This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jagn Salid Sound Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services and Sure Your Most Prized Possessions k t z R two SAD and iHeart Radio Station. Hey, welcome to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, you're jagins Awas, and you're you know. I think I think your headphones will work if you're plug them. We're in no happy Friday. Good thing. It's Friday, Steve, and I'll have my grandson come and show you how to
use the remote. Please. They welcome everybody enough that I felt like the women's basketball teams in the next in the next fifteen minutes, Okay, we both got to get a lot smart. Not happen. We have the president of the president of the university is coming in. We're gonna ask him about the stuff going on around around athletics. There's a new a d starting here on Monday. We heard she's in town. Uh, and he'll probably be at the game tomorrow. I'm assuming Sunday is heard she said the third.
So the third is Sunday. That's probably when the contract starts on the third. It's being that they probably start contracts, you know, Sunday through Monday, Sunday through Saturday. Anyways, so we'll talk to doctor Robbie Robbins. Uh you know it' it's funny because we have said, well, he's you know, he's involved in sports, he loves sports. Well, I don't know how many people know he. I mean, he was an athlete. He was a he was a college a junior college quarterback. Wanted to play,
wanted to play college. He was in Mississippi, wanted to be the next Archie Manning. And uh so he's got you know, he's got an initial sports because he played knee. He blew out of knee and when you blew out a knee back in that day, that was that pretty much. So he didn't he didn't get to major college, but he he did,
okay, he went on to become a hard surgeon. I mean he did all right, and then he was he was running the medical center at Stanford and then he and then he was running it at the University of Texas. I think he's done okay, now haven't been the best of his say, well, again, you know we've talked about that that it's been a it's been a rough maybe a year or two for him at Arizona. But we'll talk about that. Yeah, but you know, he's a smart guy,
and uh, I'm sure he you know, he knows the situation. He knows what, you know, what has to be, what has to happen, and he may know that, you know, he's he's working for his job right now because you know, his contract runs out at the end of at the end of June, and uh, you know, you think that they got to make some progress on all that's going on for if he wants to keep being the president here, and maybe he gets to and says, you know what, I've done the best I can. I'll see you guys
later. He could do that too again, He'll be fine. Okay. So then we're gonna have Bruce Pascal in the other half another hour talking about basketball right at the Oregon game coming up tomorrow, another big game for Aona senior stuff today. I saw some of the senior stuff discussions today, So we'll talk to that about that when he comes on. So last night was was an unbelievable performance by the UA women's basketball team, and then it wasn't
they lost. They lost. I like, and we talked about this just briefly with Kevin that I thought I was inspired by them because they had that game and then they didn't. Your thoughts. At the risk of sounding like a pointing the finger at somebody, I don't mind. I don't mean to disturb you. I don't mean to disturb you, but I'm going to disturb
it. In the last the last few minutes, with the five players that they had on the court, there just wasn't anybody on the court, or there wasn't a certain somebody needed to take take charge on the Arizona side, and never did twive minutes, the last few minutes of the game. Of the regulation of regulation, regulation, that's that it needed. They needed somebody to say I'm in charge, and and and and and take charge the thing
and and and it didn't happen. And they blew the lead. I mean, they're they're they're up five with less than twenty seconds left in the game, and they got into and they and they got in overtime. Now, look us, he is really good. They're a top ten team for a reason. They made some plays, but their best player had filed out several minutes before that, so they were you know, they were up against it as well, and they made the plays they needed to make to win,
and Arizona didn't make the plays they needed to make to win. And and it just didn't look like they had the leadership on the court that it needed to have in a situation like well, they didn't because they don't have very many players to begin with. Who are they who they rely on if you only have seven they have, but they but they had somebody needed to take charge. I'm just gonna say that because I don't want to. I don't want to, you know, I I don't want to say I mean that
player needed to take charge. But I believe there was a player on the court we needed to be in charge. And today's point, I mean, there was a point in the game, I forget if it was the fourth quarter or the first overtime where you know, some of the men's basketball players were court side as well, but Caleb Love was making the motion to shoot
shoot the ball. She was always making that motion, you know. But there was I mean, there was there was a couple of possessions where Arizona was kind of like almost hesitant on offense and didn't really know how to get to the shots they needed to get. That's what I'm saying. There was, you know, they needed somebody to be like, you know, I'm in charge. Let's go. We're gonna take this. Hi, you're on the air and eye on the ball. Hey guys, my name's Stu.
I've got a question for you. Okay, sure. I was out of town for about a week, a week and a half. At that time, gil Bert had just left the team. Right when I got back a week ago, she was back on the team. Now I turned the game on last night and she's not playing again. She she has gone for good. That happened over the weekend. Yeah, it happened, I think Monday. I think it was on Monday. Adia publicly said Kaylen Gilbert was not was no longer on the team. I think she said it after their game.
It was on the Monday on the Monday Show. Okay, Oh, that's right. She said on one of the other radio shows that Kaylen Gilbert is no longer with the team. And we had her on the show two days ago and she confirmed it and and kind of says it was just kind of an addition by subtraction or were they just not getting along or well it seems you know, if you could read between the lines, which we do here, Uh, I think that's that's what it was. It was just
bad chemistry. Uh. She's content with going to seven and they played admirably last night. But I think that's part of it. We we don't know for sure. I think she said something along the lines of, you know, players are asked to do certain things, and then when players don't do those things, then we asked them to leave. And I think we left it at that. You know, I think at the end of the game, I swear or said they were down to five, Yes they were.
They had they had seven players on the bench and two had filed out, so they were down to the the end of regulation and the two overtimes they only had five players. You know. Oh, I think she's a great coach. I've met her one time, a couple of times. She's awfully nice person. But you know, I was reading in Sunday spaper, where is is it Ninja a medical student, Naji Naji Naji. You know, she said she really enjoyed basketball, blah blah blah, but medical school is
more important. And then there was a little orb about but she said the environment was a little toxic. Yes, well that's kind of a stude. That's kind of old news. Now it's not old, but it's like two three weeks old. They talked about that. She talked about that. How you know, her story is her story and coach has a different story. She can't say more than that, but we all understand what was said. And the fact is a lot of the girls have left a lot of the
women have left the team. So you'd have to kind of investigate as we would have to. Stu Stuve, go back and listen to our podcast on Tuesday. It was tues Wednesday. It was Tuesday, Tuesday. On Tuesday, she was in the second hour Tuesday. The interview comes up at about uh twenty minutes after the After the hour, listen to her interview, because we we talked about all of this, and she just mentioned things like culture
and and players. There's expectations of players, expectations of coaches, and sometimes it doesn't they just don't fit and that and that's why they are for And Stu, you sound like an older guy like us. Times have changed. Times have changed in terms of with the student athletes. Well they the article I read it him was in Sundays you know, the big blurb on the second page, right right, Yeah, that's Greg Hanson's column. Yeah it did say uh, it said she she had said the environment was a little
toxic, but now she was kind of taking that statement back. Well, she she tried to clarify a little bit, but it didn't really. I mean, people believe what that that. You know, what you say the first time is generally what you mean. Second question, how do you how do you get up? How do I pull up a podcast? Go to the uh go to the iHeart website iHeartRadio dot com, do a search for Eye on the Ball and our podcast will come up and you can listen to
it. You just click on to it. All right, So search Eye on the Ball on the iHeart website. I listen to you guys in the afternoon. I've never listened to a podcast. Yeah, well, we put we put, we record the show and then we put it on so anybody can listen to it after the facts, So you can go listen to Tuesday's show. But you know what is I find ironic and then I'll let you go. And so many of the players just love her. They do. Yeah, yeah, well you know the seven whole. Sure, sure,
not everybody loves me, stew I can't. I find that hard to believe. You know, they looked good last night. I don't agree with you. They kind of blew it up again. Yeah, well, thank you. It was too bad. They were shooting and yeah, thanks for seeing the report that they were ahead. Yeah, and then I put the chimne I didn't know they were on it puts the channel and then you could tell they were just kind of you know, it was in the first overtime and
they just didn't look that sharp. And the second time they just didn't have it, but they were playing. They even though they didn't have it, they were shooting. Well, they should have won the game. They should have won the game, and they didn't. All right, Stu, Hey, we got to run. So thanks for calling, keep listening, keep calling, and check out the podcast. Okay, well, thanks thanks so much, STUPI for listening. Appreciate the call. Uh yeah, it's well,
it depends. It's been up two or three weeks from since that story come out. Yeah, but you know, the everybody's waiting, what's up with Kaylin? Gilbert and that that kind of ree new lingered for a few weeks, you know. I mean, I remember you went to a game and she was on the bench and she looked like she might be hurt, and she wasn't hurt. And then she never played in the game. So
they've just been going with seven for a while now. Uh, they've got an eighth player who in a pinch would would give him a body on the floor. But it'll be interesting to see if if she has any any impact at all. But Steve, it's very simple. They should have won the game. And I, oh, yeah, no, Actually, you know, I turn off the tea. I was, I mean, I was like angry. I'm like, why am I caring about this this much?
But you know, that's the first time you carried this year. Like I was like pissed, you know that that they just they just didn't Did you do it? Did you see the press coverts? I did not. The women are are totally different than the guys. Uh, She's fantastic in an interview anyway, she was very level headed. She wasn't pissed, she was upset. She wouldn't even upset. She was just you know, proud of
the kids, but just wanted to the lost and the girls too. They were very u not not very they were just you know, another game this morning that they lost, but they were very good with the media. That's what I'm trying to go. Well, we're not you know, which is admirable. And I think you go into a locker room with the guys or it's like death. Yeah, it's like pulling teeth sometimes. Yeah. I mean, you know, every every every women's basketball player we've had on the
show, fantastic. Jada Williams on on on Tuesday was awesome. And you know, again a lot of response to that saying how how enthusiastic and well spoken spoken, she didn't sound like a freshman, and you know all these things that you know that we heard from that interview. But again it's just, man, I would just and then and then so after USC beats Arizona and and and punches them in the face, then the USC men kick him in, you know, kick Arizona in the nards. By they had Washington
State, they had him beat. It would have been you know, but would have been a game that would have been big for Arizona. Have Washington State lose a home give him some a little you know, a little bit of a cushion at the and then they pissed that away at the end of the at the end of the thing. So us see, I'm like, I'm like, at the end of it. My daughter and I you know, we were watching. I said, you know what, us, get the hell out of here, go to the Big ten. Get get that.
I don't want to see you again ever. Just go away. He's running out of team's apruit for you know, really are in the NFL college bound? Well just go go go to the Big ten and get your ass kicked in every sport. Now you know why I'm not a sports fan, because I'm sure you I'm sure you didn't weren't all stressed out last night like that was. I was just listening on the radio because I did have it on TV. But it was like, these girls are romazing. How do
you pull this stuff off? And they had it, they had it, just a rebound, a rebound, get a rebound, offensive rebound, and you're thinking they didn't get that rebound, and it was going to overtime. I think, oh no, they're in trouble. And then they got into a second second overtime and then it was had a shot to win it with the last second shot. Man, man, I mean, it was an incredible game. It was it was I mean again, and in the end you have to be very happy, very proud that they hung like that.
But they're going to they're going to the nat Well, she and she was convinced that she was convinced that they're good enough now that they've proven that the ubit has proven that they're good enough to play in the NCAA the way they've played against these type of team. But they're not gonna get it. Yeah, you could, you could, well, they what if they get hot in the tournament? Well, if they win the damn thing. Yeah, yeah, if they win a couple of games and get in the finals,
just because they might. I mean, they're great, they're a great story. They got it, but one game after another with seven players, they're a great story. But will the story come out? You know what I'm saying now that they have access to to them full time? Okay, we gotta go. All right, Doctor Robbie Robbins, president of the University of Arizona, will be here and we'll kick some things around with him. We won't kick him around. We'll kick some things around to talk about all the
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fifteen. Hey, welcome back to my I on the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera. He's jacin Zaus. Now on the phone, we have doctor Robert Robbins from the U of A President. How are you? I am doing very well. Jay, How are you? I'm fine? Oh this is Steve. Yeah, that was Steve. This is Jason. It's all right, you know, all right, look, just two old Mexican guys just talking. It's hard to tell us apart, so doctor Robbins, A lot happened in you know, over the last several
months. Start, you know, the financial stuff. You had to hire a football coach, had to hire an athletic director. We're I don't want to go through these chronological order, more so the newer ones. Right, we've talked off the air, the new ad coming to town. She starts, she starts the job next week. I just you know, you're in a tough spot with with all the financial stuff going on and the challenges that are in front of somebody. But you change athletic directors. How did you
convince them? What did you do to convince an athletic director, certainly one of this quality to come here in amidst from an SEC school. On top of that, yeah, well, Desiree Red Princeoise is a national leader. She's one of only four sitting women Power five ads and the only Latina. And she was a student athlete at UCLA and then she got her law degree
from the University of Arizona College of Law. So she's coming home. And she's got a great track record being a deputy AD at Virginia Tech and Tennessee and then the athletic director at UNLV and most recently at University of Missouri. So she knows how to make changes, be decisive, and modernize an athletic department. And UH transitioned us into the Big twelve. So she checks every box and she she wanted. She want to only be a great leader for
the athletics department. And I am very confident with with her experience that she will get us to a profitable status in the athletic department despite all of the challenges that we've got UH in the changing landscape of athletics. But moreover, she's going to be a university leader. She's already a national leader and she is totally dedicated to our students, their experience and their well being. So I could not be more excited that Desiree reed Francois said, yes so and
again supremely qualified. Nobody's you know, nobody's debating that. But you had to have a selling point, right and and and what you know, what was it? Aside from her coming home, there has to be more to why she decided to take this job. What did you sell to her about the u of A or the community or anything else. Yeah, I didn't have to sell the U of A in the community to her. She already
got that. I think that, you know, she she was looking for a new place to to put a mark on for her that she came in and helped turn it around and build a world class, modernized athletic department. And this this job gave her that opportunity. Moreover, I think it was exciting going into the Big twelve and and just all of the history that she knows about the U of A. Look, you know, we are still with the coaching change and coach Brennan coming in, We're still one of the
favors to win the Big twelve Football Conference championship. The basketball program is going to be brutal, you know, every that is just a tough lead to play in. But I think those challenges for her are things that get her stimulated. And I just tell you, we're so lucky that she said, yes, so, doctor, you had you brought in a destrate with that you had to let go of Dave. What was your thinking behind that? Well? I thought that, you know, we needed a new direction.
I love Dave. Dave has been a great friend for a long time and will be forever. But we needed we needed a new change in directions. Giving all of what's going on at the university, just remind people that, you know, we've got this structural deficit and all the colleges added together is sixty million dollars in the athletics department on its own is over thirty million dollars of deficit. And Desrae never blinked an eye about that, and she's just
excited. I need to get to work on Monday. She will be here tomorrow for our Senior Day for both the men's game and then the women's game at night, and I think she's going to a tennis match or something else in between. So she for all intents and purposes, will be on the job starting Saturday tomorrow. Bobby, I don't I've seen you in a lot of the games. We say a little to each other. I wanted to
ask you this question on the air though. It seems to me that you have your situation here, But why aren't other schools in the same situation or are they and just not being reported? Because everyone went through COVID and suffered some great losses, and it seems like it would be a good just contagious that everybody was going through this or should be going through this. Yeah, I think all but a few of the really pop athletic programs are losing money.
If you look at UCLA, it was report or just a few weeks or months ago in the La Times that they have a thirty four million dollar structural deficit and has been that way I think for four or five years. Many of our PAC twelve partners are experiencing the same thing. Cal has always struggled with deficits in the athletics department. We've never really subsidized for the university.
Now we get tuition waivers from the university for We've got five hundred student athletes and we have about three hundred and fifty or so tuition waivers for those FDEs, if you will. But I think every athletics department in the country is going through similar things, and it's just been part of the whole university's budget deficit and it just gets attention. So I'm sure sure that you know you've got a lot of things to work out with the border regions in terms
of fixing this. But how long? But how long is this going to take before you feel like you're at a point where you say, okay, we think you know, we've got a plan. Is it two years, three years, five years, ten years? Well, how long is this going to take to fix because it seems like the problem is almost so big
it's like, how do you ever fix it? Well, but you know, it's one hundred and seventy seven million dollars on a three almost well it's two point seven billion dollar budget, so it's about five to seven percent of the overall budget at the university. Things at the university are going great in terms of student success, retention accomplishment. When I arrived, our retention rate was eighty two percent from the first year to the second. Our goal when
I got here was to get it to ninety percent. We're up to eighty seven point seven percent, the most accomplished, most diverse class we've ever had. Research. The expenditures were about six hundred million dollars when I arrived. They hit nine hundred and sixty million this year. We're going to cross over
that one billion dollar threshold within the next year or so. So things are going really, really well at the university, and I think that what we say, what we said publicly is that it'll be an eighteen to thirty six month turnaround. I think it'll be sooner than that. The final thing I would say is the people who love this university, the alumni, even donors who've adopted the university and didn't go to the u of A, have been
incredibly generous and supported everything across the university with their hard earned money. We went public with our three billion dollar campaign in November called Fuel Wonder. We're already at two point two billion of that three billion dollar goal, and I'm confident that we'll exceed that goal and get three point five to three point six billion dollars that will support student success, support our incredible faculty and staff,
our research, mission and athletics in the arts. Those are the big things we're raising money for. Right Well, well, well, I had a quick question personally for you. It's been a crazy year given all the things that have gone on, including the Big twelve move to the Big twelve, How has it personally been for you other than very busy? Yeah? Busy, And that's the way I like it. And I'll just tell both of you, I have never been more energized and more excited about my job.
I've got a great job, and I look forward to waking up every day and attacking problems. I always say, there's one hundred and sixty eight hours in the week, make each one of them count like you mean it. And this is what I love doing and I'm just blessed to be able to lead this great university. Well, you know you say you love waking up every day, because I know there's some days I don't want to get out of bed and I don't do any any of what you do, so I
don't I don't even know what to say to that. So tell us. We haven't had a chance to really talk about, you know, since the football season ended. Tell us how your day was when you found out that Jed Fish was leaving, and then you were going to have to replace a coach who had just gone ten and three and created all this excitement around the
football program. Yeah, well, coach, you know I'll always be thankful doing too, for coming to the u of A and and getting the football program back on track and winning ten games, going to the Automobile and beating Oklahoma and giving them their a proper send off from the Big twelve to the SEC. But uh, you know, I knew that we had to get someone quickly. I knew coach Brennan from the last time that the job was open. I had a chance to visit with him after that, and I'd
been watching him carefully, and he is a Waldcat through and through. Even though he went to UCLA, his wife, his brother, he actually coached his brother right here when when he was at u of A on coach Tony Staff. This guy will be here until he retires or he gets fired. I'm just telling you, this guy loves the u of A. He's a Waldcat through and through, and we couldn't have a better person at this time
in our history to lead our football program. So let me ask you about the hiring of Brent Brandon because we talked about this a couple of times, and my comment was, I went, I went through a longer hiring process to get hired for a job at the mall. Then it took you guys to hire a football coach and pay him millions of dollars. Are you comfortable
with that? Yes? Oh yeah, I think I think all of these, you know, the ad hired the coaches usually go very very fast, and uh, you know, I'm thankful to Dave he Key for getting that done and and he acted quickly and definitively. So I'm very very happy that we we got coach Brennan to to come back home, uh into into as symbol and excellent staff. I mean, coach Barber's I've been watching him and
known him for a long time. You know, former Syracuse head coach is coming home also, Uh, Coach Akeena, keeping Ricky Hunley and Chuck Cecil to absolute u of a legends in the program, and being able to retain our most of our our incredible team from last year. Uh. Those are all very very positive things. Uh. And now you have a basketball team men's and women's that are doing very well. What do you see in the men's basketball program as as we heading now to the big month of March.
Yeah, only great things on the horizon, I tell you, getting coach Lloyd locked in to be here, hopefully as a Wildcat for life, but certainly for the next several years. We don't have to have all this speculation and that he's going to you know, University of Washington or Ohio State or the San Antonio Spurs or wherever people make up stuff to, you know, get clicks and get eyeballs. But you know, Tommy has done an incredible
job since he's been here. And I love this team. I love their spirit, and I'm just hopeful that they can make a very deep run. If they can continue where they are, at least to the bracketology I see, they'd be the number one seed in the West. So at Salt Lakes, La Phoenix, you got don't set up any better for anybody else in the country. And I just hope, I hope we can get back there
to the final four. And as I always said, I told Coach Fitch, if you're going to get to a bowl game, he might as well go out there and win it. If you're going to get to the final four, you might as well go out and win it. But it is so hard to win one game in any sport at any level. So I know that's a tall order. But he's got a very special group of guys this year. Yeah, I don't think you've missed a game on all this
year, basketball wife. Let me ask you, and I thought this, do you, and pardon the punt, do you watch it with a surgeon's eye or do you watch it as a fan? When you go see the UVA, saw you Asu and I saw you a duke and all these games obviously the year, But how do you you watch it? How do you watch it? You critique it or you just enjoy it? I think it's both. But the main thing is I am there to support our students.
I'm there to supp support our fans and our boosters and donors. And I obviously enjoy watching the game, but I enjoy going to the ballet here because I know these are our students who are working hard, not only in the classroom, but on the court, on the stage, in the pool, on the field. And the primary joy I get out of this job is to help our students realize their hopes and dreams so they can go out and make the world a better place. It sounds corny and trite, but I
believe it deep in my soul. And I know how important the arts, athletics, all of our academic programs are. We've got truly WorldCat class faculty and staff. That's why our students come here. And I'm just the biggest enthusiast from everything about this university. It's just that, you know, the mere lab or English department is not often on national TV, but this is important everything at the university. To me, I love every aspect to the
university. Okay, last question. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but you know, where do you put your name on a list? I guess those seats next to you at the at the table at men's basketball games, because you know, she seemed to have like a different guest every game. You know, how do you get on that list? Yeah? You know it's I Veronica castro Is. She and Craig Henderson are tasked with, you know, managing me, and they usually have you
know, JP Rosney act ahead of the foundation, usually have donors. I think if you look down there on Saturday I don't even think I get to sit down there on Saturday because Terry Lunger in the long time oh yeah, president and CEO of Macy's and Bloomingdale's is having his big retail conference at at of Mountain this this week and he's bringing four fortune and fifty CEOs to come to the game. So I think I'm even getting bounced out of my seat. I may, I may get to sit in a little jump seat down
there. But it's meant to be for people who love the university, support the university, and you know it. Sometimes it's a faculty member, you know, it's a it's a variety and a diverse group of people who come down there. But anytime you want to come, let me know get through. So doctor, there you go. You got four big time people coming in. There's your solvment of the solve of the the money issues right there. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And they and they are here because they
love our students. This is a student conference. I had. I there was a meeting yesterday about women in the C suite that the CEO of Hershey was there, and I mean, this is all about serving our students and helping our faculty and staff to be successful. One thing, I don't know if we're short on time. I want to get this in about last night. Okay. I tell those seven players who suit up every game for our women's basketball team, they are the toughest, most resilient, most determined,
most bare down people I've ever seen. And I just I wish they could have won that game last night, but their effort, they never give up. They never take a playoff. And it may be one of coach Barnes's best coaching jobs he's ever done. I was going to say that because we had Kendree on maybe ten days ago. He said exactly that. And we're thinking Jy and I are looking at each other. Hmmm, that's interesting. But you feel the same way one hundred percent. I mean, you know
my dream I told I told the student last night. After the game, I congratulated them all. They left it all out on the court. Uh. But you know, TCU went through something a few years ago that I was reading about where they had open tryouts because they were down to four players. We're down to seven. Yeah, and there there's a young woman who who was on the bench, and I said, I would love it if she came in the game and made the winning shot. You can't make that
up for TV movie. You're right, you're right, right, Well, doctor, we appreciate your time as always. Thanks the whole bunch for joining us. Yeah yeah, yeah. And this this walk on student who is a good basketball player, but she gave up basketball for her study. She's a four point oh student. This is what we're about podcasts, you know, just get it done. And I couldn't be more proud of this whole university. Well, thank you, doctor, appreciate you. Thanks docorn ye
see around, thank you. Okay, all right, my bye, Doctor Robinson. We got to get him in because he was talk sports you always done. Okay, let's go because we're right. Yeah, we're way over, but let's we appreciate him doing that. So let's kind to break down what you says. Yeah, let's take our break and we'll talk about some of this stuff and we'll take your costs five two zero four one six four forty. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful
for nearly forty years. Now, take a look back at the Ludolsen era. In my new book, Lessons from Loot, it was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them. Twenty five chapters for his twenty five years as Arizona's beloved coach. Lessons from Loot is an insight to how he built the program
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the Ball on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve, He's Jay Gotta guy Kevin in with us today. We have ten minutes if you guys want to give us a quick call. Obviously, the interview with the president went long and it was good. Yeah, no, I thought I thought he was good. I think he wanted to stay with us. You know, we need to get him in here for like an hour, but good luck with that. We never get to a new studio. You know, he's a
little busy. Yeah I know, Yeah, I know. I want to bring him in here. We you know, we went through the stuff we wanted to go through. How did you get this athletic there to come here? Why is Dave. Heck not here sort of, I mean he and he had said that publicly before we felt we needed to make a check. Why to your question, I thought my the most interesting response was how soon they're going to get out? How soon they're going to get out of this?
And she said, what eighteen months? Eighteen to thirty six months, a year and a half to three years. I can't get out of the carloan in that fast. Well, yeah, I mean I'm going to ask him for a little bit to help me get out of that, you know whatever. But always good to have him on again. Guy loves sports. I think it's funny that he doesn't even get his seats tomorrow. That was pretty like, okay, I got front receipts. Well not today here,
I'm you know, I'm in the back row somewhere. But you know, it's funny because you know, all the stuff that's going on around the border regions and we don't want to get into the weed into the on the on the border regions stuff. But you know, Katie Hobbs that the governor was, you know, went after him and earlier this week, if you said John Arnold, I mean no, Fred Duvall the chair of the Board of Regents is uh Fred Duvall, who called yeah who quit? Yeah, yeah,
who resigned? He just came out to yeah today, Yeah today. So you know, things going on up there. The meeting next week with the with there supposed to have an in person meeting with with the builder. Yeah, So we'll see how all that comes out. I know, there's a lot of a lot of people, you know, who lacking confidence in in in him right now. But there's been a lot of missteps and you
know, but he's owning it too, right. Well. You you notice his tone and his love for the university, whether that's the purpose he said, I'm sure there was, how much he loved the students and the university and the students and the university. So you know, he wants to stay obviously it's a great job. But there's a lot of things going on.
Well, guys like him who have achieved what what he's achieved again, they see these things is as you know, as as he said about about about the ad, they see these these things as opportunities as opposed to they're not crisis, their opportunity and and and that you know, if he's that kind of guy, I mean, look, I remember the first time I interviewed me. We were talking about I remember what we were talking about. He goes, look, I've held somebody's heart in my I've helped their heart in
my hand. So anything else you want to throw at me pales compared to that, you know. And I'm like, okay, I get that, you know, so uh you know, it's it's it's uh, you know, when when you've done that type of stuff, been in that type of scenario or that type of environment, the fact that the governor's telling at you just really doesn't isn't going to make you sweat that much. And they have this plan and they're going to fix it. Seems to have a plan,
and he does, and he does have a lot of support. And you know this from the local business. The business people and the boosters love him because he's he's he's he's made and this comes from all the biz tuss on
stuff that I that I've done. He's made the university a big part of the economic development community, helping businesses by by you know, engaging the U of A into things that businesses are doing, you know, And and that's important because we haven't had that and you know again another one time, as the interview said, when I got here, we weren't doing that. The U of A was not involved with raytheon and and and all the companies that
are here. They were not and we are now and and you can give him credit for that, because you know they Every story that I do related to the economy here in town and involves talks about how big a piece of it the U of A is. Right, do you think to the question I asked about other schools being in trouble, We know that there are a few u cl A like but the once you mentioned we've knew you know about, I'm talking more nationally, more naturally, like that New Mexicos, the
Colorado States. Yeah, I know. But the thing is, you don't you don't hear. You don't hear about it because to them, it's it's always been that way. Well, what it's always been like here is that you have athletics has always been self self sustaining. To my point, however, is that there should be some kind of story like that. You're not the lone ranger. It depends on the level being a low ranger. But it's out there. I mean, look, at Col's troubles, all the
troubles they've had for years, right, that's it indifferent. They don't they
don't give a well maybe they are not. They have, but Steve, they have a Division one athletic program and they've been in financial distress for years and years in years, right, you know, very you know, there's very few Alabama in Ohio states and Michigan's and Washington very few, and everybody else is you know, just kind of either hanging on or losing lots of money, and the and the university subsidize them to keep the programs going.
Because whether you're in New Mexico, Colorado State, Tulane or wherever, a lot of a lot of those schools are identified by their athletic Sure, it's front ports of Athletics. As they say, okay, well you'll get to know more about all this eighteen to thirty six months. That's a very quick for a fixed in eighteen to thirty six months. And oh you know, wow, yeah, you know, but you know there's going to take some
damage control and people will lose some jobs. And yes, and if your football program is better, right, if you're selling more tickets, that goes a long way towards doing that, because not only are you selling more tickets, you have more donor support, you have you know, all those things, all those things you know, go hand in hand. And maybe that's what, okay, we want. We went ten and three last season.
We are our projections for attendance in this next school year can be higher than they were last year, right, things like that season tickets and all that stuff, and then paying to get into the spring game, that kind of thing. Right, Yeah, we'll have to dig deeper into the puckets. You know, they haven't told me if my tailgate pass is going to go up, but our tickets did go up, for sure, fifty bucks ticket. I'm okay with that. That's changed, Bud. That's a party again,
that's successful. Never mind that's not my unit. That's a successful party. Well, never mind that. But you know, but look, my my son is an employee of the u of A. You know, I'm gonna throw whatever support I can, whatever support I can afford over there, because you know, I feel like in the end, you know, it helps him too. So and there's a lot of people like that, a lot of people like me who have kids or dads or moms or relatives or whatever who work at the u of A. So anyways, that's what i'm
that's my that's my that's what I'm. That's what I'm going with right there. So okay, okay, again, we have maybe one time for one caller if you can, or if you want to five two zero four one six four forty, but we're gonna go at the top of the hour with breaking news by Kevin Do we have Bruce Bruce Pascal join us and we'll talk about the game tomorrow and the seniors and all that kind of cool stuff, and uh, you know, we'll just have him read his story for tomorrow
on our on our air. What do you think about that? I think that would work, sure, exactly. But interesting breaking news again a topic that I want to get back to because we were gonna do it yesterday and then we got into all the some of that other stuff with the stuff that's going on with the college football playoffs right now. I don't know if you've seen, if you've seen much of that the fourteen team, yeah, fourteen teams and how those fourteen teams are going to be decided on. But I
thought that was real cool thing. If you want to, if you want to look it up, it go look up Ross Dellinger on on Twitter, and he put out a bracket h t well, a fourteen team brackets on the conference realignments. So if the conference alignments had happened and and the and the rankings and stuff like that, and guess who would have been in that
bracket? Arizona, the University of Arizona. Well, yeah, fourteen, he would He the brackets showed that Arizona was in there as a ten seed and would have opened up with Ohio State, which would have been I think that would have been very fun. You know, that game would have been at Ohio State, which probably wouldn't have been all that much fun, but
that would have been cool. And that's what I do like about the About the thing we'll talk about it some more about the twelve team tournament is that that's like a realistic goal for teams like Arizona, whereas teams like Arizona did not have a realistic goal of making any of the four team playoffs. Right, right, and you know what, just get me in, I'll take my shot and see what happens. Okay, we had about a minute left. Good first hour. Yeah that was good again, doctor Robins was I
thought he was good. I hope if you if you're just joining us and missed it, our podcast will be up shortly after the show. Tell them how again because Stu might be listening. Yeah, Stu, this is for you. You can go to the iHeartRadio website, do a search for Eye on the Ball and we'll take you to our podcast page. You can click on. All this stuff is linked on our social media both on Facebook and extent formerly known as Twitter, and then you can also find us on Apple
podcasts on Spotify. Just go on any of those podcast hosts and search Eye on the Ball and you'll find us. You'll see Steve's mug and my mug, or you'll see our cool logo, and you can listen to any of our shows. So and that'll go up tonight. It'll be up about an hour or so after the show. So if you missed it, go back and listen to it sometime tonight. Maybe it'll help put you to sleep. All Right, we're gonna take a break. We'll be back and Kevin's gonna have breaking news.