Arizona gymnastics coach John Court, who has been on the job since 1999 (the first 19 as an assistant coach), was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year last week, at which time he could probably take a moment to relax and exhale.
Head coach John Court makes a point during the University of Arizona GymCat Showcase in Tucson on Dec. 14, 2024.
Coaching gymnastics in the wickedly difficult Pac-12 always meant there were four or five Top-10 type powers to confront: Oregon State, Utah, UCLA, Stanford and Cal. No wonder the Wildcats didn’t finish any higher than fifth in the Pac-12 the last 10 years, 2015-24.
The Big 12 is less gymnastics-centric than the Pac-12, with only six teams: Utah, BYU, Arizona, ASU, West Virginia and conference affiliate Denver. Court’s team lost only to mighty Utah and easily qualified for the NCAA Regionals.
Court is the first Arizona gymnastics coach to be the league’s Coach of the Year since Bill Ryden in 2002, an award dominated in the Pac-12 by Hall of Fame coaches Valorie Kondos Field, UCLA; Megan Marsden, Utah; Kristen Smyth, Stanford; and Tanya Chaplin, Oregon State.
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