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. 24 BOBBY LEE THOMPSON
With it being the 24th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 24 for Arizona is running back Bobby Lee Thompson, who starred for the program in 1960 and 1961. He was part of the 8-1-1 team of 1961. He teamed with “Jackrabbit” Joe Hernandez to form the “Touchdown Twins.” He still holds the school record for yards per attempt — 7.6 for his career. The Wildcats concluded their dream season in 1961 with a 22-13 win at ASU, which was coached by Frank Kush. That game included “The Run in ’61” in which Thompson broke at least four tackles en route to a 67-yard TD run in the fourth quarter that gave Arizona a 16-13 lead. He played 10 seasons (1962 to 1971) as a defensive back in the Canadian Football League and the National Football League with the Montreal Alouettes, Detroit Lions, and the New Orleans Saints. Born in Minden, La., he played two years at Compton (Calif.) Junior College before attending Arizona. He was signed by the Alouettes after his Arizona career and played with them for two seasons (1962 to 1963). He then played with the Lions for five seasons (1964 to 1968), before joining the Saints in 1969. He then returned to the Alouettes and played two more seasons for them (1970 to 1971). With the Alouettes, he was a member of the 58th Grey Cup Championship team in 1970. His NFL career consisted of 72 games, 39 games started, 10 passes intercepted, 102 yards returned (including a long of 26 yards) on interceptions. After retiring as a player, he lived and worked in the Los Angeles, Calif., where he passed away at the age of 74 in 2014. He was inducted into Arizona’s Hall of Fame a year before his passing. He established numerous Arizona career, season and single-game marks, which still stand. In addition to the rushing-yards-per-attempt record, he holds the all-purpose running yards per game (140.5). He ranked ninth nationally in rushing in 1960 and 1961 and seventh in scoring in 1961 when he returned two punts for touchdowns. He was named to 1960 All-Border Conference first team, and played in three post-season all-star games. He was also a key member of 1960 and 1961 Border Conference champion track & field teams, trying for second in high jump and placing fourth in high hurdles in 1960 and placing third in high jump and long jump in 1961. His best of 14.8 seconds in high hurdles tied for second on the Arizona career list, while his high jump of 6-4 ranked in the school’s career top 10 of that period. Thompson coached at Inglewood (Calif.) High School, where his son Bobby Jr., was a star quarterback. The younger Thompson played with Arizona State’s basketball team as a point guard and passed away in 2008 at 42 years old while jogging near his Los Angeles home.
NO. 24 IN 2024 — CB JAI-AYVIAUYNN CELESTINE
Celestine, 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, is a third-year sophomore who appeared in nine games on special teams and defensive back last season. He made three total tackles. He also returned three kicks for 56 yards with a long of 20 yards after spending much of the season at kick returner. He redshirted in 2022 after arriving from Miami (Fla.) Palmetto High School. He was rated a three-star recruit by 247Sports.
NOTE
With Tetairoa McMillan lining up at receiver, one player who might get overlooked is Montana Lemonious-Craig, the transfer from Colorado who has a world of potential. As the third option last year sharing most of the receiving role with McMillan and Jacob Cowing, he finished with 28 receptions for 296 yards and three touchdowns. It is realistic to expect those numbers to at least double this season with Cowing off to the NFL with the San Franciscon 49ers.
THEY SAID IT
“It was more so having to put a little extra time into the playbook, meeting with the quarterbacks a little more one-on-one to be able to see what they’re seeing and just having to do that at a quicker speed without having the spring available for me to practice those reps.” — Lemonious-Craig about his transfer from Colorado last season after spring practice and having to adapt starting in fall camp last season.
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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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