Ex-Badger Tapia transfers from K-State to join Lopez
Bill Belknap was part of Arizona's athletic department from 1965-78, originally hired as an assistant football coach under Jim LaRue. In the mid-1970s, Belknap was the school's assistant athletic director under Dave Strack.
Belknap left to become athletic director at Idaho — where he hired ex-Salpointe Catholic coach and UA lineman Jerry Davitch to be the Vandals' head football coach — and, later, AD at Wichita State. He also was commissioner of the Southland Conference.
Belknap, whose residence is in Moscow, Idaho, spends much of the winter living in a Tucson RV park.
He was hired by the NCAA this year, one of four men nationally, to be an independent evaluator of men's basketball referees. As part of the NCAA's attempt to identify the nation's leading refs for the NCAA tournament, Belknap has scouted the Pac-10, West Coast Conference, Big Sky and WAC from his Idaho base. He was at last week's UA-Washington State game in that role.
People are also reading…
UA baseball coach Andy Lopez has added former Tucson High School and Kansas State slugger Cris Tapia, a lefty, to his roster. Tapia hit .326 in the Big 12 Conference in 2005; he has two years of eligibility remaining. … Lopez has created the Andy Lopez Brighter Day Foundation, an organization designed to support families with seriously ill relatives. The board of directors for Lopez's charity includes ESPN football insider Chris Mortensen, a boyhood friend, and St. Louis Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein, who played for Lopez at Florida. Lopez and his group will hold a benefit and an auction Jan. 29 at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort from 7-9 p.m. Information: AndyLopezBrighterDay.org. … Former College World Series umpire Bud Grainger of Tucson had a family tragedy last week. His son, John Grainger, 56, died at his home in Denver after shoveling snow in his front yard. John graduated from Amphi in 1969 after playing football, baseball and basketball for the Panthers. After attending the UA on an academic scholarship, John flew C-130 Hercules aircraft in the Air Force and most recently was an aerospace engineer for Lockheed Martin. "He loved to fly,'' his dad said.
Oregon at Arizona is a Big Game in a college basketball context because it matches the nation's No. 15 team, Oregon, against the No. 10 team, Arizona. But to get a better perspective on what Lute Olson has created at McKale Center, get this: since 1987-88, Arizona has played 11 home games that exclusively pitted Top 10 teams.
No. 9 Duke vs. No. 1 Arizona, 1987.
No. 7 Duke vs. No. 9 Arizona, 1991.
No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 6 Arizona, 1992.
No. 10 Cal vs. No. 6 Arizona, 1994.
No. 8 Stanford vs. No. 2 Arizona, 1998.
No. 9 UCLA vs. No. 8 Arizona, 1999.
No. 4 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Arizona, 1999.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 9 Arizona, 2000.
No. 8 Kansas vs. No. 4 Arizona, 2001.
No. 8 Texas vs. No. 1 Arizona, 2002.
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 3 Arizona, 2004.
An even better indicator of Arizona's success is that 26 Associated Press Top 25 teams have played at McKale since Olson was hired and only twice — in 1987 against No. 4 Iowa and last March against No. 14 Washington — were the Wildcats unranked.
Olson's eventual replacement will encounter almost impossible expectations, none more so than keeping the Wildcats involved in national-stage Big Games, such as the one tonight.
One more thing: the combined records of Arizona and Oregon, 28-3, is close to the best winning percentage of two McKale Center teams. The best after midseason is 22-1: In 2004, 12-0 Stanford beat 10-1 Arizona here 82-72.
Only twice have undefeated teams (15 games minimum) met at McKale. Duke, 6-0, and Arizona, 11-0, met in the December 1987 Fiesta Bowl Classic finals (Arizona won 91-85) and Final Four-bound Syracuse, 8-0, beat 8-0 Arizona here 79-70 in December 1995.
UA assistant football coach Dana Dimel, who completed the '06 season as co-offensive coordinator, was a runner-up to be the new offensive coordinator at New Mexico. The Lobos on Friday hired ex-Michigan State offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin over Dimel, whose rearranged Arizona duties for 2007 have not been specified publicly. … Rip Scherer, Arizona's offensive coordinator under Dick Tomey from 1989-90 before leaving to become head coach at Memphis and James Madison, is a finalist to become offensive coordinator for the NFL's Cleveland Browns. Scherer worked last season as the Browns' quarterbacks coach. … Is it possible that UA tailback Chris Henry grossly overrated his NFL stock? Since he said he will not return for his senior season, believing his strength and speed will overcome his lack of college productivity, Henry remains unlikely to be invited to the all-important NFL Scouting Combine next month. Those who stuck it out through their senior seasons, receiver Syndric Steptoe and safety Michael Johnson, have already been invited to the NFL camp. … Salpointe Catholic center fielder Ricky Alfonso was invited to participate in this week's All-American baseball tournament at the Kino Sports Complex by Team One Baseball and the Baseball Factory. Alfonso is being recruited by Texas-San Antonio and Texas-Pan American thus far.
Wildcat fans need to show a little civility at McKale
Oregon State basketball coach Jay John did not bring his wife, Lisa to last week's UA-OSU game at McKale Center, in part, because of what John termed were "problems with UA fans'' behind the Beavers' bench.
Those problems were manifest again last week when OSU's Kyle Jeffers had a post-game spat with several UA fans, which resulted in Jeffers being detained by police officers. No charges were filed.
A day later, John, a Salpointe Catholic High School and UA grad, told the Corvallis Gazette-Times that he will no longer permit his team to walk through the northeast entrance/exit to the McKale Center court.
The sad part is that John and his family are longtime Tucsonans; even though the Beavers haven't been competitive at McKale, isolated pockets of UA fans have treated them with no respect.
Is a little civility too much to ask in the sacred game of college hoops?
Rodgers reviving career in development league
Since being dumped by the NBA Development League's Sioux Falls franchise, ex-UA guard Chris Rodgers has revived his career with the Albuquerque franchise. Rodgers is averaging 14.5 points in just 25.2 minutes per game. Rodgers had a 31-point game and, amazingly, had games in which he made 19 of 20 free throws and 13 of 14 free throws. … Loren Woods, released by the Sacramento Kings in November, is making an impressive move to get back in the NBA. The UA's 2001 Final Four center, now with the D-League's Austin Toros, is averaging 14.3 points and 13.3 rebounds and shooting 67 percent from the field in his first three D-League games. … Tucson native Robert Sarver, owner of the Phoenix Suns, will be honored at Skyline Country Club on March 17 as the Steven M. Gooter Foundation Philanthropist of the Year. As part of the weekend designed to raise funds to benefit heart disease, Tucson's two-time tennis Grand Slam doubles champion Jim Grabb will join ex-tennis great Mats Wilander in an exhibition at Randolph Tennis Center. Call 615-6430 for information. … Is he hot or what? Tucsonan Wendell Saunders, who established a course record at the newly designed El Rio Golf Course two months ago, shot a nine-under-par 61 Wednesday at Dell Urich Golf Course. Saunders is a teaching pro at Crooked Tree Golf Course.
Shakur earning national attention
UA point guard Mustafa Shakur is slowly gaining a national rep. Slowly. As a guest on Saturday's ESPN GameDay radio program, Shakur was introduced as "Shocker'' by host Jon Stashower. At the UA-WSU game in Pullman last week, the PA announcer repeatedly called him "Shake-er."
Then, during ESPN's telecast of Tuesday's Georgia Tech-Duke game, the announcers kept referring to Georgia Tech as Point Guard U. Why, that's heresy around here.
ESPN displayed a graphic that supported its claim that the Yellow Jackets, and not the Wildcats, are Point Guard U.
Tech's NBA point guard succession is impressive: Mark Price, Travis Best, Stephon Marbury, Dion Glover, Jarrett Jack and Kenny Anderson.
If one counts Gilbert Arenas as a point guard — he played off-guard at Arizona — the UA's lineup of NBA point guards Jason Terry, Mike Bibby, Damon Stoudamire, Steve Kerr and Reggie Geary is superior.
