Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Rarely-ranked USC storms McKale

Cats managed to slow down dribblin' Alford; now, their job gets tougher 

UCLA was so psyched up for its trip to McKale Center, to become relevant again, that it persuaded Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda to visit practice on Tuesday.

I don’t know what the 88-year-old Lasorda told the Bruins, but it probably wasn’t “share the ball, boys.”

In the age of metrics and every conceivable statistic known to basketball, I started a new category Friday night at McKale Center. I counted the dribbles of UCLA guard Bryce Alford.

He dribbled 196 times in the first half and 217 times in the second half. Is that a Pac-12 record, 413 dribbles, by a player who isn’t even a point guard? Could be.

Alford is a really good player who has gone from a trigger-happy underclassman to a streak-shooting junior who is unafraid to get benched for taking a bad shot or two. Why? Because his dad is the coach and the Bruins have no one else available.

Alford controls UCLA’s fate because, as Arizona guard T.J. McConnell so accurately said a year ago, “he has the ultimate green light.”

The Dribbling Factor probably sounds as useless as many of the other basketball metrics, from “minutes continuity” to “percentage of shots assisted at the rim.” But in this case I think it has merit.

Consider this: Alford shot 4 for 14 afield on Friday and in UCLA’s 11 losses this season is shooting 29 percent on 46 for 160 shots.

When the Bruins win, Alford shoots 49 percent on 75-for-153 shooting. That’s what he did when the Bruins beat Arizona at Pauley Pavilion. He shot 9 for 18 and scored 25 points, including the game-winning basket.

Obviously, the key to beating UCLA is to (a) make Alford dribble, looking for a shot so long that he’ll miss, or (b) get the Bruins’ thin front line in foul trouble

Scouting USC for Sunday’s game at McKale Center won’t be as easy. The six Trojans who score in double figures all average between 8 and 10 shots per game. It’s the best balance in the league.

Elijah Stewart, the Pac-12’s most feared sixth man, has taken more shots (197) than every Arizona player except Ryan Anderson and Gabe York.

Oddly, the 23rd-ranked Trojans have only been ranked while playing in McKale Center three times in the UA’s conference history. It’s amazing that a Los Angeles team can play at McKale in 36 seasons and be unranked 33 times. George Raveling was 0-8 at McKale; Henry Bibby 0-9.

USC’s last victory in Tucson was in February 2008. At the end of the game, an unhappy Zona Zoo member threw a water bottle that hit USC’s Dwight Lewis in the leg. That prompted UA coach Kevin O’Neill to grab the microphone and scold fans for their loutish behavior.

That loss to USC might’ve been the low point in the transition from Lute Olson to Sean Miller. Not only did the Wildcats lose a rare game to USC, but the fans embarrassed themselves.

Now, eight years later, a game at McKale is more dignified. You can count how many times an opposing player dribbles the ball and try to make it sound important.

Ironwood Ridge, Berrier win fourth state title 

Tim Berrier coached Ironwood Ridge to its fourth state wrestling championship in six years Friday. It was probably the most impressive of the group, given that it came in Division I, against the big Phoenix schools.

He has done so even though numbers have diminished at Ironwood Ridge. At times, the Nighthawks have no more than 20 to 25 wrestlers on the team.

“You have to be ready for some struggles in wrestling,” he said. “A lot of parents don’t want their kids to have to struggle with anything.

“A few years ago, someone at our practice asked me if it was hard to be a wrestler. At the time, we had three state champions, and all three were getting their faces rubbed into the mats, or their shoulders stretched out by another guy. I told him: ‘All of those guys on the bottom are state champions. Yes, it’s hard.’

“I’m not sure if our success has scared kids away, or if the reputation for hard work scared them off. You’d think that our success would help, but it’s not always that way.”

Wrestling is a dying, almost dead sport in many states. But Tucson remains a stronghold of high school wrestling because of men like Berrier.

Carrillo, a throwback coach during baseball's golden age, dies 

Gil Carrillo coached Rincon High School to the state baseball championship game in 1963, 1964 and 1968. The Tucson High grad, who played at the UA in the 1940s, was the equivalent of a first-ballot selection in the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame. Carrillo died here last week. He was a throwback to an era of high school baseball in Tucson that will likely never be matched. During Carrillo’s coaching prime, he was opposed by fellow Pima County Sports Hall of Fame coaches Bobby Hart, John Gleeson, Ray Adkins, Cliff Myrick and Jim Wing. Funeral services are pending. 

Former UA swimming coach Busch has great week 

Former UA swimming coach Frank Busch sat in the front row at Friday’s Arizona-UCLA game at McKale Center. Now the director of USA Swimming’s national teams, Busch had a very good week; the top swimmer he coached at Arizona, Ryk Neethling, was selected to the Pac-12’s All-Century team, as was Busch’s long-time top assistant coach, Rick DeMont. The third Arizona swimmer to make the All-Century team was Kevin Cordes, who committed to swim for Arizona before Busch left for USA Swimming. 

Tucson football legend Leslie wraps up stellar career 

I walked into the pro shop at the Randolph Golf complex last week and met Joe Leslie, one of the top names in Tucson football coaching history. Leslie was a standout lineman at Salpointe Catholic in the late ’60s before starting a notable career as a coach at Dartmouth (his alma mater), Penn, Boston University, New Hampshire and, for the last 11 years, Brown. Leslie retired after the 2015 season at Brown, a team that included two of his Salpointe Catholic guys, running back Johnny Pena and defensive back Jay Williams. The former All-Ivy League tackle plans to move back to Tucson and get in some winter-time golf. 

C.A.T.S. Academic Center shows Byrne's priorities extend beyond sports 

I’m not going to get all gushy about Greg Byrne, but his decision to raise $7.5 million to build an academic center for Wildcat athletes shows that his commitment to the school goes beyond turning a profit and winning football games. Nobody would’ve said a word had Byrne simply said times are tough and that raising $150 million to remake Arizona Stadium would take every cent the school could raise. The key donor is alumnus Andrew Braccia, 40, who is listed at No. 88 on Forbes’ Midas list. Braccia made his fortune in the Silicon Valley, investing in Yahoo and other technology ventures. As for a sports background, Braccia was one of the key investors for SB Nation, an online sports journalism site. 

Tucson High grad Lewis headed to Vandy 

Tucson High grad Osia Lewis, class of ’81, has been a defensive line coach at Oregon State, UTEP, Illinois, New Mexico and, for the last five years, San Diego State. Last week, he was hired by Vanderbilt. Lewis met Rich Rodriguez while recruiting in Phoenix last month, and told him how much he would like to return to Tucson and be Arizona’s new defensive line coach. It didn’t work out, and Lewis is now farther from home. But he’s in the SEC, and will probably double his salary from about $190,000 to close to $350,000. Couldn’t happen to a better person. 

PGA Tour winner Black, ex-Cat Briggs team up 

Two-time PGA Tour winner Ronnie Black, now the director of golf at Green Valley’s San Ignacio Golf Club, will play host to NFL All-Pro linebacker Lance Briggs’ Briggs4Kidz foundation and outreach program. Briggs, a two-time All-Pac-10 linebacker at Arizona, will hold a football camp at Arizona Stadium on March 5 for kids 8-17. He will then hold a 140-person golf benefit March 6 at San Ignacio. Contact information: 822-8313. Black hopes to get a sponsor’s exemption into next month’s Tucson Conquistadores Classic at the Omni Tucson National. Volunteers are needed for the March 14-20 Champions Tour event. Contact: conquistadoresclassic.com.

Pima's Stallworth on pace to become ACCAC Player of the Year

Pima College freshman point guard Sydni Stallworth of Palo Verde High, a four-time ACCAC Player of the Week this season, is probably the leading candidate to be 2015-16 Player of the Year. She is really good, and is second among ACCAC scorers, at 15.2 per game. You can see her play Wednesday at 5:30 when Todd Holthaus’ Aztecs play the biggest game of the home season against Central Arizona College. Entering Saturday’s games, CAC was 16-2 with a nine-game winning streak and Pima 15-3. CAC’s last loss was to Pima on Jan. 9 in Coolidge. 

Pima men's golfers notch big victory 

Pima College men’s golf coach Clark Rustand posted one of the top victories at the school last week when the Aztecs won the Chandler-Gilbert Invitational by five strokes. Cienega High grad David Rauer, a sophomore, won the individual title. He opened the tournament with a 5-under 65. 

Salpointe's Parikh cementing legacy as one of Tucson's best ever 

Salpointe Catholic senior Yash Parikh, the 2014 state singles champion, continues to forge a reputation as one of the top tennis players in Tucson history. Parikh won the 46th annual Tucson High Invitational last week, his fourth consecutive title in that event. Parikh has excelled under his personal tennis instructor, Evan Phillips of La Mariposa. Rice, Boston College, Yale, Cal and the Naval Academy, among others, are recruiting Parikh. 

Sabino's Mariani wins championship in Seattle 

Sabino High freshman Madison Mariani won the Charity Choice Invitational gymnastics championship last week in Seattle. Mariani was first in floor exercise, beam and the all-around competition. In her three events of 2016, Mariani won in Las Vegas and Seattle and was third in Phoenix against the top high school gymnasts in the country. 

Mountain View grad Estrada trying to find place at UA 

Richie Estrada gained 3,701 rushing yards while at Mountain View High School from 2011-13, one of Southern Arizona’s top football players of that period. He is now on Arizona’s football roster, trying to climb up the depth chart in spring practice. Estrada spent the 2014 season at Wabash College in Indiana, gaining 124 yards in five games, limited by injury. He sat out the ’15 season.

My two cents: Arizona's coaches now speak language of millennials 

College football is changing and not subtly. Coaching staffs are getting younger because recruiting 17-year-old prospects is best suited to coaches who speak the language of millennials.

In retrospect, you can now see Rich Rodriguez’s master plan as he cleaned out his entire defensive staff and started over with coaches aged 32, 33, 37 and 41.

He not only saved about $150,000 per year in the switch of defensive coordinators, Jeff Casteel to Marcel Yates, he’ll probably save an additional $100,000 replacing Bill Kirelawich with Vince Amey.

With that extra $250,000 or so, RichRod was able to double his full-time recruiting staff, hiring Chris Singletary, who spent nine years as a recruiting specialist at Michigan, under four coaches. He’ll work with Matt Dudek, who fluently speaks the language of those wearing high school football gear.

The most astute X’s and O’s coaches on the planet can’t do much good with lower-tier recruits, as Arizona painfully learned under Casteel, Kirelawich and the old defensive staff.

The unknown is whether RichRod acted soon enough to alter the course of Arizona’s football program. Blowing off a traditional spring game to concentrate on blocking, tackling and fundamentals is a loud and clear message that the Wildcats are in serious trouble.

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