Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Lindsey's a bitter voice from past, and mistaken

After he was fired as Arizona's basketball coach in March 1983, Ben Lindsey became a schoolteacher in Prescott and Phoenix. He is 71 now, retired, but he hasn't forgotten.

On Thursday, taking advantage of the Arizona Board of Regents' "call to audience" forum, Lindsey ranted about what he perceives to be damage to his reputation and unfairness of his long-ago exit at Arizona. His memory was a bit fuzzy.

"Before you ever hired Ben Lindsey, your boosters had made a deal with coach Lute Olson," he told the Board of Regents. "But since he couldn't leave Iowa for one more year, they decided to use me for that one year and then hire him the next."

The real story: UA athletic director Cedric Dempsey made his first contact with Olson the night Iowa was eliminated from the 1983 Sweet 16 in Kansas City. That was two weeks after Lindsey was fired for going 4-24. Olson and Dempsey, and his representatives, had never had a previous conversation.

More from Lindsey: "I did some recruiting, but my recruits became Lute Olson's best players in his first two years."

The real story: Lindsey recruited one player, Andy Woodtli, who never played a minute at Arizona. Two players that Lindsey inherited from Fred Snowden's team, Brock Brunkhorst and David Haskin, were sometimes-starters for Olson's first team; neither averaged more than 7.7 points per game.

Lindsey also told the Board of Regents that his coaching performance at Grand Canyon University was "the biggest sports story to ever take place in the state of Arizona." The Antelopes won the 1975 and 1978 NAIA national championships.

After being terminated by Arizona, Lindsey sued and was awarded $1.17 million in lost salary, although an appeal later reduced that award by $480,000. The trial was an uncomfortable review of Lindsey's personal life. The Wildcats went 1-17 in the Pac-10 that season, a bumpy journey in which Lindsey at times did not show up for practice sessions, or was sometimes several hours late for practice.

"Unfortunately for me," Lindsey told the regents, "wealthy booster-types were in the process of taking over the university" in 1983.

The Lindsey vs. Arizona saga would've been better left without this 28-year-old reminder. But Lindsey became steamed when a UA-produced a book on the school's basketball history referred to him as "infamous." A more appropriate word would've been "inept."

Akina's decision

Coach's return to Texas was never about money

Texas Longhorns football coach Mack Brown was so adamant about Duane Akina returning to the UT staff that he sent a private jet to fetch Akina in Tucson.

Brown offered Akina $525,000, to coach the Longhorns secondary, a significant boost over the $325,000 Arizona was set to pay. But rather than use his leverage to get more money, Akina said he would coach for $419,000, which was the original figure Brown had offered to keep him from taking an Arizona job in January.

So Akina's arrival/departure was never about the money. It was about some romantic notion that he could return to Arizona and spin some coaching magic, helping Adam Hall and Marquis Flowers become NFL-ready players. It was also about geography and family.

"I turned down the Florida job because even Texas seems like the East Coast to me," said Akina, a Honolulu native who has never made it a secret that he wants someday to live there again.

Akina's psyche became vulnerable when his brother, Skip, 62, died of lymphoma Jan. 20 in Hawaii. About that time, while he was living in the Viscount Suite hotel and scrambling to find a permanent residence, Akina's children phoned from Texas. They missed their daddy. It was an emotional time. So when Jerry Gray left the Longhorns staff to coach in the NFL, it was the perfect storm of variables.

Returning to Texas became a classic no-brainer.

Akina is not the first UA assistant football coach to bolt after a few weeks on the job. In 1990, Charlie Weatherbie left the staff to take a job at Arkansas, and in 2000, Brent Myers quit after 10 days to coach at Washington.

Short Stuff

Hiring of Missouri coach lifts hopes at Mtn. View

Mountain View High School has hired Missouri prep coach Larry Branson as its head football coach, hopeful it can restore itself as a state power and fill the bleachers the way Wayne Jones did for 19 years. MVHS athletic director Todd Garelick went through an extensive interview process. "We had 32 applicants, narrowed it down and interviewed six coaches," Garelick said. "We hired Branson, had him on campus (Feb. 11) and introduced him to the boys." Garelick said that Branson's 19-year experience as a head coach is attractive. "Coaching searches are never easy," he said. "People say it's going too slow, or too fast, or the coach is too old or too young. I think we got the right guy." … Arizona's All-Pac-10 defensive end Brooks Reed has climbed into the top 50 on most NFL mock draft charts. He is on a 5,840-calorie-a-day regimen at the Athletes' Performance Institute in Phoenix, training from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., six days a week. His food is prepared by on-site chefs. Thus far, Reed has been interviewed by 16 NFL teams as he enters this week's NFL combine. … Lucas Reed, Brooks' younger brother, a Sabino grad who was All-Mountain West Conference tight end at New Mexico in 2010, last week was named to the MWC's All-Academic team. … Tucsonan Terrell Stoglin is playing so well in his freshman season at Maryland that he is likely to make the All-ACC Freshman team. In his last three games, the Santa Rita grad has scored 54 points, passed for 17 assists and shot .621 from the field.

More Short Stuff

Ex-Rutgers starter Savage earned top prep rating for any Wildcat QB

The decision by former Rutgers starting quarterback Tom Savage to transfer to Arizona makes him the highest-rated ex-high school QB in Arizona history. As a senior at Cardinal O'Hara High in Philadelphia, Savage was ranked as the No. 24 overall prospect in the country. He took a recruiting visit to Georgia's spring game, and on that weekend hung out with future NFL No. 1 draft pick QB Matthew Stafford. "It gave me chills to go down there," Savage told Rivals.com in April 2008. … One of the reasons Chuck Cecil is so unlikely to consider coaching Arizona's defensive backs is because he earned $1 million as the Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator last year, and is still being paid by the Titans for a year after being fired with a year to go on his contract. He also adds about $300 a month to his NFL pension for every year or service. The money is so good in the NFL that few coaches go back to college jobs. NFL reporters indicated that Cecil was interviewed for a secondary coaching job by the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. … Pima College's women's basketball team has climbed to No. 2 in the NJCAA Division II poll. Coach Todd Holthaus' team was 22-5 entering Saturday's game against Eastern Arizona. The finish to the ACCAC season will be a big one: On Friday, PCC plays at Arizona Western, which snapped Central Arizona's 167-game ACCAC winning streak last week. AWC was 26-1 through Friday.

Amphi's path to 4A-II title is easier after Arcadia's loss

As Amphi (27-2) bids to win the 4A-II state championship this week, the Panthers must first play 2008 state champ Goodyear Desert Edge in Wednesday's semifinals in Glendale. Desert Edge (22-6) is coached by ex-Palo Verde High School standout Joe Babinski. Amphi coach Ben Hurley probably got some good news Friday when 26-1 Phoenix Arcadia was stunned in the quarterfinals, losing to Tempe High School. … At the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship this week, 31 players will have an easy commute. Those 31 are playing in the ongoing Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles. None in the field of 64 chose to play in the European Tour event this weekend in New Delhi. … The PGA Tour's Mayakoba Classic will be played in Cancun opposite Match Play. That field includes just six players who would likely draw a crowd at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain: John Daly, Rincon grad Michael Thompson, Boo Weekley and ex-Wildcats Ricky Barnes, Ted Purdy and Rory Sabbatini. … Tucson attorney Rick Gonzales has become the president of the Southern Arizona Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. He has big shoes to fill: previous Hall of Fame officials Joe Kearney, Mike Lude and Ted Schmidt were the forces behind the Hall of Fame elections of Chuck Cecil and Ricky Hunley. Gonzales, who gets things done, will attempt to get Tedy Bruschi and Rob Waldrop onto the ballot as soon as possible. The group's banquet will be held April 3 at the UA Student Union. Former UA receiver Jay Dobyns will be the guest speaker. Ticket information: 621-5233.

My Two Cents

Top D-backs, Sox players should play in charity game

The Diamondbacks and White Sox will play a charity game for the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Fund on March 7 at Kino Stadium. Both teams also have split-squad games scheduled in Phoenix that day.

This is one game that should rise above sensitive feelings about both clubs leaving Tucson. It is also a game in which the D-backs and White Sox could earn a lot of respect by bringing a squad of regulars - and not a bunch of Triple-A guys.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday. It is a chance for both clubs, and for Tucson, to come together for a good cause.