Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Cropp leaving after 'one for the ages'

Cropp leaving Pusch Ridge after 'one for the ages' season 

In early September, Pusch Ridge Christian football coach Troy Cropp quietly told assistant coach Jerry Harris he planned to resign at year’s end.

The Lions were 2-1 at the time. No one had any idea of what lay ahead.

Two weeks later, Cropp told Pusch Ridge athletic director Lonnie Tvrdy he was seriously considering leaving coaching; the 45-minute drive to Pusch Ridge — Cropp operates a State Farm Insurance agency on the far east side — and the time required to properly coach the Lions was costing him precious time with his family.

The Lions were 4-1. Good, but nothing special.

Finally, in mid-October, Cropp and Tvrdy agreed this would be the coach’s final season at Pusch Ridge.

“Troy is also starting a new business venture,” Tvrdy said last week. “I was hoping he could coach for a few more years, but I knew this was the best for and his family.”

And then the Lions rolled, finishing 13-1, winning the Division IV state championship in a series of wild finishes.

“Three come-from-behind wins,” Cropp said last week. “It’s one for the ages.”

On Tuesday, Cropp told his team he was leaving the school. The Lions and their immediate families will celebrate the remarkable season at a banquet Sunday at the Oro Valley Country Club.

“I don’t think my tank’s empty on the coaching side,” says Cropp, who was 37-9 in four seasons at Pusch Ridge. “But it is my conviction to spend more time with my family. I preach to the kids that family is the No. 1 priority and I want to make sure to do all I can to be the best husband and father I can be.”

Cropp and Tvrdy agreed that Harris, a defensive coach, would become the new Pusch Ridge head coach. Harris, the executive vice-president of Southwest Energy, a mining and metals firm, played football at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in the late 1980s.

“What gives me a lot of peace about (leaving) is that the coaching staff will remain intact; they are so good and had such a big part in the championship,” says Cropp. “We started eight sophomores this year; the cupboard is not bare at Pusch Ridge.”

The Lions will share one more “game” with their coach. They are to be introduced at halftime of Thursday’s Arizona Cardinals-Minnesota Vikings game at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Not bad for a school that didn’t start its football program until 2000.

Arizona in Arizona Bowl? Not likely 

On Thursday, about 50 members of the organizing committee of the inaugural Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl met to discuss the ever-changing pool of possible teams.

‘’We call it ‘horse trading,’ ” said Tucson attorney Ali Farhang, one of the founders of the Dec. 29 game that will be played at Arizona Stadium. “It’s very unpredictable. We might not know what teams we’ll have until late Sunday afternoon.”

One of three Mountain West Conference teams — Colorado State, Utah State or Nevada — is almost sure to fill the MWC’s spot. After that? Maybe Rice. Maybe someone from the Mid-American Conference. Maybe a mystery guest on no one’s radar until Sunday.

But the team you almost surely won’t see is Arizona. The Wildcats will follow the money, and the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl is a start-up game that can’t afford to pay the $1-2 million necessary to get a Pac-12 team.

“If we took Arizona, we’d be setting ourselves up for financial failure,” said Farhang. “We just can’t pay that kind of money in our first year if we want to survive.”

Cervi's father honored as Legend of Pro Rodeo 

Tuesday night in Las Vegas, Marana’s Mel Potter was honored as the 2015 Legend of ProRodeo. The long-time stock contractor and former National Finals Rodeo tie-down roper was just the 10th man in history to receive the Wrangler Gold Buckle. His daughter, Sherry Cervi, a three-time world champion barrel racer, entered the finals ranked No. 7 with $114,743; she was seventh in the Thursday and Friday finals. Her husband, Cory Petska of Marana, finished second Friday in team roping to move into sixth place for the year with $105,558. The NFR continues through Saturday. 

Ex-Cat Hunley not following Fuente to Virginia Tech 

UA Hall of Fame linebacker Ricky Hunley was one of three linebackers chosen to the Pac-12’s All-Century team last week. The rest of the week wasn’t as good: Hunley, a defensive line coach, helped coach Memphis to a 9-3 season, but was not part of Memphis coach Justin Fuente’s move as the head coach at Virginia Tech. Fuente agreed to keep Tech’s defensive coordinator and defensive line coaches. Hunley grew up in Petersburg, Virginia, which is 205 miles from Virginia Tech. 

Salpointe's Holt to miss All-Star Game 

Salpointe Catholic senior defensive lineman Justin Holt won’t travel to the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl on Dec. 20 in Arlington, Texas. He is wearing a walking boot until later this month after having surgery for fracturing a fibula in his left leg last month. Holt, who has agreed to play at Arizona, should be ready to resume workouts by February. 

Tucson High grad Lewis leads Aztecs to big season 

Tucson High grad Osia Lewis, in his fifth season as defensive line coach at San Diego State, helped the Aztecs go 8-0 to win a Mountain West Conference division title. Lewis played linebacker at Oregon State 30 years ago, and has since coached at UTEP, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon State and in the old United Football League. The book of his coaching life would be complete if he could return home and coach at Arizona someday. 

Don't blame RichRod for going after South Carolina job 

Rich Rodriguez’s pursuit of the coaching vacancy at South Carolina probably wasn't about any of the things normally manifest in a coaching search. It wasn't about money. It wasn't about “going home.” It was about the lack of recruiting power at Arizona. And it’s about the lack of people at Arizona Stadium. When only 47,847 showed up for a homecoming game against Washington State, less than a year after winning the Pac-12 South, it was a message that Tucson doesn’t care enough. You need lions to win in the Pac-12, and so far RichRod has only been able to recruit cubs. 

Former UA interim coaches struggling 

Russ Pennell and Mike Dunlap coached Arizona to the 2009 Sweet 16, and on Wednesday both were coaching again simultaneously in televised games. Pennell’s Central Arkansas team lost 111-68 at Oklahoma, and Dunlap’s LMU club lost 79-70 at Oregon State. The two former UA interim coaches are struggling mightily; Pennell is 3-33 early in his second year at CAU and Dunlap is a combined 12-26 in his second season at LMU. 

Lute, Elliott belong in UA's 'Mount Rushmore' 

In the Pac-12 Network’s celebration of the league’s centennial last week, it chose a “Mount Rushmore” for every school. With input from the UA, it chose Lute Olson, Jennie Finch, Sean Elliott and Cedric Dempsey. The Elliott and Olson choices were no-brainers. But leaving Pop McKale, Jerry Kindall, Mike Candrea and Annika Sorenstam out were tough calls. 

Sunnyside's Inclan chosen as MVP of hoops tourney 

Sunnyside senior shooting guad Jacob Inclan was MVP of the week-long Salpointe Tipoff Classic, averaging 22.8 points in five games. He was chosen over Rincon/University center Brendan Rumel, who scored 37 points, shooting 15 for 18 from the field with 13 rebounds against Sierra Linda in the same tournament. Rumel is averaging 23.8 points and 13.4 rebounds through six games. 

Amphi grad Derksen breaks 1,000-point barrier 

Amphi grad Tim Derksen broke the 1,000 point barrier at San Francisco last week. Arizona’s 2012 Gatorade Player of the Year now has 1,045 points for the Dons and is averaging 14.4 a game. 

Wood retains 2016 playing privileges with second-place finish

At 17-under par, Sabino High grad Willie Wood finished tied for second at the Champions Tour Qualifying Tournament last week, to retain his playing privileges for 2016. Wood, 55, has earned $1.95 million in five years on the Champions Tour.

Francona, Hale will lead Hills baseball camp 

The Who’s Who of Tucson baseball will come together Dec. 19-20 to coach in the fourth annual Hills Pro Baseball Camp at Mehl Park. The list of instructors includes MLB managers Terry Francona and Chip Hale, former major-leaguers George Arias, Jack Howell, Jordan Brown and Shelley Duncan and former UA head coaches Jerry Stitt and Andy Lopez. Registration: blake@hillsbaseballaz.com. 

PCC athletics has strong fall 

Last week was another in a series of top accomplishments for the Pima College athletic department. Jason Romero was named a first-team NJCAA All-American men’s soccer player, and Sabino grad Devyn Hunley was chosen as a second-team NJCAA All-American women’s soccer player. PCC athletic director Edgar Soto will hold a celebration for the fall sports — football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country and volleyball — next Sunday from 4:30-6 p.m. at the West Campus Center for the Arts Theater. 

Ex-Cat Titus in the mix for 2016 Olympics 

UA and Flowing Wells High graduate Marcus Titus finished second Friday at the USA Swimming Winter National Championships in Seattle. Titus swam the 100 breast stroke in 1:00.55, which is close to his lifetime best. Titus made the 100 breast stroke finals at the 2012 Olympic Trials and is now on track to again be in the mix for the U.S. Olympic team next summer. Arizona grad Kevin Cordes, who is America’s leader in the breast stroke, did not participate in Seattle. He is training in Singapore.

My two cents: UA's unexpected win raises bar for rest of season 

Arizona has been so good for so long I can only remember two early season away-from-McKale games I thought the Wildcats could not possibly win.

• In November 1995, trying to replace All-American Damon Stoudamire, I thought the Wildcats had no chance at No. 16 Arkansas. The unranked Wildcats won 83-73 and went on to the Sweet 16.

• In November 1999, plugging a big hole left by Jason Terry, Arizona met No. 11 Kentucky in the Preseason NIT championship game. The Wildcats started freshmen guards Gilbert Arenas and Jason Gardner. They won 63-51 and ultimately earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Saturday’s game at Gonzaga was the third time the words “no chance” passed through my brain.

If you look back almost a year to the day, Arizona beat Gonzaga at McKale 66-63 in overtime. On that day, Brandon Ashley scored 14 points, T.J. McConnell 12, Kaleb Tarczewski 11, Stanley Johnson 11 and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was a defensive stopper who had eight points and six rebounds.

That’s 56 of the 66 points that weren’t available to the Wildcats in Saturday’s fully unexpected 68-63 victory over the Zags.

Don’t tell me you called it. Arizona hasn’t truly “upset” many teams for the last 25 years; maybe the 1997 Sweet 16 triumph over No. 1 Kansas and very few, if any others.

But Saturday’s win at the Kennel was similarly unexpected.

By March, we’ll probably be able to look back and see that all of the Zags not named Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis are not big game-quality; the other Zags shot just 4 for 18 from the field Saturday and were invisible.

But I suspect the message from Saturday’s game was more than Allonzo Trier, Gabe York and Ryan Anderson are big-game players, and that Sean Miller won’t be saying “wait ’til next year” any time soon.