Keeping up with Arizona Wildcats in the headlines for 2021

With so much going on in the World of Arizona Wildcats, we felt it warranted a special post to breakdown that latest action going on!

First up? Arizona Wildcats Football. SO MUCH IS GOING ON! New Head Coach Jedd Fisch is killing it with his Twitter posts, if you don’t follow, you must. Fisch has been spending his time being interviewed by Colin Cowherd, hiring away Alabama’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Tyler Owens, and more.

Fisch has also implemented a Happy Birthday strategy to the Arizona Football’s Social Media plan, which is fantastic! Now Zona Zealots can retire their posts which includes posts for Alumni.

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Several key Arizona Football players are coming back or taking themselves out of the portal now that the brand new staff of coaches have been announced.

Key players such as Stanley Berryhill, Ma’Jon Wright, Rourke Freeburg, and Jamarye Joiner.  Meanwhile, other players are declaring for the NFL Draft such as Gary Brightwell, Lorenzo Burns, and Roy Lopez.

Also, if you didn’t hear, Grant Gunnell has transferred to Memphis and will be a Tiger, while his former high school teammate Boobie Curry decided to pull out of the transfer portal and will stay in Tucson. So did local Tucsonan, Drew Dixon!

But the news doesn’t end there…

Former Wildcat, Khalil Tate was re-signed to a futures contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, since he never got a chance to pick up a football with the team when COVID19 hit, plus he did not get a Pro Day at the UofA, which set him back. Tate was able to get a few workouts with the Arizona Cardinals as a quarterback, but that didn’t pan out.

So what does a Future Contract mean, according to TimesHerald.com is that Tate “Is in a reserve pool of players that the Eagles believe could earn an active roster spot for next season, and it also ensures that he won’t sign a contract with another team.” Also getting a Futures Contract is what Jace Whittaker got for the Arizona Cardinals.

Let’s celebrate former Wildcat Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles who won the San Francisco 49ers Thomas Herrion Memorial Award, which is voted on by the coaches. “Established in 2005 by 49ers owners Denise and John York and is presented to a rookie or first-year player who best represents the dream of Thomas Herrion. The recipient has taken advantage of every opportunity, turned it into a positive situation, and made their dream turn into a reality.”

As for basketball, the NBA is canceling games left and right due to COVID19 and contact tracing. The league has planned for their G-League to play in the bubble in Florida, with only 18 teams agreeing to play.

The degree of talent in the G-League this season is going to be very high since there are fewer teams and there are numerous players. Former NBA players are getting shots over first-year rookies who didn’t get drafted. For example, Allonzo Trier was drafted No. 4 in the G-League draft this week by the Iowa Wolves (Minnesota affiliate).

Arizona Alumni Rawle Alkins, listed as an affiliate player, signed with the NBA G-League team the Erie Bayhawks (the Pelicans affiliate). Alkins joined the New Orleans Pelicans for training camp on an Exhibit 10 contract but was not added to the NBA Roster.

Instead, Alkins joins their NBA G-League team and should earn a bonus ($5,000-$50,000) if he stays with the team for a specific amount of time. King Rawle will team up with former Pac-12 players Jordan Bell (Oregon), a flex affiliate and NBA Champion, and Ike Anigbogu (UCLA) a returning player who was also in training camp. The Bayhawks merged forces with the Capital City (or Washington) GoGo’s.

Kobi Simmons is listed on the Greensboro Swarm roster (Celtics) and Kadeem Allen is back from France and is listed on the Westchester Knicks roster for 2021 (New York). Good luck to all Wildcats former and current!