By
Keith Carmona
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wildcats want to win championship for 'Mrs. O'
MINNEAPOLIS - Arizona senior forward Gene Edgerson said earlier this season that he would wake up in a frantic sweat in the middle of the night, spinning in a flurry of emotions.
He worried about his coach, who lost his wife to cancer, and he shared a hollow feeling with his teammates as their season went into a tailspin.
Worst of all, Edgerson feared that the dreams of capturing the National Championship were becoming more elusive.
It's been more than three months since the Arizona team captain spoke of those nightmares, but since that time in January, the Wildcats have climbed from the depths of misfortune with one aspiration in mind.
So, when the Arizona basketball team faces Duke in the National Championship game tonight, the rekindling of its spirit, its season and its dream becomes nearly complete.
"After all the hellish times that this team has been through this season, winning this National Championship would be like heaven for us," Edgerson said. "Of course, our first notion is to do it for Mrs. Olson, but we also want to accomplish this for our coach, who has stayed strong through the entire process. And then there is the personal satisfaction that I know each of us would derive from beating Duke and capturing a goal."
Tonight's game comes three months and one day after Bobbi Olson died of ovarian cancer Jan. 1. Three days later, the Wildcats lost to Stanford at home.
"That was definitely the low point of the season," junior forward Richard Jefferson said. "Because we put forth a lot of effort but still couldn't win the game.
"There was no single turning point in the season, but after that day we grew from the adversity and just kept trying to build momentum."
From the first day of practice in October, the Arizona players kept the phrase "National Championship" on the tips of their tongues. Even after Bobbi Olson's death and the suspensions of Jefferson and senior center Loren Woods for accepting illegal gifts, UA didn't shy away from the dream of playing in tonight's title game.
Few times in history had a preseason No. 1 team fallen out of grace like the 8-5 Wildcats had after the Jan. 4 loss to the Cardinal.
More infrequent was the ability to recover.
Arizona knew it would take time, so they didn't rush the healing process.
"It seems like (Bobbi) is our guardian angel, she's gotten us here," junior forward Michael Wright said. "When (Coach) came back (after Bobbi's death), it took him a while to adjust to it. It was kind of crazy, because a person so strong like him needed a boost."
The Wildcats gave Olson the boost by doing what they knew best - just playing basketball.
The Wildcats have won 20 of their last 22 games.
"It's really been a work in progress all the way through, I think," Olson said. "By the middle of January, you could see certain things happening, and I think the primary thing was just getting into a stable environment. (The players) needed to know that the staff was going to be there for them and that they would be there for each other."
Their efforts were gradual, yet methodical. They rebounded from the Stanford loss with a sweep of the Washington schools in Washington, and then returned home for a big weekend against UCLA and USC. Seeing it as a fitting time to return as head coach, Lute Olson resumed the Wildcats' reins that weekend and powered UA to two wins against the ranked Los Angeles schools.
That weekend, Wright said he felt the oft-criticized Wildcats regained the swagger they boasted at the beginning of the season.
"Once we beat UCLA and 'SC at home, the thought of being a national championship team really began to take hold again," he said. "Not that we ever stopped wanting it to happen, but after the weekend at home against the L.A. schools, it became more of a reality."
As the Wildcats arrived into the Final Four in Minneapolis Thursday, two games from having their season come full-circle, they passed by a billboard that read "Four Bobbi."
The bus rushed by the sign, and silence fell over the passengers. But everyone on board couldn't have agreed more with what they had read.
"We keep saying that we want to do it for Mrs. O because it would be a great honor for her and Coach, but also because she shared our faith that we could achieve this," Wright said. "All the hard work and dedication has brought us from a miserable season to being on the verge of doing something great. It feels great because we know she's looking down on us, telling us that we just have 40 more minutes of basketball."
Fans invited to McKale
Wildcat fans can watch tonight's NCAA National Championship basketball game at McKale Center. There is no charge for admission. McKale will open its doors to the public at 5 p.m. and televise the game on its four video replay screens. Tip-off is at 6:18 p.m. Concession stands will be open, the Arizona Pep Band will play and free parking will be available in most UA parking lots and garages.
