Citizen Staff Report
THE FINAL EDITION

Being able to go to the State of the State address with Mark Kimble has always been one of my favorite memories of working at the Citizen. I sat with legislators, mayors and the governor just a few feet away from me. I will always remember seeing the mayor of Phoenix stick his cell phone in his sock. I felt like a kid in a candy store. This was the culmination of my government classes in public education.

Later, on that same trip, I found out how knowledgeable Mark was not just about news but our state and its history in general. Upon buying lunch at McDonald’s (Mark is also a health nut), we discussed Fife Symington’s new career path in the food industry. Mark then revealed to me that during his childhood, Mr. Symington saved some kid from drowning. Later, when Fife got indicted and convicted, this kid came back into his life and rescued him by granting him a presidential pardon. The kid’s name was William Jefferson Clinton. So if it wasn’t for Symington, Clinton would be dead by now.

That day was one of the days that I learned the most in any job and one more thing that will be with me for the rest of my life, thanks to the Citizen and thanks to Mark.

ARNIE BERMUDEZ

Artist/designer

In this world of celebrity overload, we in the journalism business in Tucson don’t get that many opportunities to interview celebs, let alone have them admit to something publicly that had previously remained buried in their past.

But when I interviewed ABC sportscaster Al Michaels in 1977, that’s exactly what happened.

Some background: Michaels was sports editor of The State Press, the student paper at Arizona State University, in 1965. While there, he perpetrated a hoax on The Arizona Republic’s sports staff by inventing a fictitious athlete from Fredonia High School in northern Arizona. Michaels and his school buddy, George Allen, concocted baseball star Clint Romas, then kept embellishing a legendary career for him through calls to the Republic sports desk. As long as the Republic kept printing the stats and linescores, they would keep calling in with ever-more outrageous feats.

The hoax fell apart when the Republic finally decided to call Fredonia to do a story on Romas and found out he didn’t exist. Just who had conned the Republic remained a mystery, though – at least until Michaels admitted it to me and I published his account.

How did I know about the hoax and to ask Michaels about it? Let’s just say a reporter never reveals his sources.

BRUCE JOHNSTON

News editor

Citizen Staff Writer
THE FINAL EDITION

“Aaron passes Ruth!”

“Nixon resigns!”

Those headlines helped me sell a lot of newspapers in 1974, when my journey with the Tucson Citizen began as an 11-year-old hawker. Wearing my “Citizen Charlie” smock, I pitched the paper – which cost 15 cents back then – in front of my father’s East Side liquor store.

In between begging for tips, I pored over the sports section. I studied box scores and Citizen writers such as Regis McAuley, Corky Simpson, Jack Rickard and Bruce Johnston.

The newspaper bug had bitten me.

I took journalism at Catalina High School under J.G. Carlton, and began calling in prep box scores to the Citizen for $3 a game. By the time I landed a correspondent’s job in 1980, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

Except for a five-year stint at USA TODAY, I worked many different jobs and many crazy hours at the Citizen until Gannett announced our closure.

Some of my favorite memories:

• High school: Sahuaro quarterback Rodney Peete threw for a then-state record 424 yards and five touchdowns in 1983 against Amphi. It ended in a 34-34 tie but was the greatest game I ever reported. Amphi countered with 361 yards on the ground in a contest that saw three TDs and one field goal scored in the final 3 minutes and 42 seconds.

• College: After covering Sean Elliott for three years at Cholla High, I watched him break Lew Alcindor’s Pac-10 career scoring record in 1989. Elliott needed 34 points and scored 35 – with six 3-pointers. It’s the loudest I’ve ever heard McKale Center, and we had a special section printed after UA routed UCLA.

• Pro: Curt Schilling sprayed champagne on me and other reporters in the locker room after the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees to win the 2001 World Series. When Luis Gonzalez singled in the winning run, strangers began hugging in the aisles at Bank One Ballpark.

• Embarrassing: On a hot night, I fainted in the elevator at Arizona Stadium during UA’s 1986 football home opener vs. Houston. When I came to, then-sports information director Butch Henry stood over me, asking in his Arkansas drawl, “Is he dead?”

• Initiation: Two Cleveland Indians players, who shall remain nameless, tried to stuff me in a locker when I was 19. To the locker-room attendant who saved me, thank you.

• Sadness: When I was an assistant city editor, I had to wake up Lute Olson to tell him that former UA basketball assistant Ricky Byrdsong had been gunned down in Evanston, Ill. After Olson’s wife, Bobbi, yelled, “No, God,” Lute gave me an eloquent quote.

• Proudest: Watching our sports staff pull together some of the biggest stories of the decade: UA football coach John Mackovic’s firing; the death of UA women’s basketball star Shawntinice Polk; Olson’s retirement and Sean Miller’s hiring as basketball coach.

I’m biased, but I considered my sports staff to be one of the hardest-working and professional in the nation.

The Associated Press Sports Editors agreed. It named us a top 10 daily sports section in the nation seven of the last nine years for our circulation category.

Credit goes to my second “family”: Steve Rivera, John Moredich, Anthony Gimino, Bryan Lee, Ken Brazzle, Geoff Grammer, Raymond Suarez and Michael Schmelzle. Correspondents Ash Friederich, Rodney Haas and Christopher Veck deserve high-fives, along with past staffers Dave Petruska, Paul Schwalbach, Michael Caccamise, Shelly Lewellen, David Pittman, Stephen Sharpton, Jessie Vanderson, Charles Durrenberger and Christopher Walsh.

More thanks go out to all the page designers I annoyed with my suggestions, Simpson for his inspiration and guidance, and Peter Madrid, who I succeeded as sports editor in 1999.

Finally, I’d like to pay tribute to all the coaches, players, parents and readers who helped suggest stories and make my job easier.

I’ll miss this place.

Citizen Staff Writer
THE FINAL EDITION

BRYAN LEE

brylee@tucsoncitizen.com

Since 1957, the Tucson Citizen has profiled more than a 1,000 of the city’s finest high school student-athletes.

Each school nominated a candidate based on academics, athletics, leadership, service to their school and an essay on who influenced them most.

In all, there were 54 winners of the Tucson Citizen Student-Athlete Award, with co-recipients named twice.

Every year, the Citizen also would revisit a past winner from a decade before. Here’s what three are doing now:

Tim Ashcraft, Sahuaro, 2004

How many AH-64D Apache attack helicopter pilots play piano, cello, drums and guitar, sing in chorus, give piano lessons and have and acted and sung with professional aplomb in musical performances?

Tim Ashcraft is one of such an elite.

A 2007 West Point grad, Ashcraft, still very much a champion of the arts, is now stationed in flight school at Fort Rucker, Ala., where he is specializing in helicopters.

Ashcraft always yearned to fly. He likes to recall when he first learned on a Cessna while at West Point and flew around the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson River. It was both business and fun.

At Sahuaro, music was as much of his growing-up years as academics (22nd in his class) and sports (nine letters in football, baseball and soccer). At the academy, he minored in music and majored in mechanical engineering.

“My granddad was in the Army, so that was the military background,” Ashcraft says, “but I didn’t think about the military growing up. But in choosing West Point, it provided the best opportunity to enjoy what I do and serve my country.”

Granddad was Clarence L. “Stub” Ashcraft, a University of Arizona icon, who died in 2008 at age 89. He was a major in WWII, a former UA lineman and served as UA historian and athletic events coordinator (1962-85). Tim’s father is David Ashcraft, a retired Sahuaro music director. Tim credits his older brother, Chris, as his life’s inspiration.

For Tim Ashcraft, serving in the Army has been an uplifting experience.

“With everything going on in the world today,” he says, “I couldn’t be more amazed at the support the U.S. military is receiving.”

Philo Sanchez, Sunnyside, 2002

The official programs stretched Philo Sanchez’s height from 5 feet 6 to 5-7, but every one of his 195 pounds on the football field was felt by opponents.

Sanchez, the 2002 Student-Athlete winner, has known nothing other than to overachieve since the time parents Richard and Anna Sanchez gently informed him what life was about, around age 2.

As an athlete, Philo was Sunnyside’s all-time leading rusher under his dad, the head coach, and led the Blue Devils to two state playoff championship games, winning the second time.

Sanchez continued playing at Northern Arizona and was the Lumberjacks’ leading rusher his junior and senior years.

But there is a lot more to his life than football. He was a scholar from kindergarten on and graduated fourth in his Sunnyside class of 365 and has been constantly involved in community and church service.

“Winning the Student-Athlete Award was sort of the culmination of everything, all the hard work I did,” Sanchez said.

At NAU he pursued a biology and pre-med major intending to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Mark Donovan, an orthodontist. But over the last two years, in which he helped his father as an assistant coach, Sanchez decided law school was for him. He’s now in the process of applying.

“My mother always said I should be a lawyer,” he said, “because I was so argumentative. Then after I graduated (NAU), she sensed I was not that excited about (being an orthodontist) anymore. She always was the smartest person I ever knew.”

Brains and inspiration are part of any success story. Football stars such as Walter Payton drifted in and out of his imagination, but one was always No. 1.

“Some kids make a superhero out of Superman or Spider-Man but I always had my father,” Philo says. “He’s what every man should be – compassionate, though sometimes he doesn’t show it, and strong.”

Molly Reiling, Salpointe Catholic, 1984

Girls sports took off in the 1970s, when Title IX required schools to offer equal sports opportunities to females.

Molly Reiling watched her older sister play interscholastic softball, and she eagerly followed suit.

“I was the first female Student-Athlete winner from Salpointe,” she said. “It was sort of a new thing but I remember it made me feel very proud. I was one of the first generation after (Title IX). We were some of the first to see the full effects.”

Karen Christensen from Rincon High was the first girl’s Student-Athlete Award winner in 1976, followed by Kristine Bush (Sabino), Lisa Kay Baker (Sahuaro) and Vickie Patton (Marana) before Reiling won in 1984.

Paul Reiling had three daughters and no sons but he never lacked for kids active in sports. He helped coached his girls in softball. Molly’s expertise was softball and volleyball and she went on to play two years of college volleyball at Arizona State before transferring to concentrate on her architecture degree at UC-Santa Barbara.

Now the married Molly Dowd, lives in Verona, N.J., a suburb of New York City, with two preteen daughters. A freelance spatial planning and interior drafting professional, she started a middle school volleyball program for her daughters.

“I thought of going on in sports and it’s amazing the opportunities growing for women now in college and after – professional, overseas pros, coaching . . .

“I’m just grateful for the opportunities.”

TUCSON CITIZEN STUDENT-ATHLETE AWARD WINNERS

Year Student-athlete High school

1957 D.L. Secrist Jr. Tucson High

1958 Donald Parsons Catalina

1959 Edward Brown Flowing Wells

1960 Terry DeJonghe Salpointe

1961 Robert Svob Catalina

1962 Ray Kosanke Tucson High

1963 Michael Aboud Tucson High

1964 Pat McAndrew Flowing Wells

1965 Charles Begley Sunnyside

1966 Eric Evett Catalina

1967 Ron Curry Tucson High

1968 Jeff Lovin Palo Verde

1969 Bruce Pawlowski Salpointe

1970 Dave Henry Sahuaro

1971 Tom Hagen Salpointe

1972 Bill Baechler Palo Verde

1973 Francisco Gomez Pueblo

1974 Richard Rucker Canyon del Oro

1975 Guillermo Robles Sunnyside

1976 Karen Christensen Rincon

1977 Michael Wing Rincon

1978 Craig Barker Amphitheater

1979 Ralph Gay Sunnyside

1980 Kristine Bush Sabino

1981 Lisa Kay Baker Sahuaro

1982 Vickie Patton Marana

1983 Martin Tetreault Sahuaro

1984 Molly Reiling Salpointe

1985 Timothy Roggeman Salpointe

1986 Jon Volpe Amphitheater

1987 Luis A. Padilla Pueblo

1988 Nicole Stern Catalina

1989 Robert Moen Flowing Wells

1990 Grace O’Neill Salpointe

1991 Angel Phillips Rincon

1992 Zenen Salazar Sunnyside

1993 Michelle Vielledent Sahuaro

1994 Julie Reitan Sahuaro

and Brady Bennon Sabino

1995 Kelly Yablonski University High

1996 Joe Aguirre Palo Verde

1997 Andy Viner University High

1998 Scott Beck Canyon del Oro

1999 Glenn Schatz University High

2000 Nicole Voelkel University High

2001 Ai-ris Yonekura Catalina Foothills

2002 Philo Sanchez Sunnyside

2003 Tim Ashcraft Sahuaro

2004 Joe Kay Tucson High

2005 Tiffany Hosten Tucson High

and Echo Fallon Catalina Foothills

2006 Michael Smith Sunnyside

2007 Tara Erdmann Flowing Wells

2008 James Eichberger Catalina

Reiling

Top student-athletes

The Associated Press
GOLF

The Associated Press

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – A week off did nothing to slow down former Arizona Wildcat Lorena Ochoa, and a month away from the game found Lindsey Wright in the same groove she was in before a vacation.

Ochoa picked up where she left off in winning two weeks ago in her native Mexico with eight birdies against one bogey Thursday. Her 7-under-par 64 gave her a one-shot lead over Wright after the first round of the Michelob Ultra Open.

“This is only the start,” said Ochoa, a three-time runner-up in the event. “We have three more days. One at a time.”

Wright, a nonwinner in five seasons, hadn’t played since finishing fourth in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the season’s first major in the first week in April, but was bogey-free on the soggy 6,315-yard River Course at Kingsmill that has received rain for several days.

Hee-Won Han, Sarah Lee and Minea Blomqvist shot 66s to share third place. Seon Hwa Lee, Na Yeon Choi and Amy Yang shot 67s and 2007 champion Suzann Pettersen was among seven at 68.

In all, 45 of 144 players took advantage of the soft greens and broke par.

Other notables making a run at the leader board included 2005 winner Cristie Kerr, who got to 4-under but then stumbled to finish at 2-under 69; rookie Vicky Hurst, who got to 4- under but gave two shots back on her last four holes to finish at 68; and Michelle Wie, who got to 3-under after her first 12 holes, but had two bogeys coming in to finish six shots back at 1-under 70.

The rainy start and sometimes gusting wind seemed to be of little consequence to Ochoa, the world’s top-ranked player. She made three birdie putts of 17 feet or longer while working on her putting alignment and said she’s starting to feel more comfortable on the greens.

“That was a big change for me because I didn’t feel comfortable aiming to the hole,” Ochoa said of her old putting style, which had her coming across the ball instead of hitting it head on. “It didn’t feel right in the beginning, but now I’m seeing a lot of good results.”

She finished with a flourish, hitting a booming drive on the 382-yard, par-14 18th that left her with about 100 yards to the flagstick, and then an approach to about 12 feet.

PGA Tour

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Ben Crane should have known what was coming when he rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the first hole of the day. He kept right on pouring them in until he had a 7-under 65 and a one-shot lead in The Players Championship.

Crane made four birdie putts longer than 20 feet, kept his ball on land throughout another wild opening round Thursday on the TPC Sawgrass and wound up atop a leader board devoid of the biggest stars.

Tiger Woods couldn’t make a putt outside 4 feet.

Phil Mickelson ran off three straight birdies early in his round, then couldn’t keep the ball in play.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia opened with a 71 and already was looking forward to going home to Spain.

Crane couldn’t relate.

He had a one-shot lead over John Mallinger, Alex Cejka and Richard S. Johnson, with a large group at 67 that included Retief Goosen, David Toms, Camilo Villegas and Scott Verplank, who had two eagles – one of them from 150 yards out on the 15th fairway, another with a putt that seemed about that long on the par-5 second.

Woods opened his round with four straight birdie chances inside 12 feet and missed them all. He wound up with a 71, keeping alive his streak of never breaking 70 in the opening round at this elite event. Mickelson hit iron off the 18th tee but it worked out beautifully with an approach to 5 feet for birdie to salvage a 73.

PGA Europe

TURIN, Italy – Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin shot a course-record 7-under 64 to take a three-shot lead after the first round of the Italian Open.

Citizen Staff Writer

BRYAN LEE

brylee@tucsoncitizen.com

What’s your pleasure, birdie or par? They ended up counting the same for the semifinal winners Tuesday at the difficult Stone Canyon Golf Club.

“Here you don’t want to risk things,” said Rich Elias, who rallied to defeat former Arizona Wildcat Josh Wilks in the quarterfinals of the Southwest Section Southern Chapter annual pro match play by playing cautiously.

Elias won when Wilks conceded on the 18th green following two mistakes by Wilks. The two traded pars most of the way, with the only 2-up lead coming early in the match.

Elias, head pro at Torres Blancas of Green Valley, will face Stone Canyon’s Andrew Cochran, who beat defending champion Brandon Smith in 20 holes, in Wednesday’s semifinals.

Leading off the semifinal round will be two players who tore up the Stone Canyon course Tuesday – Chris Dompier of Skyline Country Club and Glen Griffith of Tucson Golf Schools.

Dompier posted 14 birdies and one eagle and beat Stone Canyon’s Dean Vomacka 4 and 3.

Griffith had an eagle and was 5-under par the first six holes of his quarterfinal match, 3 and 2 over top-seeded Mike Russell.

Wilks couldn’t escape a sand trap on first try on No. 17, then “killed my tee shot on No. 18.”

“I shot out of a bunker and all I had to do was roll it in,” said Elias, whose strategy was to be conservative and try to hit under gusting winds on high-level spots.

Stone Canyon is the state’s No. 2-rated course in difficulty.

“Josh started to think too much at the end and it hurt him,” theorized tournament director Nick Price.

Wilks, 25, was playing in his first tournament in two years after leaving UA and taking a “burnout sabbatical.” He taught school for a while and worked as an assistant at the Gallery Golf Club.

“I’m ready to get back,” Wilks said. “I’m going to play some tournaments, and if I”m doing well I’ll chase the Nationwide Tour. I found out what it means to have to earn a living and how I’m blessed to be playing this game.”

Citizen Staff Writer
ARIZONA WILDCATS BASEBALL

JOHN MOREDICH

jmoredich@tucsoncitizen.com

The Arizona baseball team usually plays well against Stanford, and this weekend was no exception.

The Wildcats won their first Pac-10 series of the year by pulling out a 7-6 victory in the finale Sunday in Palo Alto, Calif.

This is the the seventh straight year Arizona has won the Pac-10 series against the Cardinal.

The Wildcats haven’t lost a series to Stanford since 2002, which was UA’s first season under coach Andy Lopez.

Arizona hopes this victory is a jump-start to better things. The Wildcats are 19-20 overall and 5-13 in the Pac-10.

“Hopefully this is a sign of things to come,” Lopez said in a phone interview Sunday.

Arizona’s win pulled the Wildcats out of the Pac-10 basement, as they jumped ahead of Oregon.

UA hosts Arizona State at 3 p.m. Wednesday, but it won’t count as a league game. After that, the Wildcats host California for three games beginning at 7 p.m. Friday.

After getting a pitching gem from Preston Guilmet in an 11-1 Friday victory over Stanford, the Wildcats struggled in losing 3-1 Saturday.

But the bats came alive against Sunday, as UA pounded out 14 hits.

Leadoff batter Bryce Ortega went 2 for 3 with three runs scored, and blasted a home run in the sixth inning to put the Wildcats up 6-3.

In the eighth, Ortega walked and scored on an RBI double by Jett Bandy to put UA up 7-5.

“Ortega, of the older guys, has been very consistent for us and has gotten big hits,” Lopez said. “He is really playing well.”

Freshman outfielder Steve Selsky, starting his first game in left field, went 4 for 5.

Jason Stoffel pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning before retiring the side in the ninth to notch his eighth save.

Cory Burns (1-0) picked up the win by tossing two scoreless innings in relief.

Although Brad Glenn, who went 6 for 8 in the first two games, didn’t get a hit Sunday, he drove in two runs.

His run-scoring sacrifice fly in the fifth handed the Wildcats a 4-3 lead. Kyle Stiner drove in Selsky for a 5-3 lead in the sixth with an RBI single.

“We were getting things done that we haven’t been doing over the last five weeks,” Lopez said. “It was a good weekend for us.”

Citizen Staff Report
UA BASEBALL

Citizen Staff Report

The University of Arizona baseball team moved within a game of .500 with a dominant performance at Stanford on Friday night.

The Wildcats (18-19, 4-12) won 11-1 as Preston Guilmet (3-4) threw seven strong innings, allowing five hits and one run while striking out three.

UA scored four times in the fourth and twice in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead. The Wildcats added two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth.

Brad Glenn went 3 for 5 and hit his 40th career homer for the Wildcats, while Dwight Childs went 2 for 3 with three RBIs.

Glenn and Childs scored three runs apiece.

Jett Bandy, Kyle Stiner and Bobby Coyle also had a pair of hits for Arizona.

Bryce Bandilla pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Guilmet, who won for the first time since March 13.

Stanford’s Jordan Pries (3-1) took the loss, allowing six runs in 4 1/2 innings. The Cardinal had just six total hits, and got their only run on a homer by Toby Gerhart in the sixth.

UA is still in last place in the Pac-10, a half-game behind Oregon. The teams meet again at 1 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. UA will be home next week to host Arizona State at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Citizen Staff Report
LOCAL ROUNDUP

Citizen Staff Report

The University of Arizona baseball team fell back under .500 with a tough 5-4 loss at Washington State on Friday night.

Arizona (16-17, 3-10) led 4-2 in the seventh inning before the Cougars rallied for three runs.

Alex Burg hit a two-run triple to put Washington State up for good. The ball fell when Arizona outfielder Hunter Pace got his cleats caught in the turf.

Preston Guilmet (2-4) took the loss, allowing four earned runs in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked four.

Matt Way (5-3) earned the win, giving up one earned run in eight innings. He struck out 10.

Jett Bandy went 3 for 4 with a home run and double for the Wildcats.

Washington State improved to 16-16 overall and 4-4 in Pac-10 play.

The teams meet again at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Women’s tennis

Arizona had no trouble in a nonconference match with visiting Portland on Friday, winning 7-0 to improve to 11-9.

Wildcat senior Danielle Steinberg won 6-0, 6-0 in her last home match at UA.

Sarah Landsman won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2.

UA visits Arizona State at 1 p.m. Saturday in its regular-season finale.

“This will be a true test against the Devils,” said UA coach Vicky Maes in a news release.

“This is for school pride and we have to put it all on the line.”

Citizen Staff Writer
PAC-10 SOFTBALL

BRYAN LEE

brylee@tucsoncitizen.com

The bad news for the Arizona softball team in this weekend’s crucial Pac-10 series is the arrival of one of the best pitchers in the country.

Stanford’s Missy Penna has a 25-3 record for the No. 2-ranked Cardinal to go with a 0.90 ERA.

The bad news for Stanford is it will have to deal with the Wildcats’ potent lineup.

Sam “Bam” Banister, in the fifth batting spot for No. 9 Arizona, puts the Cardinal in a pickle that not even Penna welcomes.

Arizona State got picky and walked cleanup slugger Jenae Leles twice to get to Banister last week and got its clocked cleaned twice: a pair of three-run homers.

UA (33-9, 5-2) and Stanford (36-4, 6-3) are tied for first in the Pac-10. The teams meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Hillenbrand Stadium.

UA faces No. 14 California (29-12, 5-4) at Hillenbrand at 7 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

Meanwhile, UA coach Mike Candrea’s “work in progress” got high grades last week as UA beat ASU 10-8, then was tied at 2 in the second game when it was called due to rain.

Candrea can live with the bombs-away offense if defensive obligations are met. And he can live with inconsistent pitching as long as the principals show they care and are working at getting better.

“They are learning to understand the mentality they have to have,” Candrea said. “They had to step up last week and they did. Sarah (Akamine) pitched her heart out.

“Sam is growing up as a senior and enjoying the game like she hasn’t ever before.”

Citizen Staff and Wire Report
SPORTS PEOPLE

Citizen Staff and Wire Report

When the announcement came that 6-foot-5 Malia Nahinu would not return next season, the Arizona women’s basketball team was left with no height.

The tallest player returning would have been 6-1 Ify Ibekwe.

Arizona solved its problem Wednesday, signing 6-4 Jennifer Kioa and 6-3 Amanda Pierson, both junior college transfers.

Pierson (Seward County CC, Liberal, Kan.) and Kioa (Los Angeles Foothill CC) joins November signees Davellyn Whyte (Phoenix St. Mary’s High) and Brooke Jackson (Mesa College).

“We are excited about the kids that we are adding during the late signing period,” said Arizona head coach Niya Butts. “They each bring something different to the table and those attributes should help us this season both in the nonconference and Pac-10 portions of our schedule.”

Kioa was ranked the No. 7 post player in community college basketball this season by Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and No. 26 overall while Pierson was tabbed the ninth best player and 32rd overall by Collegiate Girls Basketball.

Kioa averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots per game last season. Pierson averaged 12 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game.

Arizona will have four players back from a squad that had a 12-19 record last season.

3 tie for SW Section title

Dean Vomacka, Chris Dompier and Don Littrell each posted 2-under-par 70 scores to tie for the win in the Southwest Section PGA Southern Chapter Pro Series I Tuesday at Randolph North Golf Course.

Vomacka of Stone Canyon Club overcame two bogeys on the front nine to score 35-35 with a single birdie on the back. Dompier of Skyline Country Club used an eagle-5 on No. 13 on the back after a 34 on the front, and Littrell, also of Skyline, eagled No. 8 on the way to a first-round 35 and recorded two birdies on the second nine.

The win was the second of the 2009 season for Vomacka, the 2008 Southwest Section PGA Player of the Year. He shot a 5-under 65 in January to win the Section Canoa Ranch Pro-Am.

Bauley a contender

Tucson’s Craig Bauley, the City Seniors champion in 2008, shot a 4-over-par 35-39-74 Wednesday for a three-way tie for fourth place in the first round of the Arizona Champions Stroke Play event.

Eric Rustand of Tucson (77) finished in a 10-way tie for 18th place.

The tournament will continue through Saturday at TPC Scottsdale.

Pennell gets first recruit

New Grand Canyon University men’s basketball coach Russ Pennell, given a full allotment of 10 scholarships with which to work, will sign Scottsdale Saguaro senior Steven Morin during the April signing period.

Morin, a 6-foot-5 wing who averaged just under 20 points, gave Pennell a commitment Monday.

Two Division I players and possibly a third are on their way to Grand Canyon to play next season.

Former Tempe Corona del Sol guard T.J. Benson, a 5-11 junior, is transferring to Grand Canyon from Weber State. And Gaby Ngoundjo, a 6-7, 240-pound forward, was released from his scholarship at Charlotte and will sign with Grand Canyon.

Kentucky gets top forward

Forward DeMarcus Cousins has signed a national letter of intent to play at Kentucky, the first recruit secured by new coach John Calipari.

Cousins had previously committed to play for Calipari at Memphis, but now is joining the Wildcats since Calipari was hired earlier this month to replace Billy Gillispie. Rivals.com has ranked the Mobile, Ala., senior as the top power forward in the country.

Testing NBA waters

A handful of college players said Wednesday they would put their names in for the NBA draft but will not hire an agent, keeping open the option of returning to school for another season.

They are: Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody, South Carolina forward Dominique Archie, Gonzaga forward Austin Daye, Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson and Texas swingman Damion James.

Georgetown says Big East rookie of the year Greg Monroe will stick around for his sophomore season. But UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet said Tuesday he will give up his final year of eligibility and enter the draft.

Ex-UCLA coach has cancer

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Former UCLA and UAB basketball coach Gene Bartow has been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

The 78-year-old Bartow, the president of the company that owns the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, will begin outpatient treatment at the Kirklin Clinic in Birmingham next week, UAB said Wednesday.

He succeeded John Wooden as UCLA’s coach in 1976 and led the Bruins to the Final Four, beating Fred Snowden’s Arizona team in the Elite Eight.

Bartow left after two seasons to start Alabama-Birmingham’s program. He won 647 games over 34 seasons. He also coached Memphis State from 1970-74 and guided the school to the 1973 national title game, where the Tigers lost to a UCLA team coached by Wooden.

V. Williams advances

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Second-seeded Venus Williams struggled to advance at the Family Circle Cup on Wednesday, beating Sania Mirza of India 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

It was a big day for Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., who advanced to the third round with a 7-5, 6-0 win over No. 29 Aleksandra Wozniak, seeded ninth.

Citizen Staff Writer
UA TENNIS

BRYAN LEE

brylee@tucsoncitizen.com

Staring across the nets at the Stanford men’s tennis players Friday might cause the Arizona Wildcats some nervous commotion.

But then, this is Arizona and this is 2009, and according to UA’s top singles player, that makes a difference.

“We’re ready,” said Jay Goldman, despite the No. 8-ranked Cardinal’s incredible past dominance of UA, a 60-2 record. “We’re looking forward to going after these people.”

That also includes California, which will complete the biggest home weekend for Arizona this year.

Stanford will be engaged at 1:30 p.m. Friday and Cal will visit at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Arizona at least can show up with no lack of boldness. The Cats are 16-2 this year and 1-1 in the Pac-10 with a road loss last week at Oregon.

The Bears are 42-13 versus UA all time.

Left-handed Goldman, No. 68 in the nation in singles, is the guy to lead. As the No. 1 singles player, he is 9-4 this year.

He has sharpened his racquet against tested pros since age 16 at Florida’s Nick Bolletierri Tennis Academy.

He traveled last summer to Australia, in part to knock the ball around with pro Lleyton Hewitt.

And players on the UA team from Ecuador, Spain, Israel, Norway and South Africa give the Wildcats a world flavor.

“I have never been in awe of anybody I’ve played,” said Goldman, who gave up downhill skiing as a youth to devote his life to tennis. “I look at it as a chance to see where I’m at. I never play against anybody I feel I can’t beat.”

From Worchester, Mass., he was Arizona’s prize recruit for 2007. He was 27-0 in high school and ranked No. 19 on the national recruiting list.

Goldman’s laid-back attitude, he believes, keeps him on an even keel. Losing a tough, three-set tie-breaker or getting beaten badly doesn’t affect him.

His bane is the type who wants to stay on the court until suppertime.

“I like guys who crack the ball, hit winners ever shot,” he said. “And if he’s doing it, he’s going to slow down. A match can shift anytime. You lose a set, forget it, it’s a new set.

“Win some, lose some,” he said, “and I’ve been feeling pretty good lately.”

• Season records, 7C

Citizen Staff Writer
NCAA EXTRA

STEVE RIVERA

srivera@tucsoncitizen.com

MIAMI – Arizona heads to Indianapolis for the Sweet 16 with a coaching staff in limbo and a head coach still needing to be hired.

It’s a problem Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood isn’t ready to deal with right now.

“This is about (enjoying) this moment right now,” Livengood said, just moments after UA beat Cleveland State 71-57 at America Airlines Arena on Sunday.

“This is about right now and getting this team home safely and getting ready to go to Indy next week.”

There is no set timetable in hiring the next coach, but “we’re right on schedule” on what will be done,” Livengood said.

He added that he and UA president Robert Shelton are the ones who know the schedule.

“(The hiring) is so foreign to what we’re doing right now,” he said, of enjoying the moment. “Anything I would say or anyone would say takes away from the moment and that shouldn’t happen.”

He knew it

Dewey Pennell, father of Arizona interim coach Russ Pennell, said about five weeks ago that UA had a chance to make it to the Sweet 16.

Russ said his father told him the team had one more good run in it and it was good enough to make it to the third round.

“I looked at him and thought, ‘Man, are you going crazy or what?’ ” Russ Pennell said.

Pennell said his dad’s pick wasn’t a “bold prediction” because he really meant it.

Words from Wise

Nic Wise said he told his team after UA lost to Arizona State recently that “I wanted to be in the national championship game. That’s the way we’re playing. We know we can be here and we have the talent to do it.

“We’re proving it now, and we’re peaking at the right time.”

Unusual path

UA junior Chase Budinger was asked about his long journey to get to the Sweet 16, having played for three coaches in three years.

“I don’t think anybody signed up for what has happened, especially me, Nic and Jordan (Hill) coming here three years ago,” he said. “We thought we would be playing for one coach our whole college career.

“You know, things change on you. You just have to go with it and stay positive. I think that’s what we’ve done.”

Olson calls

Just before the team opened the doors for the media to come in for interviews after Sunday’s game, a phone rang in the locker room.

It apparently was former coach Lute Olson. It’s not clear who received the call.

“I don’t have my phone on me, but he made a call because right in the middle of one of our coach’s speeches I heard it go off and it was him,” Pennell said. “So, we’ll forgive whoever’s phone that was.”

Pennell said he anticipated a call from Olson at some point.

“Coach has been real good about calling and staying in touch with us all year,” Pennell said.

This and that

This will be Arizona’s 13th Sweet 16 appearance . . . UA is now 2-1 vs. the No. 13 seed in its tournament history. . . After scoring 15 points, UA’s Chase Budinger moved into 11th place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,675 points . . . UA is 8-0 when the Big Three (Budinger, Wise and Hill) each score 15 points or more . . . Wise set an Arizona Tournament record by going 10 for 10 from the free throw line.

Citizen Staff Writer
NCAA EXTRA

STEVE RIVERA

srivera@tucsoncitizen.com

MIAMI – Arizona freshman Kyle Fogg said he was nervous going into the Wildcats’ game with Utah on Friday.

The nerves didn’t last long. He was fine by the time he scored his first basket to give UA a 5-4 lead two minutes into the contest.

“I was excited and had lots of emotions,” said Fogg, who was instrumental in Arizona’s 84-71 win over Utah at America Airlines Arena. “As soon as I got my first steal and basket, it was a big weight off my shoulders.”

He then played like an old-school veteran. He finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three steals in 35 minutes.

The big stage was no problem for Fogg, who had run hot and cold the last month of the season. He had zero points against Arizona State last week in the Pac-10 Tournament.

“I thought Kyle handled (the stage) the way he’s handled most things this year,” said UA interim coach Russ Pennell. “I don’t know if he’s calm, cool and collected. Or if he’s just naive enough not to know that he’s supposed to be nervous.

“I thought he played extremely well.”

Tights gone

UA’s Nic Wise played without his calf socks, which look like tights. He’s played with them all season, but the NCAA didn’t allow him to wear them in the tournament.

He said he was fine with it, and showed it by scoring a game-high 29 points.

Utah coach Jim Boylen said he noticed the tights were missing, joking that “was the difference.”

“I don’t know if you noticed that,” Boylen said, “maybe that’s the key for him, taking off your tights.”

Wise also didn’t play with his headband. He decided on that, he said, and not the NCAA.

Gotta be Horne

With 44 seconds left in the game and Arizona up 80-69, UA’s Jamelle Horne went in for a dunk – and missed. Well, sort of. The dunk went through the rim, but then bounced out and didn’t count.

Strange things happen to Horne. Remember the intentional foul he had against Alabama-Birmingham? Or the last-second foul at USC?

Those cost his two team a pair of possible victories.

“That’s the first time that has ever happened,” Horne said of the dunk attempt. “It seems like things happen over and over but I’m going to stick with it. I have tough skin. I’m going to stick with it because I know my team needs me.”

‘I don’t know if he’s calm, cool and collected. Or if he’s just naive enough not to know that he’s supposed to be nervous.’

RUSS PENNELL,

interim head coach, on freshman Kyle Fogg’s performance Friday night

Citizen Staff Writer

Backcourt: UA may be overmatched because Cleveland State has two quality guards in Cedric Jackson and Norris Cole to go against Nic Wise. The Cats need a strong effort from Kyle Fogg. Edge: Even

Frontcourt: Jordan Hill’s size will be a plus for UA. He should have an advantage over J’Nathan Bullock, a 6-foot-5, 240-pounder. CSU might use 6-9 Chris Moore to guard Hill, but he does not have Hill’s ability. This game should be a perfect fit for UA’s Jamelle Horne. And expect another strong game from UA’s Chase Budinger. Edge: UA

Defense: The Vikings create turnovers. UA will have it tough with every possession. UA’s defense with the zone will be key. Can it limit CSU’s treys? I’d says yes because CSU doesn’t shoot very well from that range. Edge: Even.

Outcome: The unbelievable story that is Arizona hoops will continue. Arizona should be able to handle the Vikings. But it won’t be easy. It’ll be a fun game to watch. First one to 73 wins. UA by 6

STEVE RIVERA

Citizen Staff Writer
NCAA EXTRA

STEVE RIVERA

srivera@tucsoncitizen.com

MIAMI – The Arizona basketball team arrived here, unpacked and went to work.

Practice lasted about 1 hour, 40 minutes in preparation for Friday afternoon’s game with Utah at American Airlines Arena. Arizona practiced at Florida International.

“Everything is fine,” said team spokesman Richard Paige. “Things are good and practice was relatively smooth.”

Paige said Arizona did some stretching, shooting and drill work. “It was game-day stuff,” he said.

The team took a charter flight from Tucson to Miami, which took about 3 1/2 hours. The Wildcats will hold an open practice Thursday at 2:55 p.m. Tucson time. The squad meets with the media 45 minutes earlier.

Meet the press

Arizona, in its session with reporters, is prepared to talk about its up-and-down season.

The Wildcats stumbled into the tournament at 19-13, having gone 1-5 in the last six.

From Lute Olson’s retirement to barely getting into the tournament, it has been that kind of ride.

This is when old news becomes new news to those who haven’t covered the team on a regular basis.

“The big thing is, this is a group of guys, players and men coaching that came together and gave themselves to each other and somehow put it all together, somehow made it work,” interim coach Russ Pennell said.

“That is what I’m most proud of and happy about. . . . Certainly we wished we would have won a few more (games), but it could have been something that was not nearly as positive. That should be the story.”

Pennell’s debut

This is Pennell’s debut as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament.

He’s ready, having served as an assistant during the Big Dance at Oklahoma State, Mississippi and Arizona State.

“The biggest thing is there is a certain buzz or atmosphere about the NCAA Tournament, and when you walk in for the first time as a young coach you think, ‘This is the coolest thing I’ve ever been around in my whole life,’ ” he said. “(Now) you know what to expect.

“I don’t know if anybody consciously sits there and says, ‘I am in the NCAA Tournament and all eyes of the college basketball world are looking at us.’ Once you get in the game, you are fine.

“I don’t think our approach or my approach as a coach will be any different.”