"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

How will a more slender Jacobson perform?

By Anthony Gimino and Javier Morales

Alex Jacobson

Arizona takes a test drive Sunday when it holds the Red-Blue scrimmage at McKale Center. It will be our first peek at how coach Sean Miller wants to use certain players and how all the young guys interact and complement each other on the court. One of the guys mentioned as being on the fringe of the rotation — and could, therefore, really help himself — is redshirt sophomore big man Alex Jacobson. He could carve out a role simply because of his size — 7 feet, 245 pounds — on a team overloaded with guards and wings. His listed weight hasn’t really changed since he arrived at Arizona, but his body has. “The major thing for the whole team for the summer was lose your body fat,” Jacobson said. “They set my goal for 10 percent for the summer. I’m at 11. When I first got here, it was 16 percent, and that changed really quick. StairMaster every day, the bike … you name it, I was on it.” Freshman Kyryl Natyazhko (6-10, 245) likely starts at center, but 6-8 freshman Derrick Williams has been playing at that spot in practice and it’s hard to know how Jacobson fits in to coach Sean Miller’s plans. Jacobson has been working on his back-to-the-basket game and says he has been practicing his 15- to 17-foot jumper. Asked if he would be comfortable shooting that in a game, he laughed and said, “Yeah, but I haven’t really been in a game.” Jacobson played in 25 games last season, averaging seven minutes. …

Suns general manager Steve Kerr was a guest recently on the locally independent radioexiles.com. He expressed the usual interest praise for Miller — “He would have been my first choice,” Kerr said — and he added that he has gotten to know Miller “decently.” Kerr added: “We have spent some time together since he took the job, and we’ve had dinner together. I’ve just really, really excited that he is part of this process going forward and that he is running the program.” Kerr said that he and Miller have discussed alumni relations in terms of making connections with the former players, which has been one of Miller’s stated goals since the first day. That seems like a no-brainer, but not every coach comes into a new situation and fully embraces the history of the inherited program. “One of the things I admire about Sean is that he feels very strongly about upholding the tradition that has been established under Lute for the past 25 years. He has asked me a little bit about making sure he stays connected with former players, and how to do that. But as far as basketball and recruiting and things like that, that is not anything that I’m involved with.” Kerr told host Matt Minkus that there had been “a discussion in the past” about becoming the UA head coach someday, but that wasn’t something that was serious last spring. He said he wouldn’t rule out a coaching career. “Maybe someday,” he said. “We’ll see. It’s something that I would consider, but at this point I’m focused on what I’m doing.” …

Why were Orange Bowl officials at the Arizona-UCLA game last week, shaking hands with coach Mike Stoops after the 27-13 victory? Makes no sense, other than the guys in orange blazers might have gotten in a nice round of golf or two. Consider: If Arizona wins out, it is going to the Rose Bowl. If Arizona loses once more, it will have three losses and not be a candidate for a BCS bowl game. That said, it’s always an encouraging sign when representatives from big-time bowls are at your games, and maybe the recruits saw that. One of those recruits was Tony Washington, a defensive end from Los Osos High in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. He told ESPN.com: “I liked Arizona a lot. Overall, it was just a great experience for me. I liked the campus, the city of Tucson and I like the coaches a lot as well. The team is playing well and coach (Mike) Stoops is known as a good defensive coach. My trip to Oregon was really good, but I would put the visit to UA right up there with it. The only downside was I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with the players and I was hoping to do that. I met a few of the players but I wasn’t around the team, as a whole, very much. Right now, I’m pretty confused and don’t really know what I’m going to do.” Washington also has visited UTEP and Oregon, and has a trip to Oregon State set for mid-November. He is listed at 6-4 and about 225 pounds, having added about 25 pounds in the past year, which means colleges eventually project him at about 260. Washington has been playing with a heavy heart this season as his father, died of a heart attack at age 48 in late August. …

Trivia question: Which college program has produced the most NBA teammates for the San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan? If it wasn’t Arizona, would we even be asking? Yes, the correct answer is UA, but the tougher question is this: Can you name all six of the former Cats who have played with Duncan in San Antonio? The answer is at the end of the notes package. … Ex-Cat Chase Budinger saw a lot in his three seasons at Arizona, and he’s been used to the spotlight for several years. But that didn’t stop the butterflies from fluttering when he made his NBA debut last week with the Houston Rockets. He had two turnovers in his first three minutes, and generally rushed things on both ends of the court. “It was a lot better in the second half,” Budinger told the Houston Chronicle. “The first time I was in, the jitters kind of got to me. I was playing scared, just nervous. I played that way in the first half. In the fourth quarter, I was able to go out and just play.” Budinger has indeed settled down, averaging 8.5 points and 16.5 minutes through two games. …

Brad Mills

Congratulations to former Wildcat Brad Mills, who became the manager of the Houston Astros this week. Mills — or Millsy, as he is affectionately known — most recently has been the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox since 2004, working under his old college roommate, Terry Francona. Francona showed his abundant classiness as he helped Mills climb the ladder and then sent him off with a heap of praise. “He’s wanted this,” Francona told the Boston Globe. “I’m so proud, not just of him, but for him. He’s not going to shortchange anybody on effort. He embodies so much of what’s good in our game. I’m so happy for him. This meant a lot to him, as it should. I’m so thrilled for him. How much we’re going to miss him, sure, but it’s so far outweighed by happiness.” … Mills became a part of major league history dubiously, when in 1983 he was the Nolan Ryan‘s 3,509th career strikeout victim, lifting Ryan past Walter Johnson as all-time strikeout leader. Now he’s managing Ryan’s former club. …

Detroit Country Day School point guard Ray McCallum has not received a scholarship offer yet from his father Ray McCallum Sr., the head coach at Detroit Mercy, but that does not mean a whole lot. “He knows he can play for me, but I don’t push that on him at all,” said the elder McCallum in an article by HighSchoolHoop.Com. McCallum Sr. attends most of his son’s games, especially during the summer. He is with his son this weekend as part of an official visit to the UA. For McCallum Sr. to leave the Detroit practices for a couple of days to check out the UA with his son is refreshing. It shows that he is genuine about making sure his son makes the best possible decision. He also visited UCLA with his son a few weeks ago. … McCallum Sr. acknowledged that it can be awkward to field a recruiting call from a coach such as Billy Donovan or Mike Krzyzewski. “What can you say about the other schools recruiting him? You just have to give them respect. Every coach has great credibility. He’s been around this stuff his whole life, and it’s a tough process.” …

Former Arizona Daily Star reporter Jon Wilner, who has his own blog with the San Jose Mercury News, has an interesting take concerning today’s Oregon-USC matchup about what it means to the Pac-10. He argues that the conference’s bowl-aspiring teams would benefit from an Oregon victory. “That outcome would give the conference its best chance to send two teams to the Bowl Championship Series, with Oregon as the league champion/automatic qualifier and USC as the runner up/at-large entry. And everyone else would move up one slot in the bowl ladder,” Wilner wrote in today’s edition of the Mercury News. “Fans of Stanford, Cal, Arizona and Oregon State might take issue with the root-for-Oregon premise because a USC victory would bring the first-place Ducks back to the Pac, thus improving their team’s shot at the title. But let’s be realistic: For each challenger, the climb is too high and the schedules are too tough to overtake the Oregon-USC winner. So consider taking the longer view.” … Former UA quarterback Ronald Veal, who lives near Atlanta, runs a successful quarterback camp in that area and he tutors young prospects individually. Veal, who was a threat as a scrambler, was a steady quarterback at Arizona from 1987-89. The highlight play of his career: His miracle deflected Hail Mary touchdown pass into the hands of Derek Hill as time expired before halftime of Arizona’s 28-18 win over ASU in 1988. Veal is an avid follower of the current Wildcats. …

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich let it be known to the San Antonio media that it was difficult for him to waive former UA forward Marcus Williams at the end of the preseason. Williams and former Oregon guard Malik Hairston competed throughout training camp for a potential 15th spot on the roster. “It’s always difficult,” Popovich said to reporters after breaking the news to Williams. “This is the most difficult, in the sense that we could have gone in a couple different directions. The players were that close down the stretch, but it doesn’t matter if a guy has played well, or poorly. It’s always difficult to do.” Popovich indicated that Williams should play for another NBA team but the economy might prevent that. “There are going to be fewer players with jobs, or so I’m told,” he said. In five preseason games, the 6-foot-7 Williams averaged a respectable 14.2 points in 13.2 minutes a game. …

Friday Night Lights: UA recruit Garic Wharton had a career night Thursday in Las Vegas Valley’s 43-7 win over Eldorado. He rushed for a personal-best 275 yards on 20 carries, including three touchdown runs. One was a 60-yard sprint on a keeper as part of an option play. … Another UA recrut, Jerry Whittaker of Oceanside (Calif.) continues to roll. Whittaker, a multi-purpose athlete like Wharton, ran 44 yards for a touchdown the first time he touched the ball Friday night in the Pirates’ 57-0 win over Orange Glen High School. Oceanside, which has a 33-game unbeaten streak, is 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in their classification in California. … Allen (Texas) quarterback Matt Brown did not waste time leading his team to a touchdown similar to Whittaker’s quick scoring strike. Brown completed a 58-yard touchdown pass to streaking junior Jonathan Lee on the second play from scrimmage in a 52-28 win over Plano East. Brown threw for 260 yards, and ran for another 148. … North Dakota State College of Science four-star linebacker Derek Earls recovered two fumbles in one game preceding his recruiting trip to Tucson last weekend. The 6-4, 225-pounder who can run the 40 in 4.5 seconds committed to Arizona on Sunday, rejecting offers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and others. Last season, Earls earned All-American consideration by totaling 96 tackles, 1.5 sacks and three interceptions. The Wildcats are attempting to recruit another North Dakota State College of Science player — offensive lineman John Caspers, 6-5, 295, who has offers from ISU, Arizona, Kansas State and Washington State.

Trivia answer: Sean Elliott, Reggie Geary, Richard Jefferson, Steve Kerr, Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Williams.

Bookmark this post

Hide Sites

Tags: Alex Jacobson, Brad Mills, Derek Earls, John Caspers, Marcus Williams, Ray McCallum, Ronald Veal, Sean Miller

WILDABOUTAZCATS.com (RSS) Feeds