Manny Being Mommy?

I guess we all owe Manny an apology. He didn't test positive for steroids or it's cousin HGH, it was hCG, or Human Choloronic Gonadatropin. He is not trying to get an edge on the rest of the baseball world he just wants to be a mommy. Newest reports are that he tested positive for the woman's fertility drug. Either he wants to become pregnant or he's using the substance to jump start his testosterone production after the end of a steroid cycle. After the cycle has finished the body isn't able to regulate the normal testosterone levels pre-cycle and the hCG is used to jump start the bodies natural test production. It's nice to know that the best right handed batter of our time goes to the same OBGYN as Kate Gosselin when he needs a fix.
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Move Over A-Roid

So much for that hot LA Dodgers 2009 start. Go ahead and slap a big fat asterisk on that record breaking streak. A-Roid has a new friend in the steroid spotlight. Meet Man-Roid, or Manny Roidmirez, or Manny being Positive. Either way you write it the Dodgers Outfielder and prolific hitter has apparently popped positive for PEDs and will be suspended 50 games. Five Oh. We'll keep you posted.

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Busy Day in Wildcat Country

It has been a busy day in the world of Wildcat athletics. Today was marked by one subtraction and one addition from our Wildcat family.

We'll start with the subtraction. Junior SF Zane Johnson has decided to transfer from the U of A. Indications out of the AD's office are that his request will be granted. Zane seems to be reacting to the writing on the wall with regards to his playing time. The Basket Cats signed Solomon Hill and are heavily recruiting Kevin Parrom both SF prospects from the class of 2009. Combined with the future recruiting outlook and Johnson could clearly see that his opportunities for playing time were quickly disappearing. While any loss is a bad thing for our teams depth next year this particular development is not very detrimental overall.

In more positive news the Football team landed a commitment from class of 2010 QB Matt
Brown out of Allen, TX. Brown is considered one of the top dual threat QB's in Texas. Brown has been high on the Cats for a while and decided to pull the trigger last night while watching the NBA Playoffs. According to an interview with goazcats.com (rivals) Brown said, "I knew it was the place all along, I was holding out because I wanted to see what else happened and then I was watching a basketball game last night and just figured, 'why not?'" On behalf of the Wildcat fans all over the world, we here at TheBearDown welcome Matt and look forward to seeing him lighting up the opposition defense some day under the lights of Arizona stadium.

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Arizona: In The Wake of The NFL Draft

Many thoughts spring to the top of my head on the heels of this weekends NFL Draft. This was supposed to be one of the best drafts in recent Arizona history. There were 6 legitimate Arizona Alums poised to hear their name called, with the majority of the 6 hoping for Day 2 call-ups PLUS the possibility of Arizona Power Forward, Fendi Onobun a.k.a Fen-Diesel making it a total of 7 possible Arizona draft picks.

But alas Junior Tackle Eben Britton actually slipped to the second round to the Jaguars due to footwork issues despite his size and "tremendous upside", I hate the phrase as much as you do. Eben was the only name called on day one and swore to avenge the slip against every team that passed on him. Atta boy EB.

All-Time Pac-10 WR record holder Mike Thomas slipped a bit to the 4th round despite many thinking he was a sure thing 3rd rounder. But the 4th round pick landed him in Florida alongside Eben for a reunion. Interesting side note this was the 7th time that two Arizona players were drafted by the same pro team since 1990. See Box at Right

But that was it for ringing phones on Sunday and there were more than a few Cats sitting on the sideline with questions remaining. So we'll try to keep you up to date. Updates will come so check back often. Remember each team will usually wind up signing between 5-15 Undrafted Free Agents to take roster spots going into training camps and practice squads. Among the possibilities:

QB: Willie Tuitma - NFL size and arm strength, sometimes labeled as a system Quarterback Tui rewrote the Arizona record books in his 3.5 years here as a starter. A DUI arrest in the weeks leading up to the draft almost assuredly knocked his name off a few possible draft boards but don't be surprised to see him show up on someones off season roster. Possible candidates include Denver, Chicago, Detroit, and anyone else looking for a back-up QB.

LB: Ronnie Palmer - Sources say that Palmer has already inked a 3 year deal with the Washington Redskins. Congratulations are in order for Ronnie following in the footsteps of other UA alums to head to the Nations capital.

DB: Nate Ness - There have been some rumblings that Nasty Nate is vying for a roster spot somewhere out there but nothing has been finalized yet. Don't be surprised to see Nate lining up somewhere in the preseason, there are more than a few teams with secondary issues. UPDATED: Ness signed a deal with the Cleveland Browns.

DB: Marquis Hundley - Hundley enjoyed his first season as a Starter in 2008 and grabbed 4 picks. Decent size and great athleticism should find him a spot in offseason workouts. UPDATED: Hundley signed on with the St. Louis Rams.

K: Jason Bondzio - Arizona's most accurate kicker of all time held out hope for a late round selection yesterday, but alas no call was made. Kickers are a commodity in the NFL and they can almost always find a tryout. There are only 32 openings for a kicker in the NFL so even if Bondzio can't ink a deal by the start of the season, there will always be an opening after a kicker starts slow. Bet on it.

OG: Joe Longacre - Longacre was a rock on the Arizona Offensive Line during the Mike Stoops tenure even though players were missing time left and right. He's a mammoth of a man, but lacks many of the needs to play at the next level. Might wind up on a practice squad somewhere.

DB: Adrian McCovy - Coming off his best season McCovy can only hope for the best. He's got the athleticism and came up with 4 picks this year, but if he sees action, it will probably come on a practice squad this year.

OT: James Thretheway - With only one year of starting on the line under his belt, it would be a bit of a reach for most NFL teams. He's got the size, but don't expect to see him on Sundays.

PF: Fendi Onobun - Could he possibly be the next Antonio Gates? At least 3 teams think so as they were able to bring him in for some workouts. Fen-Diesel was told by former Coach Kevin O-Neil NOT to hit the weights, he was already too big. He's got the athleticism and size of a good blocking TE and could develop the hands to match. It's too bad the former forward on the hardwood won't get a chance to take the field as a Kitty Kat because of a lack of scholarships. But who knows, maybe one of the incoming scholarship players won't make the grades and there will be a letter with his name on it from Mike Stoops.
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Leaping Lions: A New Logo in Detroit

In response to their 0-16 season the Detroit Lions have decided to have a new look for the franchise. After seeing how the Arizona Cardinals were able to turn things around with a new logo, the Lions have decided to follow suit. The 2009 Detroit Lions will take the field with this as their new logo:But this wasn't the first choice of the head honchos in Motor City. Other logos were presented at Lion HQ that were ultimately turned down for one reason or another. I have been given access to these images.
Your 2009 Detroit Lions?
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Staff is set

As previously discussed in the recruiting prospectus Coach Miller will something you hear shouted a lot this season at the Wildcat practices. It seems as though the entire coaching staff has now been set.

Archie Miller, Ohio State assistant coach and brother of Arizona head coach Sean Miller, is expected to leave Ohio St. to take the same position on his brother Sean's staff at according to a source. Sean Miller, who left Xavier for the head coaching job at Arizona last week and took two assistants with him, had been keeping a job open for a third former Xavier assistant, Chris Mack, if Mack was not hired as his successor. But Mack will be announced today as Xavier's new head coach, according to reports. Archie Miller was coach Thad Matta's top assistant this past season at Ohio St.

This is big news for Arizona as Archie Miller is viewed as one of the top recruiters in the nation. It also seems to be be the death knell for TheBearDown favorite and all-time great Reggie Geary. Here's hoping that recently promoted Josh Pastner has Reggie Geary's phone number on speed dial.

We will continue to keep you posted on the developments in and around McKale as they happen.


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Recruiting Round Up

Well in just a few short days Coach Miller seems to have us headed in the right direction. As I previously stated in my recruiting prospective last week Coach Miller and his reputation were going to put us in hunt for a number of recruits previously out of reach.After an amazing weekend of recruiting news it seems that things may be even better then we could have imagined.

Coach Miller was recruiting the Kyryl Natyazhko the 9th rated center and 75th overall rated player in the country by Rivals.com. Natyazhko narrowed his choices down to Pitt, Xavier and Arizona State prior to Coach Miller accepting the position at Arizona. This past weekend at the AAU Derby Classic Natyazhko announced that he would become the 1st member of our Arizona Wildcat recruiting class of 2009.This young man instantly gives us a viable C/PF option next season and was quoted by Rivals.com as stating the proposition of early playing time for a coach he trusted was a huge attraction to him.

If that was all the news we had it would still have been a successful weekend by anyone's standards. However it would seem that Coach Miller answers to a much higher standard then we do and secured the re-commitment of Solomon Hill this weekend. Hill is the #3 rated SF in the nation and a previous Wildcat commit, he de-committed from Arizona after Coach O retired and there was no permanent coach in place. He stated many times that Arizona was his dream school and when Tim Floyd flirted with the idea of leaving USC for Arizona Hill felt that he sent a clear message. Hill is expected to formally announce his re-commitment to the Cats some time this week after speaking with the Floyd and informing him of his decision.

Coach Miller is surely not done with this class and many are speculating that we could have a top 25 recruiting class before everything is said and done. In fact it may not be far off at all, the expectation within the program is that one of the nations top juco centers, Jarrid Famous will be here visiting very soon. Famous is 6'10" 240lbs and is said to be favoring Missouri, South Florida and Arizona. Famous told Rivals.com that he would visit Arizona and then make his decision. Jarrid's coach at Valhalla (N.Y.) Westchester Community College was also quoted as saying that Jarrid is looking forward to playing in a much warmer climate then he currently does.

There are a number of prospective recruits currently on the radar and it figures to be an interesting ride in the next few weeks. We here at TheBearDown will keep you informed as any new stories develop.

Untill the next committment - Randle El
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Pennell Signs a New Deal

Congratulations all around for Grand Canyon University's new Head Basketball Coach, Russ Pennell. Many thought that Pennell would have a shot at a higher position, but I personally couldn't think of a better outcome for Coach Pennell. He will have the chance to take over a successful Division II program that is attempting to rebuild and petitioning for Division I status. Not only is this great for Pennell who needs a little more experience before he gets considered for other Division I jobs out there, but he gets to stay in Arizona and his wife and kids don't have to worry about being transplanted.

Pennell will have a great opportunity to leave his mark on a young program and deal with a lot of young talent. He will hope to build on GCU's 13 win season last year and will most likely have an immediate impact on recruits. I'm sure the other coaches in the Pac West Conference are less than happy about the addition of a Coach with some Sweet 16 Coaching Experience.

Congrats again Coach Pennell, and The Beardown will make sure to keep up with Grand Canyon's success next season. Good luck to you and the 'Lopes next season on the court as well as your attempts to join a Division I conference in the near future. Grand Canyon really lucked out on this hire.

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Coach Miller's Introductory Press Conference

The entire introductory press conference in raw unedited format.....This guy is gonna be good and he bails Livengood out and wins the press conference.

Full Press Conference
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Sean Miller: Videos From the Past

Question: What does new UA Coach Sean Miller have in common with this kid dribbling the ball?

Answer: In case you watched it on mute or weren't paying attention, that little guy is the new face of the Arizona Men's Basketball Program.

It's nice to have such a quality ball handler coaching Poing Guard U, plus listen to his work ethic as a 12 year old. He goes home and practices after practice.

Congrats on the new job coach, we're really looking forward to seeing what you can do for the future of Arizona Basketball.

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