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. 3 TONY BOUIE
With it being the 3rd day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player for Arizona to wear No. 3 was safety Tony Bouie, who became an All-American as part of the Desert Swarm defense during his career from 1991-94. Bouie was a key member of the Wildcats’ 10-2 team that defeated the Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl. He was recognized as a consensus All-American and first-team All-Pac-10 selection at defensive back following his senior season in 1994. He also played for the Arizona Wildcats baseball team, and was a member of the Wildcats’ Pac-10 championship baseball teams in 1992 and 1993. Bouie graduated from Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts degree in media arts. He was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, and his name is included among other Wildcats football greats in the Ring of Honor on the facade of Arizona Stadium. He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 1995, and played for the Buccaneers from 1995 to 1998. In his four NFL seasons, he played in 57 regular-season games and started four of them. Bouie began work on his first master’s degree while playing for the Wildcats and graduated with a Master of Arts in literacy and education in 1997. He graduated from Arizona State’s W.P. Carey School of Business with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 2005. While completing his MBA degree requirements, he wrote a business plan for the development of a stackable cup that dispenses with an attached lid. He raised capital for the manufacture and marketing of his idea, and is a former chief executive officer of Halo Cups, Inc., the distributor of the “SwoopCup.” He is a former board member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the National Football League Players’ Association. He used to be the vice president of the Arizona Maricopa County Black Alumni Association, and was a national board member for the Arizona alumni association. He is a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma in 2007. He underwent successful chemotherapy in the spring of 2008. He received his third masters in sports administration while serving as a graduate assistant at Akron in 2011. Bouie lives in Phoenix with his wife and four children and is an active member of Christ Church of the Valley in Peoria.
NO. 3 IN 2024 — RB KEDRICK REESCANO & DE TRE SMITH
Reescano, 6-foot and 214 pounds, is a listed as a redshirt freshman by Arizona after playing in 10 games last season at Ole Miss exclusively on special teams. He was a unanimous 4-star recruit by all major outlets following his senior season at New Caney (Texas) High School. Ranked as the No. 5 running back in the nation and No. 23 player in the state of Texas per On3. Finished his high school career with over 5,000 all-purpose yards. Rushed for 1,849 yards in his senior season, averaging 8.3 yards per carry and 154.1 per game. Chose Ole Miss over offers from Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Penn State and Arkansas among others.
Smith, 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, is a redshirt junior defensive end who transferred from San Jose State with these honors — All-Mountain West first team (2023), Mountain West Scholar Athlete (2023), Phil Steele’s Postseason Mountain West second team (2023), CSC Academic All-District (2023), Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award recipient (2022), President’s Scholar (2022) and Mountain West All-Academic Team Honoree (2021). Smith had career-highs with 66 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2023 with the Spartans. Lettered in football and track and field at Mesa Red Mountain High School. Had a breakthrough senior year with 89 tackles, 22.0 tackles for loss, 18.5 quarterback sacks and a forced fumble.
NOTE
Arizona has many players returning from an offense that was the eighth-best passing attack in the country in 2023 averaging 308.3 yards a game with the 85th rushing offense averaging 139.7 yards per game. Many changes occurred as well with the coaching staff and players from the transfer portal. Offensive coordinator Dino Babers, returning to Arizona in the same role he had when the Wildcats finished 12-1 in 1998, indicated Tuesday the Wildcats will have more balance between the pass and the run.
THEY SAID IT
“I think everybody wants to be balanced, because if you’re balanced you’re unpredictable. If you can get some kind of balance somewhere in there, that normally gives you the best opportunity to be successful on offense.” — Babers
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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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