To get ready for the upcoming Arizona football season, All Sports Tucson offers a countdown, which will include history notes and a look ahead to the season — a good way to keep Arizona football on the mind in the summer months leading up to fall camp in early August and then kickoff against New Mexico on Aug. 31 in the start of the Brent Brennan era.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS PREVIOUS DAYS IN THE COUNTDOWN
A LOOK BACK — NO. 29 FRED BATISTE
With it being the 29th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 29 for Arizona is running back and defensive back Fred Batiste, who was the first black football letterman in 1949. Batiste, who starred at Tucson High School, was also a track and field standout. He was part of an accomplished family of athletes in Tucson at that time that included Ernie, Joe and Frank, all top-notch athletes who were not allowed to play football before Fred at either Tucson High or Arizona because of the color of their skin. Being the first black player with the Wildcats, Fred encountered difficulties, such as not being allowed to participate when Arizona played games in Texas because of a “negro ban.” He served this country in the military during World War II and joined Arizona’s program after playing at Compton (Calif.) Junior College. His 87-yard punt return versus Denver during the 1949 season still stands as the third-longest return in program history. In a 1950 home game against Hardin-Simmons, the Wildcats trailed 28-0 at halftime. The Wildcats rallied to win 32-28. Batiste broke up two passes in the end zone on the game’s final series. He also broke up a pass on the game’s final play in a win over Iowa that season. Fred Batiste died in 1978 from complications related to diabetes. He was 51. He worked in the airline industry in Los Angeles after attending college.
NO. 29 IN 2024 — CB DEVIN DUNN
Dunn, 5-foot-10 and 182 pounds, is in his third year in the program out of Chandler High School. He made 127 total tackles over three seasons with Chandler. He had 53 solo and 74 assists with 5.5 tackles per game and 8.5 tackles for loss. He made one interception and 10 pass deflections with one fumble recovery and four forced fumbles. His father, James, played defensive back at Arizona State.
NOTE
Through the first two days of fall camp, Arizona is doing the right thing by working out veteran starters Tetairoa McMillan, Tacario Davis and Treydan Stukes off the main practice field with strength and conditioning coach Cullen Carroll. McMillan, a projected All-American receiver and first-round NFL draft pick, is working his way back after a minor surgery on his left foot during spring drills. Davis, a cornerback, and Stukes, a “star” position player, otherwise known as a safety in nickel packages, are both very essential to Arizona’s secondary. Davis is also projected to be high draft pick in the NFL draft next spring.
THEY SAID IT
“We’ll always do what’s best for the player. Those decisions are not coaching decisions ever. Those are medical decisions and player decisions, family decisions.” — Brennan
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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