Greg Hansen's 10 best Arizona Wildcats to hail from Phoenix
- Updated
Editor's note: This summer, Star columnist Greg Hansen is counting down the top 10 of just about everything related to Tucson sports. Today's list: the top 10 UA athletes from Phoenix.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
In the late 1980s, Susie Parra played virtually every sport at Cocopah Middle School in Scottsdale. Softball. Basketball. Volleyball. Football.
Yes, football.
When Parra’s P.E. teacher saw her throw a football 40 yards in a playground game with male students, he phoned prominent softball pitching instructor Ron Bouldin.
"I’ve got a pitcher for you," he said.
Indeed, once Bouldin began to work with Parra, she soon became an All-State pitcher at Scottsdale Chaparral High School, leading the team to a 28-0-1 record and the 1989 state title. Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon and Oklahoma State were the first to offer Parra a scholarship.
When she chose Arizona, coach Mike Candrea had a franchise pitcher like few others. Parra went 101-9 in her four UA seasons – including 33-1 as the Wildcats won the 1994 NCAA championship.
Parra wasn’t the first highly coveted Phoenix-area athlete who chose to play for the Wildcats, but she became one of the Top 10 to make the two-hour trip down Interstate 10. Here’s our list:
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Although the point guard played just two Arizona seasons, his impact will be forever weighed. He was a clutch-shooting standout during Arizona’s run to the 1997 national championship. A year later, 1998, he was the Pac-10 Player of the Year and a consensus All-American, scoring 1,061 points in just two seasons.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
The winning pitcher in Arizona’s 1993 and 1994 Women’s College World Series championship games, Parra had consecutive ERAs of 0.30, 0.43 and 0.63 in her final three UA seasons.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Leiber was the first high-profile athlete from Phoenix to swing a big stick in Tucson. He was an All-Southwestern fullback, a starter on the UA basketball team and, more than anything else, one of the top hitters in UA baseball history. Leiber enrolled at Arizona with the intent on being a dentist, but he was such a talented power hitter that he signed with the New York Giants after three varsity seasons. Leiber then made three All-Star Games (one with the Giants and two with the Chicago Cubs), hitting 101 home runs before a series of beanball injuries ended his career.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
UA football was in the dumpster, 1-8-1 in 1957, when Wilson was chosen MVP of the annual Arizona High School All-Star Game in Flagstaff in August, 1958. He did not make his final college choice – Arizona or Missouri – until the first week of school. By his senior year, Wilson led Arizona to an 8-1-1 record, then the finest in school history, leading Arizona into the modern era of football. The Wildcats were 15-4-1 his final two seasons.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
After 12 years as a gymnast, Mitchell became one of the world’s leading divers, winning silver medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She was a four-year All-American at Arizona and nine-time USA national champion inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
he MVP of Arizona’s 1967 football team became a first-round draft pick of Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers, the second UA football player chosen in the first round.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
first-team All-American in 1968, Stitt hit .364 and was considered the top defensive outfielder in college baseball. Others chosen to that first team were future New York Yankees All-Star catcher Thurman Munson and Tom Paciorek, who played in the big leagues for 18 seasons. Stitt went on to coach at his alma mater for 24 years.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Frye’s four-year UA basketball career was such that he remains No. 9 in career scoring (1,789 points) as a first-team All-Pac-10 choice in 2004 and 2005.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
When Arizona offered the basketball/football prospect a scholarship in 1982, his only other offer was from New Mexico State. Evans became the Pac-10’s 1986 defensive player of the year. He remains second in career tackles (552) in school history.
- Greg Hansen
- Updated
Wade remains No. 1 on Arizona’s career receiving yards list (3,351 yards) over his 1999-2002 career.
More like this...
- Greg Hansen
In the late 1980s, Susie Parra played virtually every sport at Cocopah Middle School in Scottsdale. Softball. Basketball. Volleyball. Football.
Yes, football.
When Parra’s P.E. teacher saw her throw a football 40 yards in a playground game with male students, he phoned prominent softball pitching instructor Ron Bouldin.
"I’ve got a pitcher for you," he said.
Indeed, once Bouldin began to work with Parra, she soon became an All-State pitcher at Scottsdale Chaparral High School, leading the team to a 28-0-1 record and the 1989 state title. Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon and Oklahoma State were the first to offer Parra a scholarship.
When she chose Arizona, coach Mike Candrea had a franchise pitcher like few others. Parra went 101-9 in her four UA seasons – including 33-1 as the Wildcats won the 1994 NCAA championship.
Parra wasn’t the first highly coveted Phoenix-area athlete who chose to play for the Wildcats, but she became one of the Top 10 to make the two-hour trip down Interstate 10. Here’s our list:
- Greg Hansen
Although the point guard played just two Arizona seasons, his impact will be forever weighed. He was a clutch-shooting standout during Arizona’s run to the 1997 national championship. A year later, 1998, he was the Pac-10 Player of the Year and a consensus All-American, scoring 1,061 points in just two seasons.
- Greg Hansen
Leiber was the first high-profile athlete from Phoenix to swing a big stick in Tucson. He was an All-Southwestern fullback, a starter on the UA basketball team and, more than anything else, one of the top hitters in UA baseball history. Leiber enrolled at Arizona with the intent on being a dentist, but he was such a talented power hitter that he signed with the New York Giants after three varsity seasons. Leiber then made three All-Star Games (one with the Giants and two with the Chicago Cubs), hitting 101 home runs before a series of beanball injuries ended his career.
- Greg Hansen
UA football was in the dumpster, 1-8-1 in 1957, when Wilson was chosen MVP of the annual Arizona High School All-Star Game in Flagstaff in August, 1958. He did not make his final college choice – Arizona or Missouri – until the first week of school. By his senior year, Wilson led Arizona to an 8-1-1 record, then the finest in school history, leading Arizona into the modern era of football. The Wildcats were 15-4-1 his final two seasons.
- Greg Hansen
After 12 years as a gymnast, Mitchell became one of the world’s leading divers, winning silver medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She was a four-year All-American at Arizona and nine-time USA national champion inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1995.
- Greg Hansen
first-team All-American in 1968, Stitt hit .364 and was considered the top defensive outfielder in college baseball. Others chosen to that first team were future New York Yankees All-Star catcher Thurman Munson and Tom Paciorek, who played in the big leagues for 18 seasons. Stitt went on to coach at his alma mater for 24 years.
- Greg Hansen
When Arizona offered the basketball/football prospect a scholarship in 1982, his only other offer was from New Mexico State. Evans became the Pac-10’s 1986 defensive player of the year. He remains second in career tackles (552) in school history.
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