In this week’s edition of “Catching Up With the Cats” ArizonaWildcats.com sits down with former UA standout guard Candice Warthen. She goes down as one of the top scorers in program history, as Warthen left Arizona with 1,128 career points, which ranks 16th on the school’s all-time scoring list.
The Warrenton, Ga. native scored a career-high 36 points on 11-of-18 shooting, leading Arizona to a 79-66 win over Georgia State back on Nov. 13, 2011. That performance still ranks second on the school’s single-game scoring list.
Warthen also put together a spectacular senior season for Arizona during 2014-15, as she led the team in scoring (12.8 ppg), free throws made (3.0 fpg), field goals made (4.6 fpg), assists (2.8 apg), steals (1.1 spg), defensive rebounding (4.4 rpg) and minutes played (33.4 mpg). The senior also led the Cats in scoring in 17 of 30 games and was named an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, All-Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention, and Pac-12 Player of the Week for Feb. 9.
After a spectacular five years at Arizona, Warthen is now set to begin her professional basketball career Finland, as she signed with Forssan Alku back on July 13th.
ArizonaWildcats.com: First off, how does it feel to sign your first professional deal?
Warthen: It feels amazing. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. It’s been a dream of mine for a very long time and I’m just blessed and humbled for the opportunity to play professional basketball.
I’m very excited about this next transition. It’s definitely going to be a culture shock, but I feel like coming here to Arizona was a culture shock for me as well. Coming from a small town like Warrenton, Ga. with not very much going on and just coming here was kind of different for me too. So I feel like I’ve experienced a little bit of it but I think Europe is going to be completely different so I’m just excited to see what happens next.
ArizonaWildcats.com: What was your most memorable moment at Arizona?
Warthen: The most memorable moment for me of course had to be the buzzer beater against Stanford. That’s something I will just carry with me for the rest of my life. We just went out and played no one thought too much about it. No one was really intimated even though it was Stanford. We just went out and played and it just happened in our favor that night. I wouldn’t even say we got lucky. I mean we played the full game even though we were down by a couple points late and I made a couple of turnovers on my end but I never stopped playing. I had full faith in my teammates and they had full faith in me and it was an amazing feeling afterwards.
ArizonaWildcats.com: You put together a special performance on senior night last year, as you scored a season-high 23 points in a big 64-41 win over Utah. What was that like, coming up so big in your final game inside McKale Center?
Warthen: It was kind of bittersweet for me because I’ve been here for a really long time and just to say that it’s my last time playing in McKale was kind of like, ‘man I’m really going to miss this’ but at the same time my family was here, it was senior night and it was game that we really needed to win, giving us momentum going into the Pac-12 Tournament. I just felt like I owed it to the fans. Just to be able to go out and have fun and put on a show for them. I was just in tune. I knew it was a very important game for us and my family was watching and it just felt good out there. I was in a groove and I was like ‘yeah, this is what I needed.’ So it was a good feeling.
ArizonaWildcats.com: Why did you ultimately decide to come to Arizona?
Warthen: I think Arizona was actually my first visit. My high school coach and I flew out here. I had an amazing time and for me it’s not really easy to step outside of my comfort zone but when I got here I felt comfortable. I felt like this is somewhere that I wanted to be. I mean I was smiling, laughing, dancing and that’s something that I don’t really do when I’m around people I don’t know. So it just all felt right coming here on my visit. And throughout the whole recruiting process I built a relationship with coach Butts and coach Manning and they were just awesome. They were really good for me in my recruiting process. I didn’t have the same feeling anywhere else I visited so I just felt like this was the place for me.
ArizonaWildcats.com: You openly admit you were very shy when you first got to Arizona. Now you’re coming off a senior season where you were truly a team leader, on the court and off. Explain how that transition took place.
Warthen: Coach Butts from the moment I stepped foot on campus told me that I would have to open my mouth and that I’d have to become a better leader. I would have to be able to be a stronger person and just hearing that all the time, it challenged me. It challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone, talk to people and be a leader, and be more vocal on the court. As you get older you grow anyways, like it’s something that just happens and it’s not always easy being so far away from home and being around people that you’re not really used. I feel like it just came with time as I got more comfortable here in Arizona, the real me started to come out and I got more comfortable being myself. It wasn’t about what people think or this or that, but I feel like personal growth is always needed and it’s something that I really focus on. I think it’s important to just try to be better than you were last year. It’s something that I put a lot of focus on.
ArizonaWildcats.com: What are your goals heading into your first year of professional basketball?
Warthen: My goals are to just have a successful year as always. I want to put up good numbers and help my team in the best way that I can, be a better leader and I want to make it to training camp. I want to get picked to go to training camp somewhere. That’s my ultimate goal, that’s my number one goal, to play in the WNBA.
ArizonaWildcats.com: What’s the best part about playing basketball at the University of Arizona?
Warthen: I don’t think anyone leaves here without growing as a person, not only on the basketball court but also just in general in your everyday life. It’s a great experience, it’s a great atmosphere and environment here. It’s a great school, the athletic program is amazing. One thing that I will always remember is the football games and just the atmosphere of being out there – all the loud noises, all the student athletes – it’s just an amazing feeling. Arizona is a great school, the coaches are amazing. They’re all about helping you grow as a person and learn lifelong lessons outside of basketball.
Follow the Cats!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Arizona athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics), Twitter (@AZATHLETICS), Instagram (azathletics) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/ArizonaAthletics). In addition, the women’s basketball team has established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaWomensBasketball), Twitter (@ArizonaWBBall), and Instagram (ArizonaWBBall) accounts.