Olson returns to Wildcats, blasts NCAA's 5/8 rule

When Lute Olson returned to his office yesterday after a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, a new construction project commenced on the Arizona campus.

Olson isn't building a new bookstore or student union. He's spearheading the reconstruction of the UA men's basketball program.

Welcoming him home were the scattered pieces of an Arizona team that now finds itself in the midst of a rare rebuilding process.

While Olson basked on the beach last week, life back home in Tucson wasn't nearly as peaceful.

Four underclassmen - sophomores Gilbert Arenas and Jason Gardner and juniors Richard Jefferson and Michael Wright - declared their eligibility for the NBA draft, leaving the UA program with nine scholarship players on the 2001-2002 roster.