Arizona volleyball upset by Samford in Cactus Classic finale

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

After consecutive straight set victories to open the 2019 season, No. 24 Arizona volleyball was upset by the Samford Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at McKale, 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12) to drop the last match of the annual Cactus Classic and fall to 2-1 on the new campaign.

To put the upset in perspective, it was Samford’s first-ever win against a top-25 opponent.

It was a vastly different performance than the Cats’ two dominant wins Friday against Appalachian State and Loyola Marymount, and they never really got going after a slow start.

The UA hit at a percentage that was 100 points less than in either of the wins against Appalachian State and Loyola (.179 compared to .298 and .367) and made more errors against the Bulldogs (35) than they did in the first two matches combined (30).

The continued absence of seniors Devyn Cross (disciplinary issue) and Makenna Martin (groin injury) didn’t help matters either.

Junior outside hitter Elizabeth Shelton, who notched 12 kills and three blocks, senior setter Julia Patterson, who was three kills away from a triple double with seven kills, 38 assists and 12 digs and freshman libero Kamaile Hiapo were probably the biggest bright spots, but it was clear throughout the match that the Wildcats as a team just weren’t as sharp as they had been the day before.

Even with all of that being said, Arizona still could have won the match after dropping the first set and battling from 2-1 down to force a decisive fifth game.

The score was as close as 13-12 in the final frame before Samford was able to pull away.

“I knew that today would be the hardest match to play for us in the tournament,” said Arizona coach Dave Rubio

“Because last night was pretty easy for us. Mentally and emotionally we were engaged in what was going to happen, because we knew that we had to play well against Loyola, but I knew today was going to be against a really good team that had enough talent that if we didn’t show up and play, we wouldn’t come out on top.

“I knew from the beginning when we were warming up that we weren’t going to be very good today. Sanford really played well but emotionally we were not engaged. We didn’t feel threatened from the very beginning and as a result, we’re coming out with a loss.”

The longtime head coach then went on to mention the negative repercussions that would come with the defeat.

“That’s a bad match for us to lose,” he said. “You know, from the RPI standpoint, from the top 25 standpoint we’ll fall out of the poll and when the committee looks at this they’re going, ‘well what’s Arizona losing to Samford.’ These are all bad things for us. But that kind of thing happens, that’s just kind of part of sports, and you know, we’ll regroup and continue to get better and put it behind us.”

The Wildcats will be back in action next weekend at the SDSU/USD Invitational, where they will face Nebraska on Friday and West Virginia and San Diego State on Saturday.

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These former Arizona Wildcats made NFL rosters to start 2019 season

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

NFL teams trimmed their rosters to the required 53 players Saturday before the regular season begins next week, and eight former Arizona Wildcats survived the cuts.

Others were not as fortunate. Here’s a rundown.

These players made their respective 53-man rosters:

• S Will Parks (Denver Broncos)
• QB Nick Foles (Jacksonville Jaguars)
• DE Brooks Reed (Arizona Cardinals)
• LB Reggie Gilbert (Tennessee Titans)
• S Dane Cruikshank (Tennessee Titans)

These players were waived/released by their clubs:

• OL Gerhard de Beer (Green Bay Packers)
• S Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (San Francisco 49ers)
• LB Scooby Wright III (New England Patriots)
• DT P.J. Johnson (Detroit Lions)
• WR Trey Griffey (Pittsburgh Steelers)
• LB Marquis Flowers (Washington Redskins)
• DT Earl Mitchell (Seattle Seahawks)
• WR Shawn Poindexter (San Francisco 49ers)*

*suffered a knee injury during a preseason game

Most of these guys are eligible to sign with practice squads starting Sunday. Flowers and Mitchell, due to their service time, are not.

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Danielle O’Toole, Taylor McQuillin qualify for 2020 Olympics with Team Mexico

Revisiting Arizona football’s 2017 recruiting class

Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The building blocks for Arizona’s present were in this group

During the bye week, we’re taking a look a back at each of the last four recruiting classes that still have players remaining on the current roster. First up was the 2015 class, followed by the 2016 class. Now we’re turning our attention to 2017.

This 2017 recruiting class was ranked as high as No. 12 in the nation. While this was mostly due to early volume, the talent was still there as this class rallied around some of the top prospects in the west and a solid recruiting staff. The class got rocked at the end with Oregon coming in and poaching several recruits, but overall the group still held many key pieces.

Who returns for 2019?

Nathan Tilford was the highest-ranked recruit of the class, but has seen very few snaps during his career as both coaching staffs cited play responsibilities as the reason why he was not quite there yet. The hope is that new running backs coach DeMarco Murray can extract the best from Tilford and get him on the field despite a crowded running back room.

Tilford saw his first notable action in the season-opening loss to Hawaii, scoring on a 1-yard run.

The starting linebacker duo of Colin Schooler and Tony Fields both come from the 2017 class, ranked as top-650 recruits. Schooler has been invaluable during his first two seasons and Fields has been a very solid starter.

We saw Jalen Harris break out last season and it’s expected that he will be one of Arizona’s best defensive players this fall. Entering the program as a long, skinny 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Harris has since bulked up to 6-foot-5, 250 pounds.

Rhedi Short and Malik Hausman are two defensive backs who have rarely seen the field during their time. They serve as good depth but they don’t figure to be in the mix as rotational players.

Drew Dixon seems to be coming to form as a wide receiver by all accounts of fall camp. He’s a huge physical body with potential and the hope is that he can contribute.

After coming out with a strong freshman season, Bryce Wolma did not get much action in Noel Mazzone’s offense which was very disappointing to see. He is a strong blocker and pass catcher that can be a valuable piece of the offense.

My favorite commit of the 2017 class, Scottie Young Jr. entered as a starter but eventually ran into some off-field issues and was suspended from the program once Kevin Sumlin came to town. He is a terrific playmaker and generates takeaways as the starting free safety.

Brian Casteel burned his redshirt his freshman year after taking on some special teams and catching one pass in the bowl game. He had to sit out last season after battling injuries but has now slimmed down and is in the mix for a starting receiver role.

Xavier Bell has slowly started to pick up a role in Arizona’s defense as a backup spur to Tristan Cooper and will hopefully continue to pick up reps and carry a nice workload.

Edgar Burrola was Arizona’s starting right tackle at Hawaii, beating out junior college transfer Paiton Fears for the time being. He was a backup for his first two seasons after he entered the program with a shoulder injury, but has made significant progress since.

One of Arizona’s most versatile pieces on the defensive line is none other than JB Brown. He can play inside and out and while he won’t blow you away with athleticism, he will always beat you with technique and knowledge.

Perhaps we see more Anthony Pandy this season behind Fields. Pandy would be my pick as a breakout player and it wouldn’t shock me if he became a starter at some point this season.

After being absolutely abused his freshman season playing almost every snap on defense, Kylan Wilborn had a sophomore slump and saw Harris make the jump over him. Now Wilborn is in as a defensive end for Arizona and if he can return to his healthy freshman form he defensive line will be looking really nice.

Not a lot of credit goes to a guy like Troy Young, who has moved between safety, corner and linebacker during his time and can plug and play where ever the staff needs him and that is invaluable.

Gary Brightwell was an extremely late add on National Signing Day and it was head-scratching considering Tilford had been praised for his high school production, offer list and SEC size. Now Brightwell is a very nice piece on offense while Tilford is still looking for his role.

Next we have Rhett Rodriguez, who is the smartest quarterback in the room, but also the most physically limited. He’s a great backup that can hold for a couple of drives but it would be tough to rationalize him as a long-term starter should things go bad.

Lucas Havrisik was one of the top kickers in the nation and has not been put in ideal situations as placekicker, as he’d been rotated with Josh Pollack his first two years and didn’t seem to have a clear direction or duty. Now he’ll have that job all to himself this season, and in the opener he showed his value by hitting a 53-yard field goal.

Who left the program?

After entering the program as a starting true freshman, Kurtis Brown fell out of favor under the new coaching staff and will be at Fresno State this season.

Tight end Bryce Gilbert was removed from the program after his first year.

There was a lot of hype when My-King Johnson flipped from UCLA. This was a long, athletic defensive end that Arizona could build their defense around, however he was recently removed from the program this off-season.

Tony Wallace had a load of potential coming off his freshman season but did not make it to year two after failing to qualify academically. He spent a year at Independence CC in Kansas and is now at TCU.

Maisen Knight provided some junior college size on the offensive line but didn’t seem close to cracking the rotation and eventually transferred back to Ventura College after just one season in Tucson. He will spend his final year at FBS newcomer Liberty.

Jose Ramirez was a late flip from South Alabama coming in as a hard-hitting linebacker and had the ability to move up to defensive end as well. He left the program after one season, spent one year at Riverside CC and will now be at Eastern Michigan for 2019.

Arizona had a lack of quarterbacks entering the 2017 season and Rich Rodriguez took a flier on Bleacher Report sensation K’hari Lane, who put up stupid numbers at small Georgia high school but had no college attention. He never saw the field at Arizona, and has since transferred to Kansas’ Hutchinson CC.

The bad luck continued with junior college defensive linemen as Sione Taufahema got injured early in his career which led to poor conditioning. He announced his transfer mid-year in 2018, having never played a snap at Arizona, and appears to be out of football.

None of the following players signed, as this class that faced a lot of turnover up to National Signing Day. Greg Johnson, one of the top corners in the 2017 class, opted for USC; he put himself in the transfer portal this offseason but decided to return.

Braxton Burmeister left after a late offer to Oregon, didn’t see much success and is now at Virginia Tech. Adding to the Oregon flock is Austin Faoliu, who has been a starting defensive tackle; Cody Shear, who has since transferred to ASU; and Darrian McNeal, a speedster who left after one year and is out of football.

Del’Shawn Phillips won a junior college national championship and ended up going to Illinois and he is now with the Atlanta Falcons. Another junior college defensive prospect, Matt Leo, flipped to Iowa State.

Bryce Brand ultimately followed his brother to Maryland and Warren Jackson suddenly flipped Colorado State where he is preseason all-second team in the Mountain West, while Elijah Watson got into some trouble and saw his offer disappear, which led to him to Miami (Ohio).

Top players of the class

This is the tough part, as there were 27 members of the class and many of them are still on campus and have plenty of potential. Outside of the top player, you could go make an argument for the order of any of these guys.

1. Colin Schooler is without a doubt the best player on this roster. Despite being a top-600 recruit, his offer list was suspect. Well, he’s made every Pac-12 team pay for it and I’d argue that while the play making and havoc isn’t nearly as close, his consistency, production and durability through just two years already puts him on track to have a better career than Scooby Wright III.
2. Scottie Young Jr. is a ball-hawking playmaker. He can bring the big hit and force fumbles, or step in front of a play and come up with the interception. He has contributed big minutes since he stepped foot on campus even with his off-field issues.
3. JB Brown is only third for me because it took about half of his freshman year to play into a bigger role. Now based on the projection for him this year, he could very well take over the number two spot. He is a big piece of the defensive line and it is lacking, which will make him more valuable as well.
4. Tony Fields II stepped in as a true freshman alongside Schooler and has done a phenomenal job since then. Some will say he took a small step back last season, but he has been one of Arizona’s top tacklers and run stoppers in his two years and looks to have another productive two seasons at Arizona
5. Gary Brightwell is an absolute dog a running back. He provides a unique dynamic to the offense as an overall well-balance back with speed, a good amount of power and size, as well as pass catching abilities. Arizona could very well have two 1,000-yard rushers this season. His production and usage puts him just a touch higher than Jalen Harris here.

Conclusion

This was a huge class, and there was a lot of hype surrounding this class as there were strong commitments all throughout the season and guys truly started to help recruit each other. This class saw a lot of decommitments, but what was left was still very strong. Many of these 2017 prospects stepped in immediately as true freshmen and remain in huge roles. With two more years of this class, Sumlin has a lot of instrumental pieces to his start at Arizona.

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Arizona volleyball opens the season with two wins

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Wildcats faced Appalachian State and Loyola Marymount Friday

Arizona volleyball may have taken the court a little earlier than usual on Friday morning, but they were more than ready for the task. The Wildcats got off to a fast start with wins over Appalachian State and Loyola Marymount.

The Wildcats ran an unexpected starting group onto the court with Paige Whipple, Elizabeth Shelton, Julia Patterson, Zyonna Fellows, Katie Smoot and Shardonee Hayes. Freshman Kamaile Hiapo stepped in at libero.

Seniors Devyn Cross and Makenna Martin sat out both matches. Coach Dave Rubio said that Cross was out for disciplinary reasons while Martin is nursing the same groin injury that kept her out of several matches last season.

While the absence of two senior starters is never a good thing, Rubio was very pleased with the way Fellows and Haipo stepped up.

“Zyonna—Big Z—coming out and doing her number was great. She’s just a wonderful person and really coachable and wants to be a great teammate, help the team any way she can. And she really did a nice job tonight from a blocking standpoint.”

As for Haipo, she had a few miscues, but Rubio was not surprised with how well she did overall.

“She got aced maybe twice in that third game,” he said. “She’s a special kid, really, mentally and emotionally and physically, she’s really got it. I haven’t been around a lot of those kind of kids. We typically don’t get those kind of kids, but when you get them you can tell why they are that good.

“And Kamaile’s really got the right frame of mind the right mindset and the right skill set and the right drive and competitiveness, all the things that I think that are requisite things that you need to be a great player at an early age.

“She’s the first time (since) the libero position was started, which is 2002, that I ever scholarshiped a foury-ear player. Everyone else has always been on short money. Kamaile is gonna be great, so it doesn’t surprise me now.”

On the offensive side of the game, Smoot stood out in both matches. She had 22 kills and six aces over two matches. She was the top scorer in the early match with 13.5 points and the second-leading scorer in the second with 15.

The offense is expected from Smoot, though. That made her defensive effort in the night match stand out even more. It’s something Rubio says she needs to do in order to be effective at Arizona, and she showed that on Friday.

“The skill set that’s required in that position, it’s you gotta defend, you’ve got to pass sometimes,” Rubio said. “She’s a terrific server, and then she gives us a threat out of the back row offensively. So we got to have six rotations of pipe and that’s it. If you’re going to define Arizona volleyball, it’s going to be they set the pipe like crazy, and that’s the back row. And so but you gotta have a big who’s good enough to be back there, defensively not going to be a liability, and Katie’s really been working hard at developing those skills. That’s not as far along as her offensive skills, the back row skills aren’t as good. So she’s catching up. And the key for her is that she just needs to want to do it, which is what’s happened since the springtime. She’s really been working hard to get better.”

There is still plenty of room to improve. Smoot is especially focused on learning to read the block better and staying low on defense.

Appalachian State Mountaineers vs Arizona Wildcats

In the early match, the Wildcats were in control from the start. They came out strong and beat the Mountaineers in straight sets (25-12, 25-19, 25-14).

Smoot paced Arizona on offense. The junior had 12 kills on 28 attacks, going for a .393 hitting percentage. She led the match with 13.5 points.

Applachian State players led in kills, assists and digs for the match. Emma Longley led all attackers with 13 kills. Teammate Sam Bickley had 25 assists, and fellow Mountaineer Emma Reilly had 20 digs.

Julia Patterson led Arizona with 20 assists, just missing a double-double by adding nine digs. Emi Pua’a led the Wildcats with 12 digs.

In the first set, Arizona led from start to finish. They had a double-digit lead for almost half the set before pushing it out to the final margin.

The Wildcats took an early lead in the second set, as well. The Mountaineers didn’t go away so easily. They came back to tie it up at 6-6, then built a two-point lead. The Wildcats didn’t allow that to stand for long.

Arizona regained the lead at 11-10 and never relinquished it again. They closed the set at 25-19.

The deciding set once again opened to an Arizona lead, but had Appalachian State come back to tie things at 7-7. The Wildcats took the lead back at 12-11 and never looked back. They would only allow the Mountaineers to score three more points in the match.

Loyola Marymount Lions vs Arizona Wildcats

As expected, the Lions gave the Wildcats a much tougher test in the nightcap. Arizona was still able to close things out in straight sets (25-18, 26-24, 25-21) despite a strong effort from Loyola Marymount.

The Lions’ Rose Booth led the match with 14 kills, but Arizona had three players nipping at her heels. Smoot and Whipple both found the floor 10 times. Shelton added 9 kills on a strong .538 hitting percentage for the Wildcats.

Smoot accomplished her feat with a .350 hitting percentage and added 10 digs for a double-double. The digs tied Smoot for the match high and set a new career best. She ended the match with 15 points, trailing only LMU’s Booth who had 17.

Patterson had 30 assists for the Wildcats, but the Lions’ Tess Reid led the game with 33. Fellows had 3.5 blocks for a match high.

LMU won the opening point of the match, but wasn’t able to turn that into momentum. Neither team led by more than two points in the first set until Arizona went ahead 18-15. The home team went on a 7-3 run to close things out and grab the one-set advantage.

The second set was even tougher. The Wildcats led by as many as three, but that was as much room as they could put between themselves and the Lions.

Arizona scratched to a 24-22 set point only to have LMU fight back and tie things up again at 24-24. Kills by Whipple and Smoot finally gave Arizona the set and the 2-0 lead.

The Wildcats never trailed in the third and final set, but it wasn’t a comfortable set. Their lead was never greater than three until they got to 19-15. An ace by Whipple pushed the score to 20-15 only to have LMU take the next three points.

That was as close as the Lions would get. The Wildcats won five of the final eight points to close out the match, ending things on a kill from Hayes.

Arizona faces Samford at noon MST on Saturday to wrap up the Cactus Classic.

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Arizona soccer sets first-half scoring record in win over Weber State

Brooke Wilson celebrates with Iliana Hocking | Photo by Ryan Kelapire

TEMPE — It was a dream start to the season for Madison Goerlinger and the Arizona soccer team.

The freshman scored a header two minutes into her first college game, igniting a historic day offensively in which the UA netted a program-record six first-half goals in a 6-0 win over Weber State at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.

“Oh my gosh, it’s so exciting,” Goerlinger said. “I’m so excited to be here, and to even start, I was not expecting that as a freshman. I just was so glad that I was able to take the opportunity and be able to finish that goal. ... When the corner was coming, I just knew that it was all me and I needed to finish it.”

That Arizona (1-0) scored so quickly—and kept pouring it on—shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The Wildcats were dying to get on the field after their originally-scheduled season-opener was canceled last Thursday.

“We came out like we were shot out of the cannon,” said sophomore forward Brooke Wilson. “We had so much adrenaline built up. The locker room was buzzing, the bus before was buzzing. We were really excited.”

Wilson scored from close range in the 35th, then completed the brace just four minutes later by tapping in her own rebound. Jada Talley netted a give-and-go in the 15th minute and Iliana Hocking put home a corner in the 37th minute for her first career goal.

Arizona outshot Weber State 22-2, and did most of its attacking on the right side. Both outside backs—Morgan McGarry and Sabrina Enciso—came forward to initiate the offense.

McGarry was credited with the assist on Hocking’s goal, and also launched the cross that Weber State knocked in for an own goal in the 25th minute. All six of UA’s finishes came well inside the 18-yard box.

“We hadn’t played a game, so I knew that team would come out flying and on the front foot, and we caused some havoc in the first half to put them in some tricky spots defensively,” said Arizona coach Tony Amato. “We scored some good goals, but we created some situations that an own goal happened, and created some set pieces and scored, and Madison got us off the blocks right away with a great goal. ... And I just think overall, it was a really good first half to set the tone for the season.”

Even though the game was out of hand early, it finally gives Amato a chance to zero in on some of the areas his team needs to improve before it delves into the grueling part of its schedule.

After Sunday’s match vs. Tennessee Tech (also in Tempe), Arizona has a three-game stretch in which it faces Oklahoma, UC Irvine, and No. 19 Santa Clara (on the road).

“I’m a much better coach when I can look at film and decide where we are ... and we haven’t really had that in two weeks other than in training,” Amato said. “So we now have and we can get better.”

Amato almost got a glimpse of his entire roster Friday. It was 109 degrees at kickoff, so everyone but forward Brynn Moga (injury), freshman defender Sabrina Hillyer, freshman defender Molly Shannon and freshman goalkeeper Hope Hisey saw action.

Sophomore Kendyll Humphreys made her first-ever start in goal, and gloved two saves to record a clean sheet.

Goerlinger was the only newcomer to start for Arizona. She had impressed UA coaches in training with her versatility and poise on the ball. Friday, she showed she can carry it over to the big stage.

“I was pretty nervous, but my excitement took over,” she said. “I think it’s a great learning step for us. ... Now we all have film, and we know where our fitness is, and where individually we need to improve.”

Postgame interviews

Madison Goerlinger

Freshman @MadisonGoer_ scored her first career goal just two minutes into her first college game to help @ArizonaSoccer beat Weber State: “It was so exciting. ... When the corner was coming, I just knew that it was all me and I needed to finish it.” pic.twitter.com/uLAltA36uD

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) August 31, 2019

Brooke Wilson

.@brookiiew231 scored 2 of @ArizonaSoccer’s 6 first-half goals in the win over Weber State: “Missing our game last week because of the rain, we came out like we were shot out of a cannon. We were so excited to play:” pic.twitter.com/rEdw8T2oWn

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) August 31, 2019

Tony Amato

Tony Amato breaks down @ArizonaSoccer’s 6-0 win over Weber State. It was the first time UA has ever scored six goals in the first half. pic.twitter.com/wZSz1Gtk06

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) August 31, 2019

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Sean Miller: Stone Gettings is a ‘matchup nightmare’ for Arizona

Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images

The Cornell transfer can pass and shoot

The Arizona Wildcats are welcoming some talented newcomers this season, including a pair of All-Americans in Nico Mannion and Josh Green, but one that often goes overlooked is Cornell transfer Stone Gettings.

The fifth-year senior put up some eye-popping numbers in the Ivy League, where he was a second-team all-conference player as a junior in 2017-18.

Gettings averaged 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game that season. He was good for an offensive explosion every now and then, with three 30-point games and 11 20-point games.

In an interview with The Athletic’s Doug Haller, UA head coach Sean Miller called the 6-foot-9 Gettings a “matchup nightmare” because of his jump shot.

Gettings shot 49 percent from the floor, 37 percent from 3-point range and 83 percent from the free-throw line in 2017-18.

As far as how Gettings fits in at Arizona, that remains to be seen. He joins a frontcourt that has a unique mix of talent with Zeke Nnaji, Ira Lee, Chase Jeter, and Christian Koloko, all of whom have different strengths.

With the loss of sophomore guard Brandon Williams to season-ending knee surgery, the Wildcats need Gettings to maximize his.

Arizona is coming off its worst 3-point shooting season since 2005-06, only converting 33.6 percent of its 3s last season. What is more concerning is that UA’s top three shooters from 2018-19—Williams, Ryan Luther and Justin Coleman—are no longer in the picture.

Graduate transfer Max Hazzard, who shot in the high 30s at UC Irvine will knock down shots, but the Wildcats will need more than that to effectively space the floor around Mannion and Green.

Who better to do it than Gettings, who can play both frontcourt positions?

Then there is Gettings’ playmaking too. Mannion and, to a lesser extent Hazzard, are the only point guards on Arizona’s roster now that Williams is down.

Shots will have to be created somehow, and Gettings is known for his passing from the high post. As a junior, he posted the highest assist rate on the Big Red, who often ran their offense through him. Nine times he had five or more assists in a game.

Arizona has had bigs who could shoot (Lauri Markkanen, Ryan Luther) and bigs who could pass (Aaron Gordon), but few that could do both consistently.

So if Gettings can continue where he left off at Cornell, the Wildcats should be able to do some special things offensively in 2019-20.

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2 former Wildcats make big plays during final NFL preseason games

Paige Whipple in line to be Arizona volleyball’s next great outside hitter

Arizona volleyball tips off Friday morning with the Cactus Classic

Iliana Hocking poised for bigger role at Arizona as twin sister stars at USC

Arizona volleyball notes: On the Cactus Classic, outside hitters, liberos, and more

Makenna Martin | Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Arizona volleyball will officially open the 2019 season on Friday morning, when it will host Appalachian State at 10 a.m. MST to begin the Cactus Classic.

The 24th-ranked Wildcats will then take on Loyola Marymount later that evening before facing Samford on Saturday at noon.

Last year, the UA went 3-0 in the Cactus Classic, setting the tone for a season that culminated in a fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in six years.

They will be hoping for more of the same this time around.

Before all of that however, several members of the program addressed the media on Wednesday to talk about the state of the squad as they gear up for the new campaign and the upcoming season as a whole.

Here is who spoke and what they said.

Assistant Coach Greg Whittis

*Whittis stepped in for an unavailable Dave Rubio on Wednesday

On the team’s maturity and experience being an asset: “As kids get older and matriculate through the program they begin to understand the process of improvement. And they get experience which each contributes to becoming better. The game slows down and all of those things contribute to confidence and being more assured. To me (having so many older players) is a really big thing for us.”

On the libero position and the team’s defense: “We have five really good liberos. Erin Williamson and Malina (Kalei Ua) just had maybe their best practices today. So the group of defensive specialist that we have is really good and I think it’s probably the best group that we’ve had since 2016. And in 2016, we were really one of the better floor defensive teams in the country.”

On outside hitters being a key area for Arizona’s success: “Matches are won and lost on the left. The serve and pass game and then your ability to take big swings at crucial times. And a high percentage of those swings come in crunch time, when it’s 20-20. And in the Pac-12, it seems like every set is 20-20 so your ability to score on the left on the pin is crucial. We have some kids on the team this year that can hit the ball hard. Maybe they don’t have the vision, range, or what I call third contact control—the ability to put your hand on the ball and make it go where you want, with the spin that you want. All those things are pretty nuanced, but really important for a left side. And so those things will get better.”

On Paige Whipple’s role in that outside hitters group: “Paige leads the outside group for sure. She’s going to be entering her third year of the program and she’s started since she’s been here. She’s played a lot of volleyball and so she’s experienced. Her floor game, her ability to defend and middle block and her ability to serve, she’s a terrific blocker. All of those things contribute to the player that she’s become. Last year she scored over three kills a set, and so that’s a legitimate number. We need for that to be better this year and I think it will be.”

On middle blocker Devyn Cross: “Devyn is as good as just about anybody out there. Terrific.”

On differences between this year and last year: “Last year, in the preseason practices, it became pretty obvious that Kendra (Dahlke) was about her business and was going to be a different player from her junior to her senior year. But I think we had more question marks away from Kendra. This year we’re way ahead in in other areas and other positions on the court. I think we’re way ahead with our defensive players. Our middles are outstanding. We have three middles that are legit and I think we’re a better serving team. And then I think the team is tighter. We’ve got a really good group and the trip in Europe was terrific for this group to have that experience and the opportunity to be together. The opportunity to take the new players with us on that trip was big. Because of it, they’ve kind of hit this preseason, these double days, just kind of hit that hit the ground running, There is no, ‘oh well they’re new and what are we going to do with them?’ All of that got handled in Europe. The bond, the chemistry, all that stuff is terrific. And I think leadership from Julia (Patterson) and Paige, they know what to do and know what to expect and what’s expected. They know the standard.”

Junior middle blocker Shardonee Hayes

On how she’s grown as a player since her freshman year: “I think the biggest improvement from my freshman year until now is I’m confident in my game. I believe in myself now and know that I deserve to be here because of all the hard work I’ve put in.”

On the team’s preparedness for a new season: “I’m ready and I think we’re ready. We’ve been preparing for this all preseason and our trip to Europe really was a big thing to get ready for our season.”

Senior Libero Makenna Martin

On her goals for the season: “Just being there in whatever situation for the team and always putting up numbers and executing during games and practice. And then the team goal is I want to go as far as we can. We can go pretty far this year with the talent that we have and the cohesion that we have as a team.”

On the team’s cohesion this year: “I just think we’ve all grown, we’ve been with each other for almost three years now and there’s not a lot of new people. So it just comes along with time and being with each other every day.”

On what the team expects from itself this weekend at the Cactus Classic: “Just trying to, for the first time, run this offense, perfecting that communicating and having fun. Really just honing in on that new offense and kind of getting comfortable with it during competition.”

||
Tucson, Ariz. (McKale Center)
–––––––––––––
Friday, Aug. 30
10 a.m. » #24 Arizona vs. Appalachian State
7 p.m. » #24 Arizona vs. Loyola Marymount
–––––––––––––
Saturday, Aug. 31
12 p.m. » #24 Arizona vs. Samford
––––––––––––– pic.twitter.com/GaHn1hlHcg

— Arizona Volleyball (@ArizonaVBall) August 26, 2019

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Revisiting Arizona football’s 2016 recruiting class

Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images

A pretty solid class with another year of contributions ahead

During the bye week, we’re taking a look a back at each of the last four recruiting classes that still have players remaining on the current roster. First up was the 2015 class. Now we’re going to take a look at 2016.

The class finished at 48th overall and 9th in the Pac-12. The class featured eight top-1000 players and two four-star prospects. This was one of the first classes where guys started to recruit others to come play with them at Arizona and many of the higher ranked prospects came late into the cycle.

Who returns for 2019?

Arizona still has a good core of players that return for their fourth year in the program. Quarterback Khalil Tate leads the offense alongside J.J. Taylor, who are two of Arizona’s most important players.

Bryson Cain is the only other offensive member of the 2016 class, and he’ll likely serve as a swing backup on the offensive line and be one of the first guys up should the line need help.

There are a lot of members in the secondary from the 2016 class who return, including starters Tristan Cooper and Lorenzo Burns. Cooper has been a starter since he first stepped foot on campus, although he took a back seat to now Tennessee Titan Dane Cruikshank for one season. He’ll look to finish off his career with bang at spur.

Lorenzo Burns has played well during his time however there will be several guys behind him looking to take over the No. 2 spot.

There are two backups at safety that will look to play significant roles. Jarrius Wallace has been a steady free safety backup and has been mixed into the starting rotation. Chacho Ulloa has had a great offseason and looks to help alleviate the pressure from Christian Young at bandit.

Jalen Cochran has had a roller coaster of a career. He turned down Michigan State days before National Signing Day, ended up getting hurt and requiring surgery, he had announced he would transfer before deciding it was best to come back. Now he’ll play a key role on the defensive line as a versatile piece.

Who left the program?

• Michael Eletise slowly made progress and cracked the starting lineup last season but decided to transfer back home to Hawaii.
• Devaughn Cooper left the team after his first season for unknown reasons, worked his way back onto the team, battled some injuries and was just recently kicked out of the program this offseason and joined UTEP as a graduate transfer.
• Kahi Neves was kicked off the team for violating team rules and ended up at Snow College and had been receiving offers this past season.
• Safety Isaiah Hayes has decided to graduate transfer to Louisville.
• Linebacker Jacob Colacion medically retired from football
• Gavin Robertson ultimately did not want to play linebacker after converting from safety and left for Montana, where he has been an all-conference safety.
• Defensive tackle Justin Holt battled injuries at Arizona and medically retired, bouncing around at Eastern Arizona, Pima and now Western New Mexico.
• Defensive end Francisco Nelson got into some trouble at Arizona and left for Campbell University.
• Running back Russell Halimon never made it to campus and did not appear to play football anywhere afterwards

Top players of the class

1. J.J. Taylor has been a reliable running back since returning from his broken ankle he suffered his freshman year during a huge game against Washington. He has been one of the most productive backs in the nation since, and has been able to put any sort of durability concerns despite his 5-foot-6 frame.
2. Khalil Tate burst onto the scene and made Arizona a bowl team in 2017. While there were some serious aches in 2018, the team will only go as far as Tate in 2019 until Kevin Sumlin and Noel Mazzone can get their guys ready.
3. Tristan Cooper is essentially a four-year starter, and has been nothing but consistent and reliable since he arrived on campus as a two-star recruit.
4. Shawn Poindexter had a slow start to his career and left a lot to be desired, but finally broke out in his senior campaign where he put himself in the Arizona record books and found himself in the NFL.
5. Lorenzo Burns got picked on a lot early in his career with the emergence of Jace Whittaker, but quickly found himself as a solidified starter. He has been yet another reliable piece on defense during his time.

Conclusion

This was a smaller class, as only 17 guys had signed. There are a handful of members that did not last more than a few years at Arizona either due to off-field issues or injuries, but not nearly as bad as the horrific 2015 class. For the players who made it this far, they have all contributed heavily and cracked the starting rotation at one point. With all things being said, it proved to be a pretty good class.

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After long wait, Arizona soccer eager to kick off 2019 season in Tempe

Photo by Ryan Kelapire

The Arizona Wildcats’ first game in 2019 will take place in 100-plus-degree heat and inside the stadium their bitter rival calls home, but they could not be more excited about it.

“We’ve been practicing nonstop,” said junior forward Jada Talley. “I feel like we deserve a game.”

They have waited long enough. Arizona was supposed to open its season last Thursday against Long Beach State, but those plans were scuttled due to lightning, though not before both teams hung around Mulcahy Stadium for three hours before heading home.

“It was a disappointment when they finally called that Long Beach State game,” said redshirt senior defender Morgan McGarry. “We were in the locker room ready to go out and play. Our manager Ryan (Vanderpool) put together this great hype video for us and we all came tearing out of the locker room—and then back in. We were all trying to stay energized and then as we waited we kind of got into a lull. ... It was to the point where it was like, ‘can we just go practice?’ So everyone’s ready to play.”

They will finally get to do so Friday at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium where the Wildcats will take on Weber State at 4 p.m. MST in the first of two games in the annual Sun Devil Desert Classic. The second game is Sunday at 11 a.m. against Tennessee Tech.

“I think really establishing our identity is going to be big for us this week, making sure we’re pressing, attacking, flying all around the field,” McGarry said. “We normally all start flying out with our press, and we’re running all around the field and it hits that 15 minute mark and sometimes it drops off a little bit. So we want to make sure we’re keeping that sustained throughout the whole entire half and game, and then making sure once we win the ball, (we) have a fast attack, collect it, winning it, playing to feet in and around the box and stuff like that.”

Neither Weber State (9-5-4) nor Tennessee Tech (7-8-2) were particularly good last season—and Weber State is coming off a 5-0 loss to Cal—so Arizona should be able to impose its will in Tempe, just as it did last season when UA comfortably beat Southeast Missouri State and New Hampshire.

UA coach Tony Amato hopes his team is even sharper this time around.

“It’s really interesting, I watched the games from last year yesterday just to kind of see where were we at that point, and there were so many detailed things that I was pretty surprised at how it looked,” he said Wednesday. “And so today, we focused on some of those details to make sure it’s better. And it wasn’t from an attacking mindset. It was some set-piece stuff. There was some defending stuff. There was some focus stuff that I didn’t think last year we were in a great place with it that weekend.”

Arizona is the only major-conference team that has not debuted yet, which can been seen as both a blessing and a curse.

A blessing because the Wildcats received an extra week to prepare for the regular season, helping them combat the brevity of the preseason.

A curse because 100 practices cannot replicate the real-game experience the Wildcats would have gotten from playing Long Beach State, a perennial NCAA Tournament team.

“It’s really hard for us to [simulate] that in training,” Amato said. “Our team competes, our team works hard, but...that would have been a good test for us early on. We could easily have not won the game and that would have showed us a lot of things. Even with a win it would have showed us a lot of things, so we missed that opportunity. But we get two this weekend, and so by Monday I would expect us to be in a really different place.”

For one thing, Arizona’s newcomers won’t be so new anymore. The scorching temperatures in Tempe mean the entire roster is likely to see action at some point.

Call it baptism by fire. (Quite literally. It is forecasted to be 109 at kickoff time Friday.)

“It’s [a chance] to mesh with your team and who you’re going to be playing with the majority of the time, and building that relationship with the person that’s playing in front of you, behind you,” Talley said. “And if it’s somebody new, it’s getting a feel for how they play. For all of our freshmen it’s going to be an eye-opener.”

Despite what it symbolizes, Sun Devil Soccer Stadium has been a friendly place for the Wildcats in recent years. Arizona is 6-1-1 in Tempe over the past three seasons, including 3-0 last season when UA capped the regular season with a dominant win over ASU. (Actually 4-0 if you count Arizona’s win over ASU last spring.)

The Wildcats have never opened a season there, but at this point they are happy to play anywhere if it means they can finally get the 2019 campaign rolling.

“We’re used to it,” Amato said of playing in Tempe. “We’ve usually [played] games prior to going up there, but we’ve played (at least) two games there every year I’ve been here. We know what that looks like in terms of the meals, the hotel, the field, so we’re comfortable with it. We’re looking forward to it.

“I mean, we should be flying because we’re coming out of the gates without a game in a long time. And so my expectation is we’re going to be going 100 miles an hour and the tempo is where we need it to be right from the beginning.”

Interviews from practice

Tony Amato talks about @ArizonaSoccer (finally) opening its season this weekend against Weber State and Tennessee Tech after last week’s cancellation, and his thoughts on starting the year at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium pic.twitter.com/hYfPQGBtMp

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) August 28, 2019

Arizona’s 2018 leading scorer @jadatalley_ talks about (finally) opening the season Friday against Weber State, what she’s hoping to improve this year, and what the Wildcats did to pass time during the 3-hour delay against Long Beach State. pic.twitter.com/8CThv4CL7i

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) August 28, 2019

Redshirt senior defender Morgan McGarry says @ArizonaSoccer is “chomping at the bit” to play Weber State on Friday after the season opener was canceled: “We’re going to come out flying. ... Establishing our identity is going to be big for us.” pic.twitter.com/dNgb7dpE7u

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) August 28, 2019

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4-star guard Adam Miller visiting Arizona

Packers trade LB Reggie Gilbert to Titans

Photo by Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Former Arizona Wildcats linebacker/defensive end Reggie Gilbert is on the move.

The 26-year-old was traded Wednesday by the Green Bay Packers to the Tennessee Titans for a seventh-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Trade: Packers are dealing LB Reggie Gilbert to the Titans for a seventh-round pick, per sources.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 28, 2019

After going undrafted in 2016, Gilbert spent the past two seasons in Green Bay, where he logged 39 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 18 games. He appeared in all 16 games this past season.

In four seasons at Arizona (2012-15), Gilbert tallied 90 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, and 14 sacks. According to OverTheCap.com, he has made north of $800,000 in his NFL career.

Fellow Wildcat Dane Cruikshank, a fifth-round pick back in 2018, is also a member of the Titans. The defensive back had 11 tackles in 12 games, plus caught a 66-yard touchdown pass on a trick play.

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Arizona special teams ace Thomas Reid III earns scholarship

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Arizona Wildcats special teams ace Thomas Reid III has been put on scholarship, he announced Wednesday on Twitter.

The redshirt junior was named Pac-12 honorable mention as a special teams player last season, shining as a gunner on kickoff and punt coverage. He also had one catch for six yards.

Blessed to receive a scholarship from University of Arizona. #BearDown #BacktheA #BuildingTheA pic.twitter.com/G3rGFCc0GW

— Thomas Reid III (@lejre1) August 28, 2019

Born into a military family, it has been a long journey to Arizona for Reid, who has lived in Hawaii, Virginia, and Kansas. He was set to be a scholarship player at Hawaii coming out of high school before a coaching change and an injury scuttled those plans.

Here’s a feature on Reid from last season.

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Revisiting Arizona football’s 2015 recruiting class

Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Yikes

During the bye week, we’ll take a look back at each of the last four recruiting classes that still have players remaining on the current Arizona Wildcats roster. First, we’ll take a look at the 2015 recruiting class.

The 2015 recruiting class finished 43rd in the nation and 9th in the Pac-12, featuring eight top-100 players and one four-star prospect. While that seems to be a step above what we had usually seen during this time, it was a bit of a disappointment considering the team had been ranked for the majority of the 2014 season, played in the Pac-12 Championship Game and clinched a Fiesta Bowl berth.

Arizona’s 2015 Recruiting Class

Who returns for 2019?

Only three members return for their fifth and final season at Arizona, all of which are expected to contribute heavily as they enter year two of the Kevin Sumlin experience.

It is Cedric Peterson’s time to shine as the lead receiver after battling injuries throughout his career and spent the last few season as a rotational piece. The hope is for him to make the jump that we saw with Shawn Poindexter a season ago. He has 29 receptions, 372 yards and four touchdowns to his name during his time at Arizona.

Cody Creason has been an integral part of the offensive line since he has arrived at Arizona, and remains a flexible piece to the line with experience at multiple positions. On the defensive line we have Finton Connolly, who has also been a valuable piece throughout his career.

Who left the program?

Former four-star recruit Keenan Walker left the program following an arrest on suspicion of assault and landed at Independence CC (during the airing of Last Chance U seasons 3 and 4). He received a few offers to Nebraska and Fresno State, but ultimately tried out with the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins upon graduation and did not stick.

The junior college transfer curse continued to hit as defensive tackle Anthony Fotu was kicked off the program just a few games into his career due to a violation of team rules and ended up at West Georgia.

After showing a lot of promise, running back Orlando Bradford was dismissed from the program following his horrific off-field incidents just a few games into his second season

Kendal Franklin was removed from the program after a violation of team rules after one season and spent a season at McNeese State

Offensive lineman Harper Sherman decided to quit football entirely and pursue other passions and Alex Kosinski decided to quit football last season as well

Tight end Jamie Nunley medically retired this off-season and Darrell Cloy was forced to medical retire. He ended up at Cerritos College and has just recently signed at Eastern New Mexico

Center Nathan Eldridge decided to graduate transfer to Oregon State this offseason.

A pair of defensive backs left this offseason as Antonio Parks decided to transfer to UTSA and Sammy Morrison decided to graduate transfer to SDSU

Anthony Mariscal is still currently in the transfer portal, and could go either safety or running back at his next school.

Darrell Clark never made it to campus due to academics, and played out his eligibility at Pima CC and Grambling State

Top players on the class

1. Shun Brown produced for four years as a receiver and special teamer. While Arizona was a run heavy team throughout his entire career, he had always been a reliable option to create explosive plays.
2. Dane Cruikshank only spent two years at Arizona but came in immediately as a starting corner and moved over to spur, which ended up getting him drafted by the Tennessee Titans.
3. Cody Creason is someone who has been underappreciated for the last few years. His flexibility and consistency at guard and tackle have been invaluable while the offensive line has in correction.
4. Paul Magloire Jr. didn’t get much of an opportunity during the first half of his initial season, but eventually worked his way into a starting role at safety and later transitioned to linebacker where he led the team in tackles during his final season.
5. Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles contributed as a true freshman after he wasn’t initially scheduled to make it to campus in the fall. He was a four-year starter with a good freshman season and a terrific sophomore season. Junior year there was some regression but he was able to get things back on the right path as a senior.

Conclusion

Despite being one of Rich Rodriguez’ highest classes during his time, this class was absolutely decimated due to injuries and poor character. Of the 25 that committed, well less than half ended up contributing significantly. This class brought size from all across the country, but poor development and retention ultimately makes this a very bad class.

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Projecting Arizona’s season after loss to Hawaii

How Arizona’s commits fared in first week of high school football

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Football season is back! The Arizona Wildcats did not start the season in ideal fashion, but there is ample time to make corrections and right the ship.

Meanwhile, some of UA’s commits for the 2020 class started their seasons as well this weekend, though most don’t start until this weekend or the first weekend in September.

Here’s a look at how they fared.

Will Plummer, QB

Gilbert Tigers (Gilbert, Ariz.: 0-1): Lost to Mesquite 41-24

Game Stats: 24-for-37, 302 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT; 16 car, 101 yards

Don’t let the TD-INT ratio fool you, Plummer had a strong game. It’s clear that his offensive line needs to gel together a little more and do a better job of protecting him and giving him time.

Flipping on the game film, it is clear Plummer has taken a step up in his game from last year. His arm has only gotten stronger and, for the most part, he was making the right reads. His arm is his greatest strength, but his legs are probably one of the most impressive parts of his growth this offseason. He very much reminds me of Grant Gunnell in the pocket: great pocket awareness, uses his legs to make plays/avoid pass rush, keeps his downfield, and delivers accurate passes on the move.

The first game didn’t go well for Plummer and the Tigers, but I am eager to see how he does the rest of the season. So far, I like what I’m seeing.

Dion Wilson, DE

Orange Vista Coyotes (Perris, CA; 1-0): Won against Rialto 34-0

Game Stats: 4 tackles, 4.0 TFL

I haven’t been able to find any game film for Wilson along the defensive line, but that statline isn’t too shabby. Here’s a clip of Wilson destroying someone on punt coverage:

Woody Jean, OL

Deerfield Beach Bucks (Deerfield Beach, Fla.; 0-1): Lost to Carol City 24-12

Game Stats: N/A

I have been unable to find any film of Jean in action against Carol City but the game did not go how I thought it would. Deerfield Beach is one of the best teams in Florida but they had a rough time against Carol City on Saturday.

Dyelan Miller, WR

Centennial Coyotes (Peoria, Ariz.; 1-0): Won against Casteel 34-27

Game Stats: 1 reception, 16 yards (at least. The stats are incomplete.)

The Coyotes, who are one of the most dominant teams in the state, continued their run of success when the took care of Casteel on Friday. Centennial does not throw the ball a ton, but Miller was able to snag a 16-yard pass on a slant, using a nice job

OT Cedric Melton, DB Khary Crump, OL Josh Baker, and TE Drake Dabney have games this coming weekend. CB Alphonse Oywak and RB Jalen John start their seasons in the first weekend of September.

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Arizona in middle of pack in 'roster talent,' per 247 Sports

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Nobody will ever accuse the Arizona Wildcats of squandering elite talent. That's because it doesn't have it, at least according to 247 Sports.

The recruiting site ranked all 130 FBS programs in terms of "roster talent," and Arizona found itself right in the middle based on what it has to work with for the 2019 season.

The Wildcats are 63rd, to be exact, when tabulating a roster's overall talent based on players' final high school recruiting rating. That means junior college transfers like Trevon Mason and Myles Tapusoa, who improved their reputation at that level, are still graded based on their prep attributes.

Arizona’s total points are 570.07, barely half as much as first-place Alabama (984.96). That score comes from the final prep score of 71 rated players on the Wildcats’ roster, of which only two were rated as 4-star prospects and another 61 as 3-star recruits.

Just head of Arizona, at 62nd, is Texas Tech, its Week 3 opponent.

Arizona ranks 11th in the Pac-12 in roster talent, per 247Sports, ahead of only Washington State.

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History shows losing season opener is bad sign for Arizona

Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Think the Arizona Wildcats’ season-opening loss at Hawaii was a bad sign? You don’t know the half of it.

It’s been 20 years since the Wildcats began the season with a loss and still managed to finish with a .500 record, and 22 years since they stumbled out of the gate and still made a bowl game.

Since Arizona joined the Pac-10/12 in 1978, it has started 0-1 on 12 occasions. Only four of those teams have been bowl-eligible at the end of the season.

This marks the third time in four years Arizona has lost its opener, with the 2016 team finishing a miserable 3-9 after falling to BYU in Glendale and last season’s squad going 5-7 following the home defeat to BYU in Kevin Sumlin’s debut.

(On a side note: this is Sumlin’s third straight season-opening loss, having fallen at UCLA to open his final year at Texas A&M in 2017)

Prior to 2015, Arizona’s last time losing its season opener came in 2007 when it yet again lost to BYU to pace a 5-7 record. The 2005 squad opened with a loss at Utah (prior to the Utes joining the Pac-12) and went 3-8.

You have to go back to 1999 to find the last time Arizona lost its first game and still managed to post a non-losing record, but even that initial result was a harbinger for disaster. The Wildcats were thumped 41-7 at Penn State—in the equivalent of Week Zero that season—and went on to go 6-6 with three straight losses to end the season … and Dick Tomey’s tenure.

The 1997 team was the last one to lose its opener and still go bowling, falling 16-9 at Oregon as part of a 1-3 start (including 0-2 in Pac-10 play). Arizona was 3-5 entering November before winning out, beating ASU in Tempe to become bowl-eligible and then downing New Mexico in the inaugural Insight.com Bowl.

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Ex-Arizona point guard Jason Gardner arrested for driving while intoxicated

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Former Arizona Wildcats point guard and current IUPUI basketball coach Jason Gardner was arrested Monday morning for driving while intoxicated, according to RTV6, a news station in Indiana.

IUPUI said in a statement to Fox 59 that “we are aware of the situation regarding men’s head basketball coach Jason Gardner and are looking into the circumstances.”

Gardner, 38, has been IUPUI’s head coach since 2014-15. In five seasons, he has compiled a 64-94 record. Prior to that, he was an assistant at Memphis and Loyola Illinois.

The Indianapolis native attended Arizona from 1999-2003, and was a three-time All-Pac-12 performer, averaging 14.6 points per game over his career.

He led Arizona to the national championship game in 2001, and his No. 22 jersey is retired by the school.

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Robert Golden offers to coach up Arizona’s secondary

Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

The Arizona Wildcats defense was shredded Saturday in the loss to Hawaii and people are not happy.

FireMarcelYates.com is now a thing, and there are plenty of people out there calling for Chuck Cecil to take as the team’s new defensive coordinator.

Meanwhile, former UA defensive back Robert Golden (2008-11) made a public offer to help coach up the secondary, which allowed 436 passing yards and five touchdowns in Honolulu.

“Give me a ring,” he wrote to Arizona Football on Twitter. “Let’s correct some issues.”

@ArizonaFBall I am available to help out our Secondary/Defense ... Give me a ring. Let’s correct some issues. #BearDown

— Robert Golden (@R0bG0lden) August 25, 2019

Golden, who had 183 tackles, four interceptions and two pick-sixes at Arizona, said he could be in Tucson as early as Monday, and probably knows a thing or two having played in the NFL for several seasons after his UA career ended.

Unfortunately, NCAA rules prohibit schools from hiring more than 10 on-field coaches, so the Wildcats are going to have to correct their longstanding defensive issues with the folks who are already in-house.

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What’s next for Arizona after brutal loss to Hawaii?

Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images

The Wildcats are already at a crossroads

Saturday’s game against Hawaii was looked at as a chance to wash away the stain of the 2018 season, and especially of how it finished.

After 60 minutes of football, the only thing it provided was a summary of last year’s lost season, albeit in a truncated amount of time.

The Arizona Wildcats started very slowly, rallied to the point where you thought things might actually work out, and then fell painfully short at the very end.

It was as if the Pac-12 Network did an “2018 Arizona Wildcats Football in 60” at Aloha Stadium live in front of a shade more than 22,000 fans. The 45-38 loss was a dreadful way to start the new season, and it has led to plenty of frustration and anger.

Hardly rash reactions in the heat of the moment, what people are feeling being entirely justifiable leads us to the most important question of all:

So what now?

With two weeks until their next game, what should be — nay, what damn well better be — an easy home win over Northern Arizona, there is talk about how the Wildcats are no better than last year, how one or both of their coordinators must go, and that head coach Kevin Sumlin doesn’t really care.

All of that may be true. None of it may be true. Perhaps some of it is true.

Whatever the case, the Wildcats are seemingly at a crossroads that few expected them to be at just one game into the season and just 13 into the Kevin Sumlin era.

After watching Rich Rodriguez guide the Wildcats to bowl games in five of six seasons, the idea that the program was in need of a full rebuild upon his ouster may seem a bit out there. Sumlin did not need to clean up the kind of mess John Mackovic left Mike Stoops, and it’s hard to imagine he inherited worse talent than Rodriguez did upon his taking over the program.

To a man, on paper at least it even appears this year’s Wildcats are more talented than any that has been put on the field in recent seasons. A senior quarterback, a loaded running back room, quality linebackers and an experienced secondary are all there, and there even appears to be depth along the defensive front and plenty of potential with the wide receivers.

And yet, even with all that Arizona could never so much as take the lead against what is likely a middling Hawaii team. Sure, they rebounded from the bad start to tie the game two separate times, but an interception ruined their best chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter and Tate’s last-gasp run went 30 yards when he needed 31 to get to the end zone.

Had he, would Sumlin have opted to go for the two-point conversion and the win? I hope so.

But alas, that did not happen. There was no epic comeback, no amazing plays to erase what was an otherwise putrid performance. Arizona is now 0-1 for the second consecutive season, dropping a game in which they were a double-digit favorite.

So what now?

After the loss, Arizona’s players said all the right things about using it as an opportunity to learn, while Sumlin talked about how inconsistency cost the team.

If you are the optimistic type, you can take solace in the fact that as disappointing as this game was, it does little to end Arizona’s season. It was a non-conference loss, and there’s still plenty of schedule left to turn things around.

If you are the pessimistic type, you can shake your fist at the fact that the issues that plagued Arizona last season were apparent, from the silly mistakes to the questionable playcalling and slow in-game adjustments. And without a change, there’s little reason to expect that to change.

So what now?

With plenty of time before their next game and the next three being in Tucson, if Arizona wanted to make a change — say at defensive coordinator — it would not be a bad time or necessarily undeserved.

It’s Yates’ fourth season in Tucson and although Hawaii has a prolific offense, there’s no reason why Arizona should have allowed nearly 600 yards to the Rainbow Warriors. The six turnovers were nice and should not be discounted, but they seemed to be more a product of the home team’s incompetence than anything the Wildcats were doing to force them.

While it is conceivable that Yates could have at least one foot out the door, it is less likely that offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone will follow him. Arizona should have scored more than 38 points, and ignoring the running game early doesn’t make any sense. And yet, Tate looked more like himself in this game, which should give Wildcats fans at least a glimmer of hope going forward, and had the QB made a couple of better reads or throws early perhaps they wouldn’t have needed to play catch up late.

Is that on the offensive coordinator? Not necessarily, though it is up to Mazzone — as well as the rest of the coaches on the roster — to put their players in the best position to succeed.

That didn’t happen Saturday night, and with two weeks before the next game and three before the next legitimate test, the frustration folks have with the coaches and some players will only continue to fester and build.

So what now?

If you’re a player, lick your wounds and keep trying to get better. There are at least 11 more games, providing ample time to change the narrative of this season.

If you’re a coach, look in the mirror and ask yourself the hard questions. How are you failing? How can you improve? If you’re the head coach, you must ask if the coaches below you can improve and if the answer is no, make a change before it’s too late.

If you’re a fan, well, do what you should always do with Arizona football, which is hope for the best but expect disappointment. Don’t give up on the team, but understand that being a fan of this program is pretty much always going to be messy.

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Wildcat Wrap: Arizona-Hawaii was ‘greatest Week 0 game ever’

Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports

It’s Monday, which means it’s time to recap another week of Arizona Wildcats athletics. Let us know in the comment section if we missed anything.

Volleyball

• Arizona held its Red-Blue Scrimmage on Saturday, with the biggest takeaway being that the Wildcats are still looking for an outside hitter to play opposite of Paige Whipple. Here’s Dave Rubio’s thoughts on that and more:

Hear what Dave Rubio had to say after Arizona Volleyball’s Red-Blue scrimmage

Posted by AZ Desert Swarm on Saturday, August 24, 2019

• Volleyball opens its season Friday with home matches against Appalachian State and Loyola Marymount.

Softball

• Former UA pitchers Taylor McQuillin (Mexico), Danielle O’Toole (Mexico) and Michelle Floyd (Venezuela) are in Canada for the Americas Olympic Qualifier, the schedule for which can be found here. The Mexican team is expected to have a great shot at qualifying.

Soccer

• Arizona soccer’s opener vs. Long Beach State was canceled due to lightning. In better news, forward Jada Talley was named to TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Top 100.
• Here was my notebook leading up to the LBSU game, with tidbits on the goalkeeping situation, freshman standout Madison Goerlinger, and sophomore forward Brooke Wilson receiving an honor from the WPSL.
• I caught up with transfers Grace Santos and Ava McCray, who should be impact players this season, and have a lot a common including the reason they came to Arizona.
• Arizona opens its season Friday in Tempe against Weber State, before closing the weekend Sunday against Tennessee Tech.

Baseball

Congrats to @BobbyDalbec and @Jared_Oliva41 on being named Eastern League All-Stars! ⬇️#MLBTrainingGround | #BearDown https://t.co/MBzxwBGD43

— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) August 23, 2019

Basketball

• No. 1 point guard Daishen Nix cut Arizona from consideration, then committed to UCLA.
• The women’s team announced its non-conference schedule and saw its freshman arrive on campus. Kim has an in-depth breakdown on that.

Football

• Jamarye Joiner explained his decision to move from QB to WR, which is already paying dividends.
• Fellow Tucsonan Matt Aragon is relishing his chance to be Arizona’s starting punter
• Arizona arrived late for the Hawaii game due to a canceled police escort. That was a sign of things to come.
• Arizona got off to a slow start, then a halting finish in a heartbreaking 45-38 loss to the Hawaii.
• Here is what we learned from that game, which saw Khalil Tate throw for a career high in passing yards and generate six turnovers but still fall short.
• Here were Arizona’s players of the game.
• Here are some things we liked and didn’t like from the loss.
• Here are position grades.
• Former Wildcat Scooby Wright got signed by the Patriots and engaged in the same weekend.
• Khalil Tate and Jace Whittaker were the highest-graded players in the Hawaii game, both putting up big numbers.
• Our friends at Banner Society took a look at the history of Week 0. The Arizona-Hawaii game is apparently the best opener ever. Here is why:

Hawaii had six turnovers. Arizona had two. There were 1,134 yards of offense between the teams, but Zona needed there to be 1,135. The Rainbow Warriors hauled down Khalil Tate at the one as time expired, thanks to a defensive lineman named Manly Williams sprinting 40-plus yards at the buzzer.

This game earns the top spot by being loaded with two qualities that make college football its most fun: extreme suspense and extreme silliness.

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