– When Arizona plays host to the San Francisco Dons on Tuesday at McKale Center and to the San Diego State Aztecs on Friday at McKale — the NCAA's newly approved “exhibition games” — maybe they should call it the Tommy Lloyd Games. Lloyd has probably recruited more foreign players than any other active college coach, dating to his early Gonzaga days. The Dons will bring eight foreign players to McKale, those from Israel, Denmark, Slovenia, Argentina, Latvia, England, Senegal and Cameroon. And SDSU will bring seven foreign players to Tucson, those from Italy, England, Nigeria, Croatia, France and Sudan. Lloyd has been a recruiting trend-setter for years.
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd leads his team through summer basketball practice inside Richard Jefferson Gymnasium, July 31, 2026.
– Rincon/University High School has announced that it will name the school's soccer field after Roxanne Taylor, the Pima County Sports Hall of Famer who has coached the Rangers boys soccer teams to three state championships and 522 victories dating to 1986. What a well-deserved honor. Taylor is now retired; her nephew, Josh Schwartz, has replaced her at Rincon. The only boys soccer coach in state history with more victories than Taylor is Salpointe Catholic’s Wolfgang Weber, with 783.
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– After Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois last year sold the naming rights to McKale Center — it is now McKale Center at Alkeme Arena — others noticed. UTEP last week renamed the 50-year-old Don Haskins Center as GECU Arena at the Don Haskins Center for $29.1 million. Haskins coached UTEP to the 1965 NCAA championship and is UTEP’s equivalent of Lute Olson. Arizona is receiving $27.7 million from Alkeme.
A screen at McKale Center displays the new partnership between the University of Arizona and Alkeme that will rebrand the campus' iconic athletic venue as McKale Center at Alkeme Arena, Feb. 13, 2026.
– At Friday’s opener of the Sonoran Series at Hi Corbett Field, Chip Hale's Arizona team faced the Naranjeros de Hermosillo; the first pitch was thrown out by Gil Heredia, whose historic 16-3 season at the UA led the Wildcats to the 1986 College World Series championship. A year earlier, Heredia, from Nogales High School's 1981 state champions, went 15-1 for Pima College, leading the Aztecs to the NJCAA championship game. Impressive. Heredia will be inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 15 at the Reid Park DoubleTree Hotel. He won 55 games in the major leagues and has since been a coach in the minor leagues.
Frank Busch’s Arizona coaching career set higher standards | Greg Hansen
