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News: Four Arizona players are selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, including one in each of the first two rounds.

Views: This was a truly historic draft for UA football. The Wildcats hadn鈥檛 had first- and second-rounders in the same draft since 2000 and hadn鈥檛 had four total selections since '08. Arizona also had first-round picks in back-to-back years for the first time since 1999-00.

The question moving forward is whether the draft success of the past two years was an anomaly or something that鈥檚 sustainable.

In terms of first-round picks, I鈥檇 lean toward the former. In terms of volume, it鈥檚 doable.

From 2007-14, Arizona had at least two draft picks in all but one year and at least three six times. Mike Stoops was far from perfect, but he found talent and developed it.

Rich Rodriguez won a lot of games but didn鈥檛 produce many NFL players. Arizona had three picks in 2014, two in '16 and one in '18. It had none in 2013, '15 or '17. And none of the above went higher than the fourth round.

Kevin Sumlin deserves credit for recruiting 2024 first-rounder Jordan Morgan, although Morgan鈥檚 development happened under Jedd Fisch鈥檚 offensive line coach, Brennan Carroll. This year鈥檚 top picks, Tetairoa McMillan and Jonah Savaiinaea, were Fisch recruits.

Brent Brennan needs to prioritize winning games to keep his job, but that goes hand in hand with acquiring and developing high-end talent.

San Jose State had three draft picks in Brennan鈥檚 seven seasons, including one third-rounder. That鈥檚 mostly a byproduct of SJSU鈥檚 place in the college football ecosystem. Most Group of Five schools don鈥檛 produce an abundance of draft picks, especially in the NIL/transfer-portal era.

Oregon State might be a better place to look to evaluate Brennan鈥檚 talent procurement. He coached receivers there, producing 2013 third-rounder Markus Wheaton and '14 first-rounder Brandin Cooks. Isaiah Hodgins, a 2020 sixth-round pick, committed to OSU about three weeks before Brennan took the SJSU job.

News: Arizona鈥檚 Jaden Bradley and Carter Bryant officially file as early-entry candidates聽for the 2025 NBA Draft.

Views: Both were expected to do this. That being said, it doesn鈥檛 make anyone who roots for UA men鈥檚 basketball feel any less nervous.

It seems unlikely that Bradley would leave considering that Arizona announced his return and he isn鈥檛 ranked in . Remember: Only 60 players get picked in the NBA Draft.

More likely, this is a fact-finding mission for Bradley to see where he stands and what he needs to work on. I wouldn鈥檛 worry about him too much.

Bryant is a different story. He is ESPN鈥檚 20th-ranked prospect, and there鈥檚 little doubt he鈥檒l impress NBA executives with his shooting ability, athleticism and character.

If Bryant were to go, say, 15th, he鈥檇 stand to make $7 million-plus over his first two seasons. Arizona couldn鈥檛 match that. So the question becomes: What matters most to Bryant?

NIL has enabled college programs to at least close the monetary gap. That鈥檚 reflected in the volume of early entrants. The number has plummeted over the past five years, from a peak of 353 in 2021 to 106 this year.

Prospects have until May 28 to withdraw. I can鈥檛 imagine Bryant will wait that long to make the call. Even if he does it sooner, Arizona has a smaller pool of players to pick from in the portal for a potential Bryant replacement. It could end up being someone who drops out of the draft.

Player movement is more fluid than ever. It鈥檚 impossible to predict what might happen. Caleb Love announced his commitment to Arizona on May 30, 2023.

News: Becky Burke replenishes the UA women鈥檚 basketball roster and hires a staff.

Views: Funnily enough, the women鈥檚 team has more players than the men鈥檚 team, even though Burke has been on the job for less than three weeks.

We have no idea how all the pieces will fit together, but I like the fact that Burke didn鈥檛 exclusively sign one-and-dones. Four players are coming from the prep ranks, and others have multiple years聽of eligibility.

It's a safe assumption these days that teams will turn over about half their roster every year. With freshmen and underclassmen among the additions, Burke can build the foundation of a program that isn鈥檛 constantly churning through personnel.

The most important additions she鈥檚 made are to her staff. Julie Hairgrove has a stellar coaching r茅sum茅 and 大象APPties that go back decades. Michelle Marciniak, the first general manager in program history, has killed it in the business world.

Marciniak played at Tennessee under Pat Summitt, who just so happened to be one of Arizona athletic director Desire茅 Reed-Francois鈥� biggest influences. I鈥檓 certain Reed-Francois had a hand in building Burke鈥檚 staff.

When Adia Barnes left for SMU, some knocked Reed-Francois for not acting swiftly enough to replace her. That criticism was misplaced.

Burke was hired within five days. Reed-Francois had a plan and executed it. She knew the Barnes situation would reach a point of no return, and she was ready for it.

News: UA baseball drops two of three at Texas Tech heading into a midweek home game vs. New Mexico State.

Views: Losing a road series to a Red Raiders team that was better than its record indicated isn鈥檛 that big of a deal on the surface, even though it cost the Wildcats .

How it all went down in Lubbock is a bit more worrisome.

First off, Arizona lost star junior Brendan Summerhill in just his second game back after missing a month because of a hand fracture. Different injury this time 鈥� it looked like a hamstring聽鈥斅燽ut distressing nonetheless. Chip Hale hopefully will have a timetable after the NMSU game or during his midweek media briefing.

The Wildcats scored just eight runs in the series. Their offense isn鈥檛 the same without Summerhill, who鈥檚 one of the best hitters in college baseball. They need him to make any sort of run in the postseason.

Arizona also needs better pitching. The time has come to rearrange the rotation and move Owen Kramkowski to the No. 1 slot. He鈥檚 been the Wildcats鈥� best pitcher over the past month and has shown he can go deep into games.

Collin McKinney appeared to turn a corner in that regard, but he regressed at TTU. Casey Hintz was an effective piggyback option for a while, but he has struggled lately. I don鈥檛 love the idea of having him go through the batting order a second time. If you can get seven innings out of Kramkowski on a Friday, you only need Hintz for an inning or two 鈥� and you can bring him back Sundays.聽

Moving McKinney to Saturdays also might take some pressure off the talented right-hander. His stuff is elite, but his command of it remains elusive.

News: The UA softball team concludes the regular season with a three-game series at Houston.

Views: The Wildcats should have little trouble with the Cougars, who are in last place in the Big 12. A sweep would lock up second place heading into next week鈥檚 conference tournament in Oklahoma City.

Arizona is No. 11 in the and safely within the top 16 to host an NCAA regional. The Wildcats are the only Big 12 team in the top 16.

You鈥檒l be shocked to learn that nine are from the SEC. Four are from the ACC. Two are from the Big Ten, but they鈥檙e both Pac-12 expats, UCLA and Oregon.

If you still aren鈥檛 convinced that the RPI formula has an SEC slant, consider this: Auburn is No. 15 despite having a 6-18 conference record and a 13-19 mark in Quad 1 games. Texas Tech, meanwhile, is No. 20 despite being 18-3 in the Big 12 and 14-10 in Q1 contests.

Why is Arizona (40-10) ahead of Texas Tech (39-11) despite dropping two of three to the Red Raiders in Tucson? The Wildcats have a slightly better strength of schedule and a better mark in Q1 games (19-10). TTU also has one Q3 loss.

Regardless of all the permutations, Arizona and Texas Tech seem destined to meet again in the Big 12 Tournament title game a week from Saturday. They鈥檙e the two best teams in the league by any measure.