TUCSON — Since Sean Miller last held a news conference back in March, the Arizona Wildcats have made 10 player-personnel moves, lost an associate head coach and hired a former star as an assistant head coach.
Oh, yeah: There was that Pac-12 officials controversy, too.
Solomon Hill missed Arizona’s graduation ceremonies last week, but he’s already pretty busy with his professional life.
The former Arizona Wildcats forward has been working out in Los Angeles and Houston while preparing to participate in this week’s NBA pre-draft combine and then schedule a series of private workouts for teams.
Mighty Mouse appears to be flying full circle.
Two decades after Damon Stoudamire morphed into a 5-foot-10 star guard at Arizona, the former player with the catchy nickname may be helping the Wildcats build a bridge to the past by joining Sean Miller’s coaching staff.
The Arizona Wildcats’ crowded frontcourt shook out another player Wednesday, when popular reserve forward Angelo Chol opted to transfer after two seasons.
An athletic 6-foot-9 native of Sudan, Chol played a reduced role last season after Arizona brought in three high school All-America frontcourt players. And, even though freshman forward Grant Jerrett decided to leave for professional basketball last month, Chol’s playing time prospects appeared just as difficult next season because of highly touted newcomers Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
Kevin Parrom’s Arizona Wildcats basketball career is officially over.
Parrom announced Wednesday on Twitter that he would not be applying for a fifth year of eligibility, a waiver request that appeared to have a very slim chance of approval.
CHICAGO – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was on the floor only briefly against future Arizona Wildcats teammate Aaron Gordon on Wednesday, but that was enough.
Gordon threw down a dizzying array of dunks on his way to the McDonald’s All-American MVP award, collecting 24 points and eight rebounds to lead the West to a 110-99 victory over the East, and Hollis-Jefferson nearly felt Gordon’s destruction firsthand.
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said Monday that there was nothing unethical nor any “breach of integrity” when officials coordinator Ed Rush asked the conference’s officials to more critically watch Arizona’s Sean Miller and other Pac-12 coaches.
However, Scott also made it clear during his interviews with ESPN Radio and Pac-12 Networks that Rush’s position will be determined after the conference holds its annual reviews with coaches, athletic directors and officials. Rush and the conference officials work on year-to-year contracts.
The Arizona Wildcats won’t be a part of the 2013 Final Four, but they still have a chance to pull off one of college basketball’s biggest victories this week.
Aaron Gordon, a power forward from San Jose, Calif., who is one of the top remaining prospects in the class of 2013, is scheduled to announce his college choice around the McDonald’s All-American Game, which will be held Wednesday in Chicago.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Arizona Wildcats’ road to the Sweet 16 is actually a loop.
Just 2 miles from the Staples Center, where they will appear Thursday against Ohio State, the Wildcats suffered arguably its worst loss of their season, 89-78, at USC on Feb. 27.
TUCSON Seconds after the University of Arizona was announced as a No. 6 seed matched up against No. 11 Belmont in the NCAA Tournament, the alerts flashed.
On CBS’ selection show: “Belmont’s gonna take down Arizona!”
UCLA wing Jordan Adams might have singlehandledly shot Arizona out of the Pac-12 Tournament, but the Wildcats might want to send him a nice little get-well note today.
Because Adams broke his foot on the last play of UCLA’s 66-64 win over Arizona on Friday, the NCAA selection committee downgraded the Bruins in NCAA placement — and kept the Wildcats as the top team out of the Pac-12 — according to committee chair Mike Bobinski.
LAS VEGAS — After two troubling regular-season losses to UCLA, the Arizona Wildcats will get another crack at the Bruins Friday.
It might as well be now.
TUCSON For memorable images in recent Pac-12 Tournament history, it’s hard to beat Isaiah Thomas’ overtime buzzer-beater for Washington in the 2011 title game, or the four-game blitz that Colorado capped with a down-to-the-wire victory in 2012.
There’s a trivia question in there somewhere, too, but Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller won’t blame anybody who misses it.
LOS ANGELES – Until the New Year rolled around, Sean Miller’s defense was pretty much right on schedule.
Arizona went undefeated in non-conference play with the stiffest defense Miller had seen in his four seasons with the Wildcats: Arizona allowed opponents to score just 59.2 points per game and shoot only 38.9 percent from the field before Pac-12 play began.
TUCSON At 7 feet and 255 pounds, Kaleb Tarczewski has the kind of body that suggests it’s good to be selfish.
After all, as the freshman center has shown during Arizona’s recent bumpy stretch, he has an ability to score inside against all types of players. Hooks, layups, tip-ins. No problem.
TUCSON — Fifteen-year-old Phoenix Sunnyslope High sophomore Royce Woolridge committed to Kansas in May 2008, and not just because the Jayhawks had just won the NCAA title.
Instead, it was a game four months earlier that commanded his attention. On Nov. 25, 2007, fourth-ranked Kansas hosted fellow Phoenix native Jerryd Bayless and the Kevin O’Neill-coached Arizona Wildcats at Allen Fieldhouse.
TUCSON — Thanks to its top three scorers, Arizona’s offense finally found its way in a 70-52 win over Washington on Wednesday night at McKale Center.
Solomon Hill had 19 points and six rebounds, while Mark Lyons scored 14 points and Nick Johnson had 12 points with five assists in Arizona’s easiest win since a 74-50 win over USC at McKale Center on Jan. 26.
SALT LAKE CITY – The Wildcats didn’t make it easy on themselves but hung on to beat Utah 68-64 and snap a two-game losing streak today at the Huntsman Center.
Arizona shot 50 percent from the field in the first half while taking a 33-25 halftime lead but made just 1 of 10 three-pointers in the second half as the Utes tied the game with 7:28 to go and hung around from there.
SALT LAKE CITY — Like any smart player, 6-foot-6 Utah freshman Jordan Loveridge said he looked to take only “shots that were there” when he entered McKale Center on Jan. 5.
So he took them. A lot of them.
BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado’s Spencer Dinwiddie called it a “revenge game,” but no words were necessary.
For Colorado’s 71-58 win over the University of Arizona on Thursday night, the Coors Events Center was packed with a screaming, sold-out crowd of 11,120. Students wore black T-shirts, and the words “Valentine’s Day Massacre” were circulating even before it started.
TUCSON – Just six weeks ago, if Sabatino Chen was known at all outside Colorado, it was mostly for hustle and grit, for being the kind of guy who did everything that didn’t go in the box score.
That all changed in perhaps the most famous split-second in college basketball this season.
TUCSON — Loyal Arizona basketball fans have bought every ticket for Pac-12 games this season, boosted the Wildcats indisputably in close wins over Florida and Colorado, and worn every color T-shirt they have been asked to wear for promotional gimmicks.
And maybe, in a sense, that’s part of the problem.
TUCSON – As a springy rebounder and shot blocker, Stanford junior forward Josh Huestis was never much of an offensive threat in three previous games against the University of Arizona.
But Huestis, who shot 1 for 6 against UA last season, earned the Pac-12′s Player of the Week award Monday after he averaged 15 points and 13 rebounds during the Cardinal’s sweep of the Oregon schools last weekend.
The man accused of shooting Arizona Wildcats forward Kevin Parrom has pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted murder in Bronx Supreme Court as part of an agreement that could result in a six-year prison sentence.
Jason Gonzalez, 21, was arrested on Sept. 30, 2011, six days after Parrom was shot twice while with a female friend in his father’s Bronx apartment during a visit home to see his cancer-stricken mother.
