Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Arizona women's basketball staff scrambling to restock
- Updated
Star sports columnist Greg Hansen offers his opinion on recent sports news.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
When you take command of a sinking basketball ship, one that has gone 7-47 in the last three Pac-12 women’s basketball seasons, you bail water as you seek higher ground.
“Sometimes I don’t know what day it is,” says UA coach Adia Barnes. “Sometimes I go, ‘Did this happen last week, or was it two weeks ago?’”
Here’s a travel itinerary from Arizona’s important recruiting week of September 5:
Barnes and her coaching staff, flying from Phoenix to save money, wake up when it’s dark and drive to Sky Harbor Airport. The flight to Cincinnati is delayed 4 ½ hours.
After arriving in Cincinnati, the UA coaches drive 2 ½ hours to Ashland, Kentucky to visit, I presume, Blazer High School Class of 2018 point guard Mykasa Robinson, who is a Top-100 prospect.
They return late at night to Cincinnati, sleep about three hours, get up a 5 a.m. They fly to Houston to visit another Top-100 prospect. They are in such a rush that they change clothes in the airport, drive 90 minutes and spend about six hours visiting with the prospect and her family.
They return to the airport late at night, get up about 6 a.m., and fly to Seattle to visit another top prospect. Wash, rinse, repeat.
“You have to work hard, you can’t let up,” says Barnes. “We started out so far behind but I think we’ve finally made up a lot of the deficit.”
Barnes has wisely aligned herself with Sean Miller, talking recruiting, talking defense, talking about all things basketball. For the first time in memory, the UA women’s basketball team will bring recruits to campus to coincide with the men’s Red and Blue Game, on Friday night, October 14.
If you’re going to piggyback the UA men’s program, that’s one weekend to do so.
Barnes has four commitments from the Class of 2017, and over the last three weeks worked diligently to successfully arrange the enrollment and immediate eligibility of point guard Lucia Alonso Amigo, a starter on Spain’s women’s national team.
Barnes and her staff have also been wise to visit the state’s leading girls basketball player, Phoenix Seton Catholic guard Sarah Barcello, the younger sister of Alex Barcello, a Corona del Sol guard who committed to play for Arizona a month ago. Good move. The Barcellos are Arizona’s first family for basketball: Alex and Sarah’s older sister, Julia, is a starter at Colgate, and their 14-year-old younger sister, Amanda, projects as a leading Pac-12 prospect in the Class of 2021.
“We haven’t had a problem recruiting,” says Barnes. “We’ve got a lot of top players visiting campus over the next few weeks and we’ve got a lot to offer. Our message is: come to Arizona and be part of the foundation of something that is going to be fun and successful.”
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
I was in the emergency room at Banner UMC about a year ago, attending a family member, when I saw Sandra Patton in the hallway.
“Norm’s here,” she said. “But I think he’ll be OK.”
I didn’t know it then, but Norm Patton, Sandra’s husband, one of the most successful basketball coaches in Arizona history, the patriarch of a basketball/softball family that rivals any sports family in Tucson history, was dying.
“He’s too tough not to be OK,” I told his wife. “Too ornery and too tough.”
Norm died last week. He was only 77. I don’t know the exact number of basketball games he won at Marana High School, Pima College and Central Arizona College — 500 or 600 for sure — but he wasn’t a numbers guy.
He was a do-the-right-thing guy. His daughters, including state championship softball coach Kelly Fowler, and his grandchildren, including Arizona prep softball players of the year Kenzie and Mattie Fowler, are of similar character
Norm grew up in remote Cliff, New Mexico, the son of a rancher, discovering long ago that life isn’t about winning basketball games. Norm was driving the family’s pickup, racing like mad to get to a hospital in nearby Silver City, when his father, Barney, died of a heart attack while sitting next to him.
The favorite story he told me was about the night in 1985 when his daughter, Patty Patton Shearer, led Marana to the state basketball championship – just as he had coached Marana to boys state titles in 1968, 1969 and 1972.
Norm couldn’t go to Patty’s game at Phoenix Xavier High School because he was coaching Central Arizona College to the ACCAC championship that night at Mesa College.
After CAC won, Norm ran from the locker room, hoping he might get to Xavier to see the final minutes of Patty’s game. When he got into the gymnasium, he saw Sandra.
“How are they doing?” he shouted.
She gave him a thumbs up.
That’s a fitting description of Norm Patton’s impact in Tucson. Thumbs up.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
In 1992, Lute Olson made a choice to recruit Top-100 big men Joseph Blair of Texas and Edtrick Bohannan of Tennessee. To do that, he passed on Ohio’s Gary Trent, who would go on to be a first-round draft pick and 13-year NBA player. Remember the “Shaq of the MAC?” That was Trent, who became a star at Miami of Ohio. Last week, Arizona arranged to have Gary Trent Jr. visit campus on Oct. 14 for the Red and Blue Game. The younger Trent is viewed by some as the nation’s top shooting guard prospect in the Class of 2017. He attends Prolific Prep school in Napa, California, and also lists Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State on his list of finalists.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
In Miller’s coast-to-coast recruiting program, he was in Connecticut last week to pursue elite Class of 2017 forward Hamidan Diallo at the Putnam Science Academy. The Miller family has had some good fortune at Putnam. Sean’s brother, Dayton coach Archie Miller, has been led for the last two NCAA tournament seasons by Putnam grad Scoochie Smith. Best name in college basketball and one of its best players.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
The Pac-12 acted quickly to correct one of the absurd late-night start times to Arizona’s home basketball schedule. The January 12 UA-ASU game at McKale Center was changed from 9 p.m. to 7 p.m. on ESPN2. However, start times for the Feb. 11 Cal-Arizona game and the Feb. 25 UCLA-Arizona game, both at McKale, continue to be listed as “to be determined.” Do you trust the TV people to do the right thing as it pertains to fan convenience? The Pac-12 Network eliminated its bland “The Drive” program covering one or two football teams during the season and this year will feature one team per week. The week featuring UA football will debut at 10:30 p.m., on September 30. Yes, 10:30 p.m.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
Sabino High School sophomore Madison Mariani has been invited to be part of USA Gymnastics’ Kellogg’s Tour of Champions that features Rio Olympics medalists Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas. Mariani, who has accepted a scholarship to Michigan, will perform at Glendale’s Gila River Arena Thursday night as the Olympians make one of their 36-city stops in Glendale. She then plans to make a visit to her future school to watch the Michigan-Wisconsin football game on October 1.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
As the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots began the second quarter of their Sunday night telecast on NBC last week, the jumbo video board at University of Phoenix Stadium illuminated this message: HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY VERN FRIEDLI. WINNINGEST COACH IN ARIZONA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HISTORY. Well done. Recognition of Amphitheater High School’s Hall of Fame coach shows that the Cardinals are the only Phoenix pro sports franchise that continues care about the Southern Arizona market.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
Salpointe Catholic grad Kelly Walbert Cagle, one of the leading soccer players in Tucson history, was inducted into the Duke sports Hall of Fame Friday night. At Duke, Cagle was a two-time consensus All-American and 1995 ACC player of the year. Also honored Friday night, Sabino High inducted Arizona’s leading pitcher of 1993, lefty Tod Brown, into the school’s sports Hall of Fame. Brown is entering his 10th year as head coach at North Dakota State.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
Pima College’s 2015 first-team soccer All-American Devyn Hunley, scored her first goal in an NCAA game Friday night, helping UTEP to a 2-0 victory over Nevada. Hunley, a Sabino grad, is the daughter of Arizona’s 1984 All-Pac-10 linebacker LaMonte Hunley
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
I erred last week when I wrote that CDO and Stanford grad Blake Martinez was the first of 36 Southern Arizona players in the NFL to start his first NFL game. I did not include kickers. Arizona’s 1994 All-American Steve McLaughlin of Sahuaro High School started his first game as a Los Angeles Rams rookie in 1995, which included the winning field goal in a 17-14 victory over Green Bay. And in 1975, Benson’s Mitch Hoopes, a UA grad, started his first game in the NFL as the Dallas Cowboys’ punter.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
Here’s a name to keep in mind: Salpointe Catholic freshman Bijan Robinson. He made his varsity football debut Friday against Sunnyside, scoring on a 52-yard touchdown reception and running four times for 26 yards. He comes from one of the most impressive sports families in Southern Arizona history. His grandfather, Cleo Robinson, was an all-state linebacker and hurdler at Marana High School; his uncle, Paul Robinson, is a former UA tailback who was the Cincinnati Bengals’ AFL Rookie of the Year in 1968. Cleo Robinson, who was a Pac-12 football referee for 26 years, is to be inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame on October 23 at noon. Tickets remain available. Phone: 955-4424.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
When Dick Tomey hired Clarence Brooks as his defensive line coach in 1990, Brooks was a virtual unknown from Syracuse. After three UA seasons, he had helped to develop All-Pac-10 linemen Warner Smith and Rob Waldrop. Sadly, Brooks died of cancer Friday in Baltimore, where he had been an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens. At 65, Brooks had been an NFL assistant coach since leaving Tucson in 1993.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Now a junior at Air Force, former Ironwood Ridge football standout Tyler Williams is coming into his own as a Mountain West Conference running back. Williams scored two touchdowns against Georgia State last week and is averaging 8.2 yards per carry this season. He has also caught two passes for 62 yards. You can see the leader of Ironwood Ridge’s 2012 state championship on ESPNU Saturday at 7:15 p.m., against Utah State.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The Tucson Roadrunners have hit most of the right buttons since announcing their move to the Tucson Convention Center last spring.
The AHL hockey franchise, an affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes, will start no home game later than 7:05 p.m., and also arranged to have a limited number of conflicts with UA basketball home games.
The Roadrunners, who open Oct 14 at the San Diego Gulls, will play at the TCC on New Years’ Eve. That’s ordinarily a crowd killer in many cities, but the Roadrunners will play the San Antonio Rampage at 6:05 p.m., which is almost a perfect time on that day: not too late, not too early.
Ticket prices range from $10 in the corners to $50 rink-side. I will be surprised if the Roadrunners don’t average 4,500 fans or more in their inaugural season.
More like this...
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
When you take command of a sinking basketball ship, one that has gone 7-47 in the last three Pac-12 women’s basketball seasons, you bail water as you seek higher ground.
“Sometimes I don’t know what day it is,” says UA coach Adia Barnes. “Sometimes I go, ‘Did this happen last week, or was it two weeks ago?’”
Here’s a travel itinerary from Arizona’s important recruiting week of September 5:
Barnes and her coaching staff, flying from Phoenix to save money, wake up when it’s dark and drive to Sky Harbor Airport. The flight to Cincinnati is delayed 4 ½ hours.
After arriving in Cincinnati, the UA coaches drive 2 ½ hours to Ashland, Kentucky to visit, I presume, Blazer High School Class of 2018 point guard Mykasa Robinson, who is a Top-100 prospect.
They return late at night to Cincinnati, sleep about three hours, get up a 5 a.m. They fly to Houston to visit another Top-100 prospect. They are in such a rush that they change clothes in the airport, drive 90 minutes and spend about six hours visiting with the prospect and her family.
They return to the airport late at night, get up about 6 a.m., and fly to Seattle to visit another top prospect. Wash, rinse, repeat.
“You have to work hard, you can’t let up,” says Barnes. “We started out so far behind but I think we’ve finally made up a lot of the deficit.”
Barnes has wisely aligned herself with Sean Miller, talking recruiting, talking defense, talking about all things basketball. For the first time in memory, the UA women’s basketball team will bring recruits to campus to coincide with the men’s Red and Blue Game, on Friday night, October 14.
If you’re going to piggyback the UA men’s program, that’s one weekend to do so.
Barnes has four commitments from the Class of 2017, and over the last three weeks worked diligently to successfully arrange the enrollment and immediate eligibility of point guard Lucia Alonso Amigo, a starter on Spain’s women’s national team.
Barnes and her staff have also been wise to visit the state’s leading girls basketball player, Phoenix Seton Catholic guard Sarah Barcello, the younger sister of Alex Barcello, a Corona del Sol guard who committed to play for Arizona a month ago. Good move. The Barcellos are Arizona’s first family for basketball: Alex and Sarah’s older sister, Julia, is a starter at Colgate, and their 14-year-old younger sister, Amanda, projects as a leading Pac-12 prospect in the Class of 2021.
“We haven’t had a problem recruiting,” says Barnes. “We’ve got a lot of top players visiting campus over the next few weeks and we’ve got a lot to offer. Our message is: come to Arizona and be part of the foundation of something that is going to be fun and successful.”
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
I was in the emergency room at Banner UMC about a year ago, attending a family member, when I saw Sandra Patton in the hallway.
“Norm’s here,” she said. “But I think he’ll be OK.”
I didn’t know it then, but Norm Patton, Sandra’s husband, one of the most successful basketball coaches in Arizona history, the patriarch of a basketball/softball family that rivals any sports family in Tucson history, was dying.
“He’s too tough not to be OK,” I told his wife. “Too ornery and too tough.”
Norm died last week. He was only 77. I don’t know the exact number of basketball games he won at Marana High School, Pima College and Central Arizona College — 500 or 600 for sure — but he wasn’t a numbers guy.
He was a do-the-right-thing guy. His daughters, including state championship softball coach Kelly Fowler, and his grandchildren, including Arizona prep softball players of the year Kenzie and Mattie Fowler, are of similar character
Norm grew up in remote Cliff, New Mexico, the son of a rancher, discovering long ago that life isn’t about winning basketball games. Norm was driving the family’s pickup, racing like mad to get to a hospital in nearby Silver City, when his father, Barney, died of a heart attack while sitting next to him.
The favorite story he told me was about the night in 1985 when his daughter, Patty Patton Shearer, led Marana to the state basketball championship – just as he had coached Marana to boys state titles in 1968, 1969 and 1972.
Norm couldn’t go to Patty’s game at Phoenix Xavier High School because he was coaching Central Arizona College to the ACCAC championship that night at Mesa College.
After CAC won, Norm ran from the locker room, hoping he might get to Xavier to see the final minutes of Patty’s game. When he got into the gymnasium, he saw Sandra.
“How are they doing?” he shouted.
She gave him a thumbs up.
That’s a fitting description of Norm Patton’s impact in Tucson. Thumbs up.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
In 1992, Lute Olson made a choice to recruit Top-100 big men Joseph Blair of Texas and Edtrick Bohannan of Tennessee. To do that, he passed on Ohio’s Gary Trent, who would go on to be a first-round draft pick and 13-year NBA player. Remember the “Shaq of the MAC?” That was Trent, who became a star at Miami of Ohio. Last week, Arizona arranged to have Gary Trent Jr. visit campus on Oct. 14 for the Red and Blue Game. The younger Trent is viewed by some as the nation’s top shooting guard prospect in the Class of 2017. He attends Prolific Prep school in Napa, California, and also lists Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State on his list of finalists.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
In Miller’s coast-to-coast recruiting program, he was in Connecticut last week to pursue elite Class of 2017 forward Hamidan Diallo at the Putnam Science Academy. The Miller family has had some good fortune at Putnam. Sean’s brother, Dayton coach Archie Miller, has been led for the last two NCAA tournament seasons by Putnam grad Scoochie Smith. Best name in college basketball and one of its best players.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
The Pac-12 acted quickly to correct one of the absurd late-night start times to Arizona’s home basketball schedule. The January 12 UA-ASU game at McKale Center was changed from 9 p.m. to 7 p.m. on ESPN2. However, start times for the Feb. 11 Cal-Arizona game and the Feb. 25 UCLA-Arizona game, both at McKale, continue to be listed as “to be determined.” Do you trust the TV people to do the right thing as it pertains to fan convenience? The Pac-12 Network eliminated its bland “The Drive” program covering one or two football teams during the season and this year will feature one team per week. The week featuring UA football will debut at 10:30 p.m., on September 30. Yes, 10:30 p.m.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
Sabino High School sophomore Madison Mariani has been invited to be part of USA Gymnastics’ Kellogg’s Tour of Champions that features Rio Olympics medalists Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas. Mariani, who has accepted a scholarship to Michigan, will perform at Glendale’s Gila River Arena Thursday night as the Olympians make one of their 36-city stops in Glendale. She then plans to make a visit to her future school to watch the Michigan-Wisconsin football game on October 1.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
As the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots began the second quarter of their Sunday night telecast on NBC last week, the jumbo video board at University of Phoenix Stadium illuminated this message: HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY VERN FRIEDLI. WINNINGEST COACH IN ARIZONA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HISTORY. Well done. Recognition of Amphitheater High School’s Hall of Fame coach shows that the Cardinals are the only Phoenix pro sports franchise that continues care about the Southern Arizona market.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
Salpointe Catholic grad Kelly Walbert Cagle, one of the leading soccer players in Tucson history, was inducted into the Duke sports Hall of Fame Friday night. At Duke, Cagle was a two-time consensus All-American and 1995 ACC player of the year. Also honored Friday night, Sabino High inducted Arizona’s leading pitcher of 1993, lefty Tod Brown, into the school’s sports Hall of Fame. Brown is entering his 10th year as head coach at North Dakota State.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
Pima College’s 2015 first-team soccer All-American Devyn Hunley, scored her first goal in an NCAA game Friday night, helping UTEP to a 2-0 victory over Nevada. Hunley, a Sabino grad, is the daughter of Arizona’s 1984 All-Pac-10 linebacker LaMonte Hunley
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
I erred last week when I wrote that CDO and Stanford grad Blake Martinez was the first of 36 Southern Arizona players in the NFL to start his first NFL game. I did not include kickers. Arizona’s 1994 All-American Steve McLaughlin of Sahuaro High School started his first game as a Los Angeles Rams rookie in 1995, which included the winning field goal in a 17-14 victory over Green Bay. And in 1975, Benson’s Mitch Hoopes, a UA grad, started his first game in the NFL as the Dallas Cowboys’ punter.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
Here’s a name to keep in mind: Salpointe Catholic freshman Bijan Robinson. He made his varsity football debut Friday against Sunnyside, scoring on a 52-yard touchdown reception and running four times for 26 yards. He comes from one of the most impressive sports families in Southern Arizona history. His grandfather, Cleo Robinson, was an all-state linebacker and hurdler at Marana High School; his uncle, Paul Robinson, is a former UA tailback who was the Cincinnati Bengals’ AFL Rookie of the Year in 1968. Cleo Robinson, who was a Pac-12 football referee for 26 years, is to be inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame on October 23 at noon. Tickets remain available. Phone: 955-4424.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
When Dick Tomey hired Clarence Brooks as his defensive line coach in 1990, Brooks was a virtual unknown from Syracuse. After three UA seasons, he had helped to develop All-Pac-10 linemen Warner Smith and Rob Waldrop. Sadly, Brooks died of cancer Friday in Baltimore, where he had been an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens. At 65, Brooks had been an NFL assistant coach since leaving Tucson in 1993.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
Now a junior at Air Force, former Ironwood Ridge football standout Tyler Williams is coming into his own as a Mountain West Conference running back. Williams scored two touchdowns against Georgia State last week and is averaging 8.2 yards per carry this season. He has also caught two passes for 62 yards. You can see the leader of Ironwood Ridge’s 2012 state championship on ESPNU Saturday at 7:15 p.m., against Utah State.
- Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star
The Tucson Roadrunners have hit most of the right buttons since announcing their move to the Tucson Convention Center last spring.
The AHL hockey franchise, an affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes, will start no home game later than 7:05 p.m., and also arranged to have a limited number of conflicts with UA basketball home games.
The Roadrunners, who open Oct 14 at the San Diego Gulls, will play at the TCC on New Years’ Eve. That’s ordinarily a crowd killer in many cities, but the Roadrunners will play the San Antonio Rampage at 6:05 p.m., which is almost a perfect time on that day: not too late, not too early.
Ticket prices range from $10 in the corners to $50 rink-side. I will be surprised if the Roadrunners don’t average 4,500 fans or more in their inaugural season.
More like this...
Tags
Most Popular
-
State lawmakers vote to outlaw Sharia Law in Arizona
-
2 Arizona hotels named among best in US
-
Former Phoenix Mercury star praises landmark WNBA retiree payments
-
Arizona men's basketball reportedly bolsters frontcourt after Peat stays in NBA Draft
-
YouTuber arrested again outside Nancy Guthrie's Tucson home
