Though most sports at Arizona are either over or nearing the end of their seasons, former Wildcats are still competing in professional ranks and facilities are being renovated or added around campus. Whether it’s winning a world championship, playing Triple-A baseball or installing a basketball court-sized scoreboard in Arizona Stadium, the world of Arizona athletics is a busy one.
Return to Tucson
Former Arizona pitcher Brad Mills made a return to Tucson on Friday night, pitching against the Tucson Padres for the Las Vegas 51s, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate. The left-hander was selected in the fourth round of the 2007 MLB draft, after going 9-4 with a 4.41 ERA over 87.2 innings pitched during his senior season at Arizona. Mills was the only pitcher to make the team out of an 80-player open tryout in 2003.
In his return to the Old Pueblo, Mills tossed six scoreless innings, striking out eight and walking five, earning the win as Las Vegas defeated Tucson 10-1.
Cleared for takeoff
When the Dallas Mavericks took down the Miami Heat on Sunday to clinch the 2011 NBA Championship, Jason Terry became the sixth former Wildcat to win an NBA Championship ring, joining Steve Kerr, Jud Buechler, Luke Walton, Brian Williams and Sean Elliott. These six former Wildcats have won a combined 13 titles.
Terry continues a three-year streak of former Wildcats winning an NBA title. Walton won both the 2009 and 2010 championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Mike Bibby, another former Arizona star, was a contributor for the runner-up Heat.
Sign on the dotted line
Prepvolleyball.com rates the Arizona volleyball team’s 2011 recruiting class as the 11th best in the country, continuing the strong recruiting efforts of 20-year head coach Dave Rubio.
The Wildcats lost several key pieces from last year’s team, most notably setter Paige Weber and outside hitters Whitney Dosty and Tiffany Owens. Under Armour High School All-American setter Chloe Mathis and junior national team outside hitter Madison Kingdon are the centerpieces of the class, looking to replace the void left by Weber, Dosty and Owens. Rubio also signed middle blockers Halli Amaro and Rachel Rhoades, both ranked among the top 60 2011 recruits.
Work in progress
After spending the last few months preparing the area behind Arizona Stadium’s south end zone for construction, crews began pouring concrete support structures for the stadium’s new video board last week.
Construction crews had been clearing bike racks and debris from the area since the middle of the spring semester, and are now able to do more heavy construction since students are no longer occupying the dorms in the stadium’s south end. The pouring of the concrete supports is the first visible advance in the installation of a 5,356 square foot video board that is planned to be in place for the start of the 2011 season.
The board will be six and a half times larger than the one currently in the north end zone, and will be the largest video board in the Pacific 12 Conference. A new sound system is also being installed prior to the start of the 2011 season.
