By
Connor Doyle and Ryan Finley
Arizona Summer Wildcat
Senior center slips to second round in draft, three other Wildcats taken
Leave it to Loren Woods to steal the spotlight even during the off-season.
The 7-foot-1 senior may not have been the first center taken in the draft, but he was the biggest story.
After most analysts predicted that Woods would be taken in the first round - likely by the Orlando Magic with the 15th pick - many were shocked to see the senior go undrafted until the Minnesota Timberwolves took him with the 46th overall pick. The Magic used its first-round pick on DePaul center Steven Hunter instead.
An Eastern Conference official from a team that had a mid-first-round pick, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Woods' back may have been the reason he wasn't picked in the first round.
"We worked him out twice, and we obviously liked his talents, but we had more than one need," the official said. "(And) his back was of some concern because of the two surgeries that he had."
However, that official claims that their team did not hear any rumors about Woods' condition.
"I don't think there were rumors circulating," the official said. "I just think it was a case of teams doing their homework and coming to the same conclusion."
Jim Rosborough, UA's associate head coach, also attributes Woods' decline in draft status to concerns about his back, but thinks that there might have been some misinformation spread about the center's health.
"I think it's obvious that teams were concerned about his back," Rosborough said. "If that was the case, then they should have been up front and said it and gotten a hold of his agent. He was down in Orlando for two days and they didn't even ask about the back.
"Loren said to me, 'Maybe the Utah team doctor didn't pass me when I was in Chicago,' but we made all of our medical records accessible. We didn't hear a peep about it. It seems that something must have been said."
Rosborough also stated that as far as he knew, Woods didn't fail any of his physicals and was even given a clean bill of health by the UA doctors who performed the surgery on his back.
Apparently, whatever information being spread about Woods didn't reach Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders.
"At our pick, we were geared to take a big guy," Saunders said in a press conference. "We thought he'd be a low first-round pick, and I think most everybody else did, too. When you get a chance to get a guy (with the 46th pick) that's 7 (foot) 1 and is pretty athletic, I think it was kind of a no-brainer.
UA head coach Lute Olson agreed.
"Everyone I spoke with said that Loren had great workouts," he said in a press conference. "Going to Minnesota will give him a good chance to show what he can do. Most of the guys that come into that organization really seem to improve in his system. Minnesota got a steal in Loren Woods."
Thankfully for Richard Jefferson, his draft-day experience went a little smoother.
The 6-foot-7 swing man was taken with the No.12 pick by the Houston Rockets, who then shipped him, along with the rights to former Stanford center Jason Collins and the rights to former Pepperdine guard Brandon Armstrong, to the New Jersey Nets for former Seton Hall forward Eddie Griffin, considered by some to be the best overall player in the draft.
"We really like Richard Jefferson," Nets president Rod Thorn said in a press conference. "We think he's one of the best athletes in the draft. He plays two positions, the two (guard) and the three (guard). He's a tremendous defender."
Jefferson said he saw the trade as a vindication of his talent.
"It's going to show that this team has great faith in me to move a great player like Eddie Griffin to get me and two other players," he said at a press conference after the draft.
Before Woods was picked in the second round, two more Wildcats were selected.
Shooting guard Gilbert Arenas, who was also projected as a first-rounder, was selected with the No. 2 pick in the second round by the Golden State Warriors, where he will join former Michigan State guard Jason Richardson and former Notre Dame forward Troy Murphy, taken with the No. 5 and No. 12 picks, respectively.
"Everybody says the (Los Angeles) Clippers are going to be the team of the future, but we're going to surprise a lot of people," Arenas said when being introduced to Golden State media at a post-draft press conference.
Rosborough said teams showed some concern about Arenas' demeanor, possibly causing him to slip out of the first round.
"We heard from somebody that he needed to get more serious at the camps in Chicago," Rosborough said. "I got wind of it and called his agent right away and told him it was time for Gilbert to buckle down."
Despite the concerns, Rosborough said the Los Angeles native may have the most potential of the four drafted Wildcats.
"In my conversations with people, they asked they asked who I thought would be the best pro," he said. "I said it would be Gilbert. I thought that was the consensus."
Wright, who spent most of last summer playing in New York's Rucker Park, was taken by the New York Knicks with the No. 39 overall pick.
The fit appears natural for the physical forward, whose tough-nosed rebounding skills made him one of UA's most valuable players.
"I think the Knicks have liked him all year - they were scouting him in Maui (during the pre-season Maui Classic)," Rosborough said. "It's a good place for him. If Larry Johnson retires, he can slip in there. I was the most worried about him going in, and now he's one of the two guys I'm the least concerned about."
It will be Woods - who was known as temperamental during his two seasons as a Wildcat - that may be the biggest enigma as he enters his rookie season in the league. Not that the center appears worried.
"I'm potentially the best rookie out there," Woods said in a post-draft press conference. "I'll definitely be (All-Rookie) first team, if not rookie of the year. I'm going to show I'm one of the best players out there."
