– After 36 years and 512 victories, Rich Utter retired as Rincon/University High's boys basketball coach a year ago. Last week, the school announced it was going to name the school's basketball gymnasium after Utter. “I am very honored that others find this appropriate,” Utter said. His 512 victories are No. 2 in Tucson boys prep basketball history, trailing Sahuaro's Dick McConnell's 775.
Rincon head coach Rich Utter, right, has some instructions for Dieumerci Byiringiro during their game at Tucson High School on Jan. 31, 2023.
– Cienega High grad Nick Gonzales, starting third baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates, entered the final three days of the regular season hitting just .301. He was one of just three National League players hitting .300 or more. He could have taken the final three games off — they had no effect on Pittsburgh's season standing — to protect the treasured .300 average, but instead chose to play. He went 3-for-7 in his final two games to finish at .303. That's a lifetime statistic and surely worth a lot of money in Gonzales' contract negotiations this offseason.
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– Arizona's 1992 golf All-American Jim Furyk, who helped the Wildcats to the '92 NCAA championship, is one of four male finalists for the World Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2027, with Justin Rose, Adam Scott and Corey Pavin, all fellow major winners with Furyk. The voting will be made public in December; the Hall of Fame ceremony is scheduled to be held during the British Open next July at the famed St. Andrews facility. Three Tucsonans have been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame: Arizona All-Americans Annika Sorenstam in 2003 and Lorena Ochoa in 2017, plus former El Rio Golf Course pro Leo Diegel in 2003.
Jim Furyk hits his ball out of the bunker and onto the green at the sixth hole in the first round of the Cologuard Classic Golf Tournament at Omni Tucson National Resort, 2727 W. Club Dr., on March 3, 2023.
– Sad to hear that former Santa Rita High School quarterback and baseball standout Anthony Sanders was released from his position as the Detroit Tigers’ first base coach last week. Sanders was in his first year at Detroit after serving the previous six years as the Baltimore Orioles’ first base coach. Sanders has been a minor league manager and major league assistant coach every year since he retired from baseball in 2006.
– Remember UA running back Speedy Luke, who transferred to Fresno State two years ago? He had a breakout game last week, rushing for 167 yards against Rice. At Arizona, Rice had 276 yards from 2022-24. He's having a more productive season than two highly-recruited ex-Salpointe Catholic players, Elijah Rushing and Keona Davis. At Oregon, Rushing had made just two tackles through four games and at Miami, Davis had made just four tackles for the Hurricanes through four games. Former Canyon del Oro state championship fullback Kayden Luke, who transferred from Arizona to West Virginia last spring, has played in four games for the Mountaineers but has no statistics through four games.
Late starts leave Arizona attendance near bottom of Power 4 schools | Greg Hansen
