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– Tucsonan Terry Francona won’t be in his front row seats at McKale Center for the rest of the basketball season. The new Cincinnati Reds manager reported to spring training last week. Francona took a year off after leaving the Cleveland Guardians and told reporters his health is now good enough to return to baseball. He said he has undergone an estimated 45 surgeries in his 65 years, and went through shoulder, hip and hernia operations last year. “I’m finally healthy again," he said.

– The Miami Hurricanes replaced new Arizona defensive line coach Joe Salave’a last week, poaching Colorado DL coach Damione Lewis, who had coached for Deion Sanders for one season. Lewis has a legacy at Miami the way Salave’a does at Arizona; he was an All-American lineman for the Hurricanes in 2001 and played nine NFL seasons.

– Speaking of poaching, Arizona again poached Jedd Fisch’s Washington football operation last week, getting elite kicking prospect Tyler Prasuhn to rescind his commitment to play for the Huskies and instead play for his father Jon Prasuhn’s alma mater, Arizona. Jon Prashun, from Salpointe Catholic, was Arizona’s starting kicker in 1996, famously making a 38-yard field goal to beat ASU 31-28 in Tempe, the last kick of his Wildcat career. Prasuhn is the director of new business development at Kendall Floral LLC in Carlsbad, California, a firm that grows flowers at 40 farms in SoCal.

– If you plan to attend La Fiesta de los Vaqueros — the Tucson Rodeo — this week, keep your eyes out for Sam Merriman, Amphitheater High School state championship linebacker under Vern Friedli in 1979 and a five-year NFL veteran for the Seattle Seahawks. Merriman is now the chairman of the board of La Fiesta de los Vaqueros and if anyone ever looked the part, it’s Merriman, who is 6 feet, 3 inches and about 225 pounds. Even at 63, in his cowboy outfit, Merriman looks like someone cast for a movie like “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" or “8 Seconds." Merriman has essentially replaced the late Gary Williams, 1995-2020, as the face of the Tucson Rodeo.

– Ka'Deem Carey, who gained 9,940 rushing yards while playing at Canyon del Oro High School and the UA, has signed to play the 2025 season for the CFL Toronto Argonauts. At 32, Carey is coming off a stellar season in which he gained 1,060 yards for the Argos, who won the Grey Cup thanks to Carey’s 104 yards in the CFL championship game. He began his pro career in 2014 with the Chicago Bears. Canadian news services reported that Carey will be paid a $155,000 base salary.

– Lety Pineda — now Lety Pineda-Boutte — was a three-time (first-team) All-American softball player at Arizona in 1995, 1996 and 1997. The Desert View High School grad is back in the softball business again. Her daughter, Lorin Boutte, who grew up in St. Louis, was one of the nation’s top pitching recruits last season, opened her NCAA career by pitching a no-hitter and striking out 13 for Ohio State. Lorin struck out 25 hitters in 12 innings through Thursday. Can’t beat that.

– Pima College coach Brian Peabody’s bid to run the table and finish 30-0 in the basketball regular season is matched by only one school in the NJCAA Division II. Through Friday, the Aztecs, ranked No. 2 nationally, at 26-0. In Trenton, Missouri, No. 1-ranked North Central Missouri JC was 25-0 through Friday, having outscored its two most recent opponents 123-81 and 112-74. Both have four regular-season games remaining. Wouldn’t it be something if Pima and NC Mizzou were to meet for the national championship a month from now with records of close to 35-0 each?