Hansen's Sunday notebook

Wednesday is also national letter-of-intent day, and a workout day for the Wildcats — after leaving the White House and touring D.C., they will train at the University of Maryland pool. They will return to Tucson on Thursday and leave for Los Angeles on Friday to compete in individual dual meets against USC and UCLA.

Busch then will fly to New York City next Sunday for swimming's equivalent of the Academy Awards: the 2008 Golden Goggles Awards in downtown Manhattan. His daughter, Molly Busch, a Salpointe Catholic grad, will be part of the TV crew with emcee Bob Costas at the Goggles ceremony.

"This will be a week our swimmers will never forget,'' Busch said. "Our freshmen will remain in Tucson to train, but all of those who were part of the national championships on the men's and women's teams will accompany us to the White House."

As part of the USA Olympic swimming team coaching staff in China, Busch actually had three separate meetings with the president.

FRIEDLI IS WINS LEADER AT 309

Amphi football coach top of list, not tied, because all have been in Arizona

All 309 of Vern Friedli's high school football coaching victories have been achieved in Arizona, at either Morenci, Casa Grande, San Manuel or Amphi.

It is customary to say that Friedli and Gilbert coach Jesse Parker are tied with 309 victories, but 11 of Parker's total came when he was coaching at Texas High School in Texarkana from 1995 to '97. The real count thus, is: Friedli 309, Parker 298.

To honor Amphi's coach, the University of Arizona Foundation has established the Vernon F. Friedli Scholarship Endowment in the College of Education. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the UA's College of Education in 1961 and 1964.

The scholarship is available to students who graduated from Amphitheater, Sunnyside or Morenci high schools.

SHORT STUFF

Erdmann's feet translate into more feats in college

Flowing Wells High School grad Tara Erdmann won the West Coast Conference women's cross country championship last week. The sophomore distance runner at Loyola Marymount — who won six state championships at Flowing Wells in cross country, track and soccer — now goes to the NCAA West Regionals next weekend at Stanford with a good chance to advance to the NCAA finals. … Tucsonans Toby Freebourn and Mike Salkowski were terrific in the New York City Marathon last weekend. Of 39,000 runners, Freebourn, a medical director at St. Mary's Hospital, was 91st overall (in 2:36:26) and Salkowski, an art gallery curator, was 102nd (in 2:37:08). … Salpointe Catholic grad and former UA defensive coordinator Rich Ellerson continues to make a mark nationally. His 6-1 Cal Poly team soared to No. 3 in last week's poll for Football Championship Subdivision teams, trailing James Madison and Appalachian State. Ellerson's Mustangs have a tough finish to their regular season: a Nov. 22 game at Wisconsin.

Cooper carries clout

Ex-Catalina star a prize for Cats in fall workouts

UA baseball coach Andy Lopez has another two weeks of fall baseball workouts, but he has been impressed so far by Catalina High School grad Shaun Cooper, a freshman who is trying to get in the opening day lineup. "Shaun's one of our five best hitters in fall ball,'' said Lopez. Cooper hit 37 home runs in his career at Catalina, tied for the state record among 4A players. … After Tucsonan Sara Brown breezed through the LPGA Qualifying School semifinals last month, she returned to Tucson to have her wisdom teeth removed, then flew to Michigan State where, at halftime of the MSU-Wisconsin football game, she was honored as the Spartans' top female athlete of 2007-08. The Salpointe grad leaves next week for Daytona Beach, Fla., where she will begin play Dec. 1 in the final stage of the LPGA Q-School. … Four golfers with Tucson connections begin stage two of the PGA Q-School this week, including Palo Verde grad Ben Kern and Rincon/University's Michael Thompson. Sahuaro grad Rich Barcelo goes to the Q-School next week in California. … Always a fighter, former UA basketball coach Bruce Larson is recovering from a heart attack that hospitalized him last week. Larson, who was also a basketball standout on Fred Enke's teams of the 1950s, is overdue for selection in the UA Sports Hall of Fame.

more short stuff

Bonvicini makes return to Pac-10 hoops — on TV

Former UA women's basketball coach Joan Bonvicini begins a new career Friday. She will be the analyst for Fox Sports Arizona's broadcast of the Arizona State-Cleveland State women's basketball game. Bonvicini will work with play-by-play man Daron Sutton, the voice of the Diamondbacks, who has been hired to work ASU hoops on FSA. … Chanice Kittrell, a freshman from Sahuaro High School, broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 37th minute Thursday to give NAU a 1-0 soccer victory over Portland State in the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals. Kittrell is the daughter of former Sunnyside High School football player Murphy Kittrell. … In the NBA Development League draft Friday, ex-Wildcat Chris Rodgers was selected 111th overall, in the seventh round by the Iowa Energy. Rodgers has played for five minor-league pro teams since leaving the UA, including a brief stint last winter with a Nogales, Sonora, team that released him at year's end. He was in Europe last month for a failed tryout before returning to Tucson. … After being cut by the Charlotte Bobcats last month, ex-Wildcat Marcus Williams, who would be a college senior had he chosen to remain an amateur, has agreed to go to training camp with the D-League's Austin Toros. Williams should be an example for all marginally talented underclassmen. Had he played his four college seasons, he likely would be an All-American and a certain first-round draft pick, guaranteed at least $3 million over three seasons. Now he's playing in the D-League, which typically pays its players between $25,000 to $35,000.

SOFTBALL CELEBRATIONS SET

Canyon del Oro standouts will sign letters of intent

Family and friends of Canyon del Oro All-America softball pitcher Kenzie Fowler and Dorados All-America third baseman Katie Asher will hold a celebratory gathering Wednesday night when they sign college scholarship letters of intent.

Fowler, the nation's top prep pitcher, will sign with Arizona; Asher will sign with Oklahoma State.

Not on hand will be catcher Adriana DiMatteo, who last year led Ironwood Ridge to the 5A-II state final. DiMatteo served for three years as Fowler's catcher for the summer traveling team Desert Thunder.

DiMatteo enrolled at ASU and was invited, as a walk-on, to fall practice with the national championship Sun Devil softball team. She did not make the final cut.

But she impressed those in the Sun Devil athletic department and was offered an internship in the ASU media relations office. She will be responsible for softball and volleyball coverage. She is enrolled in the Cronkite Journalism School.

Not that DiMatteo is through with her athletic career (she also was an Ironwood Ridge starter in basketball). She now plans to try out for the ASU varsity crew team next spring.

hiring practices differ

Huskies' administration will be heavily involved

The difference in institutional views among Pac-10 administrations is sometimes dramatic.

Washington president Mark Emmert last week told the Seattle Times his decision to hire a new football coach will be made by him in consultation with UW director of athletics Scott Woodard, with "input from appropriate people in the UW family.''

Emmert is the Jerry Jones of Pac-10 presidents. By comparison, UA president Robert Shelton is so absorbed with finances and more important university issues that it will be difficult for him to get heavily involved in Jim Livengood's search for a basketball coach. Isn't that the way it should be?

One good reason Livengood denied freshman center Jeff Withey a scholarship release is this: hiring a top coach is tricky enough without giving him fewer than the full allotment of scholarships. Why make the hiring any more difficult than it has to be? Withey's timing couldn't have been worse.

Two prominent UA athletes were denied releases from their former schools: softball All-American Lovie Jung by Fresno State, and All-America swimmer Marcus Titus from Arizona State.

MY TWO CENTS

Cats' basketball situation has real potential for chaos

The first casualties of an in-season coaching change are often discipline and respect, or the lack of both.

UA interim basketball coach Russ Pennell is dealing with far more than a short bench and months of chaos. Unless Pennell can get his players to respect him, he doesn't have much of a chance to win more than 14 or 16 games. This whole thing could blow up in his face the way it did for Kevin O'Neill.

The structure of this coaching staff, from the I-don't-want-to-be-in-charge, end-of-the-bench view of Mike Dunlap, to the appointment of Pennell's 70-year-old father, Dewey, to a day-to-day role, is potentially flammable.

That's why it was disappointing to see senior forward Fendi Onobun now outfitted in jersey No. 1. Lute Olson didn't permit his players to wear No. 1, insisting that it was a sign of selfishness. Until Olson retired, Onobun wore No. 24.

Once the players begin taking liberties, the job of getting (and keeping) their attention becomes as difficult as coaching against UCLA and Arizona State.