By
Keith Carmona
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Guards:
After a stellar freshman season, UA point guard Jason Gardner was a good floor leader for the Wildcats, but was often streaky in his shooting. On given nights, Gardner would either bury multiple three-point attempts or would come up blank from outside.
Toward the middle of the season, he did develop the propensity to drive to the hoop, which was a good alternative for the Wildcat offense.
To say sophomore shooting guard Gilbert Arenas had a breakout season would be an understatement. In October, Arenas was the least acclaimed of the Wildcats' five starters but finished the season scoring a team-high 16.5 points per game while hitting 43 percent of his three-point attempts. His ability to spark the UA offense on runs was invaluable for Arizona this season, and he even improved his defensive tenacity by assisting teammate Richard Jefferson is restricting some of the nation's top players to numbers well below their average.
Wings
In his first two seasons, junior forward Richard Jefferson was known for being able to leap out of buildings en route to spectacular slam dunks. This season, he exchanged some of his offensive fireworks to study the defensive part of basketball.
The result - he finished the season as one of the most feared defenders in the NCAA Tournament. When preparing for each tournament game, the big question surrounding Arizona was who head coach Lute Olson would assign Jefferson to.
As the season went on, the Phoenix native learned to take as much pride in stopping opponents as he did in flashy antics on the other end of the court.
Sophomore forward Luke Walton averaged less than six points per game this season, but many of Arizona's close victories can be partially credited to Walton, who many branded the team's smartest player. The consummate role player this season, Walton was second in assists (3.3) and was also key in helping Arizona to become the defensive-minded team it was at season's end. With two years of eligibility remaining, Walton has the potential to one day star in Olson's program.
Power Forwards
Junior forward Michael Wright was an oak for the Wildcats this season - strong and unwavering. The Wildcats' starting power forward led the team in field goal percentage (59 percent), rebounds (7.9 rpg) and was second in scoring (15.7 ppg). Wright was the workhorse for the team. If the outside shot was not falling, UA could always depend on the muscular Chicagoan to get the team back on track with his big body.
Senior forward Gene Edgerson will likely go down as the most popular Wildcat in UA history this side of Sean Elliott. Beyond the afro haircut, high striped socks and old-school shoes, Edgerson is the ultimate worker.
Though he doesn't boast the talents of some of his teammates, Edgerson hustled to every loose ball, forcefully blocked out opponents for rebounds and methodically concentrated on every last free throw. The aura he brought to the court was immeasurable for the Wildcats.
Forget that he only averaged 4.7 points and 4 rebounds - the McKale Center synchronized "Geeeeennnnne" chant outweighs numbers in the boxscore.
Senior forward Justin Wessel finished his career in the same way he started it. One of only three UA players to make two Final Four appearances, Wessel probably would have liked to see more minutes, but realized the talent-laden roster in front of him made getting substantial playing time hard.
He acted as a big body to occupy space while starters Loren Woods and Wright took a breather. In order for the Wildcats to advance as far as they did, Olson needed every player to accept their individual roles, and that's exactly what Wessel did. Logging just 11.4 minutes per game is tough in your senior season, but making the NCAA Finals is a heck of a way to go out.
Center
Volumes can be written about Loren Woods. But the most telling sign of his season was the colossal smile that he wore to Arizona's welcome-home parade yesterday. After spending a good portion of the season being criticized in the media for being too soft and weak, Woods was the most consistent force for the Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament.
In the final game, he scored 22 points and had 11 rebounds and was named to the All-Tournament team.
While struggling several games in the Pacific 10 conference season, Woods was hard on himself and many critics followed his lead. Being doused with water while saying good-bye to the UA fans at Arizona Stadium yesterday, Woods was the last one laughing.
