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. 20 MICHAEL BATES
With it being the 20th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 20 for Arizona is running back Michael Bates, the Amphitheater High School great who played with Arizona in 1989 and 1990. He rushed for only 220 yards in two seasons with Arizona but was most dangerous as a returner. He averaged 23.7 yards per kickoff return and returned one for a touchdown in 1990. He also returned two punts for an average of 48 yards that season. After only two years with Arizona’s football team, he concentrated on the Olympics as a sprinter. He earned the bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics. Bates also was a track start at Arizona. Inducted into the Arizona Hall of Fame, he was voted the Pac-10’s most outstanding male performer at the conference track championships in 1989 and 1990, winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes. He was also a member of the Wildcats 400-meter relay team that finished second in the 1989 NCAA Championships. In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, his time of 20.38 from the inside lane, put him 0.37 seconds behind gold medal winner. In addition to his track accomplishments, he was also a kick returner in the NFL teams from 1993 to 2003. Bates, 54, presently lives in Northeast Tucson, enjoying his retirement. A private person, Bates has occasionally attended some of Arizona’s practices in recent years. He made an appearance in May at an Amphi awards ceremony in which the Male Athlete of the Year Award is named after him.
The Amphi best Male Athlete Award is named after Michael Bates @ArizonaFBall I was Michael’s student teacher at Amphi Junior High. So long ago. pic.twitter.com/GiJVe1TUET
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) May 4, 2024
NO. 20 IN 2024 — RB BRANDON JOHNSON & CB MARQUIS GROVES-KILLEBREW
Johnson, 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, is a redshirt freshman running back who attended Palmdale (Calif.) Highland High School. He rushed for 3,001 yards and 48 touchdowns on 340 carries over three seasons on varsity. He averaged 8.8 yards per carry, 107.2 yards per game, and rushed for a long of 79 yards with 14 100-plus-yard games. He scored 386 total points during his high school career. A 3-star prospect with offers from Colorado State, Columbia, Fordham, Fresno State, Harvard, Nevada, Northern Arizona, Princeton, UNLV, Washington, Washington State, and Yale.
Groves-Killebrew, 6-foot and 185 pounds, is a two-time transfer who has been part of the programs at Texas A&M and Louisville. With Louisville last year, he appeared in four games and did not record a stat. With Texas A&M in 2022 as a freshman, he appeared in three games. He made his first career collegiate appearance at South Carolina. He recorded two tackles against Ole Miss. He earned the Aggie Defense Top Newcomer Award. He hails from North Cobb High School in Atlanta, where he was a 4-star recruit. Posted 38 tackles and a pair of interceptions as a senior, leading North Cobb HS to a 10-2 record including a 5-0 mark in 7A Region 3 play as a senior
NOTE
One top player who has emerged in the first two weeks of fall camp is junior tight end Keyan Burnett, son of former Arizona linebacker Chester Burnett. The starting tight end position is wide open with Tanner McLachlan off to the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. During the spring, Roberto Miranda appeared to be the top candidate to replace McLachlan as starter, but Keyan Burnett has made great strides in fall camp, fitting in well with former Anaheim (Calif.) Servite High School teammate Noah Fifita, the quaterback. The younger Burnett contemplated transferring, entering the transfer portal, after Jedd Fisch left to Washington. He even took a recruiting visit to Washington.
THEY SAID IT
“I think so far it’s paying off. He’s (Keyan Burnett) had a great first week of camp. He’s playing the ball great, and he’s running great.” — Brennan on Keyan Burnett’s early performance in fall camp.
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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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