– Remember Zach Extine? A year ago, the UA hurdler finished No. 2 in the NCAA track championships in the 110 hurdles, breaking the UA record and earning a spot on Team USA at the World Championships. After that, Extine quietly transferred to Florida State, getting a fifth year of eligibility (he was injured often at UA). As a Seminole, Extine won the ACC championship in the 110 hurdles last month. He qualified for Friday's NCAA finals in the same event, but this time was ranked No. 9 overall. He placed ninth, securing second-team All-American honors.
UA track and field athlete Zach Extine, center, broke the school record for the third time at the Big 12 Championships.
– Duane Akina, one of the leading secondary coaches in college football history, is back at it. The former UA assistant (1987-2000 and again 2023-24) has been hired to be a defensive analyst on the staff at Kansas this season. He parted ways with Texas after coaching the Longhorns' secondary last fall. His son, Kamalii, remains as Arizona's recruiting coordinator.
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– Arizona State last week landed perhaps the athletic department's top recruit for the 2026-27 season. Outfielder Landon Hairston, who broke ASU's career home run record this season (29) and is Baseball America's 2026 Player of the Year, announced that he will return to the Sun Devils for his junior season. Reports suggest that Hairston will receive financial support from Adidas and from ASU's NIL fund. Hairston, the son of former Canyon del Oro all-state infielder and 11-year MLB player Scott Hairston, drove in 81 runs last season, No. 5 in college baseball.
– Scott Erickson, who set an Arizona record by winning 18 baseball games in 1989, a first-team All-American pitcher, went on to earn $47 million in 15 MLB seasons, according to baseball-reference.com. Last week, a jury in Los Angeles found him liable for a fatal 2020 crash in LA in which two young boys, 8 and 11, were killed. Erickson, 58, was ordered to pay $1.17 million for "racing" with his former girlfriend, Rebecca Grossman, who is serving 15 years in prison. She was ordered to pay $21 million; it was her car that hit the two boys.
– When the New York Knicks overcame a 29-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals last week, it brought back memories of the Oregon State-Arizona game at McKale Center in 2002. The underdog Beavers took a 55-34 lead with 1:21 before halftime. But then Arizona went on a 24-6 run to get back in the game and ultimately win, 93-87 as Jason Gardner scored 34 points. OSU went 4-14 in the Pac-10 that season; Arizona reached the Sweet 16. Anything can happen, right?
Mason Lawyer makes his case as the fastest sprinter in Arizona annals | Michael Lev
