Fendi Onobun

You wonder what Fendi Onobun could have done had he played four years of college football rather than college basketball.

Onobun, the former backup Arizona power forward with the rock-solid body, was selected by the St. Louis Rams with the first pick of the sixth round in Saturday’s NFL Draft. Onobun transferred to his hometown University of Houston after the 2008-09 school year in order to use his one remaining year of eligibility in football.

He didn’t play all that much, limited by a preseason ankle sprain while he learned the position, but his potential and athleticism were never in question. Late in the season, he ever earned Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Week honors after he blocked two extra points, including one that was returned 100 yards for two points for the Cougars.

Late last month at Houston’s Pro Day, Onobun dazzled scouts by running a time of 4.48 seconds for 40 yards and posting a 37 1/2-inch vertical jump. With those kind of measurables, plenty of NFL teams figured it was worth the investment to try to coach him up. The Rams beat everyone to the punch.

After his basketball career ended in April 2009 in the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis, Onobun talked to the Citizen’s Steve Rivera about trying football.

“It would be a challenge,” he said. “It’s worth giving it a shot if the opportunity is there.”

Nice call.

Onobun was a basketball fan favorite at Arizona and his positive attitude has served him well in his transition to football. As far as late-round picks, there won’t be many players who have as much upside.

Here’s a nice story on Onobun from SI.com.

Former Arizona defensive tackle Earl Mitchell, who has significant upside because he has been playing the position only two years, was drafted in the third round by his hometown Houston Texans.

This looks like another good fit for an ex-Wildcat, just like it was earlier Friday for his former UA teammate, Rob Gronkowski, who was selected by the New England Patriots.

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said Mitchell has the ability and opportunity to help right away as the third defensive tackle in the Texans’ rotation. Mitchell, who began last season as a late-round prospect, impressed so much that he ended up going with the 81st overall selection.

“This is a kid who will bring it,” Kiper said.

Can’t argue with that.

Mitchell, who attended Houston’s North Shore High School, was underutilized in his first two years at Arizona as a fullback/H-back/tight end, but then coaches, needing help at defensive tackle, made a career-defining move for Mitchell. He bulked up and started the past two years on the defensive line, relying on his quickness and athleticism.

He played well enough in just two years on defense that I picked him to my Arizona All-Decade team.

During last season, I talked to NFLDraftScout.com analyst Rob Rang, who said Mitchell’s inexperience at the position was actually a plus because it “makes you feel like this guy has some untapped potential.”

Rob Grokowski is headed into a good situation with the Patriots/Tucson Citizen photo

Former Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski landed with one of the NFL’s top franchises, where he will catch passes from one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks and play not too far from his family.

About an hour into the second round of the draft Friday, the New England Patriots selected Gronkowski with the 10th pick in the round and the 42nd overall pick.

The Patriots moved up two spots in a trade with Oakland in order to select Gronkowski.

Gronkowski, who was attending the draft with his family (from western New York), friends and agent Drew Rosenhaus, gave NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a hug after his name was called.

Gronkowski described to USA Today how it felt getting the phone call from the Patriots before the official announcement.

“It was an unbelievable moment,” he reflected. “I didn’t know the (Massachusetts) area code. Drew (Rosenhaus), my agent, was like, ‘Oh, it’s New England.’ I was like, ‘Yes! That’s my team!’ It was very emotional for my family and I.”

Gronkowski had dreams of going in the first round, but this is close and about as well as he could have expected coming off back surgery that cost him the 2009 season. The Patriots had a need at tight end, and quarterback Tom Brady certainly will know how to get Gronk the ball.

“He sounds like a player who could play in the northeast,” said ESPN’s Chris Berman.

Said ESPN’s Steve Young: “When you have great quarterbacking … getting your tight end is almost or more important than receiver.”

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. gave a mixed review of the pick, citing other Patriots’ needs and his opinion that Gronkowski’s running is “not really fluid.”

“A little stiff in terms of his movement,” Kiper said. “Doesn’t adjust to the poorly thrown ball all that well. Will be a solid in-line blocker. … But his stiffness bothered me a little bit coming off a year when he is coming off a back injury.”

UA fans have had plenty of reasons to cheer the Patriots in the past 15 years or so, after they converted Tedy Bruschi from All-American defensive end to Pro Bowl linebacker and one of the faces of the franchise. Bruschi and former UA punter Josh Miller recently were selected to the Patriots’ all-decade team.

The draft continues Friday/Photo by Howard Smith, US Presswire

Former Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski was in the green room at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall for the NFL Draft, but his name wasn’t called Thursday night.

The NFL conducted the first round of the draft in prime time, with the second and third rounds scheduled for Friday, starting at 3 p.m. Tucson Times, before the draft wraps up Saturday with rounds 4 through 7.

After Gronkowski’s workout for scouts at Arizona Stadium last month, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, predicted Gronkowski would be a first-rounder. A few things worked against Gronkowski, however — this was considered a deep draft, tight ends aren’t considered a first-round priority, and — accurate or not — some teams have lingering concerns because of the back surgery that cost him all of his junior season in 2009.

Oklahoma’s Jermaine Gresham was the only tight end selected in the first round, going No. 21 overall to Cincinnati.

Some of the teams that have a need and have reportedly been interested in Gronkowski — the Chiefs, Ravens and Patriots — have picks early in the second round.

The Pac-10 had only two players selected in the first round, both from Cal. Defensive tackle Tyson Alualu surprisingly went 10th and running back Jahvid Best was the 30th pick.

Arizona’s list of first-round draft picks remains at 10. Here is the list:

Walter Nielsen (1939, 10th pick), Giants, Back
Bull Lueck (1968, 26th pick), Packers, Guard
Mike Dawson (1976, 22nd pick), Cardinals, Defensive Tackle
Ricky Hunley (1984, 7th pick), Bengals, Linebacker
Chris Singleton (1990, 8th pick), Patriots, Linebacker
Anthony Smith (1990, 11th pick), Raiders, Defensive End
John Fina (1992, 27th pick), Bills, Tackle
Chris McAlister (1999, 10th pick), Ravens, Defensive Back
Trung Canidate (2000, 31st pick), Rams, Running Back
Antoine Cason (2009, 27th pick), Chargers, Cornerback

Nothing is official yet, but Arizona’s most significant non-conference game of the 2010 season — against Iowa — likely will be a 7:30 p.m. start at Arizona Stadium.

A news release Wednesday from Iowa about its schedule said the game will be televised by a yet-to-be-determined network, but an Arizona official said that would be ESPN.

Iowa won last year’s meeting, 27-17, in Iowa City, which was the Wildcats’ seventh consecutive loss to a Big Ten opponent. Iowa is the alma mater of UA head coach Mike Stoops.

Arizona opens its season at Toledo on Sept. 3, in a Friday night game that will be televised by ESPN. It also has been announced that the season-ender at home against Arizona State on Thursday, Dec. 2, will be on ESPN.

Much of the rest of the TV schedule for Arizona football has yet to be determined.

This was Miami's Lamar Thomas on his way to the end zone against Arizona in 1991.
Photo by Xavier Gallegos, Tucson Citizen

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved three football rules changes Thursday, including one that had me thinking of 1991 and Lamar Thomas and Heath Bray and Gino Torretta and Dick Tomey.

Starting in the 2011 season, the rules will be different for a player who is penalized for taunting on his way to the end zone — stuff like high-stepping, diving when no defender is around or pointing at the other team.

As it is, those penalties are worth 15 yards on the extra point attempt, the 2-point conversion or the ensuing kickoff.

In 2011, the penalty will be enforced at the spot of the foul, which means the touchdown will be wiped out.

Anyway, that had me thinking of the most egregious taunting moment I can remember seeing in person, which happened in the 1991 Arizona-Miami game in Arizona Stadium. It involved Thomas, a Hurricanes receiver, and here is the story I wrote about it in October 2006 for the Tucson Citizen:

Arizona fans with long memories were not surprised by the announcing antics of Lamar Thomas.

Thomas was the TV analyst last week for the Miami-Florida International game, carrying on like a fool as players brawled on the field, swinging helmets, stomping on legs and — in the case of injured players — using crutches as clubs.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Thomas, a Miami alum, boasted on air.

“You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don’t come into the OB (Orange Bowl) playing that stuff. . . . I say, why don’t they just meet outside in the tunnel after the ballgame and get it on some more.”

His employer, Comcast Sports SouthEast, dealt with Thomas. He was fired.

In the Phoenix area, former Wildcat Heath Bray watched with interest.

Lamar Thomas is one player he can never forget.

“It’s been 15 years, and it’s like yesterday,” Bray said. “As soon as I heard that audio, I turned to my fiancée and told her the story.”

The story goes like this:

It was 1991, and Arizona was in the midst of a tough 4-7 season that wouldn’t get any better when unbeaten Miami visited Tucson on Oct. 26.

Early in the second quarter, quarterback Gino Torretta caught UA in a blitz, lofting a pass to Thomas, a speedy receiver who beat cornerback Darryl Morrison in one-on-one coverage. Thomas was off to the races down the east sideline of Arizona Stadium.

Thomas, all alone as he approached the end zone, slowed down and, curiously, stopped completely.

In a brazen look-at-me moment, full of the lack of sportsmanship he would display on the air 15 years later, Thomas put a toe over the goal line and gently placed the ball in the end zone.

“I had blitzed from the right side, and hit Gino in the mouth as he was throwing the ball,” Bray said. “We’re both on the ground on our backs . . . and we see him running down the field and just place the ball in the end zone. Gino turns to me and says something to the effect of, ‘What a (expletive).’ ”

The crowd booed, but what were the young, injured Wildcats to do? They lost 36-9, and coach Dick Tomey, still outraged a day later, called Thomas’ play “the height of showboating, the height of taunting.”

“That was certainly premeditated,” Tomey said. “I couldn’t believe he wasn’t called for a penalty.”

Bray, a vice president in a Scottsdale financial advising firm, was not surprised when Thomas said of Saturday’s melee, “I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing.”

In 1992, Arizona was almost involved in one of those brawls with Thomas and the Hurricanes in a game at the Orange Bowl.

As Bray and punter Josh Miller went out for the coin toss, they attempted to shake hands with Miami’s Kevin Williams and Jessie Armstead.

“They put their hands behind their backs and looked at the ground,” Bray said. “(Linebacker) Charlie Camp saw that and started going ape crazy. The whole team came out into the middle of the field.”

Miami was already there.

After the near-skirmish, the fired-up Wildcats transformed into Desert Swarm that day, losing 8-7 to the top-ranked Hurricanes.

Arizona had entered that game coming off a tie at Oregon State, basically on life support. Perhaps in part because of guys such as Thomas and the over-the-top swagger of Miami, that group of Wildcats left the Orange Bowl knowing it found the emotional level it took to be successful.

In a strange way, perhaps a thank-you is in order.

That’s probably not the way Bray will see it. He and Torretta actually became friends after college — “he’s one of the nicest, most sincere guys I know,” Bray said — but he still does a slow burn if you mention Lamar Thomas and the 1991 game.

“That play colored the way I have thought about Miami for 15 years,” Bray said. “It will take something monumental to change it.”

Anthony Gimino can be reached at anthonygimino (at) gmail.com

Derek Earls is the new man in the middle for Arizona.
Photo by Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com

Arizona released its post-spring depth chart Wednesday, and the starting linebacker spots came into clearer focus.

“Obviously, it’s the biggest question mark,” said Tim Kish, the linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.

There’s no experience to speak of, but there are reasons for reasonable optimism.

“That’s the way we always look at it, with the glass half full,” Kish said.

What we know at the end of spring ball that we didn’t at the beginning is that mid-year junior college transfer Derek Earls should be solid at middle linebacker. And that sophomore Jack Fischer, from Ironwood Ridge High School, is a real find. And that … well, maybe that’s about it.

Here’s how Kish breaks it down:

MLB Derek Earls, Jr., 6-3, 235
Kish said Earls is a “little bit behind concepts-wise, but I have never had a guy come in from a juco situation and be able to transition that quickly at that position. He made a few mistakes, but he did them playing fast. If you’re going to make a mistake early, make it playing fast.

“He really has a tremendous upside. I’m really anxious to see how he will progress over the course of the summer and fall camp, and I anticipate him being a leader as well.”

SLB Jake Fischer, So., 5-11, 220
He doesn’t fit the physical profile that the UA coaches would like from their linebackers, but Kish seems to like everything else about Fischer, who mostly played on special teams as a true freshman. Fischer did enough to impress in spring, moving from the weak side to the strong side, even though he was limited with a foot problem. Kish said Fischer underwent surgery Tuesday to remove an extra bone from a foot.

“That’s a guy who is a little bit of a throwback,” Kish said.

“I tell you what, I just think his potential is great because he’s such a tough nut and he can do so many things for you. He can come off the edge. He can be in the gap in the core in run situations. He’s quick enough to help on the perimeter in pass situations. His flexibility and his toughness overshadow any lack of size he might have.”

WLB Paul Vassallo, Jr., 6-3, 240 and WLB R.J. Young, So., 5-11, 232
Vassallo and Young are listed as co-starters heading into the summer.

“Paul probably has not picked it up as quickly as Derek from a concepts standpoint and probably is not playing as fast right now, but I think potentially he could have the same impact as Derek,” Kish said.

“I think R.J. has been fairly steady all spring. I’m not giving either one of those guys the nod right now. I want them to compete all summer and in the offseason program and come out ready to compete again in the fall. Hopefully, the good news will be that both will help us.”

Also on the depth chart are redshirt freshman Trevor Erno and senior C.J. Parish at middle linebacker, and redshirt freshman Cordarius Golston at strong-side linebacker.

On Parish, Kish said: “He is going to play a little bit of defensive end for us. We’re trying to get that fast rush group going, and he could be a factor in that. I’m really pleased in the progression he’s made.”

Arizona has one incoming recruit at the position — freshman Kyle Benson from Tempe Corona del Sol High School — but he is recovering from a knee injury, which limits his chances of contributing in his first year.

Arizona, as expected, signed high school guard Jordin Mayes and junior college power forward Jesse Perry to letters-of-intent Wednesday.

Mayes, from Westchester High School in Los Angeles, was selected to the Los Angeles Times’ 10-player all-star team. Perry was a first-team All-American at John A. Logan Community College in Cartersville, Ill.,

Here is what coach Sean Miller had had to say about each in a press release:

–”Jordin Mayes has won back-to-back state championships and had prominent roles on each. He is the ultimate winner. First and foremost, he is an excellent three-point shooter and that, coupled with good size, gives him an opportunity to play both the point and off-guard positions during his career.”

–”Jesse Perry is a very productive basketball player. He has the unique ability to impact the game in many ways: he’s a 40-percent three-point shooter, has excellent offensive and defensive rebounding abilities and is a skilled passer. It’s that versatility and the fact that he is a bit older that gives him a chance to contribute immediately.”

And one more quote from Miller:

“These two signees are great additions to the Arizona family. Their backgrounds in solid man-to-man defensive programs put them in a great position to impact our team right away.”

More from the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network:
Mayes not a McDonald’s All-American, but holds his own against them

Stoudamires give blessing for Mayes to wear No. 20 at UA

McCallum spurns Arizona … what’s next for the Wildcats?

Arizona recruiting target Ray McCallum Jr. announced Wednesday afternoon he would play for his father, who is the head coach at Detroit.

McCallum, a point guard from Detroit Country Day, also considered UCLA and Florida. It was not considered a recruiting surprise that he decided to stay close to home.

What does this mean for the Wildcats, who would like to add one more player — perhaps at least one more player — to this recruiting class?

Brad Allis, one of our partners in the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network, breaks down how the roster could shake out. Other known recruiting targets for UA are guard Josh Selby (a very long shot at this point), guard Doron Lamb (who will announce his decision Saturday and whose family has still been in contact with the UA staff) and power forward Kadeem Jack. Jack is expected to announce later this month.

Arizona signed shooting guard Daniel Bejarano in the fall, and is expected to sign guard Jordin Mayes and junior college forward Jesse Perry this spring.

We also hear that there are additional candidates for this UA class, including a potential big man transfer from a four-year school.

More from TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network:
Javier Morales: Pac-10 teams have kept top talent in region for now

WildAboutAZCats.com: Stoudamires give blessing for Mayes to wear No. 20 at UA

Derrick Williams: With great scoring comes great responsibility/Photo by Jason O. Watson, US Presswire

The Arizona basketball team loses senior guard Nic Wise and senior-to-be Jamelle Horne has his own issues to figure out, so who is going to provide leadership on next year’s team?

Paging Derrick Williams …

“Every team that I have been a part of, your best players are your leaders,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “I’ll use Butler as an example. You can’t tell me that Gordon Hayward isn’t their team leader. He’s a sophomore.”

Which is what Williams will be next season.

After averaging team-bests with 15.7 points and 7.1 rebounds, his role will become bigger and more important.

“As you look toward next year’s team, a guy like Derrick Williams clearly has a big responsibility, going from a freshman to a sophomore,” Miller said.

“But part of him being a sophomore is he’s going to have to have a big voice. He’s going to have to carry the torch daily. People on our team are going to really look to him — and some others — to lead them.”

The team’s upperclassmen will be Horne, junior guard Kyle Fogg, junior guard Brandon Lavender, redshirt junior center Alex Jacobson and junior college transfer Jesse Perry, who is expected to sign Wednesday at the beginning of the spring signing period.

Williams was on The Sporting News’ All-Freshman Team, along with guard John Wall and center DeMarcus Cousins of Kentucky, guard Xavier Henry of Kansas and forward Derrick Favors of Georgia Tech. Everyone except Williams has entered the NBA Draft.