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The Wildcats lost to UCLA in the semifinals of the NCAA championships at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California, on Tuesday. The Bruins lost to No. 1-ranked Auburn in the national title match. 

This season marked the best finish for Arizona since 2004. It's also the best finish for the Wildcats under 14-year coach Jim Anderson.

"Couldn't be more proud of this team," Anderson said. "Our guys showed a ton of heart this week. We're feeling proud. As I told them yesterday, it's tough to lose, but I'm just feeling grateful. I'm so thankful for our seniors, our team and the community we get to represent. It was a fun week. It makes us hungry for more, for sure, but a lot of fun to go through it with this group."

Arizona senior Filip Jakubcik, who ended his UA career as a three-time first-team all-conference selection, is the first Wildcat to receive first-team All-America honors since Chris Nallen in 2004. Jakubcik tied for fourth individually at the NCAA golf championships. 

Jakubcik had a scoring average of 70.11 this season, the third-best single-season average in program history. The senior from Czechia finished his career with a scoring average of 71.17, the best in program history. Jakubcik and fellow UA star Zach Pollo, who hit multiple clutch shots to help the Wildcats beat Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals, are a few of the names graduating this year. 

Arizona returns redshirt junior Tianyi Xiang, redshirt sophomore Taishi Moto and rising freshman William Wistrand, who all were in Arizona's lineup for the postseason. 

Anderson joined "Spears & Ali" on ESPN Tucson this week to review the season and look ahead to the future of UA golf. 

How did Jakubcik and Pollo's leadership over the last two years set the foundation for the younger players — especially Moto, Xiang and Wistrand — to step up next season?

A: "After our meeting where we did some laughing and crying, I expressed that gratitude. We always talk about what we can accomplish as a coach, as a team and as a program, and we know what we can do here at the U of A. Our golf program has traditionally been one of the very best.

"There are some years we are super proud of — and none of them come easy. Nothing is given in golf, and you have to work for everything. But I told them thank you, because it confirmed what we've been talking about and what we believe and that's win a national championship. We didn't get there this year, but we're a step away.

"I know Filip, Zach and Connor Hamm, a senior that's graduating this year, they gave us the blueprint on how to get there. They'll help us get great players. We've gotten great visibility this week. I've got hundreds of text messages over the last few days. That's going to yield some great recruiting in the future. I'm just appreciative and really proud of those seniors." 

Assuming they're returning to Arizona, how does Moto, Xiang and Wistrand's experience from this season help them?

A: "We're definitely counting on them coming back to help us continue building. They're not talked about a lot, but last year, Filip, Zach and Tianyi were a part of a team that lost the regional championship by a stroke. Filip and Zach learned from that experience and grew from that. I know Tianyi, Taishi and William are all coming back to continue putting this program in a spot to win (the national championship).

"They're going to use this experience to prepare and lead the teams in the future. All in all, we're in a great space and I think the experience picked up this week is only making us more hungry to get back and put ourselves in a similar position to win this national championship because we know we can and we know it will happen."

Are you able to have an offseason or will this summer be busy for the program? 

A: "The truthful answer is I'm going to try and take a minute to collect myself, but the transfer portal opens (this week) and there's a juniors tournament in Tucson that we're missing because we're here (in Carlsbad). We're going to get busy right away.

"(Assistant coach) Matt Walton and I have talked about the plans for the summer with recruiting. Now is not really our downtime. For good and for bad, we have to jump right into it. But that's a good thing. We have so much momentum right now.

"Getting out is an opportunity to reap the spoils of what the guys have done. It's a fun time to walk around for recruiting. I'm excited to get to work and continue building and I know we have great things ahead in the future."