“In a combined span of 50-plus years of Division I basketball coaching, we have not worked with a more trustworthy, honorable newspaperman than Javier Morales. … He has a personality that fits in very well with the needs we had as coaches and in his dealings with our student-athletes.” Lute Olson and Jim Rosborough.

That is what Olson and Rosborough wrote about fellow TucsonCitizen.com sports writer Javier Morales back in 1999. Oh, and he is also my younger brother.

The Arizona Press Club agrees with that assessment and will honor him in late May at the Arizona Press Club Awards Party in Phoenix in, “a tribute to the state’s best journalism.”

Javier has been covering University of Arizona athletics since 1985, mostly with The Arizona Daily Star. He is also the owner and publisher of UAHoopsCoach.com and WildAboutAZCats.com and is a major force behind the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network.

His series for TucsonCitizen.com on the search of former Arizona basketball star Coniel Norman gained national recognition and led to the award. Norman is the career scoring average leader and played under Fred Snowden from 1972-74.

Norman was nicknamed “Popcorn” or simply “Corn” by his teammates and fans alike due to his shooting ability and style before the days of the three-point shot. He averaged 24 points a game as a freshman without the benefit of the line.

He and teammate Eric Money left Arizona early and entered the NBA draft after their sophomore seasons. Money and Norman were the first Arizona players to leave early for the NBA draft – a fact that escapes other “journalists” who have since come to Tucson and have no memory, no relationship or no history with Arizona and its players and coaches.

Norman played for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Javier detailed Norman’s NBA career and his subsequent disappearance from public life in the early 1980s. Norman’s niece Cassie was in contact with Javier on possible leads to where he might be – some feared he was dead.

Norman was homeless in the Los Angeles area and was taken to a hospital for treatment in early 2010 and the hospital was able to track down a sister living in Detroit.

“Once my mother spoke to him, we decided to go to California and bring him back with us,” Cassie told Javier.

Javier was born in Tucson and graduated from Sunnyside High School after moving back from Maryland where we lived as a family for several years.

My three brothers and I had several encounters with Norman, Money, Snowden, Jim Rappis and Bob Elliott when we were young. We even got to visit the locker room.

Even with all that, Javier managed to remain calm and objective while covering the 1996-97 Arizona men’s basketball national championship team for the Star.

It was because of his objective and tireless work at the time that Olson found Javier to be “trustworthy” and “honorable.” He understood he didn’t have to be an adversary to get a good story. Good stories come from good subjects and from good journalists who are willing and able to tell their stories.

I know how much that meant and still means to Javier considering all the lessons passed on to us by our father who passed away last year. One of those lessons was the importance of an education and Javier is completing work on his Masters degree.

And now, congratulations to the only sports writer from Tucson to be recognized by the Arizona Press Club, Javier Morales.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 23rd, 2011 at 9:19 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.