Pointed in the right direction? Sean Miller sees reasons for optimism. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller, after a home loss to Oregon on Jan. 14, used his press conference opportunities to alternately blast his team’s effort and carelessness with the ball.

Neither has been a problem since then. Imagine that.

In the past three games, Arizona has played with passion and as if ball security were as precious as playing time. The Wildcats are coming off perhaps their most well-rounded game of the season Thursday night, an 85-61 victory over Washington State.

The Cats have won two of the past three games, with the loss at Colorado being avoidable if they had been merely awful from 3-point range rather than a horrific 3 of 20.

Hold the applause — considering the level of competition hasn’t been stellar — but the trends are moving in the right direction for Arizona, which is 14-7 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-12 heading into Saturday’s spotlight game against Washington.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the benefits of new Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez re-hiring offensive line coach Robert Anae was the continuation of recruiting ties to the islands.

Anae, who has deep ties to the Hawaii and the Polynesian community, helped secure the commitment this week of tight end Keoni Bush-Loo from Honolulu’s Kamehameha school.

Bush-Loo took an official visit to Arizona last weekend, and had been set to visit Nebraska this weekend before his commitment.

Bush-Loo (6-4, 240) is rated a two-star recruit by Scout.com, Rivals.com and 247sports.com. He also took an official visit to Idaho and had a scholarship offer from Washington, among others.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Foles will play for the South team in Saturday's Senior Bowl. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

The reviews of former Arizona Wildcats quarterback Nick Foles at the Senior Bowl practices were mixed at best.

I’ve waded through various reports and tweets and interviews from the hundreds of media, draft analysts and scouts who were there in Mobile, Ala., and then I called Rob Rang from NFLDraftScout.com for his view.

“Basically, he’s what I thought he was,” Rang said Thursday, on his way home from Mobile.

“I will give him some credit. I thought he threw the ball better deep than he had the opportunity to do at Arizona. In that regard, he helped himself in terms of my personal grade.

“But I still have some of the same concerns I had before. For a big athlete, he doesn’t move his feet that well. Can be sluggish. In today’s NFL, they’re asking quarterbacks to move so much more. So that is definitely a concern.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Arizona finishes off its most complete game of the season, beating Washington State 85-61 at McKale Center.

Say this: When Arizona gets hot from behind the arc, it gets really hot.

Three-point shooting was one of the big storylines, especially after the Cats were a miserable 3 of 20 in their last game at Colorado. This time, UA was a sizzling 15 of 26 from 3-point range, making the fifth time this season it has hit at least a dozen shots from distance.

Kyle Fogg was 4 of 6, all of that coming in the first half. Brendon Lavender connected on 4 of 5 from 3-point distance. Even walk-on Max Wiepking contributed a trey in the final minute. His shot gave the Cats a season-high for 3-point makes.

* * *

Brendon Lavender cleaning up again from behind the arc, making 4 of 5 3-point attempts as Arizona pours it on. The Cats are up 79-51 with 4:22 to go, having drained 13 of 22 3-pointers.

* * *

Does Arizona have a reputation for being chippy? Two weeks ago, C Kyryl Natyazhko was ejected for coming off the bench during a skirmish against Oregon State. Last week, Solomon Hill was tossed for a flagrant foul when he threw an elbow into the back of a Utah player’s head. And, tonight, Josiah Turner picks up two technicals.

* * *

Point guard Josiah Turner had to leave the court with 10:06 to play after picking up his second technical foul in a span of 66 seconds. The first was part of a double technical with WSU forward Brock Motum. The second came when Turner shoved Motum in the lane after a WSU basket.

Read the rest of this entry »

Devin Fuller player in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl after last season.

The Arizona Wildcats’ pursuit of quarterback Devin Fuller became more interesting with the news Thursday that Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano is leaving for the NFL.

The Scarlet Knights have been considered the favorites to land Fuller, who is from Old Tappan, N.J. But new UA coach Rich Rodriguez stayed in the hunt and recently convinced Fuller to take a trip to Arizona for the last of his five official recruiting visits, which he wrapped up Wednesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kris Heavner attempts a pass in 2007 fall practice during his senior season. Tucson Citizen file photo

Former Arizona Wildcats quarterback and graduate assistant Kris Heavner will be the new head football coach at Santa Rita High School.

Heavner, 27, was one of seven applicants for the job to replace Harold Coleman, who resigned in November after going 6-13 in two seasons.

“He knows football instantly,” Michael Beck, Santa Rita’s assistant principal for athletics, said about Heavner.

“He had the best knowledge of football that we saw from any of the candidates. And he has an outstanding personality and a willingness to commit to be a Santa Rita Eagle, to make our program the state playoff team we were three years ago.

Read the rest of this entry »

Josiah Turner's ability to get to the hoop is one reason why he could succeed in late-game situations. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

It’s been a season-long question. Do the Arizona Wildcats have a go-to guy on offense?

They really don’t.

That was evident in the last game, at Colorado on Saturday. Arizona, down one point, worked the ball around … and worked the ball around … and worked the ball around — hey, somebody take a shot! — before Kevin Parrom ended up with the ball in his hands from behind the 3-point arc for a buzzer-beating shot.

It was an airball.

Not exactly how coach Sean Miller drew it up.

He indicated this week that he is, in a sense, going back to the drawing board in practice.

“I think I have to do a better job of building confidence and who’s going to take the last shot,” Miller said.

Ok, so, who’s going to be taking that last shot?

How about you, Josiah Turner?

Read the rest of this entry »

Aaron Taylor

New Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez is popular with the national media, and more open with access than most college football coaches.

Remember, this is a guy who allowed author John U. Bacon unfettered access for his three years at Michigan, resulting in the very telling “Three and Out” — a must-read for Arizona fans wanting to better know Rodriguez.

And, he let Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples behind the curtain for his first 48 hours on the job in Tucson.

Now, Rodriguez is helping his old pals at the CBS Sports Network — where he served as an analyst last season — provide an inside look at recruiting.

As part of its Signing Day coverage next Wednesday, CBS Sports Network will dispatch Aaron Taylor — the former Notre Dame All-American and NFL offensive lineman — to provide a behind-the-scenes look at signing day with Rodriguez.

Rodriguez will hold two public events to talk about his recruiting class — one at Arizona Stadium next Wednesday night and another in Phoenix a night later, Feb. 2. For information on both events, click this link at www.arizonawildcats.com.

A look at what Arizona will wear Feb. 25. Courtesy: Nike.

The Arizona Wildcats will wear the new Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms for its Feb. 25 game against UCLA, the final home game of the season.

Arizona is one of nine teams wearing the special unis this season, Nike announced Wednesday morning. Like the Cats, the other eight programs have won national championships wearing Nike gear.

They are Baylor (women’s), Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Syracuse, Connecticut (men’s and women’s) and North Carolina.

The teams will wear the Platinum edition uniforms in select games.

(I don’t much care about uniforms and styles and logos and all that, but my first impression on these: Don’t like the “Zona” across the front. “Arizona” will do just fine. I love the back, though.)

Read the rest of this entry »

The Arizona Wildcats will have a new No. 8 next season — defensive back Leo Thomas from San Antonio.

Thomas secured quarterback Nick Foles’ old uniform number this weekend as he committed to Arizona and new coach Rich Rodriguez on his official visit.

“I’m going to be stylin’ that number,” Thomas said Tuesday night.

It’s not even his high school number — he wore No. 11 at Sam Houston High — but it is the number he wore when he first started playing football. Arizona could also award No. 8 to an offensive player, but Thomas hopes he keeps the number high in prominence by playing early in his career.

At 6-3 and 185 pounds, Thomas is the kind of rangy defensive back that could fit any of the three safety spots in defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel’s 3-3-5 scheme … perhaps even cornerback.

Read the rest of this entry »