Staff Reports
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 14, 1997

Tuesday's Tidbits

Arizona Daily Wildcat Quynn Tebbs

Okay, so Miles Simon has some grade trouble. What about the rest of the basketball team? Take Quynn Tebbs for example. The sophomore guard completed 45 units last year. That's more than some students complete in two years. As a whole, the Arizona men's basketball team had a 2.67 grade point average for the spring semester. That was good for second best among the men's sports at UA ...

Finally a little fan support. In Friday's soccer game the team was cheered on by the water polo team in rare and intoxicated form. Those crazy fish were leading chants like UA cheerleaders. The kicker was the victory tunnel they formed for the Wildcats, who lost 2-0 to Montana. They stayed conscious long enough to connect hands and help the players get over the game as they exited the field with gusto ...

The UA athletic department has just freed up two rows of basketball seats in section 15 of McKale Center. The season ticket seats are available to the general public. However, to be eligible to purchase two of these seats a person would need to have 800 Wildcat points, which amounts to $40,000 in donations ...

Arizona Daily Wildcat Keisha Johnson

Keisha Johnson, a junior on the UA volleyball team, has a busy year ahead of her. Aside from her responsibilities to the team, the reserve middle blocker is planning her summer wedding. Johnson and Thomas Demps, a former linebacker on the Arizona football team, will be married June 26, 1998 in Louisiana. They met in September of 1994, Johnson's freshman year. Demps, who played for Arizona from 1992 to 1995, proposed to her on Valentine's Day in 1996. The two chose Louisiana because of its neutral site. Demps is from Orlando and Johnson's mother's side of the family is from Louisiana ...

The mystery punter, better known to the student cheering section as No. 4, is actually Chris Palic.

Palic, a freshman walk-on from Los Angeles who doesn't even exist in the football media guide, averaged 34.3 yards on five punts, including a 55-yard blast on his debut effort. Palic replaced Ryan Springston in the second quarter after Springston's knee was injured when his punt was blocked. Springston dropped the snap and tried to force the kick.

"This is a great feeling to be here like this," Palic said of his sudden responsibility and fame. "To have my family watching is even better. I am just feeling unbelievable right now."

UA head coach Dick Tomey rewarded Palic's effort with a special award all in its own.

"We gave the game ball to punter Chris Palic," he said. "He was fabulous under that kind of pressure." ...

Here's one for the little guys. UA cross country coach Dave Murray said that the one runner who's gone beyond expectations has been freshman David Lopez, who came in 22nd on Saturday at the Murray Keatinge Invitational in Orono, Maine. "He's an extremely solid runner," Murray said. "He's only 5-foot-3 and about 98 pounds, so he's not very imposing. The way he has managed to run despite that has been the biggest surprise (in our season) so far." Lopez's previous finishes had him come in 10th, 4th and 28th, all in under 26 minutes ...

Dick Vitale released his preseason top 40 yesterday and Arizona fans won't be happy.

The venerable ESPN analyst rates the defending champion Wildcats second behind Duke and their "diaper dandy" Chris Burgess from Utah.

North Carolina, Kansas and UCLA round out the top five.

"Great diaper dandies plus veterans give Coach K the top team," Vitale writes.

Coincidentally, Vitale will be at Cameron Arena for the Blue Devils' Midnight Madness celebration on Friday.

As for the Wildcats, Vitale would appear to have forgotten one important fact about the UA.

"The defending champs return Mike Bibby and Miles Simon in the backcourt," he writes.

Memo to Mr. Vitale: The defending champion Wildcats also return A.J. Bramlett, Bennett Davison and Michael Dickerson in the front court.

Vitale rates Stanford as the 12th-best team in the country. No other Pacific 10 Conference teams made the cut.

Tips can be sent to kclerici@u.arizona.edu.