CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona's Salim Stoudamire (20) drives to the basket over Oregon State's David Lucas (30) during the Wildcat's 80-65 win over Oregon State in January.

UA head coach Lute Olson may be looking to bring home his second national championship ring this April, but reports yesterday say that Olson may be ready to add a different kind of ring to his collection.

Reports by the Pittsburgh Tribune stated that Olson proposed to Christine Toretti in Kansas City, Mo., on Jan. 25 after the Wildcats' win over Kansas.

UA sports information director Richard Paige said that a press conference is set for 10:30 this morning to address the rumors.

The Tribune reported that Olson met Toretti, a trustee of the NCAA Foundation, last year in Atlanta at a dinner party during the weekend of the Final Four.

UA assistant coach Josh Pastner said he couldn't comment on the report, but noted his care and admiration for his mentor.

"I love coach Olson, I just love the guy," Pastner said. "He is the absolute best. If he is happy then I am happy, but that's all i can say right now."

Olson's late wife Bobbi died on Jan. 1, 2001 following a long battle with ovarian cancer.

Loss of Latimore may hurt team in practice situations

For the first time since sophomore Dennis Latimore left the UA men's basketball team last week, UA head coach Lute Olson talked about his importance to the team ÷ or lack thereof.

"It's not going to affect us at all," Olson said. "With Luke Walton back now, we are playing him at four (power forward), and that really has cut back on his minutes."

Latimore, who is back at school in Arizona, is trying to finish his coursework in 3.5 years and start early on a master's degree, according to Olson.

One area where Olson said the loss of Latimore might affect the team is in practice.

"It could really hurt in a practice situation, but Chris Dunn (redshirt) has played great for our scout team," Olson said. "I really do hate to see him leave."

Former UA assistant and current Oregon State head coach Jay John said he was surprised to hear that Latimore, a player he helped recruit and coach, left the team.

"He is a good kid and not selfish," John said. "The fact that he got to the point where he had to leave the team to be happy is disappointing."

Clutch Stoudamire doing it at both ends

Salim Stoudamire is making a claim this season that he is one of the best clutch shooters in the Pacific-10 Conference.

In Pac-10 play Stoudamire is shooting 49 percent from the field and 47 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Olson said he is happy Stoudamire was named Pac-10 Player of the Week, but said he has been just as pleased with Stoudamire's play defensively.

"Salim was a clutch player for us over the weekend, and he deserved to be named player of the week," Olson said. "As good as he has been offensively, he has been just as good defensively."

Over the weekend, Stoudamire had the task of guarding Pac-10 Player of the Year candidates Joe Shipp (California) and Julius Barnes (Stanford).

Shipp finished with 17 points, but did most of his damage in the first half while Stoudamire spent most of the time on the bench in foul trouble.

Stoudamire began the game against Stanford on Matt Lottich ÷Lottich scored 23 points in Arizona's first matchup against Stanford ÷ but with Barnes penetrating to the basket at ease, Stoudamire switched onto Barnes.

Barnes was held to 14 points on 4-of-21 shooting.

Pac-10 honor has no clear front runner

With the Pac-10 season coming to a close this weekend, the race for Conference Player of the Year is up for grabs.

With the award voted upon by the conference coaches, Olson said many votes will be split if they decide to vote for a Wildcat.

"I think that the votes for our players will be watered down," Olson said. "I feel that the MVP of the conference should come from the conference champion. Winning the conference shows the true value of that player. Not everyone agrees with me."

Senior point guard Jason Gardner has been the stable force for the Wildcats this season, averaging 14.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in conference play.

"To me, the player of the year is Jason Gardner, but I might be a little biased," John said. "He just holds the team together."

Gardner said the race for the Pac-10 honor is a close one, but that it doesn't concern him.

"I don't know who is the front runner," Gardner said. "It's a tough call. On our team, a lot of people have equal numbers, and other teams have players that score 25 a night. Some of our guys could go to other teams and score that many points. It's just hard to pick."

Arenas pays former team unexpected visit

Golden State Warrior starting point guard and former Wildcat Gilbert Arenas stopped by the Wildcats' hotel while they were in the Bay Area over the weekend.

Olson said Arenas has made it a point to visit UA as much as possible since leaving two years ago.

This summer, Arenas becomes a free agent and is expected to be one of the most sought-after young players available.

"It was really great to see him," Olson said. "The first thing I asked him was if I could take out a low interest loan. I heard he may be an eight-million-dollar-a-year man."

Brett Fera contributed to this report.