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Catch up on Steve Rivera’s reports at FoxSportsArizona.com
Quotes of note (and later a slide show of social media reactions) from today’s press conference at Hi Corbett Field announcing the hire Jay Johnson as the head baseball coach for the Arizona Wildcats …
— “This is the greatest day in my life,” Johnson said in his 38-minute press conference attended by Arizona Wildcats basketball coach Sean Miller, football coach Rich Rodriguez, softball coach Mike Candrea and former baseball coaches Jerry Kindall and Jerry Stitt. “I’m excited and passionate to be here. The word that comes to mind is humbled. To be at a place where they’ve had that success (of World Series appearances and championships) is really exciting to be able to pursue that challenge,”
— “He’s the right man,” Kindall said. “I’m very impressed. The people who have called me and have talked about him say to me he’s highly regarded.”
— Johnson’s hire is a “home run or more like a grand slam.” said Stitt, who mentioned he followed Johnson’s career as a player and young coach and “I’ve always been impressed with him. (Coaches) have always spoken very highly of Jay. When Greg (Byrne) called me to tell me I was so excited.”
— “I couldn’t get one player to say anything bad about him,” Bryne said about his vetting process, that included calling Johnson’s former players. “One of his seniors at Nevada said he was ‘Unbelievable, I wish I could play for him my entire career.'”
Now the slideshow with some social media reactions of note for today’s press conference announcing Johnson’s hiring (click on “Next” above or below …
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Steve Rivera and Anthony Gimino released a book late last year about the pertinent stories behind what has made Arizona basketball what it is today. It is a must-read for any college basketball fan. Please contact Rivera by e-mail to inquire about buying a copy.
Local CDO parent @gregg_carrol called the Arizona baseball hire of Jay Johnson back on May 25! Beat the "experts" by two weeks.
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) June 8, 2015
Great move by @Greg_Byrne to have presser at Hi Corbett instead of McKale. Shows that is true home of baseball program #pressingrightbuttons
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) June 9, 2015
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