KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman forward Andre Iguodala puts up a shot for the Wildcats earlier this season. Iguodala will be expected to take a leadership role on next years team.

Men ready for youth movement, women set to return as contenders

If last season's men's basketball team can be defined by its seniors, next year's squad can be characterized by its youth.

No seniors are expected to play a major role during the 2003-2004 season, but that doesn't mean expectations won't be as high as they were a year ago, when the top ranked Wildcats were expected to take home the title, but fell to Kansas in the Elite Eight.

"The talent will be there," said UA head coach Lute Olson of his 21st Wildcat team. "Now it's just a matter of where we come up with the leadership."

There are plenty of candidates to fill the leadership void left by Jason Gardner, Luke Walton and Rick Anderson ÷ Channing Frye, Andre Iguodala, Salim Stoudamire, Isaiah Fox and Hassan Adams, to name a few.

But don't count out incoming point guard Mustafa Shakur, either. Remember Mike Bibby in 1997?

"With the team next year, the biggest single question mark that I would have is: Who are the guys who will step up like (the seniors) did to provide the leadership?" Olson said. "That will be seen through the spring, summer and fall as to who can think team like those guys. There was never a thing I heard about individual stats. Everything was about the team. That will be the No. 1 challenge to us as a staff."

With eight letterwinners coming back after last season's 28 wins, Arizona could return 52.5 percent (3,413 of 6,500) of the minutes played, 54.5 percent (1,485 of 2,725) of the points scored and 57.4 percent (788 of 1,374) of the rebounds.

But the Wildcats depth at the forward position could be lacking if McDonald's All-American Ndudi Ebi picks the NBA over Arizona. Last week Ebi declared himself

eligible for the NBA draft but didn't sign with an agent.

÷ Maxx Wolfson

Women's hoops looks to build on success of last year

The 2002-03 women's basketball team had one of its best seasons in the program's history, finishing second in the Pacific-10 Conference regular season and postseason tournament. The team won 22 games, the third most wins in a season in the history of the program.

Despite the strong Pac-10 showing, the team's postseason push ended on a sour note, when the Wildcats were upset by Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The disappointing loss could just add more incentive to the up-and-coming Wildcats for next season.

"We had a very good season," said head coach Joan Bonvicini. "We felt we were a (much) better team than what we showed (in the NCAA tournament). For our team it was definitely a learning experience, one that we will take and remember and definitely build on and be a motivating factor."

Arizona will come into next season after losing just two seniors, even though both were starters. Guard Julie Brase and forward Krista Warren are graduating this spring, leaving two holes at the forward position and two-guard.

The Wildcats will be looking to fill the void with some key players off the bench and three highly-touted recruits.

The biggest of the three recruits is Shannon Hopson, who is expected to come in and contribute right away. She was an All-State player from Perris, Calif. and could help fill the spot left by Warren.

"(She) could be a good compliment to (Shawntinice) Polk," said Bonvicini. "That is a position that will have a lot of competition."

The Wildcats also added two smaller players, with forward Rachael Schein and guard Linda Pace. Both could come in and add extra depth to a team ready to improve on last season's effort.