UA players happy with hiring of Oklahoma associate head coach

Texas native and UA starting quarterback Kris Heavner grew up admiring the Stoops brothers at Oklahoma as they tore through the Big 12 Conference.

Now, he has a chance to play for one.

Heavner, a Johnson City, Texas, native who will enter his second season as the Wildcats' most experienced signal caller, said his initial reaction to Sooner co-defensive coordinator Mike Stoops' hiring was excitement. [Read article]

For the first time since joining the Pacific 10 Conference 26 years ago, the Arizona football team finished in last place.

Contributing to the pain of finishing with the first 10-loss season in program history, their intrastate rivals, Arizona State, put the Wildcats there.

Arizona (2-10, 1-7 Pac-10) closed out one of its worst seasons on Friday with a 28-7 loss to the Sun Devils in Tempe in front of 55,498 fans. [Read article]

Mike Hankwitz had a bad feeling after Friday's loss to Arizona State.

His feeling was validated Saturday when Mike Stoops was named Arizona's new head football coach, assuring Arizona's former interim head coach that he would not receive the permanent job he sought.

Though UA athletics director Jim Livengood, along with Wildcat players, had nothing but praise for Hankwitz following Arizona's 28-7 loss to the Sun Devils, their words sounded similar to those of a eulogy. [Read article]