’ Top 25, and the surprise of the group is ASU at 16

- After struggling to run the ball against Stanford, UCLA will be relying on one running back more moving forward

- What was the most surprising result from the Pac-12 this week?

- Another late night game is coming next week when Arizona and Utah kick off at 7 PM PT

Basketball

- We’ll have more basketball recruiting updates later on Tuesday, but Sean Miller is going hard on Hamidou Diallo according to his high school coach

Other sports

- Former Arizona basketball player Alli Gloyd won the MVP Award of Australia’s Division One Big V League

- Women’s golf remained in 10th place in their tournament in Orlando after round two

- Will Kneale was ever-so-close to winning the Wildcat Invitational

Tucson news

- A couple of people are trying to get a skate park built underneath I-10



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posted by Unknown @ 8:09 AM   0 Comments

Monday, September 26, 2016

Arizona basketball recruiting: Sean Miller meets with five-star guard Hamidou Diallo

We caught up with Diallo’s coach who updated us on his recruitment.

There are few players in the nation who are better than Hamidou Diallo.

To be exact, there are only nine of them according to 247Sports’ Composite rankings, which place him at No. 10 overall and tops among all shooting guards.

At 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds, Diallo is in a class of his own in the open court, exciting crowds with mammoth dunks and the ability to put defenders on skates with shifty ball handling skills.

At Putnam Science Academy last year, Diallo helped lead his team to a 37-4 record and a berth in the Final Four. He averaged nearly 17 points, five rebounds, and two assists a game. While he’ll need to work on his outside range, his attacking style garners him many attempts from the free throw line. In those 41 games, he shot 221 free throws – an average of over five per game.

His coach at PSA, Thomas Espinosa, explained to me what makes Diallo so great.

“His best basketball is in the open floor,” Espinosa said. “He really gets up and down. He’s special when the game is up and down and is such a tremendous athlete.”

Luckily for Sean Miller, his free-flowing, up-tempo offense is an exact fit for Diallo’s skill set. When Coach Miller visited PSA on September 13, he was able to express this and more.

“Coach (Sean) Miller and Coach (Book) Richardson both came last week and we talked for a while and then they sat down with Hamidou and had a great conversation,” Espinosa said about the visit. “He’s really excited about Arizona and the possibility of going there. Me, personally, I was very impressed with Coach Miller and Coach Richardson and it’s exciting what will happen next.”

“Arizona has a lot of future NBA players and that’s what they pitched to Hamidou,” continued Espinosa. “I know Arizona’s history with big, long, athletic guys who are great in transition and that’s him to a ‘T’ and he’d be a great fit at Arizona.”

While the shooting guard doesn’t officially have a list, it’s pretty apparent who is recruiting him, and that would be the top programs in the country.

“At the end of the day, there’s probably 10 schools recruiting him right now,” Espinosa explained about the current status of Diallo’s recruitment. “He hasn’t cut a list yet but there’s a handful that are really recruiting him. He’s enjoying the process and I know he’s not in a hurry.”

I’d estimate those schools would be Kentucky, Connecticut, Syracuse, Arizona, Duke, Kansas, Indiana, Maryland, St. Johns, and Arizona State, as they have visited or shown plenty of interest lately. However, it’s probably unofficially down to five or so. Currently in his Crystal Ball, Kentucky leads UConn, Syracuse, and, Arizona, but the most recent picks have been two for UConn, and one each for Syracuse and Arizona.

Diallo has had the right attitude for this process telling the Hartford Courant: “The recruiting process is a great process. I'm honestly just blessed, and hard work is paying off, I would say. The process itself has been a great process; a bunch of college coaches reaching out to me, top of the line coaches, it's been a great process."

Moving forward, the post-grad star could take a couple visits before the season starts, and then take “two or three during the season,” according to his coach. “Right now he’s saying he’s going to wait and not rush.”

While this could all change if he falls in love with a campus, it looks like coaches around the country will need to keep one scholarship spot open in the spring just in case.

You can follow Alec on Twitter for the latest recruiting news: @UofAlec



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posted by Unknown @ 4:50 PM   0 Comments

Pac-12 Round-Up: First full week of conference play gives a couple surprises

Utah, Washington, Stanford, and Arizona State remain undefeated while Colorado finally breaks through.

The Arizona Wildcats lost in an overtime thriller to the Washington Huskies 35-28 Saturday night. In a game where the Wildcats fared better than a lot thought they would, they came up just short against the ninth-ranked Huskies.

In a Saturday which marked the first conference game for most teams, the favorites mostly prevailed in week four. The first week in conference play led to some really close games, but first let's start with the only non-conference game the Pac -12 had this week.

Boise State def. Oregon State, 38-24

Oregon State looked to be making strides under Gary Andersen with the competitive loss against Minnesota in week one, but the Beavers took a step back this week against Boise State.

Bryan Harsin and the Broncos took a commanding lead in the first half and went into halftime with a 31-7 lead against the Beavers. After a tremendous half on both offense and defense, Boise State struggled in the second half. Oregon State's special teams was spectacular to give themselves a chance. They had a kickoff return touchdown, another long kickoff return to set up a touchdown, and an onside kick. While they did win the second half 21-7, that wasn't enough to win the game as Boise State came out of Corvallis with a win and a 3-0 record.

Jeremy McNichols carried the load for the Broncos with 208 yards and four scores.

(24) Utah def. USC 31-27

USC looked to make a splash in week four after a bad 1-2 start in Clay Helton's first full year as head coach. Helton benched Max Browne for Sam Darnold on the road against the Utes.

USC held strong for most of the game and even had a 27-17 fourth quarter lead against Utah. But the Utes scored 14 unanswered points with the game-winning touchdown coming with 17 seconds on the clock. USC's season keeps getting worse, but at least the play of Darnold has to give them some hope for the future.

He finished with 253 yards passing and a touchdown on the ground in his first career start. Troy Williams threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns and tacked on a rushing touchdown in the win for the Utes.

Colorado def. Oregon 41-38

Colorado has been so close to closing the deal the last few seasons, but this time the Buffs finally broke through and got a huge win on the road against Oregon. After a 9-3 season last year under Mark Helfrich, Oregon seems to be headed for a down year.

Colorado had Steven Montez step in to the starting QB role as Sefo Liufau was injured. The Buffs led from the start, and went up 33-17 at one point after a 48-yard bomb by Montez to start the second half.

Oregon rallied, scoring 21 points in the third quarter to go up 38-33. It seemed like the all-to-familiar Colorado moral victory was coming, but the Buffs held off the Oregon offense in the fourth quarter and sealed the game on a late interception by Dakota Prukop in the endzone.

Montez threw for 333 yards with three touchdowns and two INTs while also rushing for 135 and another score on the ground. Prukop threw for 293 with two TD's and an INT.

(7) Stanford def. UCLA 22-13

Stanford had its first big test this week on the road against the Bruins Saturday night in the Rose Bowl. UCLA looked to show it belongs after a week one loss to Texas A&M on the road, but came up just short against the Trees.

UCLA played Stanford great for three and a half quarters, but fell off a bit in the end. Stanford showed its resiliency on the final drive, going 70 yards and scoring with 24 seconds left in the game on a Ryan Burns pass to JJ Arcega-Whiteside. That was the first time Stanford led since going up 3-0 in the first quarter and kept its Pac-12 title hopes in line.

Christian McCaffrey had 138 yards in the win, but was held in check by normal McCaffrey standards. Josh Rosen threw for 248 yards in the loss.

Arizona State def. California 51-41

The Bears looked to capitalize on their big win against Texas last week by following it up with a win on the road in Tempe. Arizona State struggled in a win against UTSA in San Antonio the week prior, but showed that its offense is for real against Cal.

Manny Wilkins threw for 270 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball for 72 yards and three scores, but it was a big fourth quarter which put the Sun Devils on top of Cal.

The Bears were up 27-20 going into the fourth quarter, but the Sun Devils put up a 31-point fourth quarter thanks to two turnovers in the final three minutes and an onside kick touchdown. The Devils now move to 4-0 on the year.

Davis Webb threw for 478 yards 5 scores and two INTs in the loss.



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posted by Unknown @ 1:10 PM   0 Comments

Arizona football: Utah game time set for 7 PM PT

Yet another late start

On Sunday, we found out that the Arizona Wildcats will be playing the UCLA Bruins at 7:30 PM PT this weekend.

Well, on Monday, we found out that they will play the Utah Utes at 7 PM PT, 8 PM Utah time.

This will be the earliest Arizona has started a game this year, which is kind of amazing. The announcement does at least put the Wildcats on a more wide-reaching network for the second-straight week. The UCLA game will be on ESPN, and the Utah game will be on Fox Sports 1, so those with DIRECTV will at least get their Arizona fill twice in two weeks.

According to WeatherSpark, the average temperature in Salt Lake City on October 8th at 8 PM is right around 57 degrees. So it’ll be a bit chilly, but, on average, it’s not like that Utah game from two years ago where it’s sleeting in the middle of the day.

The larger issue here: Do you like these late-night starts?



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posted by Unknown @ 11:45 AM   0 Comments

Arizona men’s tennis: Will Kneale loses nail-biter final at Wildcat Invitational

New Mexico State’s Christofer Goncalves won the tournament’s singles title by beating Will Kneale in three sets

Arizona senior Will Kneale played three close sets in the championship match of the Wildcat Invitational on Sunday, winning only one of them.

New Mexico State junior Christofer Goncalves took the title in Tucson by a score of 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.

“Both players played at a high level today,” Arizona Coach Clancy Shields commented. “They competed well, and a few points here and there made the difference.”

Set 1 (5-7):

The third-seeded Aggie blinked first by double faulting to give Kneale a 3-1 lead.

But before the Wildcat could even consolidate the break, Goncalves caught fire, using his nasty forehand and too-hot-to-handle kick serve to win four consecutive games.

Kneale, in a must-hold situation down 3-5, battled back by jamming Goncalves with speedy serves to take the game at love. He then managed to tie the set at 5-5 by winning a no-ad deciding point.

But that momentum didn’t last long. A series of errors from Kneale allowed Goncalves to take the next two games and win the set 7-5.

Set 2 (6-3):

Goncalves went on to break Kneale in the first game of the second set by whipping a windshield wiper forehand winner down the right sideline.

Kneale then had a stretch of dominance and won four straight games, going up 4-1.

But with a quick hold and a break, Goncalves put the match back on-serve.

The Wildcat responded with a fence-clearing overhead smash to go up 5-3. He went on to hold his serve and win the set.

Goncalves reacted by throwing his racket, and was penalized by the umpire. Kneale was automatically awarded the first point of the third set.

Set 3 (5-7):

The Wildcat gave himself an early break point, and converted it via a crosscourt forehand winner to go up 1-0.

Goncalves then broke back for 1-1.

After a string of holds by both players, a double fault and three missed forehands from Kneale gave Goncalves a 5-3 lead and a chance to serve for the tournament.

Goncalves had a match point at deuce (because of no-ad scoring), but missed wide, allowing Kneale to trail by only one game.

Both players held their serves in the two subsequent games, bringing the set to 5-6.

Kneale needed to hold his serve to force a tiebreak. The game went to deuce, giving Goncalves a second match point. Goncalves then hit an inside-out crosscourt winner to take the set 7-5 and win the match 2 sets to 1.

The Arizona men’s tennis team is back in action on October 7th when they travel to Albuquerque for The New Mexico Balloon Invitational.



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