"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Voting ongoing for three other matchups

>>No. 4 Salmon vs. No. 1 Finch-Daigle (poll open through Monday)
>>No. 3 Cecil vs. No. 2 Hunley (poll open through Sunday)
>>No. 5 McAlister vs. No. 1 Kerr (poll closes end of Saturday)
>>No. 7 Jefferson vs. No. 6 Bibby. Winner: Jefferson
>>No. 3 Udall vs. No. 2 Francona. Winner: Francona
>>No. 5 Evans vs. No. 1 Elliott. Winner: Elliott
>>No. 3 Lofton vs. No. 2 Sorenstam. Winner: Sorenstam
>>No. 4 Furyk vs. No. 1 Bruschi. Winner: Bruschi
>>The Field of 32 bracket
>>Sweet 16 schedule
>>Mike Candrea Regional
>>Frank Busch Regional
>>Cedric Dempsey Regional
>>Jerry Kindall Regional

Richard Jefferson continues to emerge as the surprise of this Bear Down Leader competition.

Richard Jefferson

As the No. 7 seed of the Cedric Dempsey Regional, the former UA hoops star, who led the Cats to the 2001 NCAA title game, has upset No. 2 seed Lorena Ochoa (the former No. 1 women’s golfer in the world) and ultra fan favorite Mike Bibby, the No. 6 seed who helped lead the UA to its only NCAA championship in 1997.

Jefferson beat Bibby by the closest of margins — a 51-49 percent advantage (voting closed end of Friday).

Now comes the toughest test for Jefferson, who has the fans’ support partly because of the $3.5 million he donated to the construction of the school’s basketball practice facility. Jefferson, also a former Olympic basketball player, emerged victorious from the Fred Snowden Subregional and will face No. 1 seed Tedy Bruschi (winner of the Dick Tomey Subregional) in the finals of the Dempsey regional.

Others in the Elite Eight are Annika Sorenstam, No. 2 seed of the Frank Busch Regional and winner of the Bobbi Olson Subregional; Sean Elliott, No. 1 seed of the Jerry Kindall Regional and winner of the J.F. “Pop” McKale Subregional; and Terry Francona, No. 2 seed of the Mike Candrea Regional and winner of the Rick LaRose Subregional.

Just a reminder: The Bear Down Leader competition was created to showcase representable UA athletes who have excelled on the playing field and elsewhere. The Elite Eight schedule will be announced after the completion of the John Byrd “Button” Salmon vs. Jennie Finch-Daigle on Monday.

“Button” Salmon

Jennie Finch-Daigle

Chuck Cecil

Ricky Hunley

Chris McAlister

Steve Kerr

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Jefferson-Bibby matchup tight on last day

>>No. 4 Salmon vs. No. 1 Finch-Daigle (poll open through Monday)
>>No. 3 Cecil vs. No. 2 Hunley (poll open through Sunday)
>>No. 5 McAlister vs. No. 1 Kerr (poll open through Saturday)
>>No. 7 Jefferson vs. No. 6 Bibby (poll open through Friday)
>>No. 3 Udall vs. No. 2 Francona. Winner: Francona
>>No. 5 Evans vs. No. 1 Elliott. Winner: Elliott
>>No. 3 Lofton vs. No. 2 Sorenstam. Winner: Sorenstam
>>No. 4 Furyk vs. No. 1 Bruschi. Winner: Bruschi
>>The Field of 32 bracket
>>Sweet 16 schedule
>>Mike Candrea Regional
>>Frank Busch Regional
>>Cedric Dempsey Regional
>>Jerry Kindall Regional

Former UA baseball great Terry Francona, by virtue of his victory over Mo Udall in the Sweet 16, is one of four Wildcat legends who have advanced to Elite Eight of the Bear Down Leader competition.

Terry Francona

The others in the next round are Tedy Bruschi, Sean Elliott and Annika Sorenstam. After today, either Richard Jefferson or Mike Bibby will join this group. Right now, Jefferson holds a slim 51-49 percent lead after leading by eight percentage points Wednesday.

Just a reminder: The Bear Down Leader competition was created to showcase representable UA athletes who have excelled on the playing field and elsewhere. It was also set up to help us get through some of the dog days of summer, but as we have experienced recently, the days are not long with conference expansion in the news.

“Button” Salmon

Jennie Finch-Daigle

Chuck Cecil

Ricky Hunley

Chris McAlister

Steve Kerr

Richard Jefferson

Mike Bibby

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Both Phoenix products who led UA to title games

>>No. 3 Udall vs. No. 2 Francona (poll open through Thursday)
>>No. 5 Evans vs. No. 1 Elliott (poll open through Wednesday)
>>No. 3 Lofton vs. No. 2 Sorenstam (poll open through Tuesday)
>>No. 4 Furyk vs. No. 1 Bruschi (poll closes end of Monday)
>>The Field of 32 bracket
>>Sweet 16 schedule
>>Mike Candrea Regional
>>Frank Busch Regional
>>Cedric Dempsey Regional
>>Jerry Kindall Regional

RICHARD JEFFERSON:
Excerpt from ESPN.com (Aug. 17, 2007)

According to the University of Arizona sports information department, the previous high donations were made by Denver’s Carmelo Anthony to Syracuse for $3 million while Steve Smith gave $2.5 million to Michigan State. New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez donated $3.9 million to the University of Miami. But he only signed to play for the Hurricanes and never suited up for them.
“I had heard a long time ago that they were looking for someone to handle the naming rights and the word was that coach (Lute) Olson wanted to hold off to get a player to do it,” Jefferson told ESPN.com Friday night from Tucson where he was working an Arizona elite camp.
“They started coming up to me and said, ‘You’re from Phoenix, you’re an Arizona guy, and you have always represented the University of Arizona.’ So we started talking about the right amount.”

MIKE BIBBY:
Excerpt from Sports Illustrated (April 7, 1997):

Such a game would be won in the backcourt, and two of Arizona’s guards, Miles Simon and freshman point man Mike Bibby, made the decisive plays. Again and again Simon danced into the lane, either to squeeze off gentle floaters or to draw fouls from late-arriving Kentucky defenders. In the end Simon was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player for his 30 points on Monday, 14 from the free throw line, where he spent much of the night, thanks to his shoulder-dipping up-and-under moves. “I can’t believe they kept falling for the same trick,” said Arizona’s small forward, Michael Dickerson. For his part Bibby contributed three three-pointers, three steals and 19 points while routinely busting out of double teams that often included Kentucky’s 6’7″ All-America, Ron Mercer. Bibby is believed to be the first freshman point guard ever to pilot a team to a national championship.

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

• JEFFERSON: Defeated No. 2 seed Lorena Ochoa by a 63-37 percent margin in the first round
• BIBBY: Defeated No. 3 seed Amanda Beard by a 65-35 percent margin in the first round

TOMORROW: No. 5 Chris McAlister against No. 1 Steve Kerr in the Frank Busch Regional.

Richard Jefferson

Mike Bibby

Mo Udall

Terry Francona

Nancy Evans

Sean Elliott

Kenny Lofton

Annika Sorenstam

Jim Furyk

Tedy Bruschi

(more…)

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Sons of former Bruin greats under legendary coach played for Olson

By Javier Morales

Bruce Larson may not have been the most successful basketball coach in Arizona history, but he certainly was one of the most bold. Larson scheduled the Cats to play against the late John Wooden’s UCLA national championship teams in the 1964-65 and 1969-70 seasons. The Bruins were 28-2 in each of those seasons and they beat the UA in Los Angeles by scores of 99-79 on Dec. 28, 1964, and 90-65 on Dec. 1, 1969. Even in a down year by Wooden’s standards — 18-8 in 1965-66 with the Bruins — his team defeated Larson’s club, 84-67, also in Los Angeles.

Digging deep into the archives, we found a Tucson Daily Citizen article about the 1964 game that includes flattering comments about some of the UA’s players from Wooden, who passed away Friday at age 99. Arizona forward Albert Johnson led all scorers with 22 points and outplayed All-American Keith Erickson, who tallied 16, in the UA’s 99-79 loss. “Our boy Erickson has handled some of the toughest men around,” Wooden was quoted as saying, “but he told me he thought Johnson was about as good as any of them.” Erickson played 12 years in the NBA and was also an Olympic volleyball player. Johnson? Although he averaged 9.9 rebounds in his UA career, Johnson never played in the NBA and could not crack the All-Western Athletic Conference first-team. That is a snapshot of how dominating UCLA was under Wooden against the very best programs and those seeking an identity like Arizona. UCLA was on a different plane than others with Wooden as coach similar to Arizona (on a lower scale) under Lute Olson when the Wildcats did not not lose more than five Pac-10 games in a season from 1985-96 to 1995-96 and finished 17-1 in the conference five different times. …

(more…)

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Popularity of UA hoops under Olson indicative of field

Five former UA basketball players who competed for Lute Olson make up part of the Bear Down Leader competition Sweet 16

>>May 28: No. 6 Magrane vs. No. 3 Cecil (with poll)
>>May 27: No. 7 Jefferson vs. No. 2 Ochoa. Winner: Jefferson
>>May 26: No. 6 Neethling vs. No. 3 Lofton. Winner: Lofton
>>May 25: No. 8 Hassey vs. No. 1 Finch-Daigle. Winner: Finch-Daigle
>>May 24: No. 5 Evans vs. No. 4 Bob Elliott. Winner: Evans
>>May 23: No. 8 Northcutt vs. No. 1 Bruschi. Winner: Bruschi
>>May 22: No. 5 McAlister vs. No. 4 Nymeyer-John. Winner: McAlister
>>May 21: No. 7 Ahmann-Perham vs. No. 2 Francona. Winner: Francona
>>May 20: No. 8 Waldrop vs. No. 1 Sean Elliott. Winner: Sean Elliott
>>May 19: No. 5 Luppino vs. No. 4 Furyk. Winner: Furyk
>>May 18: No. 7 Stoudamire vs. No. 2 Sorenstam. Winner: Sorenstam
>>May 17: No. 6 Bell vs. No. 3 Udall. Winner: Udall
>>May 16: No. 7 Snow vs. No. 2 Hunley. Winner: Hunley
>>May 15: No. 6 Bibby vs. No. 3 Beard. Winner: Bibby
>>May 14: No. 8 Dawson vs. No. 1 Kerr. Winner: Kerr
>>May 13: No. 5 Hoffman vs. No. 4 Salmon. Winner: Salmon
>>T-shirt contest (deadline extended to end of first round)
>>Full schedule
>>The Field of 32 bracket
>>Mike Candrea Regional
>>Frank Busch Regional
>>Cedric Dempsey Regional
>>Jerry Kindall Regional

The list is like an honor roll of the UA hoops program built in the modern era by Lute Olson: Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Kenny Lofton, Mike Bibby and Richard Jefferson.

Three of them were teammates on the UA’s first Final Four team in 1987-88: Elliott, Kerr and Lofton. Bibby was an integral part of the Wildcats’ 1997 national championship team. Jefferson is a former U.S. Olympian basketball player who donated $3.5 million toward the construction of the basketball training facility adjacent to McKale Center.

All five have advanced to the Sweet 16 of our Bear Down Leader competition, which starts Thursday. The schedule of this round will be announced Wednesday after the Jerry Kindall Regional matchup between No. 3 Chuck Cecil and No. 6 Joe Magrane is completed at the end of Tuesday.

Jefferson, a nine-year NBA veteran, has pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament thus far as a No. 7 seed, gaining more votes than No. 2 seed Lorena Ochoa in the Cedric Dempsey Regional. Jefferson will face Bibby in the Sweet 16. Bibby, a No. 6 seed, upset No. 3 Amanda Beard in the first round.

Mo Udall, a No. 3 seed in the Mike Candrea Regional, is another former UA basketball player in the Sweet 16 field. The longtime U.S. Congressman starred for the Cats back in the 1940′s.

The six former basketball players is the highest total in the Sweet 16. The other sports represented are football (four, soon to be five if Cecil keeps his sizable lead over Magrane), softball (two), men’s golf (one), women’s golf (one) and baseball (one).

Those who have emerged victorious to this point and are part of the Sweet 16:

JERRY KINDALL REGIONAL: No. 1 seed Sean Elliott, No. 2 Ricky Hunley and No. 5 Nancy Evans.

CEDRIC DEMPSEY REGIONAL: No. 1 Tedy Bruschi, No. 4 Jim Furyk, No. 6 Mike Bibby and No. 7 Richard Jefferson.

FRANK BUSCH REGIONAL: No. 1 Steve Kerr, No. 2 Annika Sorenstam, No. 3 Kenny Lofton and No. 5 Chris McAlister.

MIKE CANDREA REGIONAL: No. 1 Jennie Finch-Daigle, No. 2 Terry Francona, No. 3 Mo Udall and No. 4 John Byrd “Button” Salmon.

NOTE: The Sweet 16 commences Thursday. The schedule for the Sweet 16 will be announced Wednesday.

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Five-Star perimeter shooter sounds sincere about Cats high on his list

Damien Leonard, rated the No. 14 prospect in the Class of 2011 by Rivals.com, is in Tucson this weekend taking an unofficial visit (J.L. Mann High School photo)

By Javier Morales

In the year since the inception of this Web site, I have interviewed a number of potential UA recruits and their parents and coaches. The one who I believed showed the most interest in Arizona before committing was Phoenix North shooting guard Daniel Bejarano, who talks as if he wants to wear the Arizona uniform yesterday. Another recruit has now surfaced who is showing a genuine interest in Arizona like Bejarano, and he happens to be a Class of 2011 Five-Star recruit according to Rivals.com. Although Greenville (S.C.) J.L. Mann wing player Damien Leonard told me Friday he remains “wide open” with his recruiting choice, he sounded like he is sincere about wanting learn about the advantages of attending the University of Arizona. Leonard is taking an unofficial visit of the UA campus this weekend with his traveling coach Willis Holliday. “I’m going over there wanting to learn everything I need to know about the school and the program,” Leonard told me. “I would not be going there if I didn’t think it was worth the trip. This visit is very important to us in this process.” …

Others who took visits to Arizona seem to treat it as an exercise, saying in essence that the visit would not sway their opinion one way or another. That’s not the case with Leonard, who is using the visit as a gauge to help narrow his choices to three schools after the summer high-profile events and AAU circuit of tournaments. The other schools high on his list include Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Clemson and Virginia Tech. “We’re hoping to take what we learn on this trip and use it as a future reference,” said Holliday, coach and director of the Carolina Cougars’ AAU program in South Carolina. Although news of Leonard’s visit surfaced last week, the 6-foot-4, 180-pound player has been on Arizona coach Sean Miller’s radar since last summer. “The way coach Miller has recruited Damien has been by the book, and he has developed a very good relationship with us,” Holliday said. “Damien has wanted to take this visit for a while because of his relationship with some of their coaches and now he finally gets that chance.” Leonard has played in Arizona before at the “Duel in the Desert” in Phoenix so he knows what to expect about Tucson’s weather. “Oh yeah, I’ve packed some T-shirts and shorts,” Leonard said with a laugh. “I’ve been in the desert before. I just haven’t been to Tucson before but I’m looking forward to seeing what the city and the school are all about.” Leonard and Holliday left Greenville, which will be in the 80s this weekend, but the humidity there is listed as almost 80 percent. Tucson could reach the 90s this weekend but as the saying goes, it’s a dry heat. …

(more…)

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Arizona’s quiet hoops leader goes against outgoing Olympic swimmer

>>May 14: No. 8 Dawson vs. No. 1 Kerr (with poll)
>>May 13: No. 5 Hoffman vs. No. 4 Salmon (with poll)
>>T-shirt contest (deadline extended to end of first round)
>>Full schedule
>>The Field of 32 bracket
>>Mike Candrea Regional
>>Frank Busch Regional
>>Cedric Dempsey Regional
>>Jerry Kindall Regional

Certainly by now you’ve seen the GoDaddy.com television ads with former UA Olympic and world-record swimmer Amanda Beard.

The most flamboyant image of the normally stoic Mike Bibby is him smiling during a game.

Bibby, the freshman point guard who led the UA to its only men’s hoops national title in 1997, goes against the more outgoing Beard, winner of seven Olympic medals, in our next matchup of the Bear Down Leader bracket.

Bibby is the No. 6 seed and Beard the No. 3 seed in the Cedric Dempsey regional. The winner advances to go against the winner of No. 2 Lorena Ochoa and No. 7 Richard Jefferson (who face each other May 27).

“(Bibby) would joke around but he is really a person who likes to keep to himself,” former UA forward Bennett Davison, a teammate of Bibby’s, told me recently. “But Mike does talk when he is around people he is comfortable about.

“He just sees through all the B.S. fans say and the way they act. You play good one game and you are the best and one bad game you suck.”

Beard, on the other hand, is not one to feel inhibited. She has posed in Playboy and in the flesh for a PETA ad against animal cruelty. “I guess you’ve got to grow some (bleep) and stand up for what you believe in sometimes,” she said in a 2008 Washington Post blog.

A reminder: Our polls are open for five days before determining the winner, so enough voters can get an opportunity to participate.

The matchups ongoing are between No. 4 “Button” Salmon” against No. 5 Trevor Hoffman of the Mike Candrea Regional and No. 8 Mike Dawson against No. 1 Steve Kerr of the Frank Busch Regional.

Tomorrow: No. 7 J.T. Snow goes against No. 2 Ricky Hunley in the Jerry Kindall Regional.

Mike Bibby

Amanda Beard

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