Stoudamire makes 'a little difference'

As the unranked Washington Huskies knocked off then-No. 17 Arizona in McKale Center last season, senior guard Salim Stoudamire was forced to sit and watch after being benched for disciplinary reasons.

UA head coach Lute Olson jokingly said his senior shooting guard would probably "make a little difference."

Stoudamire has been on a hot shooting streak the last few weeks, stroking the ball at a 60 percent clip from beyond the arc in conference play while earning Pacific 10 Conference Player of the Week Honor last week. [Read article]

At the midway point in the Pacific 10 Conference season, the UA women's basketball team (14-5, 6-3 Pac-10) has already weathered its share of injuries.

Junior center Shawntinice Polk is almost 100 percent healthy after sustaining a left knee injury Dec. 27 at Washington. After missing two consecutive games against Washington State and ASU, Polk has slowly seen more playing time. In UA's 86-65 win over Oregon State Saturday, she added 25 minutes, 15 points, five rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal. [Read article]

It might be the swagger Tucson's new main event brings to the court during warm-ups, bobbing his head as he drains three after long three.

It could have been the dunk he so ferociously threw down against UCLA on his way to a season-high 32 points.

It might possibly have been the benching head coach Lute Olsen gave his star shooting guard after he was held to Krispy Kremes in the scoring column against Utah. [Read article]

UA head football coach Mike Stoops continues to bring an Oklahoma flare to his Wildcat team by hiring former Sooner quarterback Josh Heupel as the UA's new tight ends coach yesterday.

Heupel fills the vacancy left by Steve Spurrier Jr., who joined his father's program at South Carolina in December.

Heupel, the 2000 Heisman trophy runner-up, worked as an offensive graduate assistant in 2004 at his alma mater. In his playing days, he helped lead the Sooners to a national championship win over Florida State in the 2000 Orange Bowl. Prior to returning to Norman, Okla., to coach at the University of Oklahoma, Heupel spent one year with both the Green Bay Packers and the Barcelona Dragons after being selected in the sixth round by the Miami Dolphins in the 2001 NFL Draft. [Read article]