In its recent history, the Arizona - Arizona State basketball rivalry hasn't compared to that of its football counterpart.

The football players use words like "hate" and "kill" when talking about the other team in what is one of the nation's oldest rivalries. But when it comes down to basketball, things have been tame between the two schools that meet tonight in McKale Center at 7:30.

With Arizona winning 14 of the last 15 games, some didn't even consider the series a rivalry. But that all changed last year with a scuffle in the second game that left ASU guard Kyle Dodd ejected after an altercation with UA forward Luke Walton, this after the Sun Devils burned the Wildcats 88-72 in Tempe a year ago tomorrow. [Read article]

The typical UA student just drinks Red Bull energy drink but doesn't endorse it. Amanda Beard, though, is not your typical UA student.

Beard owns four Olympic Medals from the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, including a gold in the 400-meter medley relay in the Atlanta games and two NCAA national championships in the 200-meter breaststroke in two years of being on the UA swimming team. After the two seasons, she turned professional in 2001, giving up her college eligibility. [Read article]

Assistant coach gives insight on top-ranked Arizona hoops

Josh Pastner, a former UA basketball player and member of the 1997 national championship team, is now a full-time assistant coach with the team. Pastner has been with the Arizona program since 1996 and has worked his way from player, to undergraduate assistant, to the video and recruiting coordinator, and now to his current post. [Read article]

Sport: Basketball
Position: Point Guard
Year: Sophomore
Major: Pre-Education

Why Wheeler Won: Wheeler was named Pacific-10 Conference player of the week for her play against UCLA and USC. She averaged 25 points and seven rebounds in the Wildcats' two wins. Last season's Pac-10 Freshman of the Year shot a blazing 64.5 percent from the field and 70 percent from behind the arc. This was Wheeler's first player of the week award in her second season with UA. [Read article]

Sophomore guard Will Bynum's recent departure for Georgia Tech was predicted by some, yet still surprising to others. That aside, the fact is that this is not an anomaly for the UA men's hoops program.

Currently, Including Bynum, four former Wildcats circulate among the college ranks.

That means that four high school studs that Lute's staff spent hours with, making recruiting trips, phone calls, offering scholarships and enticing with the thought of championships, are looming at other schools, not even taking a second glance back. It doesn't concern them that while the NCAA forces the UA, and every other member institution, to honor their commitments to student-athletes, those athletes themselves have no true obligation to the school that took a chance on them. [Read article]