Arizona Wildcats basketball: On nonexistent ZonaZoo, remote broadcasters, Majerle at McKale
- Updated
Seen and heard at McKale Center during Arizona's 64-54 win over Grand Canyon.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
The Pac-12 schedule-makers cursed Arizona’s football team with nine kickoffs of 7:30 p.m. or later this season.
Arizona’s basketball team is feeling that pain, too, and never worse than in Wednesday night’s game against Grand Canyon.
The game didn’t tip-off until almost 9:10 p.m., the ZonaZoo was nonexistent and McKale Center was three-quarters full, particularly in the upper levels.
This game was without its student section likely because a large portion of students already returned home for winter break, and finals wrap up Thursday.
Arizona’s ticket office included the Grand Canyon game as part of a four-game holiday pack starting at $112 per ticket. The other three games: Dec. 20 against New Mexico, Jan. 5 against Utah and Jan. 7 against Colorado.
The Grand Canyon game was also included as part of a mini-season ticket plan of eight games, including four conference games, none bigger than a matchup with the highly-ranked UCLA Bruins on Feb. 25.
Arizona has two more games scheduled for 9 p.m., although one (California on Dec. 30) is on the road. The other is at home against Stanford on Feb. 8.
Then, should the Wildcats make it to the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas on March 11, that game will tip off at 9 p.m., too.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
0: ESPN broadcasters at McKale on Wednesday night.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The marketing department at McKale put on an “ugly Christmas sweater” theme for Wednesday’s game.
The winner? Arizona’s basketball team.
The Wildcats didn’t wear sweaters, but their jerseys were certainly not pretty.
The UA’s new “Desert Ops” uniforms — a white and gold jersey and white shorts — would’ve fit right in at your Christmas party. It’s one of a half-dozen UA uniform options debuted this year.
On the bright side, walk-on guard Tyler Trillo wore gold sneakers.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Wednesday’s game was broadcast on ESPNU, and the network elected to have their two game announcers for this matchup — Eamon McAnaney and former Arizona basketball standout Corey Williams — broadcast the game remotely.
This is a practice ESPN will occasionally employ, primarily with college basketball games. A recent article on ESPN.com said just 2 percent of ESPN broadcasts occur with announcers not on site.
The article said “when remote broadcasters are used, camera and audio feeds are sent back to the announcers to their remote location, and those feeds become their eyes and ears.”
The reasoning?
Attribute it to savings, which “allows us to reinvest resources in our overall productions,” said Stephanie Druley, ESPN’s senior vice president of events and studio production.
Still, it was strange — especially given that Williams lives, you know, here.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Grand Canyon’s head coach is a familiar face to NBA fans in the state of Arizona.
Dan Majerle had a long, prolific NBA career with the Phoenix Suns and has found success in business as well, opening Majerle’s Sports Grill in multiple locations in the Phoenix area.
He also just happens to be the coach of the Antelopes.
It’s not his first time at McKale Center, though. Majerle was at McKale in the early 1990s when the Suns participated in some preseason basketball in Tucson, but his last public appearance was likely in 1995 for the “Wildcat Dream Invitational,” an exhibition game at McKale that celebrated the Lute Olson era. Majerle played on with a roster of NBA players against 11 ex-Wildcats, including Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Damon Stoudamire and Sean Rooks.
Majerle was on an NBA team that included Craig Ehlo, Danny Ferry and current Utah Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak.
Majerle did quite well for himself, managing a triple-double with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Grand Canyon’s best player is probably guard DeWayne Russell, who was averaging 25.4 points per game heading into Wednesday’s contest.
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s been to McKale before — in 2012 when he was playing for Northern Arizona.
In that game, which Arizona won 93-50, Russell scored 13 points. Following that season, Russell transferred to GCU.
If Russell looked across the way to Arizona’s bench, he might not have seen any familiar faces, as there’s no player left on Arizona’s roster from the 2012-13 season.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
It will be a few years before Majok Deng suits up for any college, but Tucsonans will want to keep an eye on the Salpointe Catholic standout.
Deng is a highly-regarded recruit in the 2019 class, rated four stars by Scout.com. He’s a 6-foot-5 small forward with scholarship offers from seven schools, including Grand Canyon and Arizona State.
Arizona has yet to offer Deng, but don’t be surprised if that happens in the near future. Deng attended Wednesday night’s game.
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- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
The Pac-12 schedule-makers cursed Arizona’s football team with nine kickoffs of 7:30 p.m. or later this season.
Arizona’s basketball team is feeling that pain, too, and never worse than in Wednesday night’s game against Grand Canyon.
The game didn’t tip-off until almost 9:10 p.m., the ZonaZoo was nonexistent and McKale Center was three-quarters full, particularly in the upper levels.
This game was without its student section likely because a large portion of students already returned home for winter break, and finals wrap up Thursday.
Arizona’s ticket office included the Grand Canyon game as part of a four-game holiday pack starting at $112 per ticket. The other three games: Dec. 20 against New Mexico, Jan. 5 against Utah and Jan. 7 against Colorado.
The Grand Canyon game was also included as part of a mini-season ticket plan of eight games, including four conference games, none bigger than a matchup with the highly-ranked UCLA Bruins on Feb. 25.
Arizona has two more games scheduled for 9 p.m., although one (California on Dec. 30) is on the road. The other is at home against Stanford on Feb. 8.
Then, should the Wildcats make it to the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas on March 11, that game will tip off at 9 p.m., too.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
The marketing department at McKale put on an “ugly Christmas sweater” theme for Wednesday’s game.
The winner? Arizona’s basketball team.
The Wildcats didn’t wear sweaters, but their jerseys were certainly not pretty.
The UA’s new “Desert Ops” uniforms — a white and gold jersey and white shorts — would’ve fit right in at your Christmas party. It’s one of a half-dozen UA uniform options debuted this year.
On the bright side, walk-on guard Tyler Trillo wore gold sneakers.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Wednesday’s game was broadcast on ESPNU, and the network elected to have their two game announcers for this matchup — Eamon McAnaney and former Arizona basketball standout Corey Williams — broadcast the game remotely.
This is a practice ESPN will occasionally employ, primarily with college basketball games. A recent article on ESPN.com said just 2 percent of ESPN broadcasts occur with announcers not on site.
The article said “when remote broadcasters are used, camera and audio feeds are sent back to the announcers to their remote location, and those feeds become their eyes and ears.”
The reasoning?
Attribute it to savings, which “allows us to reinvest resources in our overall productions,” said Stephanie Druley, ESPN’s senior vice president of events and studio production.
Still, it was strange — especially given that Williams lives, you know, here.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Grand Canyon’s head coach is a familiar face to NBA fans in the state of Arizona.
Dan Majerle had a long, prolific NBA career with the Phoenix Suns and has found success in business as well, opening Majerle’s Sports Grill in multiple locations in the Phoenix area.
He also just happens to be the coach of the Antelopes.
It’s not his first time at McKale Center, though. Majerle was at McKale in the early 1990s when the Suns participated in some preseason basketball in Tucson, but his last public appearance was likely in 1995 for the “Wildcat Dream Invitational,” an exhibition game at McKale that celebrated the Lute Olson era. Majerle played on with a roster of NBA players against 11 ex-Wildcats, including Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Damon Stoudamire and Sean Rooks.
Majerle was on an NBA team that included Craig Ehlo, Danny Ferry and current Utah Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak.
Majerle did quite well for himself, managing a triple-double with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Grand Canyon’s best player is probably guard DeWayne Russell, who was averaging 25.4 points per game heading into Wednesday’s contest.
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s been to McKale before — in 2012 when he was playing for Northern Arizona.
In that game, which Arizona won 93-50, Russell scored 13 points. Following that season, Russell transferred to GCU.
If Russell looked across the way to Arizona’s bench, he might not have seen any familiar faces, as there’s no player left on Arizona’s roster from the 2012-13 season.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
It will be a few years before Majok Deng suits up for any college, but Tucsonans will want to keep an eye on the Salpointe Catholic standout.
Deng is a highly-regarded recruit in the 2019 class, rated four stars by Scout.com. He’s a 6-foot-5 small forward with scholarship offers from seven schools, including Grand Canyon and Arizona State.
Arizona has yet to offer Deng, but don’t be surprised if that happens in the near future. Deng attended Wednesday night’s game.
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