In a year overshadowed by the success of the men's basketball team and the failure of the football team, numerous Arizona male athletes stood out.
Now, it's up to the Arizona Daily Wildcat's readers to vote on which player meant the most to his team during the 2000-01 season.
Gilbert Arenas - The sophomore guard began the 2000-01 season obscured by four of his teammates, but by the time the Wildcats had reached the Final Four, he was the one casting the shadow over the preseason Wooden Award Candidates. Arenas led the Wildcats by scoring 16.2 points per game and hitting 42 percent of his three-point attempts, helping guide Arizona to the NCAA National Championship game. He spearheaded their run to the Final Four by scoring 18 points in the first half against Illinois in the Elite Eight.
Ricky Barnes - The Wildcat sophomore has established himself as one of the nation's elite players this season. He has finished in the top 10 in five different tournaments this year and is the Wildcats' No. 1 golfer. Barnes jumped onto the scene a year ago when he was a standout at the NCAA championships as a freshman. He has been ranked as one of the top-50 golfers for the entire 2000-01 season.
Shelley Duncan - Duncan has overcome the death of his teammate and best friend, Kelsey Osburn, as well as reconstructive elbow surgery in the off-season to lead the Pacific 10 Conference in four offensive categories. The junior is first in slugging percentage (.700), RBI (63), total bases (133) and home runs (20). Duncan, who became the UA all-time leader in home runs earlier this season, is a favorite to win the Pacific 10 Conference Player of the Year honors.
Carl Hagman - Hagman, a freshman, came right out of high school and into the singles lineup of the UA men's tennis team. Hagman played in the No. 2 singles position for most of the year for the injured Tom Lloyd. He boasts upset wins over California's No. 66 Adrian Barnes and Stanford's No. 23 David Martin. In doubles play, he and partner junior Steven Capriati are ranked 36th in the nation.
Mike Kenyon - Kenyon came away with two All-American awards for his efforts at the National Indoor Championships meet. The first was for a fourth place finish as part of the school record-breaking 4x400m relay team. The second was for his performance in the 400m. Kenyon is now in place to repeat his feats at the outdoor championships as he is provisionally qualified in both.
Omar Ojeda- The UA junior swept all three diving events at the 2001 Pacific 10 Championships. Ojeda then went on to take first place in the 1- and 3- meter events at the 2001 Zone E Diving Championships before placing second at the 2001 NCAA Championships while breaking four school records.
Tom Prindiville - Prindiville, one of UA's top distance runners, was a testament to hard work throughout the 2000 season. Though the junior started the season as the team's No. 6 runner, Prindiville found himself toward the top of the Wildcats' rankings by the end of the season.
Joe Tafoya - At season's end, it was hard to find a bright spot on a team that lost its final five regular-season games en route to its head coach's resignation. Tafoya, a senior defensive end, was named the team's Player of the Year after a season in which he logged 18 tackles for a loss and six sacks. In a season in which the offense constantly sputtered, Tafoya was the anchor of UA's trademark "double-eagle flex" defense.
