Paola Boivin

azcentral sports

People around these parts tend to think of Larry Fitzgerald in ethereal terms, from his gracefulness on the football field to his philanthropic efforts to sightings of him walking on Tempe Town Lake.

(Not really.)

During the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Thursday, the Cardinals wide receiver proved he is indeed mortal:

He drilled a spectator with an errant tee shot.

Oops.

The crazy part is Fitzgerald feared it would happen.

He recently played golf with ESPN anchor John Buccigross, who tweeted Thursday that Fitzgerald had confessed to him that he feared “hitting someone at Pebble.”

MCMANAMAN:Cardinals coach Bruce Arians reflects on what might have been

Of course, Fitzgerald had a typical Fitzgerald response, according to ESPN’s Jason Sobel, and offered the fan an autograph.

He also told the fan, “This is not my day job. You know, right?”

We know.

How nice of him to join the ranks of hack, even if just for a moment.

Fitzgerald is actually a decent golfer with a 14.2 handicap, and in November landed on the cover of Golf Digest.

Fitzgerald was asked by CBS Saturday if football helped his golf game.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “My game is a reactionary sport. You see a ball, you catch it, you makes your moves. But out here there’s a lot of time to think about it.”

Buccigross told me Sunday that Fitzgerald's concerns weren't unusual.

"Like most amateurs, hitting fans is a concern,” he said. "I had a great day with Larry. He is the quintessential Midwest man. Courteous, competitive, thoughtful.”

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​Here comes Arizona

This has been a sometimes maddening season for Arizona’s Sean Miller, who has to go the tough love route often.

But it’s starting to feel like the Wildcats have figured things out and looked more like an NCAA Tournament threat in the second half against UCLA Friday than they have all season.

Credit the return of Allonzo Trier, who ditched a brace on his right hand at halftime and scored 15 of his 18 points. Throw in the mix, too, the improved play of Ryan Anderson and some seniors, including Kaleb Tarczewski and Gabe York, who are stepping up their efforts and leadership.

The Wildcats were tough in the paint, and went to the line 45 times compared to the Bruins, who went 16.

Miller posted his sixth consecutive season with 20-plus victories and 10 of 12.

The 20th win secured the coach a $20,000 bonus.

RELATED: Download our UA XTRA app iOS | Android

Coming home

Among those in attendance during the Arizona-UCLA game were three players from last year’s team that are playing their first seasons in the NBA.

Stanley Johnson, a No. 9 pick by Detroit, is averaging 9.1 points and 4.2 rebounds; Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a 23rd pick by Brooklyn, was averaging 5.2 points and 6.1 rebounds before suffering an ankle injury; and T.J. McConnell, who was undrafted, is averaging 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds for Philadelphia.

RELATED: UA basketball powering through injury woes

More Wildcats chatter

Have you wondered how the injuries to the Wildcats this season will impact how the NCAA Tournament selection committee seeds them?

Here’s what Joe Castiglione, the chairman of the March Madness/Division I Men's Basketball Committee, said about it:

“We are certainly aware of the injuries to Trier. We know he's missed seven games, including during that time a couple of the losses that Arizona has incurred. We're aware of the injury to Kaleb. He missed a game against Providence. We're also watching them closely as they're starting to get closer to full strength.

“So our committee members are tuned in to the PAC-12 in general, and certainly those that are monitoring the PAC-12 are doing their due diligence to make sure the rest of the committee is completely informed.”

– The Wildcats broke ground Saturday on a new academic center for student-athletes. Arizona secured donations worth $4.5 million, including $500,000 from Steve Kerr and his wife, Margot.

Greg Bryne, vice president for athletics, said that among his department’s priorities, “No. 1 is for student-athletes to graduate. We felt that we wanted to have a stand-alone facility that showed our student-athletes, our recruits and their families our genuine commitment to their academic success. And on top of that, it will also house our life skills programs and counseling programs.”

The facility is expected to be done in the late fall or early winter.

MORE: Trier scores 18, No. 17 UA holds off UCLA

Stat of the day

Six. The number of teams that have sat atop the Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. The most recent is Villanova. Only one other time in the history of the poll, which dates back to 1948, has more than six teams been there.

Quote of the day

“One of my favorite nuggets I've read at this point last season: Thirty teams were averaging 75 or more points per game. This season, currently, there are 139 teams scoring at that rate. Obviously that's significant. … In my opinion, the game is much better than it was a year ago.” –Castiglione.

Follow Paola Boivin at paola.boivin@arizonarepublic.com and on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin. Listen to her streaming live on “The Brad Cesmat Show” on sports360az.com every Monday at 10:30 a.m.