Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley signals for his team to get off of the court in the final moments of the game against the Wildcats at Desert Financial Arena, Feb. 1, 2025.
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– Former Arizona head football coach Kevin Sumlin is out of coaching this season. He spent last season as the assistant head coach/tight ends coach at Maryland, but stepped down after three years on the staff. However, his son, Jackson Sumlin, a former Salpointe Catholic football player, has joined Maryland’s staff as an offensive analyst.
– When Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona became the NCAA’s college baseball Player of the Year at Arizona in 1980, his mentor was hitting coach Jerry Stitt. The two have stayed close the last 45 years, including Francona’s remarkable climb in which he has managed 2,000 MLB victories, the 13th man in history to do so. Last week, Stitt flew to New York to spend time with Francona in a weekend series against the New York Mets. Stitt was joined by Arizona head coach Chip Hale, who also benefited from Stitt’s coaching during his UA days, 1984-87.
Stitt received more good news last week when perhaps his top recruit of his days as Arizona’s head baseball coach, 1996-2001, pitcher/outfielder Ben Diggins, was elected to the UA’s 2025 Sports Hall of Fame Class. Diggins, who was 10-4 as a pitcher and hit .340 with nine home runs as a UA sophomore in 2000, was a first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers that season. His career was essentially ended when he required arm surgery in 2003.
Arizona designated hitter Ben Diggins (33) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a home run that drove in two runs in top of the third inning at Sancet Field, April 22, 2000.
– Former Arizona football coach Rich Rodriguez last week finally signed his contract at West Virginia. He is to be paid $18.5 million over five years. RichRod is a survivor, if nothing else. After being fired by both Michigan and Arizona, RichRod, 62, has been paid approximately $55 million in his coaching career, including about $20 million at Arizona. RichRod last coached at West Virginia, his alma mater, in 2007.
– Tiger Christensen, the All-Pac-12 golfer who left the Wildcats midseason to turn pro, has had finishes of 11th, 12th and 15th on the DP World Tour the last few months, and is now ranked No. 222 in Europe. He has missed nine cuts so far on the European tour. Christensen has earned approximately $24,000 in his rookie season, in which he has played in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Turkey and Denmark, among other countries.
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