RANDY METCALF/Arizona Daily Wildcat

Former UA forward Justin Wessel walks down the court last night as a member of the EA Sports Southwest All-Stars.

How fitting that on homecoming week, one of UA's most recognizable former athletes made his.

Playing without his signature goggles, forward Justin Wessel played in McKale Center one more time, only he was wearing the uniform of the EA Sports Southwest All-Stars, not the blue and red of Arizona.

For four years, Wessel was the guy who did the dirty work for the Wildcats - getting rebounds, making key passes from the post and every so often getting involved in the offense.

Now, he's doing much of the same - albeit with more minutes on the court - with the traveling team that plays 11 colleges in 13 days. Arizona was the third team on their schedule.

Wessel said it was nice to come back to McKale.

"I had a good time out there tonight," he said. "Any time you come back to your alma mater it is always special. The fans here are great."

During the course of and after the game, it was clear that many of the coaches and players were happy to see him again.

"It was fun," junior forward Luke Walton said. "We knew we had to win this game, so we tried to act like we didn't know him."

Towards the end of the game, Walton stole a rebound from Wessel and put it back up for an easy two points. As the two were coming back down the court, they shared a laugh.

"I took it from him, and he said something to me going down the court, and I just gave him a smile," Walton said.

The coaches said little had changed with Wessel's game since his last game in March.

"He played like he did while he was here," associate head coach Jim Rosborough said. "He was very clever, using up and unders and stuff like that. He's a smart kid and I thought he did a good job while he was here and did a good job tonight."

Rosborough also said that when Wessel arrived tonight, he acted like he was still on the team.

"Beforehand he was up in the office, using the phone and all the normal things that Justin does," Rosborough said. "He's always talking a lot of junk. It's just like when he played here."

Head coach Lute Olson said Wessel called him earlier in the week to make a request.

"I talked to Justin earlier in the week, he called to get some extra tickets and that kind of thing," he said. "Justin's always a pleasant guy to see."

For one of the younger players who didn't play with Wessel, the experience was proof that little changes with Olson's gameplan.

"I played against Justin in pickup while he was out here," freshman forward Isiaiah Fox said. "He knew some of the things we were doing, which was to his advantage. It was good playing against him."

For another player on the EA Sports team, it wasn't as much of a homecoming as it was an opportunity to reminisce.

Adam Spanich, who while playing for USC in the 1997-98 season hit a game-winning shot in overtime to defeat the Wildcats - UA's only conference loss that season - made his return to Tucson as well.

"You know, in college I never really played well here, so I wanted to come and have a good game, talk a little to the fans," he said. "To come back to Arizona and play here again, it's always first class. I love playing here."

Olson said Spanich posed the same threat last night that he did with the Trojans four years ago.

"Spanich can flat out shoot the ball," Olson said. "(My players) were told that before we went out tonight, on the scouting report. We had in capital letters next to his name, 'SHOOTER.'"