Wait Until Next Year

There will be a next year. Freshman forward Jawann McClellan promised there will be a next year.

"If you look at the players coming back for next year, we stepped up and we played our part," McClellan said. "It just makes you hungrier for next year to get over that hump."

If the Wildcats hope to make another run next year, McClellan will have to have a much larger role in the scheme. [Read article]

Adams' return key to success in '06

The image aims to linger with Arizona men's basketball fans: freshman guard Jawann McClellan, sitting on the court in tears, his jersey hung over his face like a child escaping a thunderstorm from beneath a bed sheet.

There was nowhere to hide for McClellan and the rest of the Wildcats. The buzzer sounded in Allstate Arena, and Arizona's 15-point lead in the last four minutes of regulation had dissipated under a stupefying barrage of Illinois 3-pointers and poor execution on the other end of the court. [Read article]

Despite a season of injuries and the end of the nation's longest home winning streak, Arizona women's basketball head coach Joan Bonvicini said that the year was still a success.

"I think that we definitely had high aspirations going in," Bonvicini said as the Wildcats shared the Pacific 10 Championship with Stanford in 2004.

This season, Arizona finished fifth in the Pac-10 with a 20-12 overall record and an 11-7 conference mark. [Read article]

In 2001, the Arizona softball team averaged an NCAA-record 1.83 home runs per game, riding an odyssey short on space travel but rife with moon shots all the way to a national championship.

Four seasons later, the No. 2 Wildcats have lost their proverbial lumber, in favor of a small-ball game that has rolled for the team like a grounder hugging the foul line.

"I think we're finally getting into what we're capable of," senior first baseman Crystal Farley said last week. "We started off slow, but (against Oklahoma March 19) we got tons of hits, and we're a better team, too. I think we're starting to get where we need to be." [Read article]

Year two of the Mike Stoops era of Arizona football officially began yesterday with the first practice of the spring season.

Returning players from last year's squad had an afternoon workout that lacked pads but not enthusiasm for the 2005 season.

"It feels great to get out of the office and see the progress we've made," Arizona head coach Mike Stoops said.

"It's no contest, now from a year ago," he said of Arizona's improvement in his short tenure at the program's helm, adding a program "makes its greatest strides from the first year to the second." [Read article]

Comparing the indoor and

outdoor track seasons

As the 2005 indoor track season drew to a close at the Indoor National Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., the Arizona track and field teams officially turned their attention to the outdoor season already in progress.

"Our focus as a program is on outdoor season," Arizona head coach Fred Harvey said.

But what really is the difference between the two seasons? [Read article]

After two days of competition in the National Invitational Tournament, the Arizona men's golf team is tied for third place at the Omni Tucson National Golf course.

The Wildcats shot their second straight seven-under-par 281 total yesterday for a 36-hole total of 562 (-14), which knots Arizona with Texas for third. Arizona jumped up three spots from its first-round finish of sixth place.

Texas Christian paces the 14-team field with a two-day score of 559 (-17). Arkansas ended the day in second place (560) and the Arizona junior varsity team finished fourth (563). [Read article]

Utah center Andrew Bogut will enter the NBA draft, forgoing his final two years of eligibility to possibly become the No. 1 choice.

"I have no regrets and full-speed ahead," the 7-footer from Australia said at a news conference yesterday. "My decision is about what is best for my basketball career."

Bogut, the leading receiver of votes on the AP All-America team, averaged 20.4 points and 12.2 rebounds while leading the Utes to a 29-6 season, which ended with a loss to Kentucky in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament. [Read article]