Andy Lopez underwent open heart surgery in October and is expected to return to coaching the Arizona baseball team in 2014 (Arizona Athletics YouTube capture)
I need your assistance. I plan to post by New Year’s Eve a ranking of top athletes, coaches and stories involving the Arizona Wildcats past and present in 2013. I researched ArizonaWildcats.com, TucsonCitizen.com and AZStarNet.com for ideas.
However, as is the case while doing such a list, a name or event is mistakenly left out. I’m trying here to avoid that. Please let me know if any additions are necessary. I will deem them important enough to be included in a poll I will run starting Dec. 27 for three days.
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TOP 2013 ATHLETE NOMINEES
— Brigetta Barrett, women’s track and field, National Women’s Field Athlete of the Year and Pac-12 Woman of the Year
— Ka’Deem Carey, football, consensus All-American, Arizona’s first Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and school’s career record-holder in rushing, rushing touchdowns and touchdowns overall
— Nicci Corbin, women’s cross country, All-American
— Kevin Cordes, men’s swimming and diving, Pac-12 Men’s Swimmer of the Year
— Aubree Cristello, gymnastics, four-time All-Pac-12 all-around selection (only athlete in UA history to achieve that feat)
— Brandon Dixon, baseball, All-Pac-12 selection
— Johnny Field, baseball, All-Pac-12 selection
— Chelsea Goodacre, softball, All-Pac-12 selection
— Solomon Hill, men’s basketball, All-Pac-12 selection in consecutive seasons
— Elvin Kilbet, women’s cross country, All-American
— Madi Kingdon, volleyball, All-Pac-12 selection and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) South All-Region team
— Lawi Lalang, men’s track and field, Division I Indoor National Men’s Track Athlete of the Year in consecutive seasons
— Mark Lyons, men’s basketball, All-Pac-12 selection
— Kevin Newman, baseball, All-Pac-12 selection
— Samantha Pickens, women’s swimming and diving, Pac-12 Women’s Diver of the Year
— Jazmin Ponce, soccer, All-Pac-12 selection
— Rafael Quintero, men’s swimming and diving, Pac-12 Men’s Diving Newcomer of the Year
— Hallie Wilson, softball, All-Pac-12 selection
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— Arizona baseball coach Andy Lopez undergoes open-heart surgery in October and recovers with intention to coach in 2014
— Arizona’s baseball team is left out of the NCAA tournament after winning the title in 2012
— Arizona men’s basketball coach Sean Miller is fined $25,000 in the infamous “He Touched the Ball” episode at the Pac-12 Tournament
— Arizona men’s basketball team advances to the Sweet 16, where it loses to Ohio State 73-70
— Arizona men’s basketball freshman Grant Jerrett declares for the NBA draft after a freshman season in which he was a reserve
Damon Stoudamire returns to Arizona as an assistant
— Arizona men’s basketball signs Aaron Gordon, one of the most heralded recruits in the program’s history
— Former Arizona men’s basketball standout Damon Stoudamire is hired by Miller as an assistant coach
— One of Stoudamire’s teammates, Joseph Blair, is hired by Miller as a graduate assistant
— Reggie Geary, a teammate of Stoudamire and Blair at Arizona, wins the Japanese Professional Basketball title in his second year as a head coach there
— Solomon Hill is drafted in the first round of the NBA draft in June
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TOP 2013 COACH NOMINEES James Li coached Arizona’s women’s cross country team to a Pac-12 title in his 12th season
— Arizona women’s cross country coach James Li coaches Wildcats to Pac-12 title and second-place finish in NCAA championship
— Arizona soccer coach Tony Amato coaches Wildcats to first winning season in eight years
— Arizona men’s basketball coach Sean Miller coaches the Wildcats to a Sweet 16 appearance, notches his 100th career victory at the school and leads the UA to its first No. 1 ranking in 11 seasons
— Arizona football coach Rich Rodriguez becomes first coach to lead the Wildcats to consecutive bowl appearances in first two seasons
— Arizona volleyball coach David Rubio coaches the Wildcats to their 25th NCAA tournament appearance, including their fourth in the last five years
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— Arizona men’s basketball is ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press on Dec. 9, the program’s first top ranking since the 2002-03 season.
— Ka’Deem Carey is suspended for the football season-opener against NAU on Aug. 31 for violations of team rules during the offseason
— Arizona’s football team upsets No. 5 Oregon 42-16 on Nov. 23
— Carey breaks the Arizona career rushing and rushing touchdown records and becomes consensus All-American for second consecutive year
— Arizona’s football team advances to a second consecutive bowl (this time the AdvoCare V100 Bowl) under Rich Rodriguez with a 7-5 record.
— The Arizona women’s cross country team wins the Pac-12 championship and places second in the NCAA championship, its highest finish in the program’s history.
Nick Foles is a national sensation in the NFL
— Tedy Bruschi becomes the fourth Arizona football player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
— Former Arizona quarterback Nick Foles evolves into the NFL’s top-rated passer and MVP candidate with the Philadelphia Eagles in only his second season of professional football
— Arizona announces it will add women’s sand volleyball as a varsity sport with the team beginning its first season on March 7, 2014
— Arizona’s soccer team finishes 9-7-4, its first winning season since 2005 (its 3-0-3 start was the best since 1993, the first year of the program)
— Arizona’s softball team rallies from eight runs down against arch-rival ASU, ranked No. 3 entering the game, to win 10-9 in dramatic fashion
— Arizona’s volleyball team advances to the NCAA tournament for the 25th time, including four of the last five years
Brigetta Barrett became a six-time NCAA long jump champion
— Arizona’s volleyball team upsets No. 1 USC in straight sets in October (accomplishing the first win over a top-ranked team in 20 years and the first sweep of a No. 1 team in the program’s history)
— Brigetta Barrett claims her sixth straight NCAA championship in the long jump (indoor and outdoor) to end her stellar career
— Lawi Lalang wins the NCAA 5,000-meter indoor and outdoor race, becoming only the third athlete to accomplish that feat in the same year
— Edgar Rivera-Morales sets an Arizona record in the NCAA men’s high jump with a personal-best clearance of 7’5″, which is also a Mexican national indoor record
— Kevin Cordes breaks two NCAA records while winning two individual NCAA national championships in the 100 yard (50.74) and 200 yard breast (1:48.68)
— Kyle Quintero earns a Pac-12 title in the platform competition as he finished with a score of 399.90 to hold off 2012 Olympic medalist Kristian Ipsen (398.40) of Stanford and All-American Harrison Jones (392.00) of Arizona State
— Samantha Pickens becomes the first Arizona female to win a national title in diving, scoring 348.45 in the finals to win the 1m competition
— Former Arizona golfer Jim Furyk shoots a round of 59 in the BMW Championships in September, becoming only the sixth PGA golfer in history to shoot that low
— Former Arizona baseball All-American Terry Francona wins the American League Manager of the Year award
— Arizona wins its Pac-12 basketball opener in overtime against Colorado amid controversy with a last-second three-point shot made by Sabatino Chen ruled a fraction of a second too late by the refs
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WILDABOUTAZCATS.net publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report, Lindy’s College Sports and TucsonCitizen.com.
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