Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Arizona's loss to Providence cause for concern

Arizona's loss to Providence cause for concern for UA fans 

Ten reasons Arizona lost to Santa Clara — oops, Providence — and created a seismic state of worry in Tucson late Friday night:

1. Arizona committed 21 turnovers. Its worst turnover night a year ago was 18. A season earlier it was 17.

2. The UA is shooting 28.3 percent from three-point distance. The worst season in school history was 31.9 in 2005-06. They were 3 for 14 — 21.4 percent — on Friday.

3. Remember Brandon Ashley? His early departure to the NBA D-League was treated with a shrug. He would be a beast on a team without a beast.

4. The club’s top NBA prospect and most fluid scorer, Ray Smith, tore his ACL on Oct. 22.

5. No D, Part I: Providence shot exactly 50 percent afield. A year ago, only Wisconsin (55.6), Oregon State (51.3), Stanford (50.0) and Arizona State (50.0) shot as well. Arizona lost three of the games, only coming away a winner against the Cardinal.

6. Injured center Kaleb Tarczewski never took off his warmup jacket. His record as a UA starter is 98-16.

7. Providence senior point guard Kris Dunn chose to return for a final season, even though he was a projected lottery pick last spring. He is Gary Payton II with a jumper. Dunn outscored the entire UA team 11-7 in the final 3:58.

8. Arizona point guards combined to commit seven turnovers. A year ago, T.J. McConnell’s worst night was five turnovers — and it happened just once.

9. No D, Part II: A night earlier, Santa Clara’s Jared Brownridge scored 44 points and made 15 foul shots against Arizona. On Friday, in a loss to Evansville, Brownridge scored 19 and made just six free throws.

10. Maybe it wasn’t an upset. The projected first division of the Pac-12 is struggling mightily. Cal lost to Richmond. UCLA was beaten by Monmouth. Oregon State lost at home to Valpo. Utah lost to Miami by 24 points. Oregon hasn’t played anybody yet.

The UA started the last three seasons 12-0, 21-0 and 14-0. By comparison, 5-1, losing to a non-marquee team, is worrisome.

But over the long haul, Arizona has as good a chance as anyone to win a piece of the Pac-12 title.

Wildcats come together, endow scholarship in Wright's name 

NAU basketball coach Jack Murphy was in the middle of an overwhelming three-game trip to Gonzaga, Washington State and Boise State this month when he learned his friend Michael Wright had been killed in Brooklyn, New York.

Murphy was the UA’s manager during Wright’s three Arizona basketball seasons, 1998-2001; they were in the same freshman class and became close.

“Mike was a brother to me,” Murphy said. “He would give me or anyone else the shirt off his back if he thought we needed it.

“No one was more dependable than Mike; his strength came from within and he rose above many obstacles in his life.”

Murphy contacted the UA athletic department and asked if the school could endow a scholarship in Wright’s name. He reached out to dozens from his old UA network; through Friday, the UA had raised $51,000 in its immediate goal of $100,000 for the Michael Wright Scholarship Fund.

Richard Jefferson and Luke Walton both donated $13,700. Former players Miles Simon, Peter Hansen, Jason Gardner and Justin Wessel donated $1,000 each. Memphis coach Josh Pastner donated $5,000. Seven former UA managers have combined to donate close to $5,000 more.

Russell Harris, a walk-on guard and Wright’s roommate, donated $1,000.

The endowment will be used to provide scholarship support for former Arizona athletes who have completed NCAA eligibility and want to return to school to complete an undergraduate degree.

Murphy and NAU will play at McKale Center on Dec. 16.

It is his hope that by tipoff that night, the endowment scholarship for his old friend will be fully funded.

Information: beardownchallenge.com/campaigns/michael-wright-a-club-scholarship-endowment

Pac-12 fumbles away chance to honor UA's Matthews 

The Pac-12 blew it last week when it did not select UA junior linebacker Jake Matthews to its 2015 first-team all-academic squad. Matthews has a 3.4 GPA in neurology and is taking a class-load that includes calculus, organic chemistry and biostatistics. The league put Matthews on the second team; he is seventh on the UA with 47 tackles. The Pac-12 put ASU linebacker Chans Cox on the first team. Cox has made one tackle this year and played in just two games. He has a 3.8 GPA in criminology. 

Ex-Cat Kerr's daughter a chip off the old block 

The Pac-12 has a different qualification process for its all-academic volleyball team. Players must participate in 50 percent of its team’s matches. Last week, Cal junior Maddy Kerr, daughter of UA legend Steve Kerr, became the second Cal Bears volleyball player in history to make the all-academic volleyball first team. Maddy has a 3.72 GPA in a double major, media studies and rhetoric. “Maddy goes for perfection in everything she does,” Cal coach Rich Feller said. “I’m not at all surprised to see those kinds of marks. She’s an intelligent person who knows how to work hard.” Chip off the old block. 

NAU volleyball might be top squad in the state 

UA volleyball coach Dave Rubio will have to sweat it out all day today, waiting for the NCAA selection committee to unveil the 2015 tournament field of 64 teams at 7 p.m. The Wildcats are ranked No. 23 in the nation but their RPI is 41st. NAU, of all teams, might be the top volleyball squad in the state. The Lumberjacks are 28-4 and on a 17-match winning streak. Their RPI is No. 35. 

Tucsonan Black misses finals by two strokes 

Tucsonan Ronnie Black did not qualify for this week’s final event of the Champions Tour Qualifying School but he was in the hunt to the final hole of the 72-hole tournament last week in Texas. Black shot rounds of 68-73-74-75 and missed the finals by two strokes.

Arizona Bowl has home on American Sports Network 

I erred last week when I said the inaugural Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl would be televised only via digital platforms through collegeinsider.com. The American Sports Network will broadcast the game. ASN is relatively new to college sports. It has broadcast rights with the Mid-American Conference and the American Athletic Conference, among others. 

Conferences negotiating to find best matchup for Arizona Bowl 

One thing Arizona Bowl organizers Jon Volpe, Ali Farhang and Alan Young insisted was that the participating teams each buy 5,000 tickets and each bring their bands to Tucson. Volpe said the game needs to sell 25,000 tickets to break even. After that, 100 percent of all profits will be dispersed to Tucson charities. Teams will be selected next Sunday, although this week will overflow with “horse trading” within the Mountain West, Conference USA, Sun Belt and possibly even the Pac-12 to get the most inviting matchup possible. 

Palo Verde grad Cotton signs with home-state team 

When the Phoenix Suns signed Palo Verde High School grad Bryce Cotton last week, the point guard was averaging 22 points and shooting 58.7 percent from the field for the NBA D-League’s Austin Spurs. Cotton signed a nonguaranteed contract for the NBA minimum salary for a second-year player, or about $600,000 per season. 

Pueblo grad Perez begins pro career 

In Michael Perez’s first five games as a pro basketball player, the Pueblo High grad is averaging 3.4 points for the Halcones Rojos of Veracruz, Mexico. Perez will return to Tucson for the holidays and operate a skills camp for boys and girls 10-14. The camp will be held Dec. 28-29. Registration information: leadathleticsbasketball.com. 

Gregory School's Rosquist off to blazing start 

In the first week of the high school basketball season, junior guard Nick Rosquist of The Gregory School was dynamic. He scored 49 in a victory over Ray High School and 47 a day later against Santa Rita. Rosquist is a shooter of note with 32 three-pointers in six games. 

Ex-QB MacPherson winning on, off the field 

James MacPherson is one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in Tucson history. He was a standout at Mountain View High School, a starter at Wake Forest, and later spent three years in the Arena Football League. He went on to coach in the old UFL and at Pima College, and is now a full-time scout for the San Diego Chargers. More impressively, he founded Santa’s Helpers, a nonprofit organization based in Marana that provides clothing and toys for children in low-income households. 

Ex-Cat Candaele joins Mariners coaching staff 

The Seattle Mariners last week hired ex-UA third baseman Casey Candaele as their first-base coach. Candaele was a key figure on Arizona’s 1980 national championship team. 

Former Wildcat Bruschi makes appearance at Tucson 'turkey bowl' 

Arizona Hall of Fame defensive lineman Tedy Bruschi returned to Tucson for Thanksgiving, visiting the family of his wife, ex-Sahuaro and UA volleyball standout Heidi Bomberger. While in Tucson, Bruschi showed up at Sahuaro to participate in a Turkey Bowl football outing and was at McKale Center when Arizona’s volleyball team beat ASU on Friday afternoon. 

Sierra Vista's Robles named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year 

Sierra Vista’s Luis Robles, who played for the Tucson Soccer Academy, was named the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year last week. He led the MLS with 18 victories and played every minute for the New York Red Bulls this year. Robles keeps close ties to his home turf; he phoned TSA’s Wolfgang Weber, his old coach, to inform him of the award. 

Tucson sports icon Hart dies at 83

Bobby Hart was one of Tucson’s leading sports figures of the 20th century, a coach and athlete at Amphitheater High school and the UA who made a big impact in Tucson sports for 50 years. He died Monday after a brief illness. Hart was 83. At Amphi, Hart was a three-sport athlete who helped the Panthers to the 1949 state championship basketball game. He then finished second in the NJCAA track meet in the low hurdles and high hurdles for Eastern Arizona College. He went on to letter in football and track at Arizona, and then coached at Amphi, including 19 years as the head baseball coach. Hart became a notable referee and official in the WAC, Big Sky and Border conferences. A memorial service will be held in December; the date has not been set.

My two cents: Tucson's isolation hurts RichRod, UA 

ESPN produced a fascinating statistic during Friday’s Baylor-TCU football telecast: the average football recruit from a Power 5 conference goes 307 miles from his home to his school.

Arizona’s 24-man football recruiting class of 2015 covered an average distance of about 865 miles from his hometown to Tucson.

That’s the recruiting disadvantage every UA football coach as faced forever. The only local player in the group is Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.

In my opinion, that’s the first reason Rich Rodriguez hasn’t publicly stated that he will return to Arizona in 2016. Recruiting is hard. Really hard. You keep your options open.

On the college football map, Tucson is an isolated setting in the old frontier. In the Pac-12, only Washington State faces similar issues.

It’s likely we’ll never know if Virginia Tech spoke to RichRod about replacing Hokies coach Frank Beamer. But if and when RichRod leaves Arizona by his choice, it won’t be much of a mystery.

As RichRod has said many times, “you’ve got to fly over a lot of good football programs to get to Tucson.”

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