ARLINGTON – Baylor head coach Dave Aranda came to Arlington for Big 12 media days with a heavy heart.
His father, Paul, died this week. He had been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
“We’re going to have a celebration of his life coming up on this Sunday, and there’s going to be just so many people that are going to be there that my dad touched,” Aranda said on Wednesday.
“Family members that didn’t know they were a part of the family, relatives that needed help that my dad was there for, and all these things, and I’m just way proud to be his son.”
Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire previously was an assistant under Aranda at Baylor. On Thursday, McGuire was asked about his recruiting ability. He credited Matt Rhule, now at Nebraska, and Aranda for helping him create a recruiting game plan.
“Since I brought [Aranda] up, I got to text him yesterday, but it says a lot about Dave Aranda, number one, being here and representing the university yesterday after his dad passing away,” McGuire said.
“But definitely Texas Tech, our coaching staff, because we have so many people that worked for Coach Aranda, our thoughts and our prayers are with him and his family as they go through this difficult situation.”
Aranda said that he got to see his father shortly after he told him he had cancer. He said he was able to hug his dad and tell him he loved him.
“I don’t know, when you’re hugging and everything, you feel like, hey, this is a good hug, and he wouldn’t let me go,” Aranda recalled, “and he kept really strong and he told me that he loved me. I’m so glad that we had that moment because I know a lot of folks don’t have that.”
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