DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat After an influx of talented freshmen came to the program, many thought senior forward and tri-captain Rick Anderson's starting position was in question entering this season. Anderson silenced the doubters with 14 points and 12 rebounds against EA Sports All-Stars last week.

After returning to practice on Saturday, senior forward Luke Walton said yesterday that his sprained ankle is back to 95 percent and he will start tomorrow against the Nike Elite team.

"For the most part, (the ankle) felt good," Walton said. "I was a little more winded than I should be, but my conditioning will come back in the next day or two in practice."

Olson is just happy to have one of his floor leaders back.

"We expect that we will see a little zone out of (the Nike Elite team), and Luke becomes really important for us to find the gaps in the zone," Olson said.

Sophomore guard Salim Stoudamire has a return date of Thursday and is even likely to see some action on Saturday against Western Kentucky.

Stoudamire, who has a high ankle sprain and has been unable to practice full court for almost a month now, has still been able to shoot around and condition with basketball trainer Justin Kokoskie.

But Olson said he wants to make sure that he doesn't rush Stoudamire back too early if his ankle is not ready.

Early reports out of Western Kentucky are that senior All-American Chris Marcus will not play against UA on Saturday.

The 7-foot-1, 285-pound center is still bothered by an ankle stress fracture in his left foot and has been limited to riding a bike during practices.

Marcus, a potential NBA lottery pick, was sidelined for 17 games last season with the same injury.

"We will be disappointed if he does not play, because that is something we were looking forward to once we got the schedule last year," sophomore Isaiah Fox said. "I know that he is supposed to be a lottery pick, and it would be nice to play against him."

With freshmen Hassan Adams and Andre Iguodala coming into Arizona in the fall, many thought that senior Rick Anderson would be the odd man out in the starting lineup.

So far, Anderson has proved everyone wrong.

"I think he has been hearing things all fall about how good the freshmen guys are and whether he is able to hold his spot or not," Olson said. "I think it's motivated him to go that much harder."

Anderson had a double-double last week against the EA Sports All-Stars, finishing with a team-high 12 rebounds and 14 points.

But if Anderson wants to stay in the starting lineup, Olson said he knows what he has to do.

"He knows that defense will hold his future because there is no question about his offensive ability," Olson said. "Defensively, he has been working really hard and he has been a constant factor on the boards."