Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Cats likely won't make All-Century team

Cats could be shut out of All-Century team 

The Pac-12 invited me to be on the panel to select its All-Century football team (1915-2015). It will be an absurdly difficult process.

Thirty-nine former Arizona players are on the ballot I received last week, and it could be that no Wildcats — zero — make the 50-player team to be announced in December.

For example: Five quarterbacks will make the All-Century team. Do you realize that the Pac-12 has 16 quarterbacks in the College Football Hall of Fame?

And that doesn’t include Pat Haden, Andrew Luck, Rodney Peete, Warren Moon, Sonny Sixkiller and Marcus Mariota.

Arizona has two QB nominees: Nick Foles and Tom Tunnicliffe.

The Wildcats are most strongly represented at linebacker. Ricky Hunley, Byron Evans, Marcus Bell, Sean Harris, Lance Briggs, Chris Singleton and Scooby Wright are among 68 linebackers nominated.

I will vote for Hunley – each panelist can select 10 players per position – but beyond that, the pre-1980s linebackers include Hall of Famers Richard Wood, Matt Hazeltine, Donn Moomaw, Jerry Robinson, Rick Redman and Jeff Siemon, all seemingly deserving of one of five berths.

Where does that leave Junior Seau or Chip Banks, who were as good as Hunley and Scooby? Only five will make the All-Century team.

The All-Century team will be revealed on a Pac-12 Networks broadcast before the league championship game in December. I think six ex-Wildcats will make the preliminary list of 120: Hunley, center Joe Tofflemire, defensive end Tedy Bruschi, defensive tackle Rob Waldrop, safety Chuck Cecil and cornerback Chris McAlister. Or at least they should.

How about ex-UA tailback Ka’Deem Carey? As good as he was, the Canyon del Oro grad has little chance to make even the final ballot of 10. Amazingly, the Pac-12 has 28 running backs in the College Football Hall of Fame, stretching to legends such as Stanford’s Ernie Nevers and Washington’s Hugh McElhenny.

The Coach of the Century? Of the 38 candidates, I’ll vote for USC’s John McKay and Washington’s Don James. Also on the ballot are ex-UA coaches Larry Smith and Dick Tomey.

Tucsonan Foster is first at D-I level 

Courtnay Foster is probably one of the 10 leading softball players in Tucson history and is now believed to be the first women’s coach from Tucson to be a Division I head coach in any sport.

Foster last week accepted the head coaching job at Bucknell University, a school coming off a school-record 35 victories last season, finishing second in the Patriot League.

Foster had been the pitching coach at her alma mater, Northwestern, the past five seasons, where, among other things, she helped to recruit CDO all-state catcher Sammy Nettling, now a sophomore at NU.

At Sahuaro High School, Foster was superb. She was 54-5-1, pitching a shutout in the 2001 state championship game for coach Billy Lopez. At Northwestern, Foster was a three-time All-Big Ten pitcher, leading the Wildcats to the 2006 Women’s College World Series. Foster was 80-37 at Northwestern with a career ERA of 1.49.

Losing assistant track coach hurts UA 

The UA’s biggest loss of the 2014-15 season has nothing to do with a shortstop or a point guard. It was the loss of assistant track coach Sheldon Blockburger, who last week became the jumps and multi-events coach at rival USC. Blockburger coached NCAA champions Brigetta Barrett, Nick Ross, Jake Arnold and Liz Patterson. His jumpers won 16 Pac-12 titles in 10 seasons. He leaves Arizona the NCAA’s No. 2 decathlete, senior Pau Tonnesen. Said USC head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, “This is a huge coup for USC. Sheldon is, arguably, one of the few premier jumps and multi-events coaches in America.” 

Rincon/University grad Thompson's last chance 

This week’s PGA Tour Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nevada, will essentially be the last chance for Rincon/University High grad Michael Thompson to maintain his playing privileges for the 2016 season. Thompson is No. 135 on the money list, at $585,309. The top 125 retain full playing rights. 

Salpointe's Harris earns spot in championship tourney 

Salpointe Catholic sophomore Haylin Harris played so well in the USGA Girls’ Junior Championship that she qualified for a berth in the AJGA Girls Championship over Labor Day weekend in South Carolina. Harris reached the final 64 portion, match play, of the USGA finals in Oklahoma before being eliminated by Taiwan’s Yu Sang Hou, 3 and 2. Sang Hou is two years older than Harris and previously played in the U.S. Women’s Open. 

Foothills' Cohen wins AJGA tournament 

Arizona men’s golf coach Jim Anderson knew what he was doing a year ago when he offered Catalina Foothills sophomore Gavin Cohen a scholarship. A week ago, Cohen flew to Owensboro, Kentucky, for one of the top AJGA tournaments of the summer and won it, shooting 69-70-68 in a 72-player field. It was Cohen’s first AJGA title. 

Tucson financial advisor Rosen qualifies for U.S. Amateur 

Tucson financial adviser Matthew Rosen is one of the top amateur golfers in the state. He recently qualified for the August 17-23 U.S. Amateur, and will be in the Chicago area, along with UA sophomore George Cunningham, for the championship. Rosen played at the Gregory School, and was a standout at Tennessee State. 

UA's Dalbec tearing up Cape Cod League

Despite missing 14 Cape Cod League games while playing for USA Baseball, Arizona junior third baseman Bobby Dalbec leads the Cape with 11 home runs and is second with 27 RBIs while playing for the Orleans Firebirds. What might be more encouraging for new UA baseball coach Jay Johnson is that sophomore first baseman J.J. Matijevic made the Cape Code League All-Star team and is hitting .331, third-best in the league. 

CDO grad Ames a star in summer league 

After Nick Ames helped CDO win the state baseball championship in May, he joined the Utah Marshalls, a college summer league team with whom he has been a star. Ames, who will play at UNLV, is hitting .378 with 54 RBIs in 59 games. It’s the same team that Washington Nationals All-Star Bryce Harper played for in his amateur career. 

UA's Hoard makes All-Star team in California League 

UA junior first baseman Michael Hoard, a Salpointe grad, was chosen to the California Collegiate League All-Star team last week. Hoard is hitting .323 for the Walnut Creek Crawdads. Hoard has played against UA teammate Zach Gibbons, a senior outfielder who is hitting .385 for the Conejo Oaks in the California League. 

Sahuarita grad Santa Cruz chooses Central Arizona over UA 

Sahuarita High grad Sati Santa Cruz, a pitcher who signed to play baseball at Arizona for Andy Lopez, will not play for the UA in 2016. He instead will play for Central Arizona College. 

Ex-Sahuaro, Pima standout McDonald could be MVP 

After his All-ACCAC days at Pima College, Jared McDonald has played for nine pro teams in seven years. The Sahuaro High grad, now 27, is bidding to become the MVP of the Canadian American Association of Pro Baseball. He is hitting .342 with 46 RBIs (both figures are third in the league) for the Rockland Boulders of Pomona, New York.

Arizona swimming back on right track 

Evidence of Arizona’s recent decline as a swimming power is that just two Wildcats, Kevin Cordes and Margo Geer, are on Team USA at the ongoing world championships in Kazan, Russia. But that is likely to change. Second-year coach Rick DeMont, who is an assistant on the USA staff in Russia, will return to Tucson in time for school to greet the nation’s No. 3-ranked women’s recruiting class, and the No. 6-rated men’s recruiting group. DeMont landed the nation’s top swimmer in the breast stroke, Blair Bish of Arkansas, and the nation’s No. 2 backstroker, Taylor Garcia of Michigan. DeMont is experiencing an anniversary of sorts at the world championships. In 1973, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, DeMont was the first ever to break four minutes in the 400 freestyle (3:58.18). It was the first official world championships meet in history. 

Rivals Salpointe, Tucson High to come together for great cause

Rivals on the football field, Salpointe and Tucson will come together Saturday for a great cause. The schools will stage the Anthony Bates Cardiac Screening program at THS from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The purpose is to help prevent sudden cardiac deaths among football players, and anyone in the community. Proceeds will help to purchase defibrillators for area schools. Information: anthonybates.org. 

Son of ex-Cat Bibby receives scholarship offer 

After a full summer of exposure to college coaches in AAU camps, Michael Bibby Jr. was offered a scholarship by UC Irvine. No, he’s not his dad, but after missing a year with a knee injury, it’s a good start for the Phoenix Shadow Mountain guard. 

Zeus labeled as accessory on Pan Am team 

UA center Kaleb Tarczewski returned from the Pan American Games having averaged 20 minutes, 6 rebounds and 6.6 points per game on a team cursed with a dreadful mix of players ages 20 to 35. ESPN announcer Fran Fraschilla referred to him as an “dump-off guy and a weakside rebounder.” That’s inaccurate. But coach Mark Few’s team seemed to label Zeus as strictly an accessory rather than someone who could’ve helped them do more than win a bronze medal against weak competition. 

PCC, Salpointe coach Garrett leaving Tucson 

Salpointe and Pima College suffered a significant loss in July when strength and conditioning coach Carla Garrett accepted a similar position with the New Mexico Lobos. Garrett, a 10-time All-American shot-putter and discus thrower at Arizona in the 1990s, was inducted into the USA Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 2012. She made a significant impact in Tucson sports.

My two cents: RichRod, Graham don't pull any punches 

My interpretation of last week’s Pac-12 football media carnival:

1. ASU coach Todd Graham isn’t treading lightly on anyone’s toes. Seven times in his media session at the podium, he mentioned how serious the Sun Devils are about winning championships. He declared his team talented, explosive and ready to be recognized among the game’s elite. I don’t think he’s bluffing.

2. Rich Rodriguez is a man against whom you don’t want to play cards. He’s not a bluffer, nor will he tip his hand. He just brings it; he sets his StairMaster control at level 20. That’s serious business. That’s his approach in all things.

“We’re going to be the underdog simply because we don’t have the brand name other schools have,” he said. “We’ll get enough good players that we can compete for the championship.”

3. ASU’s theme is “break the rock.” Arizona’s mantra is “pull the rope.” Either way, the RichRod vs. Graham rivalry is the most bitter since Frank Kush and Jim Young coached in the Territorial Cup 40 years ago, and, I believe, this is the top rivalry going in Pac-12 football. 

Click the photo below to check out the Greg Hansen archive.