The offseason is here, with all of Arizona’s sports done for 2024-25 season and the 2025-26 campaigns still a little ways away.
Which makes this a great time to step back and see how all of the Wildcats’ programs are doing and how they’ve handled the move from the Pac-12 to the Big 12
Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at each of the UA’s men’s and women’s athletic programs to see what shape they’re in and what prospects they have for the near future. We’ll break down each team and evaluate how it is performing under its current coaching staff, looking at the state of the program before he/she arrived and comparing it to now while also evaluating how that program fits into its new conference.
Next up: Giovana Maymon’s women’s golf team
How it looked before
Maymon was hired one year ago after longtime Arizona coach Laura Ianello left her alma mater to take the Texas job. Ianello led the Wildcats to tremendous success over 17 seasons as an assistant and head coach. Arizona consistently reached the NCAA Championships, and in 2018 the UA won the national title. Ianello left a full cupboard behind her, which is unusual in the transfer portal portal era.
Maymon arrived in Tucson with no previous head coaching experience. She spent the previous three seasons as an assistant at Texas A&M and before that served as a graduate assistant at South Alabama. The Mexico native looked up to Arizona great Lorena Ochoa as a young golfer and played collegiately at Baylor.
Where things stand now
Maymon’s first season as head coach exceeded expectations in most ways. Arizona won the Big 12 Championship in its inaugural season in the conference. The Wildcats were competitive in almost every tournament they entered. The UA won the St. Andrews Link Collegiate in the fall, and posted several top-five finishes. The NCAA Regional was a disappoint, as Arizona fell shy of advancing to NCAA Championships with an eighth place finish.
Seniors Carolina Melgrati and Lilas Pinthier helped keep Arizona’s culture intact through the coaching transition, and their presence will be missed next season. Arizona should return its top scorer in Charlotte Beck, a rising junior. Seniors Julia Misemer and Nena Wongthanavimokis are also in line to return.
Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Arizona held its own in the Pac-12 over the years, competing with the likes of Stanford, USC, UCLA, ASU and Oregon at the top of the conference. Playing in the Pac-12 undoubtedly helped prepare Arizona for the postseason. The Big 12 may not be as top-heavy as the Pac-12, but the league is arguably deeper in women’s golf. Ten schools finished in the top 40 of the national rankings, led by ASU and TCU.
Arizona came from behind on the final day of the Big 12 Championship to claim the conference title. Even though the momentum didn’t translate into a deep NCAA run, Maymon and the team deserve credit for winning a conference championship in one of the strongest leagues.
One big question
How well can Maymon recruit? When Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois announced the hire of Maymon a year ago, one of the main selling points was Maymon’s elite recruiting experience. Maymon was credited with bringing top players to Texas A&M as an assistant, including the No. 2 overall recruit in the class of 2024. Maymon’s age and background as a former collegiate player should help her connect to young golfers. She is ale to sell one of the top collegiate golf facilities – William M. “Bill” Clements Golf Center. Arizona has been a top women’s golf destination for the better part of four decades, and Maymon has all the tools to continue the program’s trajectory.