Bayless reneges on commitment
Arizona recruit Jerryd Bayless reneged on his verbal commitment last week, telling HoopScoop.com that Arizona is still on his list but that he’s willing to listen to anyone interested in him.
“”I don’t feel 100 percent comfortable with my original decision,”” Bayless said. “”And since I’m making one of the most important decisions of my life, I want to look around and make sure that I get it right.””
Bayless, the No. 11 prospect in the nation, according to the recruiting service Scout.com, was supposed to be the next great Phoenix player to become a Wildcat, joining Mike Bibby, Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson. He’s a 6-foot-3 combo guard from Frye’s alma mater, St. Mary’s High School.
In January, Bayless told the Arizona Daily Wildcat that he was leaning toward Texas for awhile but that Arizona was his best possibility because of head coach Lute Olson.
“”He’s a huge impact,”” Bayless said. “”He’s the main reason I went there. He’s a legendary coach, and I want to be coached by him.””
Olson, Bonvicini lead in D-I victories
Speaking of Olson, combined with women’s basketball head coach Joan Bonvicini’s total, the Arizona duo leads Division I basketball with 1,352 career victories.
That trails only Division II Northern State’s Don Meyer and Curt Fredrickson (1,453) for the best total across all the divisions.
Texas’ duo of Rick Barnes and Jody Conrad rank third in Division I and fifth overall with 1,275. But Bayless beware, Barnes only accounts for 393 of them.
Esway earns All-American honorable mention
Sophomore golfer Travis Esway earned honorable mention on the Division I PING All-American team.
The Wildcats have now produced an All-American in each of the past 15 years. This is the first such honor for Esway, who is one of 32 golfers to earn this distinction.
Esway carded a 73.37 stroke average and played 13 of 38 rounds at par or better on the season. He tied for 50th at the NCAA Championships.
Matalonga’s run ends in the round of 16, team loses in first round
Senior Roger Matalonga advanced to the round of 16 of the NCAA Singles Championships May 24 to 26 in Palo Alto, Calif., and beat the No. 2 seed to earn All-American honors.
However, No. 43 Arizona (12-10) lost No. 23 Colorado 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament May 13 in Los Angeles.
The No. 38 women’s team (13-12) ended its season May 14 in Palo Alto, Calif., after getting swept 4-0 by No. 1 Stanford in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They upset No. 28 Brigham Young 4-1 the day before.
Freshman captain Danielle Steinberg ended her season May 24 in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championships on the same court her team lost on.
Laxcats advance to second round
The No. 8-seeded Arizona lacrosse team lost in the second round of the National Tournament that took place May 10-14 in Dallas.
After beating No. 9 seed Oregon 6-5 in the first round behind two goals from junior midfielder Harrison Crawford and two assists from senior midfielder Brian Etheredge, the Laxcats lost to No. 1 seed and eventual champion Colorado State 11-7 despite two assists from senior midfielder Steve Luna.
In a consolation game, Arizona throttled No. 6 seed Florida State 19-10 as Crawford’s six-goal performance ended the year on a high note.
