Transfers Townsend, Dell'Orso liven up Arizona hoops event

I absorbed three things from Friday’s Red and Blue Showcase at McKale Center: (1) power forward Trey Townsend is going to be an impact player, an improvement from Keshad Johnson; (2) wing shooter Anthony Dell’Orso is a terrific addition, the equivalent of a 4-star recruit but one who has already started 58 college basketball games; (3) the Red and Blue Showcase may be exhausting its popularity.

The crowd, probably about 9,000, was mostly listless and uninspired. Even emcee Richard Jefferson asked, “Why are you so quiet?’’

Arizona is one of the few college basketball programs to continue to operate a preseason scrimmage. It probably generated close to $250,000 in ticket sales Friday, but in the 2020s, there’s not much enthusiasm for a dunk contest, a 3-point shooting contest and a 20-minute scrimmage.

This entry is part of longtime Star columnist Greg Hansen’s weekly notebook. Looking for more? Find updates and Greg’s archive at Tucson.com/Hansen.

UA coach Tommy Lloyd uses the Red and Blue Showcase as a recruiting weapon, which has endless value. No one seemed to enjoy the evening more than Lloyd. The night’s most entertaining moment was a video of Lloyd dancing at the Gentle Ben’s post-game party with his hat on backwards, swigging from a bottle of beer while listening to his beloved Beastie Boys music.

No other Pac-12 team attempted an admission-charged public scrimmage over the last 10 or 15 years. And in the Big 12, preseason engagements with men’s basketball programs are limited. Only Kansas, with its wildly successful “Late Night at the Phog’’ — sold out, entering its 40th consecutive year — reflects a community’s love for college basketball.

Iowa State, which probably has the Big 12’s second most feared road venue at Hilton Coliseum, doesn’t have a public scrimmage in the preseason. Others? Powerhouse Baylor participates in the Texas Tipoff Tour, where it holds free scrimmages in Dallas, Houston and Tyler, Texas.

Kansas State traveled 225 miles to Fort Dodge, Kansas, for a KSU Basketball Showcase this weekend. Yes, Fort Dodge. And BYU plays a Blue and White game — Marriott Madness — on this Wednesday, with no admission charge.

Arizona charged as much as $32 a ticket on Friday.

ASU’s preseason basketball exhibition is to be played at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, of all places, on Oct. 27. It is touted as a Bobby Hurley Homecoming. ASU is trying to sell two $25,000 packages to fans to shadow Hurley on his return to his alma mater as the Blue Devils and Sun Devils will play a 40-minute scrimmage for charity.

University of Arizona Red-Blue Showcase | Oct. 4, 2024 — Arizona guard Anthony Dell’Orso (3) beats forward Henri Veesaar (13) to the basket for a score in the UA men’s basketball program’s annual Red-Blue Showcase Friday at McKale Center.

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

The history of Arizona’s Red and Blue Showcase goes back 40 years. When Lute Olson’s Wildcats rose to power in the mid-1980s, the UA charged $3 per ticket for a 1987 scrimmage in mid-November. It was to be the return of Steve Kerr from a knee injury, the year Arizona rose to No. 1 and reached the Final Four. A crowd of 8,860 attended.

A year later, with Sean Elliott returning for a senior year, Arizona sold out the Red-Blue Game for the first time, 14,500, on a Saturday evening at McKale. Over the next 30 years, the game was routinely sold out, or close. Only in the last few years has it been difficult to exceed 10,000 attendance.

But it could be worse. Utah will stage an exhibition game Oct. 29 against Colorado State-Pueblo. To entice students to attend, the Utes will sell hot dogs for $2. That’s better than a 225-mile trip to Fort Dodge, Kansas.