Kyryl Natyazhko has only two points in the past six games.
Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Hopes were high for Arizona Wildcats sophomore center Kyryl Natyazhko. And with good reason.

He wasn’t expected to turn into an All-Pac-10 player or anything like that, but he looked like a key part of the rotation following a productive summer playing for his native Ukraine at U-20 European Championships.

He averaged 17.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks for Ukraine. These weren’t summer-league pickup games. Those numbers were supposed to translate into a solid sophomore season, right? Arizona coach Sean Miller talked in the preseason about being hopeful that Natyazhko was one of the guys who make dramatic improvement from one year to the next.

But as the Wildcats head into tonight’s big conference home game against UCLA, the player that Miller counts on for size and minutes in relief of Derrick Williams, has hit a low point. He’s nearly disappeared.

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The Arizona athletic department released information and photos Wednesday afternoon of the new uniforms for the men’s basketball team.

Here is the official release and here is the link to the photo gallery (with Jamelle Horne and MoMo Jones serving as models) and here is a PDF on the back panel graphic.

As Horne said at Tuesday’s press conference: “I’m excited to put those bad boys on.”

Arizona will wear them for the first time Thursday at home against UCLA. The game begins at 7 p.m. at McKale Center and will be televised on ESPN2.

Tom Savage throws a pass in Rutgers' 2010 season-opener against Norfolk State.
Photo by Alan Maglaque-US PRESSWIRE.

Former Rutgers starting quarterback Tom Savage, who has dropped out of school this semester while he decides where to transfer, said Wednesday he is “really interested” in Arizona.

He told TucsonCitizen.com that he has been in contact with the Wildcats coaching staff and hopes to come on a recruiting visit soon.

“To be perfectly honest, when I knew I was going to transfer, Arizona was always up there on the top of my list,” Savage said. “I’ve watched the offense they run. They throw the heck out of the ball. It’s a great team. It looks like a lot of fun to play out there.”

Savage was a starter as a true freshman in 2009 but struggled early in 2010, was injured, and spent the rest of the season as the backup. He was granted a conditional release by Rutgers, which means he has permission to only talk to certain schools, including Arizona.

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Michael Dickerson will be Arizona’s representative in this year’s class of inductees into the Pac-10 Men’s Basketball Hall of Honor.

The ceremony will be held March 12 during the 2011 Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament.

The others to be inducted: Isaac Austin (Arizona State), Bob McKeen (California), Charlie Warren (Oregon), Charlie White (Oregon State), Brevin Knight (Stanford), Don MacLean (UCLA), Harold Miner (USC), Todd MacCulloch (Washington) and Ray Sundquist (Washington State).

Here are other Arizona representatives since the opening of the Hall of Honor: Sean Elliott (2002), Steve Kerr (2003), Khalid Reeves (2004), Pete Williams (2005), Damon Stoudamire (2006), Chris Mills (2007), Miles Simon (2008), Lute Olson (2009) and Mike Bibby (2010).

This is Dickerson’s bio from the Pac-10 release:

Michael Dickerson, Arizona – Dickerson finished his Wildcat career as an All-American, multiple All-Pac-10 honoree, scoring leader and, most importantly, national champion. He led the team averaging 18.0 points per game as the Wildcats claimed the 1997 National Championship, and was also the leading scorer of the 1998 squad that won 30 games. Dickerson finished his career as Arizona’s fifth all-time leading scorer with 1,791 points, which still ranks eighth on the list. Dickerson is one of three players in program history to score 600 or more points in two separate seasons, joining Sean Elliott and Damon Stoudamire. He played in 130 games during his four-year career (1994-98), averaging 13.8 points per game, while the Wildcats posted a 106-27 (.797) record during that span. Dickerson earned third team All-America honors by the Associated Press and Basketball Times in 1998. He was a finalist for the 1998 USBWA Player of the Year Award as well. Dickerson was also a first team All-Pac-10 selection in 1997 and 1998. As a junior, Dickerson was an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America selection. Dickerson scored 20 or more points on 36 occasions in his career, including seven games with 30 or more points. He scored in double figures 83 times. A first-round pick (No. 14 overall) by the Houston Rockets in the 1998 NBA Draft, Dickerson went on to earn second team all-rookie honors in 1998-99 and play five seasons in the league.

Iowa game leads out-of-town spending; total impact of seven home dates: $61.6 million

Iowa Hawkeyes fans Ryan Mitchell, left and Rusty Radloff cheer for their team before the game at Arizona on Sept. 18, 2010.
Photo David Kadlubowski, Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats’ 34-27 victory over Iowa was one of the highlights of the football team’s season. But even before the thrilling finish, there was already a winner:

Tucson.

Kevin Wittner, an MBA student at Arizona, conducted a three-credit hour independent study project last fall to measure the economic impact from out-of-state visitors to the Arizona-Iowa game on Sept. 18.

The conclusion: The estimated direct visitor spending from the Iowa game was $8,160,429.

“There wasn’t a figure that we had in mind that we were hoping for or aiming for,” Wittner said.

“Anyone in Tucson knows that U of A football and athletics are going to be an integral part of how the community comes together, but as for the actual results I don’t think we had anything in mind, which is what is so exciting about the data.”

The nearly $8.2 million figure — statistically accurate within 9 percent either way, according to the report — is defined as visitor spending in Tucson that would not have occurred without the existence of the game.

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Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller prefers to call it “The Pass.” Everyone else around college basketball knows it by the call from ESPN’s Bill Raftery: “Send it in, Jerome!”

It’s still one of the most replayed college basketball dunks off all-time.

Miller, a freshman point guard leading a fast break for the Pitt Panthers, delivers a pass from the middle of the court to 6-foot-6 power forward Jerome Lane, racing in from the right wing. Lane finishes with a thunderous one-handed dunk over a Providence player, shattering the backboard.

“A lot of people call it ‘The Dunk;’ it’s definitely ‘The Pass,’” Miller said with a smile Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “The dunk wouldn’t have happened if the pass didn’t happen.”

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Like this Univeristy of Washington version, the new Arizona jerseys will have a unique 'mural' underneath the number.
Photo from NikeBlog.com

When it comes to new uniforms and sleek designs, I think Arizona sophomore point guard MoMo Jones has it right.

“It’s just a uniform,” he said.

“He’s lying,” said senior forward Jamelle Horne.

Well, either way, you will be hearing a lot about Arizona men’s basketball uniforms this week, because the Wildcats will debut new ones Thursday night at home against UCLA on ESPN2. Arizona will wear red, white and blue versions for the rest of the season.

While much of the new look is still protected under a Nike need-to-know basis — no photos have been released, and coach Sean Miller said there is some stuff about them he shouldn’t say — we do know this:

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Kenzie Fowler hugs coach Mike Candrea after the Wildcats beat Tennessee to advance to the 2010 championship series against UCLA.
ESPN3.com screenshot

The Arizona Wildcats and UCLA Bruins played in the championship round of the Women’s College World Series last season … and they are favored to do the same again this season.

It’s a split decision, though.

Mike Candrea’s Arizona team is No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, receiving nine of 20 first-place votes. The Bruins are second.

UCLA is on top of the USA Today/NFCA poll, receiving 27 of 30 first-place votes. Arizona is second.

The Wildcats, who were swept by UCLA in last season’s best-of-three championship series, return all but shortstop K’Lee Arredondo from their lineup. That position, as well as the development of No. 2 pitcher Shelby Babcock — needed to supply effective innings behind Kenzie Fowler — will be key to UA’s success.

Arizona opens the season Feb. 10 against Indiana at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe.

The Pac-10 figures to be difficult, as usual. Seven of the eight Pac-10 teams that play softball are ranked in both polls.

Tom Savage was a starter at Rutgers for most of his freshman season.
Photo by Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE

Tom Savage, a former starting quarterback who is transferring from Rutgers, has been granted permission to speak with Arizona, according to a story in the Miami Herald.

Savage has been granted permission to speak with Marshall, Western Michigan and Northern Illinois, in addition to the Wildcats, according to the story.

His preference appears to be Miami, but, in giving Savage a conditional release from his scholarship, Rutgers is denying him permission to speak with Miami, Florida, Florida State and Michigan. Savage’s father has appealed that decision to Rutgers.

Savage was one of the top freshman quarterbacks in the nation in 2009, when he completed 149 of 289 passes for 2,211 yards, with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

He struggled through the first three games of the 2010 season and then was injured in the fourth game against Tulane. He was a backup the rest of the way.

Savage (6-5, 226) would have to sit out the 2011 season under transfer rules and would be eligible as a junior in 2012. For Arizona, that seems to be a critical year at quarterback, as Nick Foles, Matt Scott (assuming he doesn’t redshirt) and Bryson Beirne will be gone.

Lightly recruited Cam Allerheiligen redshirted as a freshman last season. True freshman Daxx Garman, who graduated early from high school and enrolled at Arizona for the spring semester, carries much higher expectations.

But, from this distance, it looks as if the 2012 quarterback job will be up for grabs.

Savage, from Springfield, Pa., was rated the 125th-best overall high school prospect and the 10th-best quarterback in the country by ESPN.com.

Sean Miller and the Wildcats return home this week for games against the L.A. schools.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona was down 10-2 and looked discombobulated. The Wildcats scored only 10 points in the first 12 minutes. They trailed 45-37 in the second half after a 9-0 Washington State run.

Arizona’s game in Pullman on Saturday night was rarely pretty. That’s fine. Coach Sean Miller isn’t much about pretty anyway. He’d prefer gritty. Are the Wildcats tough enough?

For one night, they were.

They found a way to win 65-63 through defense (Pac-10-leading scorer Klay Thompson was held to nine points, his lowest output of the season), rebounding (a 40-30 edge) and a certain resolve at the end of a long Pac-10 road trip.

“One of the things I told the guys after the game — and I really mean this — if we wouldn’t have won, the message for me would have been the same. I was very proud and really happy to see us fight,” Miller said in his postgame interview on 1290-AM.

“We were behind but we kept fighting.”

The loss ended a three-game losing streak to Washington State. Arizona (16-4 overall, 5-2 Pac-10) tied UCLA for second place in the conference behind 7-1 Washington.

Here are four things that went right for the Wildcats at Washington State:

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