AMY WINKLER/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona senior golfer Ricky Barnes begins his backswing earlier this season at The Raven. Barnes' 10th-place finish led the Wildcats to a fifth-place team finish this weekend in Tempe at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational.

Olson completes his 2002 recruiting class

The final piece of Lute Olson's 2002 recruiting class was signed Saturday, completing what the coach calls maybe the best three-man class during his tenure at UA.

Andre Iguodala made a verbal commitment to Arizona and signed the necessary scholarship paperwork to attend the school and play basketball. Iguodala will report to the school in the fall of 2002, but it's not yet sure whether or not he will play basketball or take the year off.

"He's a great competitor and an excellent defender," said Olson. "It's obvious from his statistics that Andre is a solid all-around basketball player. We are very pleased to have him in our program. He is outstanding in all areas."

He originally signed a letter-of-intent to play at Arkansas but with the dismissal of head coach Nolan Richardson, he rescinded his commitment.

Iguodala received a qualified release from Arkansas after Richardson left, meaning he would only have to sit out one year of the usual two-year penalty. He has filed an appeal with the National Letter of Intent's steering committee in an attempt to become eligible immediately. No decision has been made yet.

Iguodala is the final piece of the 2002 recruiting class as he joins Hassan Adams (Westchester High School in Los Angeles) and Chris Rodgers (Woodrow Wilson High School in Portland, Ore.), who signed in the fall.

"With the addition of Andre, I believe the class we have coming in may be the highest-rated three-man class we've ever had," said Olson. "All three are second- or third-team Parade All-Americans who will add considerably to what we have returning and give us some size on the perimeter."

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound forward from Springfield, Ill., is ranked as the nation's No. 17 small forward by recruitingusa.com.

Iguodala, who prepped at Lamphier High School, is a multi-dimensional player with the ability to play both inside and out. He was a second-team Parade All-America selection and is rated as the No. 73 overall recruit in the nation by HoopScoop magazine.

He is also an outstanding student, and has become one of the leading candidates for Illinois Mr. Basketball. He averaged 23.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game this season for coach Craig Patton while helping Lamphier to a 32-2 overall record and a runner-up finish in the state tournament. He was a first-team all-state pick by the Associated Press as a senior and helped the Lions to a No. 2 state ranking for much of the 2001-02 season.

Men's golf posts lowest score of season to finish fifth

The Arizona men's golf team tied for fifth place Saturday at the ASU Thunderbird/Savane Invitational after posting its lowest tournament total of the season with a team score of 19-under-par.

The Wildcats' mark of 845 was eight strokes lower than their previous tourney best and ranked as the eighth-lowest team total in the event's history. Arizona improved 16 strokes on its team score from the previous weekend's U.S. Collegiate Championships in Tucson, when the team finished second.

Despite its second-straight strong outing, UA tied with Texas Christian University, one spot behind Pacific 10 Conference foe Oregon.

Texas won its second Arizona tourney in a week with a 32-under-par 832. Host team Arizona State and Pepperdine rounded out the top three at second and third place, respectively.

UA junior Ricky Barnes finished 10th with a season-low 209, bolstered by a final round of a 2-under-par 70. Sophomore Chris Nallen followed up his career-best second-place finish in Tucson with a 19th-place finish in Tempe.

Freshman Kipp Riehle was the third Wildcat to finish under par individually with a 1-under 215.

The Wildcats will now begin preparation for the Pac-10 Conference Championships April 22-24 in Corvallis, Ore.