Links: Arizona's NBA stars bring in the dough, football class among Pac-12 worst and baseball season upon us

by K_Zim on Feb 8, 2012 12:07 PM PST in Quick Hits

Universities often brag about how much their graduates contribute to society, and there's no more concrete way in judging that than by counting the dollars. So if the Arizona Wildcats basketball team was one school within the UA, they'd certainly be helping the university out. The Wall Street Journal (hat tip to Bruce Pascoe) broke down NBA players' total earnings by college, and the Wildcats finished No. 3 on that list. Since 1985, when the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams, Arizona alumni have earned a total of $737,802,141 in the league, just behind North Carolina and Duke in that order. There's a fairly steep drop-off as Pac-12 rival and No. 10 school UCLA brought in just below $500,000,000.
Jack Macgruder of FSAZ writes that finishing in the top four of the Pac-12 is huge, big and important when talking Pac-12 Tournament chances.

Our pal Mike Schmitz writes in the Daily Wildcat that Sean Miller is deserving of a Pac-12 Coach of the Year vote if this team slips into the NCAA tournament. Considering all of the injuries, suspensions, losses of players that could have returned after last year's Elite Eight run, etc., there probably won't be much arguing with that idea should Arizona make the push for the invite.

Alicia Jessop at Business of College Sports checked out the Arizona facilities with Athletic Director Greg Byrne. Check it out for pictures inside the training facilities, a stockroom full of Nike shoe boxes and of course, more pictures of the North End Zone project.

Jessop and crew also compiled a ranking of most expensive recruiting budgets by school. Arizona ranked No. 28 overall, and here's the lowdown on the Pac-12, where the Wildcats rank fourth in men's recruiting expenses and third in women's.

Baseball season is nearing, and while it's hard for me to write baseball sight unseen, you can check out the Fast Pitch podcasts from Zach Clark and Derrick Fazendin at zacharyeclark.com. The eighth edition of the podcast is up, and the two make some predictions while previewing the season.

Here's an in-depth breakdown of every football recruiting class in the Pac-12. Combining all of the major scouting services' rankings, Arizona is 11th out of 12 teams.

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