Jeff Lund

They deserved better.

It shouldn't have ended in Anaheim. It was New Orleans or bust. And why not? There was no reason to believe this trio would be denied yet again. Not with all the talent, not after all the dedication and devotion.

Once again, the three seniors that embodied everything that Arizona basketball stands for felt heartache.

In 1999 Luke Walton and Rick Anderson fell as a No. 5 seed to Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The next year, as a freshman, Jason Gardner was force-fed his first disappointment as point guard of a top seed in the second round to Wisconsin.

The following season was supposed to be theirs. The talent returned, the drive was there. In the end, the taste was the same, this time in the national championship game.

Their hearts were broken, along with Walton's thumb, but that all healed. There were two more chances.

Unranked, the trio kept Arizona on the title brink in a season reserved for rebuilding. The three didn't buy into it and made any team that underestimated their heart, pay.

By the standards of many, a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2002 was a success, but following the loss to Oklahoma, Walton and Gardner sat, heads down, at the post-game conference.

Again, the next year was supposed to be theirs.

The talent again returned, along with an infusion of new faces and legs. The drive, experience, leadership were all there and in the end, so was the same bitter result.

But the careers of these three will not be defined by Anderson's foul trouble Saturday, or by Walton's charge in the waning minutes, and certainly not by Gardner's career ending 3-point attempt inches from pure.

They are not just like all the other seniors who had their careers come to an end during March Madness.

As anyone that has gone to Arizona over the last five years knows, this trio was special.

They were complete players. They defended, hustled, scored, shared and emptied their tanks every time out on the court.

It wasn't about flash. It was simply about basketball.

Walton was not known for his athleticism, neither was Anderson. Gardner was not the best three-point shooter, but the 3-were unrivaled in leadership, character and all the qualities seemingly lost as college basketball is defined more and more by talent, flash and excitement.

There was no reason for head coach Lute Olson to fear disciplinary problems off the court from these three.

They took over practice when coaches were fed up with the team's intensity.

Whenever the team needed a tip, rebound or defensive stop, it was the trio leading the way.

It had obviously rubbed off on the team's freshmen against Kansas. After an up and down first weekend of the tournament, Hassan Adams and Andre Iguodala played with an intensity not seen before.

Anderson, Gardner and Walton got the two to believe that little things make a big difference. A hustle play here and a rebound there make a true team, make a season, and define a career.

The seniors will leave as graduates, not just as players that exhausted their eligibility.

They depart as examples of everything that is right and good with college basketball.

Though never again will Anderson, Gardner and Walton suit up for Olson, a little bit of the three will live on in the next generation of Arizona basketball.

The seniors won't let the underclassmen forget how it felt to unlace three wins short of a national title.

In return, no one who wore an Arizona jersey alongside the trio, nor the fans that packed McKale Center or watched from home will ever forget either.