AZ Digest: Shannon Brooks' 4 TDs lift Rattlers over Iowa Barnstormers
The Rattlers built a 28-7 lead in the first half, but needed a first down in the final minute to put away the Iowa Barnstormers 49-47 Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Running back Shannon Brooks, activated after missing the last two games due to an arm injury, caught a scoring pass and ran for three TDs, including a 46-yarder late after the Barnstormers had closed the game to 42-40.
Quarterback Garrett Kettle ran 10 yards for a first down with 39 seconds left that ended any hopes of the Barnstormers (0-4) pulling off a comeback win.
"Glad we won but we are still developing and trying to get healthy," coach Kevin Guy said. "We never want to undermine a win. But we have a long way to go."
The Rattlers activated injured quarterback Dalton Sneed, who was out since the first game of the season. He warmed up but he watched Garrett Kettle help the Rattlers (2-3) snap a three-game losing streak. Kettle completed 9 of 11 passes for 113 yards and a TD and ran for a score in building a 28-7 lead in the half, before the Barnstormers got within 28-13 with a touchdown with three seconds left in the half. He had more than 40 rushing yards.
Guy said Sneed is still day-to-day, as the Rattlers return home to play Jacksonville next Sunday at Desert Diamond Arena.
After rookie quarterback Kyle King, making his first start for Iowa, threw a TD pass to get it to a one-possession game in the third quarter, Kettle hit Brooks for a scoring pass to make it 35-20 with 9:23 to play in the quarter. Kettle's 13-yard TD pass to Jamal Miles on the final play of the third quarter gave the Rattlers a 42-28 lead.
Rattlers try to regain footing against winless Iowa
The Rattlers still are limping, but should get some help Saturday when they take on the 0-3 Barnstormers in Iowa in an Indoor Football League game.
Injuries have led to a 1-3 start, but quarterback Dalton Sneed could be back after suffering a knee injury in the first half of the season opener, a win over Northern Arizona.
Running back Shannon Brooks, who has been out for two games with an arm injury, also could be back.
But the biggest concern has been on defense. The team this week released nose guard Harold Love (lack of production) and has lost cornerback/linebacker Davontae Merriweather and safety Dillion Winfrey to injuries.
"Some guys have been put on notice and we're making some changes," coach Kevin Guy said.
Guy said that Jamiyus Pittman will take over the nose guard spot in place of Love.
"A lot of people think that when Dalton comes back, everything will be back to normal. But that's not the case this year. It's a different situation. Both running backs are hurt. We had to move our all-league center to right guard because of an injury. And Dalton's been hurt. We've played with three quarterbacks.
"On defense, we moved on from our nose guard because of a lack of production. It's caused some issues with our linebacker play when the guys up front aren't doing what they're supposed to do,'' he said. "At safety, we lost Winfrey. Merriweather got hurt in the game the other night. We lost our pieces in the middle part of our team. Football teams are built inside out. We're not going to make excuses. We have to work our way out of it and wait for some guys to get healthy."
Coyotes pull out OT win
Matias Maccelli scored the overtime winner and added an assist as the visiting Arizona Coyotes edged the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Friday night.
Maccelli took a Michael Kesselring pass and beat Calvin Pickard glove side for his 15th of the season at 1:35 of the extra period.
Josh Doan and Logan Cooley scored the other Arizona goals, and Karel Vejmelka made 37 saves on a day when Coyotes management arrived in Edmonton to address rumors of the team’s relocation to Salt Lake City.
With the victory, the Coyotes (35-40-5, 75 points) have won back-to-back games and four of its last five. Arizona improved to 9-5-0 over its last 14 games.
Adam Henrique and Darnell Nurse scored for the Oilers (48-24-6, 102 points), who secured home ice in the first round of the playoffs with the single point. Evander Kane had two assists, and Pickard stopped 25 shots.
Nurse tied it 2-2, snapping a shot from the point past a screened Vejmelka for his 10th of the season 1:12 into the third.
Edmonton tied it 1-1 at 1:49 of the second period as Henrique jammed in the rebound off Kane’s centering feed for his 23rd of the season.
Cooley responded for Arizona, batting a bouncing, loose puck out of mid-air and past Pickard at 5:37 of the second for his 20th of the season.
Arizona outshot Edmonton 10-6 and led 1-0 after 20 minutes.
Doan opened the scoring, putting home the rebound off Jack McBain’s shot at 5:20 of the first for his fourth of the season.
Connor McDavid missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury. The Oilers captain is third in league scoring with 130 points (31 goals, 99 assists) behind Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon.
The two teams wrap up the three-game season series on Wednesday in Arizona.
–Field Level Media
Boxing returns to Phoenix with title bout
Matchroom Boxing has taken a liking to events in the Phoenix area, and the promotion company returns June 29 for a main event between Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez and Juan Francisco Estrada for two super flyweight championships, including the WBC World title belt.
Estrada, from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico is 44-3 and defeated Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale in December of 2022, an epic bout between the two small fighters at the top of their weight class.
Rodriguez (19-0), a native of San Antonio, was in the main event last December in Glendale and stopped Sunny Edwards in a flyweight title unification bout.
This is the fight fans who follow the lower weight classes in the sport want to see. Tickets have yet to go on sale and other fights on the card have not been announced.
-Jose M. Romero
Buckeye youth wins golf skills competition at Augusta National
Parker Tang from Buckeye captured the boys 7-9 age group in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals competition at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday. Parker did not finish first in any of the individual disciplines but scored enough points, 25, to edge Henry Amen of Imperial, Nebraska (21).
Coyotes light up Sharks for 5 goals in win
The Coyotes' teeth proved bigger than Sharks' Sunday in a 5-2 win over San Jose that kicked off Arizona's 5-game road trip.
Lawson Crouse, Liam O’Brien, Dylan Guenther, Clayton Keller, and Nick Schmaltz scored, and Connor Ingram made 25 saves.
Crouse, Keller, and Schmaltz all finished with two points each, and the Coyotes won all three games between the two teams this season.
Twenty-year-old Guenther is tied for the team lead with four game-winning goals, alongside Keller and Michael Carcone.
"I feel pretty good," Guenther told the Coyotes website. "I think I'm playing pretty well. My linemates are doing a pretty good job, and I'm just finding those areas."
The Coyotes travel to Seattle for a 7 p.m. Tuesday puck drop against the Kraken.
Rising comes from behind for draw
The good news: the Phoenix Rising FC offense woke up with three goals.
The bad news: they needed every one of them for a 3-3 draw with Tulsa at ONEOK Field.
Remi Cabral scored two of the three goals while Dariusz Formella came off the bench to score the third. Emil Cuello picked up an assist on Cabral’s second goal but was also shown a straight red card for a tackle in the 61st minute. The ejection forced Rising to come from behind a man down in a gritty and entertaining six-goal game.
For fans that were unable to tune into tonight’s stream on ESPN+, the match will be replayed tomorrow morning on CBS 5 in Arizona at 9 a.m. Rising (1-3-1) returns to Phoenix on April 13 to face Colorado Springs Switchbacks (0-3-0).
Cardinals re-sign wide receiver Greg Dortch
Wide receiver Greg Dortch, an exclusive rights free agent, has signed his one-year tender offer from the Arizona Cardinals, the team announced Wednesday.
The 5-foot-7 Dortch had 24 receptions for 280 yards and two touchdowns last season and set career highs as a returner with 29 punt returns, 275 punt return yards, 17 kickoff returns and 360 kick return yards. In 37 career games for the Cardinals, he has 79 catches for 762 yards and four touchdowns.
Dortch is expected to take on a greater role in the offense as a slot receiver following the trade that sent receiver Rondale Moore to the Falcons for quarterback Desmond Ridder.
With Hollywood Brown’s departure to the Chiefs in free agency, the Cardinals will likely lean on second-year pro Michael Wilson as one of their starting outside receivers and draft a potential No.1 wideout with the fourth overall pick in this month’s NFL draft.
— Bob McManaman
Rattlers fall to 1-2 on the season
The Arizona Rattlers fell to 1-2 after losing in San Jose to the defending Indoor Football League champion Bay Area Panthers 47-41 on Sunday.
Bay Area and the Rattlers traded touchdowns throughout the game, but the Rattlers couldn't make a stop on the Panthers' game-winning touchdown, a 2-yard run by receiver J.T. Stokes, leaving only three seconds on the clock.
Rattlers quarterback Lorenzo Brown Jr., who joined the team last week, hit Glen Gibbons Jr. with two third-quarter touchdowns and Arizona led 34-27.
Running back Shane Simpson escaped being dropped for a five-yard loss, breaking tackles, reversing field and scoring from 5 yards out to tie the Rattlers at 34 early in the final quarter.
Brown found Gibbons for the third time for a touchdown eluding defenders to complete a 24-yard pass on third-and-10 to give the Rattlers a 41-34 lead with 7:22 to play.
Daquan Neal's scoring pass to Jazeric Peterson going over the wall in the end zone tied the score at 41 with six minutes left. The Rattlers moved to the Bay Area 7. But Jamal Miles fumbled after picking up a first down and the Panthers recovered for the first turnover of the game. Bay Area used all but three seconds of the remaining 2:10 to win it.
"We did not play well on defense," Rattlers coach Kevin Guy said. "I don't like making excuses, but we lost (defensive back Dillion) Winfrey on the fourth play of the game. Winfrey is our safety and makes the checks to put us in the right defense."
-- Richard Obert
Phoenix Rising FC falls to NM United
Phoenix Rising FC fell to 1-3-0 on the season with a 1-0 loss to New Mexico United in front of 7,172 fans at Phoenix Rising Stadium on Saturday night.New Mexico took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute when Dayonn Harris tapped in a six-yard shot on the back post after Mukwelle Akale dribbled on the right side and sent a slow and low cross to a pair of unmarked attackers.Phoenix goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo made a trio of saves between the 24th and 37th minutes to keep his team in the match, then in the 57th minute stopped a penalty try by former Phoenix forward Greg Hurst that was awarded when Pape Mar Boye was whistled for a hand ball in the box.Phoenix coach Danny Stone made four changes in the 61st minute, including the Rising FC debut of former Juventus Academy player Gio Doratiotto, but the offense wasn't energized, and Phoenix finished with six shots on goal to New Mexico’s 14.Phoenix Rising FC plays next at Tulsa on Friday for a 5:30 p.m. kickoff, and is back in Phoenix on April 13 at 7:30 p.m. vs. Colorado Switchbacks SC.
Nogales's Valdez, women's title bout highlight Top Rank boxing event
Seniesa Estrada of East Los Angeles became the first-ever undisputed women's minimumweight boxing champion, outlasting Costa Rica's Yokasta Valle in a unanimous decision that went all 10 rounds Friday night at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Estrada-Valle for several belts the two held was the co-main event of a night of fights presented by Top Rank, one of the leading boxing promotors in the world. The main event saw Oscar Valdez of Nogales, Mexico score a seventh-round technical knockout of Liam Wilson of Australia for the interim WBO junior lightweight title.
Valdez pounded away at Wilson with hooks and upper cuts in the seventh round, and the fight was stopped when the referee determined Wilson couldn't take any more punishment in the ring. With an announced crowd of 7,102 mostly pulling for Valdez roaring, the 33-year-old dropped to his knees in celebration.
"This victory means a lot. I proved a lot of people wrong again. People said 'You’re thirty-something. You’re done. You got your jaw broken. You got your rib broken.' But I refused to believe that,” Valdez said.
The Estrada-Valle fight was close, and a cut above Valle's right eye that opened up in the first round bled for the rest of the fight. But Valle kept coming forward, only to be met with Estrada's power punches that apparently made the difference in a fight scored 97-93 by all three judges.
That announcement drew boos from the crowd, which was on Estrada's side to start but ended up being seemingly upset about Valle's fate. Estrada walked out to the ring with Phoenix's own former champion Michael Carbajal.
"It’s something I’ve been wanting for a long time, becoming undisputed. It finally happened, and I accomplished my dreams. I’m beyond overwhelmed and happy," Estrada said.
Wilson, from Australia, made his second trip to Arizona in 14 months to fight. In February 2023 he lost to Emanuel Navarrete with a world title on the line at Desert Diamond Arena.
Navarrete defeated Wilson, then Valdez on Aug. 12 of last year in the same venue.
In an earlier bout Friday, middleweight Sergio Rodriguez of Phoenix defeated Sanny Duversonne in a unanimous decision to improve to 11-0-1 in his career.
Rising net first win of season
Phoenix Rising FC snapped a two-game losing skid in winning their first match of the season Saturday, 1-0, over the Oakland Roots SC, at Phoenix Rising Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, Rising scored the game’s only goal when Panos Armenakas got behind Roots’ defenders and fielded a sharp pass in the center box from Juan Azocar, beating Roots’ goal keeper Paul Blanchette.
Phoenix (1-0-2, win-draw-loss), which won the USL Championship league title last fall, gained its first three points in the USL Western Conference, after losing its first two matches of the season, to Birmingham and Monterey Bay.
Oakland fell to 1-1-1, with four points in the USL Western Conference.
The Rising’s next match will be next March 30 at home against New Mexico United.
Bringhurst, Hilgers capture junior golf titles
Scottsdale’s Connor Bringhurst birdied the initial playoff hole to capture his first Junior Golf Association of Arizona tournament victory on Sunday at Encanto Golf Course, edging Hogan O’Malley of Tempe. Both players persevered during tough weather conditions to end regulation play tied at 3-under.
In the girls division, Aubrey Hilgers of Litchfield Park took the title by six strokes for her first win of the season. Angela Zhikun Chen of Chandler finished second.
Report: Cardinals to bring in DE Austin Johnson for visit
The Cardinals apparently aren’t done reworking their defensive line as they are bringing in nine-year veteran defensive end Austin Johnson for a free agent visit, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Johnson, 29, was a second-round pick in 2016 out of Penn State by the Titans. The 6-foot-4, 314-pound lineman spent the past two seasons with the Chargers and also played two years with the Giants (2020-21). He started all 17 games last season, finishing with 46 tackles, two for loss, two passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. In 116 career games, including 55 starts, he has 241 tackles, eight sacks and 10 passes defensed.
The Cardinals have already signed three free agents along the defensive line — nose guard Justin Jones (Bears) and defensive tackles Bilal Nichols (Raiders) and Khyiris Tonga (Vikings) — and re-signed defensive end L.J. Collier.
-- Bob McManaman
Stars down Coyotes
The Stars used three goals in a five-minute span of the second period to take command of Wednesday's game in Dallas against the Coyotes, winning 5-2 for their sixth win in eight games.
Clayton Keller and John Leonard scored and Connor Ingram made 28 saves for Arizona, which opens seven-game homestand against the Seattle Kraken on Friday. The Stars will also visit Mullett Arena in this stretch for a 5 p.m. start on Sunday.
Leonard's goal at 8:50 of the third period was his first as a Coyote. "It feels good to score my first one with the Coyotes," Leonard told the Coyotes' website. "It felt pretty good, but obviously we'd like to come out with a win, though."
New Den? Sneak peek of what the Coyotes' proposed new arena might look like
Phoenix boxer Garcia one win away from a title bout
Elijah Garcia is No. 2 in the World Boxing Association's middleweight rankings, and the 20-year-old Phoenix native can move closer to a title shot with a victory over Kyrone Davis on March 30 in Las Vegas.
Garcia has been training in Goodyear and is soon to head to Las Vegas for fight week activities. He's part of a lineup of fights at T-Mobile Arena, and will get to watch current WBA champion Erislandy Lara in the ring with his own bout after Garcia's fight ends.
Garcia (16-0, 13 knockouts) could end the night knowing Lara and a title shot are next for him. First, he has to get through Davis.
"I'm not sure what he's going to do, but what I do know is he's slick and he counter-punches. You don't have to have a lot of power to knock people out, but you've got to have precise punches, and that's what he has," Garcia said of Davis before a recent workout. "He's able to hit you when you're not prepared for it."
Garcia comes from a long line of fighters, on both sides of his family. He takes pride in fighting what he calls a Mexican style, which is characterized by always coming forward rather than avoiding punches.
"I wear them out. I like to fight, I like to bang," Garcia said. "I don't think people like to watch fighters run around the ring. Being Mexican, we like to bang, and I think that's what a lot of people want to see. But if needed to, I can still box, I've still got skills."
Garcia has a lot of experience and some big fights at a young age. He said he and his camp have had a plan since he turned professional and feel they are moving at the pace they want.
"2023 was a really good year. I had a really big upset win that kind of started it off for me, but in 2024, kind of want to do the same thing," Garcia said.
NAU's Nico Young named Men's National Track Athlete of the Year
NAU junior Nico Young was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Men’s National Track Athlete of the Year following his performances throughout the indoor track and field season.
Early on in the indoor season in January, Young became the first person ever to run a mile under four minutes at 7,000 feet elevation after running a time of 3:57.33 at the Lumberjack Team Challenge in Flagstaff. He later set an NCAA record in the 5,000 meters and became the first collegiate athlete to run under 13 minutes with a time of 12:57.14 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston.
Young ended his season with a sweep of the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter titles at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field National Championships in March. His 3,000-meter time of 7:41.01 set a new meet record.
Most recently, Young secured the Olympic standard and broke the NCAA record in the 10,000 meters with his time of 26:52.72 at the Sound Running The TEN meet.
— Logan Stanley
Rattlers win season opener
In a typical season opener, filled with mistakes and blown assignments, the Arizona Rattlers escaped the Northern Arizona Wranglers on Saturday night with a 51-40 win in Prescott Valley.
The Rattlers allowed two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the first half, and in the final minute of the game weren't able to recover an on-side kick.
But the defense held tight for the most part, and running back Shannon Brooks' return to the Rattlers was huge after he spent last year playing for Edmonton in the Canadian Football League. The former University of Minnesota running back ran for touchdowns of 6, 1 and 9 yards.
Quarterback Dalton Sneed, making his Rattlers debut after leading the Bay Area Panthers to the Indoor Football League championship last season, had scoring passes of 10, 7 and 25 yards, two of those to veteran wide receiver Jamal Miles.
Glenn Gibbons Jr., had two touchdown catches, including a 13-yarder from Garrett Kettle with 2:44 to play to give the Rattlers a 51-34 lead.
Arsiah McCorker returned kickoffs of 55 and 58 yards for scores in the first half for the Wranglers, who ended the Rattlers' season the last two years in the playoffs.
"Typical first game of the season," Rattlers coach Kevin Guy said. "We had some special teams blunders, missed assignments on defense and a lot of little things to clean up from Week 1 to Week 2 on offense.
"We had some drops early in the game that stalled a fast start for the team. I thought our effort was great. We had a few players get hurt, nothing serious. But I thought we did a great job handling adversity on the road first game of the season."
Despite some missed assignments, defense was locked in leading to stops, which was encouraging to Guy.
Rookie kicker Dawson Evitt was perfect on extra points, making all seven.
Both quarterbacks got a full half of work. Sneed didn't play in the second half. Guy said that Sneed will be evaluated on Monday, before figuring on whether he'll be able to start Sunday's home opener.
"I thought Shannon Brooks was very physical running the ball," Guy said. "Once we watch the film, we will get a lot of issues cleaned up. Our new players just need to see it live first and go through the experience and we will start to grow."
The Rattlers' first home game is next Sunday at 3 at Glendale's Desert Diamond Arena against the Vegas Knight Hawks.
— Richard Obert
Phoenix Rising drops to 0-2 after loss Saturday
Phoenix Rising FC is still looking for its first win of the new USL season after dropping a 1-0 decision at Monterey Bay on Saturday night.
Monterey Bay scored the match's lone goal in the 22nd minute when a turnover gave Adrian Rebollar possession on the edge of the area. Rebollar quickly found Rafael Baca in the center of the area and he found the back of the net.
Rising, now 0-2-0, will look to turn things around at home next March 23 at 7 p.m. vs New Mexico United.
—Staff report
Former Republic columnist Somers, prep football coach Taylor honored
Peoria Centennial football coach Richard Taylor and former Arizona Republic sports columnist Kent Somers will be honored with awards on Saturday at the National Football Foundation Valley of the Sun Scholar-Athletes awards banquet at Wild Horse Pass Resort Showroom in Chandler.
The event, which is sold out, runs from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Former Gilbert Perry quarterback Brock Purdy, who was among the scholar-athletes at the event in 2018, will be featured in a Zoom interview. He led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl this past NFL season in his second year in the league, after being the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Somers will receive the 2024 Excellence in Arizona Sports Media award. He retired last February after 38 years working for The Arizona Republic, covering everything from high school sports to Final Fours, Super Bowls and the Cardinals. He took over the Cardinals beat in 1994, covering the NFL team until 2017. He then became a sports columnist.
Taylor will receive the Frank Kush Lifetime Achievement Award. He opened Centennial in 1990 and still is going strong, leading the Coyote to their first Open Division state championship appearance in December. He has led Centennial to seven state championships.
He had coached in Ohio for 14 years, before coming to the Valley.
Former Tempe Marcos de Niza football kicker Krysten Muir will present the first scholar-athlete award for girls flag football, which became an Arizona Interscholastic Association-sanctioned sport this school year.
Three-time Super Bowl champion Dale Hellestrae will present the first Larry Hellestrae scholarship to a high school athlete.
Arizona high school and college football players who will be honored Saturday as scholar-athletes are:
Connor Ackerley, Corona del Sol; Hayden Allen, Centennial; Gage Baker, Paradise Honors; Jaylen Dawson, Desert Edge; Rylan Despain, Winslow; William Eastep, Brophy Prep; Malcolm Flynn, Corona del Sol; Connor Furey, Brophy Prep; Cayden Gibson, Arizona College Prep; James Giggey, Bradshaw Mountain; Marshall Gillette, Northwest Christian; Blake Heffron, Chandler; Samuel Johns, Desert Edge; Jaylen Jones, Hamilton; Raymond Jones, Cactus; Miles Lockhart, Basha; Jorge Lomeli, Arizona Lutheran; Benjamin Lueders, Northwest Christian; Jeremiah Newcombe, Casteel; Jesus Ordonez, Youngker; Beckham Pellant, Hamilton; McKy Peters, Mesa; Emmett Rhoes, Higley; Jaxon Rice, Prescott; Maclane Richards, Pinnacle; David Simmons, Blue Ridge; Tyler Thompson, Lake Havasu; Demond Williams Jr., Basha; Catarina MacCagnano, Hamilton; Adyson Nichols, Williams Field; Kassidy Lopez, Red Mountain; Leif Fautanu, Arizona State; David Sanchez III, Ottawa University; Clayton Dowdy, Arizona Christian.
Andy Murray to highlight Arizona Tennis Classic
Tennis fans in the Phoenix area and Arizona might have the opportunity to see one of the game's greats in action as his pro career winds down.
Andy Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, U.S. Open champion and former world No. 1, is one of 10 Top 50 ATP players scheduled to compete at the Arizona Tennis Classic March 11-17 at the Phoenix Country Club. Americans Chris Eubanks, Marcos Giron, and Mackenzie McDonald along with top 50 players Tomás Martín Etcheverry, Emil Ruusuvuori, Jan-Lennard Struff and Sebastian Ofner are also in the field that will contend for the singles title at this year’s tournament.
The Arizona Tennis Classic is a top-level Challenger Tour tournament (one step below the ATP Tour) that takes place between two major ATP events, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., and the Miami Open. As such, it allows high-ranked players to take part if they are eliminated in the early rounds at Indian Wells.
Total prize money for the tournament is $225,000, another draw for players looking to get in high-caliber competition before moving on to South Florida.
"This is probably the best week in the calendar to have an event that's not at the highest level of the ATP Tour caliber," Arizona Tennis Classic founder Jonathan Levine said Tuesday. "Our player field is typically of the caliber of one of those 250 or 500s (lower level tournaments on the ATP Tour) and the players all talk about it, know about it, just because there's no other event, really, in the U.S. at that time."
Murray is coming off a win at the Dubai Duty Free Championships, an ATP 500 event. At 36 years old, Murray recently admitted that he has only a few months left of playing tennis at a high level.
Murray has dealt with hip injuries, but Levine said he hopes to have the native of Scotland on the courts in Phoenix. It's likely he will have to be knocked out of the BNP Paribas Open early to be able to play in Arizona.
"He's just got this passion for tennis and the game and he's such a competitor... If he doesn't get past the third round of Indian Wells and comes to Phoenix, it just would be a big coup for us to be able to host him and have him, and he's a great advocate of the game," Levine said. "And he's a great person, and it would be incredible for the fans to be able to see him."
-Jose M. Romero
Report: Arizona Cardinals part ways with another executive
A day after word surfaced that the Cardinals had parted ways with Quentin Harris, their vice president of player personnel, a new report on Thursday by ESPN indicates the team is also parting ways with its director of player personnel, Dru Grigson.
Grigson was entering his 16th season with the Cardinals and third as director of player personnel after being promoted in 2021 from assistant director of player personnel. He was the Cardinals’ director of college scouting from 2013-18.
Grigson, the brother of Ryan Grigson, the vice president of player personnel for the Vikings who was previously the general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, joined the Cardinals as an area scout in 2008. He was promoted to regional scout in 2010, in charge of scouting the Eastern half of the country for three seasons until his next promotion to director of college scouting.
The Cardinals have not officially announced the departures of either Grigson or Harris and each was still listed among the team’s staff as of Thursday afternoon.
The team did not immediately respond to an email asking if it could confirm the departures of both executives.
Basketball showcase at SMCC
Arizona's Chicano Basketball League, which develops tournament teams to play across the country and in Mexico, is putting on a youth showcase at Phoenix's South Mountain Community College on March 23.
It’s the first time the organization has put together such an event, labeled “The Best Kept Secret,” which features three games matching teams of invited players with Latino roots in junior high, high schoolers who are not seniors, and seniors in high school.
Players receive bags of basketball gear, free of charge. For non-players, tickets are $10 each and available at the door on the day of the event.
Besides basketball, there will be a low rider car show, taco trucks, a mariachi group and halftime entertainment including break dancing.
Latinos aren’t typically in the conversation when it comes to playing basketball beyond high school. Chicano Basketball League founder Joe Leon is trying to change perceptions and attittudes.
“I'm tired of the Latino kids not feeling that they have a place in the game of basketball in Arizona,” Leon said of the event. “It's just a chance and an opportunity. That's all it is.”
—Jose M. Romero
Coyotes' streaming service now available
The Arizona Coyotes will have another way for local fans to watch games.
The Coyotes announced their own direct-to-consumer streaming service called Coyotes Central on Friday, which will give fans in the local broadcast markets more access with exclusive content.
Coyotes Central will show all non-nationally exclusive games, on-demand replays, pre- and post-game shows, and other exclusive Coyotes content.
Monthly subscriptions cost $11.99, while the remainder of this season is available for $24.99. Season subscription pricing for the upcoming 2024-25 season will be announced later.
The Coyotes signed a deal with Scripps Sports ahead of this season, which has made games available on Arizona 61.
Phoenix boxer Garcia looking to stay undefeated
Phoenix's Elijah Garcia is a rising star in the middleweight division of pro boxing, and the 20-year-old hopes to remain undefeated on March 30 when he faces Kyrone Davis in Las Vegas as part of the Keith Thurman-Tim Tzsyu card promoted by Premier Boxing Champions.
Garcia (16-0, 13 KOs) fought three times in 2023, and opens 2024 at T-Mobile Arena with a fight that will stream live for free on Prime Video at 4 p.m. Arizona time.
"I’m excited to be back in the ring, especially on this first event with PBC and Prime Video," Garcia said in the announcement of the fight from PBC. "Fighting on these major events is an incredible blessing and I plan on delivering another great performance. Kyrone Davis has been in the ring with some very good fighters, and it will be a challenging fight, but my plan is to get the win by any means necessary. The fans are going to see an incredible night of boxing on March 30 and everyone should be tuning in."
Garcia is fast becoming one of the most well-known fighters from Arizona. In Davis, he faces an opponent who lost to another Phoenix native, David Benavidez, by TKO in November 2021 in Phoenix. Benavidez is now the WBC interim super middleweight champion.
Davis (18-3-1, 6 KOs) bravely lasted into the seventh round against the hard-punching Benavidez. Garcia also fought that night at Footprint Center on the undercard; now they face each other in Vegas.
"Elijah Garcia is a very good fighter who’s young and hungry and he looks the part, but most importantly he's been moved right," Davis said. "Sometimes you can look better than you really are if you're being moved right. I got asked about this fight last year and of course I said yes. ... I'm not going to say too much, but I'm glad they took the fight. We'll see if Garcia is really the future come March 30."
— Jose M. Romero
Phoenix, Tucson, won't get pro women's soccer in 2024
Professional women's soccer won't be coming to Phoenix or Tucson this year, as originally planned.
Last year, the new USL Super League that is scheduled to begin play in August announced franchises for Phoenix and Tucson, but now neither market will have a team when the league debuts. Phoenix Rising FC, whose ownership group along with prominent local businesswomen and community was set to usher the Phoenix team into the new league, announced Friday that the ownership group is now in search of a new lead investor.
Phoenix and Tucson were, according to the USL Super League website, two of nine franchises in the "initial group of markets set to kick off in 2024." But in a news release from the league Friday, a franchise map did not include Phoenix or Tucson and instead listed the two markets as part of "at least eight additional markets excited to join the league in future seasons."
Rising FC's decision comes on the heels of U.S. Soccer's decision Friday to grant first division (the highest pro level) status to the new league.
"While we are celebrating U.S. Soccer’s decision today to grant Division One sanctioning to the USL Women’s Super League, we have reached the conclusion that now is not the opportune moment for our involvement," the statement from Rising FC said.
Phoenix Rising FC said it had a Dec. 31, 2023 deadline for the USL Super League to receive first-division sanctioning in order to secure female leadership for the team, a deadline that passed. The club also said it was never informed that Tucson would be an expansion market, a development that "negatively impacted buy-in from potential investors, particularly our prospective lead female investor."
With that potential investor not in the mix, Rising FC seeks another "who shares a deep passion for advancing women's soccer in Phoenix, and we think the USL Super League’s Division One sanctioning news today will help," the club's statement said.
The Republic had previously reached out to the USL Super League and president Amanda Vandervort, a Tucson native, for a status update on the Arizona franchises-to-be, but neither responded.
"We look forward to the future of women's soccer and our role in it, with the anticipation of joining forces (with the USL Super League) when the time is right, under the right conditions," Rising FC added in its statement. "Until then, we will continue to champion the sport in every way we can."
—Jose M. Romero
GCU to host slam dunk, 3-point events Final Four week
Grand Canyon will host the 35th annual State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships on April 4 at 6 p.m. to get Final Four week in Phoenix underway. The event at Global Credit Union Arena will air live on ESPN.
In 2017, the last time the Valley hosted the men’s basketball national championship game, a sold-out crowd at GCU of more than 7,000 fans attended this event. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale Feb. 16 at collegeslam.com. A 24-hour presale will take place on Feb. 15 for GCU employees, students, and members of the GCU athletics fan email database. Members of the general public can also sign up for presale access by registering at collegeslam.com/Tickets.
—Staff reports
Keller records 3 points in win at NHL All-Star Game
Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller scored one goal and two assists to help Team Matthews win the 2024 NHL All-Star game in Toronto.
Saturday's action included four All-Star rosters, which were determined by captain selections in Thursday night's player draft. Keller was selected by Arizona native and Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews.
In Keller’s team-record fourth All-Star appearance, he helped Team Matthews score first and eliminate Team McDavid with a 7-4 victory in the 3-on-3 finale. Keller and his teammates earned a $1 million prize following the win.
Keller leads the Coyotes in goals (20), assists (25, tied with Matias Maccelli), and points (45) through 48 games and is one season removed from tying the Coyotes team record with a career-best 86 points.
The Coyotes will return from the All-Star break on Thursday, Feb. 8 to face the Vegas Golden Knights at Mullett Arena.
Emily Sisson 2nd in U.S. marathon trials, will run in Olympics
Emily Sisson (Flagstaff/Phoenix) secured her spot on Team USA for the Paris Olympics with her second-place finish at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando on Saturday morning. Sisson, who ran the 26.2-mile course in 2:22.42, will be joined by Fiona O’Keeffe, who won the race in a record time of 2:22.10, and Dakotah Lindwurm in Paris this summer. Sisson is the current American record-holder in the women’s marathon.
Just missing out on a spot for Team USA was Jessica McClain (nee Tonn), a 2010 Phoenix Xavier Preparatory alum who went on to compete at Stanford. McClain ran 2:25.46, 15 seconds off Lindwurm's time, to finish fourth. Only the top three athletes who have the Olympic qualifying standard of 2:26.50 made the team. McClain, a Paradise Valley native, was a 12-time state champion in track and field and cross country while at Xavier Prep.
In the men’s race, training partners Conner Mantz and Clayton Young finished first and second in 2:09.05 and 2:09.06 to book their tickets to Paris. Both came into the race with the Olympic standard, so all they had to do was finish in the top three. Leonard Korir, who was fourth at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials, put in a huge last mile to finish in third at 2:09.57. Because he didn’t hit the standard of 2:08.10, Korir will have to wait to see if he officially made Team USA. Korir must be ranked high enough in the official World Athletics global marathon rankings by May 5 or finish in the top five in any of the remaining platinum-level marathons (Tokyo, Seoul, Boston) in order to qualify. CJ Albertson, a 2017 Arizona State graduate who owns the school record in the indoor 5,000 meters, came in fifth at 2:10.07.
—Logan Stanley
Cardinals re-sign linebacker, tackle
The Cardinals have re-signed outside linebacker Jesse Luketa and offensive lineman Carter O’Donnell to one-year contracts. Both players were exclusive rights free agents and the signings took place at the team’s Tempe training facility.
Luketa played 21 games (one start) for the Cardinals over the past two seasons. He had 10 tackles in 14 games last season, which included one start. He was a seventh-round pick out of Penn State in 2022.
O’Donnell, a tackle, played five games (three starts) with Arizona after being acquired off waivers from the Colts on Aug. 30. He spent the previous three seasons in Indianapolis after joining the Colts as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2020 out of the University of Alberta, Canada.
—Bob McManaman
Cardinals sign cornerback Ojemudia
The Arizona Cardinals have signed cornerback Michael Ojemudia to a future contract for the 2024 season, adding him to the team's roster.
Ojemudia (6-1, 200) has played in 23 games, making 12 starts with the Denver Broncos (2020-22) and Chicago Bears (2022) in his NFL career. He has 73 tackles (63 solo), eight pass breakups, four forced fumbles and one tackle for loss.
A former third-round pick (77th overall) of the Broncos in the 2020 NFL Draft from Iowa, Ojemudia, 26, spent the entire 2023 season on the Rams practice squad after being released by the Bears following the preseason.
In 2020, he became the first rookie in NFL history to record multiple games with two or more forced fumbles and just the third rookie in the last 20 years to force at least four fumbles in a single season.
—José Romero
Former Republic columnist Somers to receive 2 awards
Former Republic sports columnist Kent Somers, who retired after covering Super Bowl 57, is the recipient of two awards this winter. Somers was named Arizona Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association, the fifth time he has been honored by that organization. Also, Somers will be given the Excellence in Arizona Sports Media award by the National Football Foundation Valley chapter at its annual scholarship event on March 2 at Wild Horse Pass Showroom.
Scottsdale skater Camden Pulkinen 3rd at U.S. nationals
Camden Pulkinen soared from fifth after his short program into the bronze-medal position with 262.33 points in the free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
Pulkinen, who performed his free skate to works by Giacomo Puccini, earned the best finish at senior nationals of his career. Pulkinen earned big points with a huge opening quad toe loop, and he had a strong triple axel later in his program that helped him land the bronze medal.
“I knew after the short it was a tight race,” Pulkinen said. “That’s what the audience likes to see: a tight race.”
Pulkinen, who was born in Scottsdale and attended Chandler Hamilton High School, trained as a junior skater at the Coyotes Skating Club before relocating to Colorado. He currently attends Columbia University in New York, where is is a dean's list student studying financial economics.
U.S. Figure Skating has announced that Pulkinen will join Ilia Malinin and Nathan Brown, the top two finishers in Columbus, at the world championships next month in Montreal.
Former Republic columnist sports David Casstevens dies
David Casstevens, a longtime sportswriter, columnist, and author who spent a part of his career as a sports columnist for The Arizona Republic, died on Wednesday in his hometown of Forth Worth, Texas. He was 77.
Casstevens, knows for his folksy storytelling and clever humor, graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Texas in 1969 and penned a career from 1970 to 2010 while writing for the Houston Post, the Dallas Morning News and the Forth Worth Star Telegram in addition to The Republic, where he was also executive sports editor for a time. In Phoenix, Casstevens was named Arizona Sports Writer of the Year twice by the National Sports Media Association; he also received the same award for the state of Texas in 1985 while working for the Dallas Morning News.
He covered Super Bowls, World Series, Indy 500s, Kentucky Derbies, Final Fours, major golf and tennis tournaments (Masters, British Open, Wimbledon), big-time boxing cards, World Cup soccer and eight total Olympics. He also wrote several books, including “Somebody’s Gotta Be Me” with former NBA superstar Charles Barkley.
During his time with The Republic, he was known for this famous quote in the newspaper’s ad campaign: “Sports is not life or death, it’s entertainment.”
"David took a personal approach with his columns, not focusing on X's and O's but on the people he was writing about. That focus always made them feel fresh. And they truly reflected David's personality ... insightful and sensitive," said Kathy Tulumello, Republic news director. "David's columns were a must-read in Arizona for everyone following the Suns in their glory days of the early 1990s. He was in the press box for the 1996 Super Bowl, the Arizona Diamondbacks first-ever game in 1998 and for all the big events of that era that made the Phoenix area a sports mecca."
Casstevens is survived by his wife and three children.
—Bob McManaman
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ Digest: Shannon Brooks' 4 TDs lift Rattlers to victory over Iowa
