Category: Arizona Wildcats

Images from Clemson’s win over Arizona in the Sweet 16

Some of the best images from Clemon’s Sweet 16 victory over No. 2 Arizona.

Their ticket to the Elite 8 has been punched. The Clemson Tigers were able to fend off a blue blood program to return to the Elite 8 round for the first time since 1980.

Head coach Brad Brownell came into the season on the proverbial hot seat but this showing has certainly removed any thought of replacing him as the man in charge of the Tigers basketball program.

Guard Chase Hunter led the way for Clemson wth 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Forward PJ Hall was once again key for the team’s success with 17 points and eight rebounds. The other forward, Ian Scheffelin added another 14 points as the Tigers earned the improbable victory.

On Arizona’s side, Caleb Love, Oumar Ballo, and Jaden Bradley combined to pour in 46 of the Wildcats’ 72 points. Bradley did so coming off the bench.It wasn’t enough as the University of Arizona missed out on the Elite 8 once again but this time they made it past the opening weekend unlike last season.

Check out these images from the Clemson game ahead of their matchup with Alabama on Saturday.

Arizona, whom USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb lobbied for, wins NCAA Tournament First Four game

Arizona validated the Pac-12 and the women’s basketball coaches who lobbied for the Wildcats.

The coaches of the Pac-12 lobbied hard for the Arizona women’s basketball team to be included in the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament. USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb, UCLA’s Cori Close, and other Pac-12 coaches felt Arizona deserved to be in the field, and that the Pac-12 needed to be recognized and rewarded for its quality and depth. Arizona did get in, one of the last teams to make the field of 68. The Wildcats were sent to the First Four to play Auburn in a play-in game. This was the first true proving ground for the Pac-12 in the Women’s NCAA Tournament.

Arizona held up its end of the bargain and made the Pac-12 community of coaches look good. Arizona met the challenge posed by Auburn and won 69-59 to advance in the bracket. Jada Williams scored 17 points, and Arizona produced four double-figure scorers in a balanced attack. Arizona also forced 23 Auburn turnovers and allowed only one made 3-point shot to the Tigers, who struggled against the U of A’s strong halfcourt defense. Auburn managed just 23 points in the game’s first 26 minutes as Arizona built a 16-point lead. Auburn managed to heat up in the game’s final 14 minutes, scoring 36 points, but Arizona made key 3-pointers to blunt the Tigers’ final push.

Arizona next faces sixth-seeded Syracuse on Saturday afternoon.

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Arizona hires Desiree Reed-Francois as new AD ahead of Big 12 transition

Arizona addresses its athletic director vacancy.

Missouri athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois is on the move once again, this time she is heading back to her alma mater. According to a release from the school, Reed-Francois is leaving the SEC to take over as athletic director at the University of Arizona.

The new athletic director will have her work cut out for her given the $177 million shortfall. Reed-Francois will likely be in the middle of the discussions as far as cutting sports if needed as the school president mentioned last year when the report surfaced.

Reed-Francois served as the Missouri AD from 2021 to the present. Prior to her post, she served as the AD with UNLV from 2017 to 2021.  She will need to lean on her two decades of experience working in administration with this new gig will have its challenges.

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Desireé to the University of Arizona family, and we could not be more excited about the leadership experience and outstanding credentials she brings,” said President Robert C. Robbins. “Respected nationally for her commitment to student-athletes, Desireé has a history of success everywhere she’s served and is exactly the right person we need to modernize our athletics operations and usher in an ongoing culture of success in all aspects of Athletics. This is a tremendous win for our university and I cannot wait for her to get started.”

Arizona parts ways with AD Dave Heeke citing ‘operational mismanagement’ among other reasons

Well, that escalated quickly.

It hasn’t been a great six months for the Arizona Wildcats. Despite the news that the University would be moving to a new conference along with Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.

In recent months it has been reported that UA miscalculated their budget by $240 million. It could be a huge indicator of why they were unable to extend Jedd Fisch and he ultimately left for the Washington Huskies.

According to multiple reports including Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, Heeke was fired for “financial & operational mismanagement, resulting in an athletic department financial ‘disaster,’ loss of major donors & mishandling of former coach Jedd Fisch’s contract.”

The last act as athletic director for Dave Heeke was the hiring of former San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan to run the Wildcats program. Brennan played for UCLA from 1993 to 1994. He joined the Wildcats staff as a graduate assistant in 2000 before taking on a larger role with Cal Poly in 2001. Brennan was part of the San Jose State staff from 2005 to 2010 and returned as head coach in 2017.

He is 0-3 in bowl games and 34-48 overall in seven seasons. Perhaps this was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Heeke as far as the administration was concerned. Mike Candrea will be the acting AD in the meantime per 247Sports’ Jason Scheer.

USC will not face Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan at Washington next year

USC won’t have to play Noah Fifita or Tetairoa McMillan in 2024 as members of the Washington Huskies. That’s #B1G.

Arizona Wildcat football fans have a lot to celebrate today. The Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback Noah Fifita, and sophomore Second Team All-Pac-12 selection Tetairoa McMillan will be returning to Tucson to play for new head coach Brent Brennan in 2024. Fifita and McMillan explain in a tweet below from Arizona Football, “Tucson we have unfinished business. We runnin’ it back!”

This means that Trojan fans, Lincoln Riley, and D’Anton Lynn might also be celebrating today with the Wildcats. These prime Arizona players will not follow Jedd Fisch, the head coach who recruited them both out of Servite High School in Anaheim, to Washington next season. USC is scheduled to play its (soon-to-be) former Pac-12 opponent in a conference game in the Big Ten on November 2, 2024, in Seattle.

247Sports shared a conversation with Les Fifita, Noah’s father, in which he explains that McMillan and his son had thoughts of leaving, but it was not where everyone was expecting.

“We’ve known Kalen DeBoer for a long time and he loved Noah when he was at Fresno State,” [Les Fifita] said. “He recruited him hard when Noah was at Servite and they wanted both boys at Alabama.

“It’s ’Bama, we had to listen. But, end of the day, both kids felt like they had unfinished business here. Plus, it’s a family here — it really is. We want to keep this thing together and we know the whole team couldn’t go to ’Bama just like the whole team wasn’t being recruited to Washington. This is the best move for everyone and, with Noah and TMac and the core staying, we think we got a great shot to keep everyone else here as well.”

The Wildcats have their dynamic passing duo back for their first year in the Big 12. Fisch will continue to search for a replacement for Heisman runner-up Michael Penix, who is off to the NFL, and Will Rogers, the transfer from Mississippi State who entered the portal again when DeBoer left Washington. Most importantly, the Trojans will not face the trio of Fisch, Fifita and McMillan in 2024, a combination that took USC and Riley to triple overtime last October in the Coliseum.

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Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan are set to return to Arizona

Two big names are returning to Tucson for the 2024 season.

On Saturday it was reported that Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan would be returning to the Arizona Wildcats in 2024. This is a major victory for the Wildcats and new head coach Brent Brennan. The news was reported by Greg Biggins of 247Sports.

It was widely speculated that the two All-American players might enter the transfer portal and potentially follow their head coach to Washington. McMillan was named third-team All-American by the AP for his efforts this past season. Quarterback Noah Fifita was named freshman All-American by the FWAA.

Both will be crucial to the success of the Wildcats as they head into their first season in the Big 12. They will join Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah in the new-look conference. Fifita took over for the injured Jayden De Laura last season and he didn’t miss a beat. De Laura returned from injury but couldn’t unseat the talented redshirt freshman.

De Laura will now take his talents to Texas State. Once he joined incumbent starter T.J. Finley put his name in the transfer portal and ultimately committed to play for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

As far as the Wildcats and new head coach Brent Brennan, this is a major win for them.

Can USC grab another Arizona football transfer? This time it might be harder

USC has pulled a number of transfers from Arizona in recent years, but this new cycle might be more difficult.

The USC Trojans have grabbed a number of players from the Arizona Wildcats in the transfer portal in recent years. Dorian Singer, Christian Roland-Wallace, Kyon Barrs, and other players have made their way from Tucson to Los Angeles. Now, after Jedd Fisch left for Washington, a lot of Arizona players have entered the transfer portal.

USC could use a few of them.

Roll Tide Wire made a list of Arizona players Alabama could use. USC should want to pursue these same players. We’ll look at one of them: offensive lineman Raymond Pulido.

Roll Tide Wire offered this overview:

“Before signing with Arizona, Raymond Pulido was committed to Alabama for four months. The native of Apple Valley, California has entered the transfer portal after one season in Tuscon. With Pulido being from the West Coast, he was recruited by Washington’s coaching staff coming out of high school. Therefore, it makes sense for Alabama’s new coaching staff to pursue Pulido.

“He saw some playing time as a freshman for the Wildcats. With Alabama losing starting offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor to the transfer portal, it makes sense to bring in someone who has some familiarity with the program and some experience playing at the Power Five level.”

It will be harder for USC to get these transfers since Washington, Alabama, and Ohio State are all in the market for a lot of players in the portal. We will see what the Trojans can do.

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Arizona hires Brent Brennan to be next head coach

The Arizona Wildcats will hire former San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan to be their next head coach. The move comes following Jedd Fisch leaving Arizona to take the Washington Huskies head coach opening.

The Arizona Wildcats have agreed to a deal to make former San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan their next head coach.

Brennan and Arizona have reportedly agreed to a five-year contract, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. He will become Arizona’s next head coach following the exit of Jedd Fisch, who took the Washington Huskies’ head coach opening Sunday.

Brennan spent seven years as the head coach at San Jose State, where he finished with a 34-48 record and a 0-3 record in Bowl Games. He led the Spartans to back-to-back winning seasons in his last two seasons.

His best season with San Jose State was a 7-1 finish in the shortened 2020 season.

Brennan has ties to the Arizona program with his brother Brad Brennan playing for the Wildcats from 1996-2000.

The Wildcats are coming off a 10-3 finish in 2023 capped off with a win in the Alamo Bowl. The record marked Arizona’s first 10-win season since 2014.

Brennan and the Wildcats got a major boost Tuesday as CBS Sports insider Dennis Dodd reported that quarterback Noah Fifita, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, an All-Pac 12 Second Team honoree would stay at Arizona as the program transitions to the Big 12.

Top freshman quarterback and All-Pac 12 receiver reportedly set to stay at Arizona

Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Noah Fifita and All Pac-12 wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan are reportedly set to stay at Arizona despite head coach Jedd Fisch leaving for Washington Job.

The Arizona Wildcats will return starting quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, according to CBS Sports reporter Dennis Dodd.

Fifita was one of the best freshman quarterbacks in college football last season. He took over the reins at quarterback over Jayden de Laura and helped lead the Wildcats to a 10-3 record and an Alamo Bowl win.

He was named the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year after he threw for 2,869 yards, 25 touchdowns, and just six interceptions on a 72% completion percentage in 12 appearances. His completion percentage ranked fourth nationally and his 25 touchdown passes led all freshmen quarterbacks.

Fifita was also named to the FWAA  Offensive Freshman of the Year list on Tuesday.

One of his top receivers, McMillan, is also set to return to the Wildcats. In his second season in Tuscon, Arizona, he caught 90 passes for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns. McMillan earned All-Pac-12 Second Team honors for his efforts.

The duo helped lead the Wildcats to four wins over AP Top 25 teams. The team also finished the season on a seven-game winning streak and its first 10-win season since 2014.

The pair’s future was put in doubt after Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch took the Washington head coach job Sunday. The Wildcats are set to hire former San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan as their next head coach.

Washington zeroing in on Arizona’s Jedd Fisch as next head coach

The Wildcats head coach led Arizona to its first 10-win season since 2014 and could replace new Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer.

The Washington Huskies may have found their next head coach.

After former head coach Kalen DeBoer left to replace Nick Saban at Alabama earlier this week, a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Sunday indicated that Washington has targeted Jedd Fisch to be its next head coach.

Fisch spent the past three seasons as Arizona’s head coach. The Wildcats had won nine games over the past three seasons before he took the job, including a winless 0-5 year in 2020. Fisch could only manage a single win in his first year in 2021, but the team took leaps and bounds in each year of his tenure. After Arizona won five games in 2022, the Wildcats exploded onto the national scene with 10 wins this past season.

Arizona played a ranked team seven times in the 2023 season and won five of those games, including a dominant 42-18 victory over Utah and a 38-24 victory over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl. For the season, Arizona only lost three games. They lost in overtime twice (against Mississippi State and USC) and fell to eventual playoff team Washington by just seven points.

Freshman quarterback Noah Fifita (who could be a transfer target if Fisch takes the job) emerged as a breakout star with 2,869 yards, 25 touchdowns, and six interceptions on his way to winning Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year honors.