Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Ex-Cat Hill could shake defenders, not trouble

Derek Hill was Arizona's leading receiver of the 1980s and probably the most highly-ranked high school receiver ever to sign with the Wildcats.

He turned down USC to play for Arizona in February 1985 and completed his UA career No. 3 in receptions (112) and receiving yards (1,925). He missed about half of his senior season with an ankle injury.

Hill, 44, died of an apparent heart attack last week in his hometown, Carson, Calif. His football career, like his short life, was troubling.

He was accused of taking $16,000 from a booster during his UA days, and even though he was a third-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was out of football after two seasons. The Arizona Cardinals signed him for $1.65 million in 1991 but then released him to void the contract. Hill didn't play football after the age of 23. Why? Attitude issues followed him from Arizona into the NFL.

"I understand that Derek recently got his life in order," said former UA All-Pac-10 tailback David Adams. "At Arizona, he was always saying, 'This is just a pit stop; I'm going to a higher level.' He has as much talent as any receiver I ever saw here."

Hill worked most recently as a personal trainer. In October, he wrote on his Facebook page about writing a book or making a movie of his life.

"I will talk about everything, no holds barred," he wrote.

"I'll write about my life living on the dark side, being on top of the world only to wake up at the bottom. Now I'm back."

Pima Softball

Pitching duo could give Aztecs best shot yet at national title

Before he became Pima College's softball coach, Armando Quiroz won state championships as Flowing Wells' coach in 1999, 2000 and 2002.

On Friday, Quiroz's Aztecs beat Western Nevada College 14-9 in a late game in Las Vegas, pushing his PCC record to 200-59. This is the beginning of his fifth season at Pima.

The Aztecs have been on the brink of playing for the NJCAA title in each of Quiroz's seasons, but were usually stopped by Yavapai College, coached then by Stacy Iveson, now a UA assistant coach. Ironically, Quiroz replaced Iveson at Pima.

This looks to be Quiroz's best chance for a national championship: Pitcher Mari Contreras, a returning first-team All-American from Sunnyside, was 30-3 last year. Freshman pitcher Yvette Alvarez of Sahuarita was perhaps the No. 1 prep softball player in Arizona last season and gives the Aztecs a strong 1-2 tandem.

Short Stuff

Mickelson, family to take vacation during Match Play

Phil Mickelson has dropped to No. 15 in the world golf rankings and will not play at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship next month. He told reporters last week that he will take a family vacation the week of Feb. 20-26. Not much of a surprise there; Mickelson never seemed to be "all in" at Dove Mountain, commuting via private jet daily to his home near San Diego. His motivation was marginal; he was 5-4 in the Match Play event here, disappointing for a golfer whose reputation as a scrambler/gambler would seem to be a better fit for that format. Mickelson is playing four consecutive PGA Tour events leading up to Match Play. … NBC will launch an ESPN-type Game Day program for golf at Dove Mountain and call it "Golf Central." The pregame show will be aired before the final two rounds of the Match Play event. NBC will do so on each of its 10 weekends of Tour coverage this year. … Amphi grad Kassandra Lopez has made the starting rotation for No. 3 Utah in women's gymnastics. A freshman, Lopez had a college-best 9.85 on the beam as Utah's lead-off performer Friday night in a victory over BYU. How big are gymnastics at Utah? The Utes drew 15,310 for a dual meet at Huntsman Center, a sellout. … UA senior swimmer Cory Chitwood, a two-time NCAA champion, led No. 1 Arizona's 155-88 rout over No. 2 Texas' men's team Saturday at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. When Chitwood won the 200 backstroke, his specialty, it gave Arizona a 142-78 lead to clinch the meet. "I love coaching that kid," said UA coach Eric Hansen. "He'll give you everything he's got. He knows the expectations are very high, and he's better than he's ever been." About all that's left for Chitwood is to lead Arizona to the NCAA title in March and set the school record in the 200 back. He swam 1 minute 42.78 seconds on Saturday, a terrific time for January. Jake Tapp, part of Arizona's 2008 NCAA title team, holds the record at 1:38.67. Chitwood will be after that mark soon.

Tucson native Bowman signs pro motorsports contract

Ironwood Ridge grad Alex Bowman, 18, one of the blue-chip prospects in auto racing, will be in the field at next month's Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway. Bowman last week reached a contract agreement with Cunningham Motorsports to drive car No. 55 in that ARCA event. It is an 80-lap prelim to the NASCAR Budweiser Shootout that evening. Bowman was the 2011 Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the K&N Pro Series, winning both ARCA races he entered. In preparation for the Daytona event, Bowman will do testing runs at Alabama's Talladega SuperSpeedway. … UA baseball coach Andy Lopez received some happy news at the American Baseball Coaches Association convention in Anaheim two weeks ago: His draft-eligible players must now sign with a pro team by July 13 every year. Throughout Lopez's coaching career, the deadline was the first day of classes until it was moved back to Aug. 15 last year. That means Lopez and all baseball coaches now won't be caught short by late-signings with no time to recruit. … When Pueblo grad Fat Lever had his No. 12 jersey retired at Arizona State during halftime of the ASU-Washington game Thursday, he was accompanied by his son, ex-CDO standout Anthony Lever Pedroza, who has been a member of the Mexican national basketball team. It was fitting that the son of Fat's state championship coach, Roland LaVetter, was at the ceremony. Lance LaVetter is the director of basketball operations for the Huskies.

More Short Stuff

Class of '14 full of prospects; Kish tries to lure Scottsdale WR

Wednesday will be a thin day for football recruiting in Tucson-area high schools. Sahuaro linebacker Niko Kittrell is the headliner; he will sign with San Jose State. The Class of 2014 projects to be the next big day in Tucson football recruiting. That's when Sabino offensive lineman Andrew Mike, Sabercats defensive end Matt Bushman, Salpointe receiver Cameron Denson and Lancers offensive lineman Breeon Auzenne are apt to be Pac-12-type recruits. … It didn't take long for former UA interim coach Tim Kish to switch sides. After signing to be Oklahoma's linebacker coach last week, Kish made a visit to Scottsdale Chaparral receiver Davonte Neal's home, hopeful he can steer Neal, the state's No. 1 prospect, away from Arizona, among others. … New Jersey four-star quarterback Devin Fuller will make his college choice today. It's likely Arizona is no worse than a co-favorite with Rutgers. Fuller is a franchise recruit, but he isn't awed by the attention. His uncle is entertainer Sinbad. … Fox Sports Arizona will webcast ASU's football signing day with coach Todd Graham on Wednesday. It has chosen not to cover Arizona's events. … The road to Mount Lemmon has become a haven for international-level cyclists in the winter. Last week, Tom Danielson, No. 9 in last year's Tour de France, was part of a large group of cyclists from European teams training in the Catalinas. Others in town: the BMC cycling team from Switzerland and the Saxo Bank cycling team from Denmark. Danielson rides for Garmin-Barracuda, based in the U.S.

Prep football

Heavner joins illustrious list of ex-Cats who coached here

When former UA quarterback Kris Heavner was hired to be the head football coach at Santa Rita High School last week, he became part of an elite group of ex-Wildcats.

He is at least the 24th UA football letterman to become a head coach of prep football locally.

The others: Sahuaro-Rincon's Howard Breinig; Cholla's Ed Brown; Tucson's Vincent Smith; Pueblo-Sahuaro's Scott McKee; Pueblo-Sabino's Larry McKee; Cholla's Gus Brisco; Tucson's Red Greer; Mountain View's Paul Schmidt; Salpointe's Jerry Davitch; Catalina's John Kaiser and Ev Nicholson; and Sunnyside's Sam Giangardella.

Also: Tucson's Rollin Gridley and John Mallamo; Amphi's Murl McCain; Santa Rita's Larry Williams; Sabino's Don Holley; Rincon's Lance Prickett, Andy Rumic and Bill Lovin; Pueblo's Don Bowerman and Adrian Koch ; and Palo Verde-Sabino's Bob Sicilian.

Of the group, Gridley, Mallamo, Greer and Breinig won state championships.

My Two Cents

Rodriguez can win if he fills holes at backup QB, kicker, LB

UA football coach Rich Rodriguez has more than salvaged a splintered recruiting class, although Arizona is unlikely to be ranked any higher than No. 8 in the Pac-12 after Wednesday's classes are made official.

Beginning Thursday, Rodriguez's most important concerns are: 1, identifying and developing a backup quarterback to Matt Scott; 2, finding a starting place-kicker; 3, evaluating linebackers. It's unknown if the Wildcats have a linebacker - anybody - who has Pac-12 caliber skill to play in Jeff Casteel's 3-3-5 alignment.

Otherwise, Arizona has few holes. The Wildcats aren't loaded, not even close, but there is enough talent in stock to think about winning seven or eight games as long as Scott remains healthy and someone can routinely make a field goal.