The faces on the court and sidelines for Arizona women’s basketball may be new this year, but those in the stands should be familiar if the team’s first meet-and-greet in the Becky Burke era is anything to go by.
The fans who made Arizona the top draw in the Pac-12 and one of the top draws in the Big 12 showed that they still love their Wildcats as they stood in line and inched through a packed clubhouse at the Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club to meet the new players and coaches.
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The first sign was the parking lot. Every spot was taken in the three front lots. One back lot was the only option for fans who weren’t there before the 5 p.m. start time. The players, coaches, and fans filled two floors of the building and stayed well after the 6:30 p.m. end time.
“This is like four times as many as they said would be here,” an organizer could be heard saying as she stood by a line that stretched out the door.
For Achol Magot, it was a homecoming. The redshirt sophomore is from Tucson but spent the last two years in Lubbock at Texas Tech. Her mother stood next to her. Her brother, who is the head coach of the boys’ basketball team at Desert View High School, was across the room. Soon, they will be in a position to watch the 6-foot-7 center play in her hometown.
Associate head coach Ashley Odom also made the move from Lubbock to Tucson. The former Texas Tech assistant knew that Tucson came out to support the program. She was on the losing side of a hard-fought game in McKale Center last spring.
“It was the game Montaya (Dew) got hurt,” Odom said. “Especially knowing her now, it was tough.”
Even with that game day experience, seeing the community support on a random Monday in July was a pleasant surprise for Odom. For her colleagues, it was the first taste of what is to come.
As for Dew, she was all smiles, even though she doesn’t expect to be ready for the beginning of the season. She said she hopes she’ll be healthy enough to play by mid-season, but there’s a lot of work to be done to get to that point.
Other than assistant coach Julie Hairgrove, Dew is the only player or member of the coaching staff who doesn’t have to get acclimated to Tucson. Odom is enjoying the mountain views as she drives to work and the relative lack of humidity in southeastern Arizona. Assistant coach James Ewing, who is coaching outside Buffalo, NY for the first time in his career, has been getting to know the local wildlife at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
“They told me to watch for rattlesnakes,” Ewing said.
He was shocked when he figured out the staff meant they should be aware of the venomous critters outside the habitats.
Rattlesnakes and javelina are just the start. The staff and players will be experiencing many new things together in the coming months. While several fans talked about the program’s past with nostalgia, they were also clearly excited about watching this group pave its way into the future.
Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics