Freshman Tangara battles learning curve in first season at UA

It wasn't easy having to redshirt through a season when your team goes to the Elite Eight. It especially wasn't easy for freshman forward Mohamed Tangara, who had to battle a nagging back injury and a new environment.

With the season completed, Tangara is looking forward to the future, and it looks to be a bright one for the 6-foot-9 big man from Bamako, Mali. [Read article]

With much of the controversies surrounding the ASU football program and the recent arrest of former runningback Loren Wade on charges of murder, many college football programs are re-examining their approach to recruiting.

The character of possible recruits is getting even more heavily examined and the debate begins about when it is acceptable to take a chance on a student-athlete, dismissing former problems as a young person making a mistake or marking it as a flaw in character. [Read article]

Once upon a time college and professional baseball teams looked for the prototypical baseball player, a guy who could run, throw, catch and look good in a baseball uniform.

Then came Michael Lewis' "Moneyball" and its theory about the way the Oakland Athletics and General Manager Billy Beane look at baseball that changed the face of the game at all levels.

The crux of the formula comes from looking at inefficiencies in the baseball market, using numbers spewed out of a computer instead of physical skills to determine the worth of a baseball player. [Read article]

After throwing back-to-back complete game victories, junior pitcher Kevin Guyette (6-2, 3.49 ERA) has led the Wildcats (24-10, 8-1 Pacific 10 Conference) to their best conference start in the program's history.

Guyette pitched all nine innings in Saturday's 7-4 win at Washington State and threw a one-hitter in Arizona's 11-0 win over UCLA April 2 to earn Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors. He has struck out at least eight batters in 8-of-10 starts and leads the Pac-10 in strikeouts with 86, a total higher than he had all of last season. [Read article]

With an ink trail as long as a Jackie Coburn home run in the Pacific 10 Conference and NCAA record books, the No. 2 Arizona softball team seemed to turn the page on its offensive struggles this season in a two-game sweep of Oregon at home over the weekend.

After sitting in the conference cellar in extra-base hits entering Saturday's game against Oregon, the Wildcats (31-4, 5-2 Pac-10) pounded at least a double and a home run in each of their 8-1 victories over the Ducks. [Read article]

Sophomore decathlete Jake Arnold heads to Walnut, Calif. today, two days ahead of the rest of his teammates, who arrive Friday morning.

Competing in the Mt. San Antonio College combined events, Arnold is expecting good things over the duration of the event, which spans today and tomorrow.

"I should be able to qualify in this one," he said. "I'm feeling good. I've been training a lot."

His coach, Fred Harvey, said that Arnold is excited at the potential of competing in Walnut. [Read article]

The Arizona men's golf JV team finished sixth at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic yesterday in Scottsdale with sophomore Brett Carter leading the Wildcats with a fourth place individual finish.

Arizona shot an even-par 280 to round out the tournament, finishing behind champion Texas-El Paso by 15 strokes.

The Wildcats' JV squad finished in the top-half of the tournament field in a varsity meet for the fifth time in six meets this season. [Read article]