Andre Iguodala's prospects of returning to the Wildcat men's basketball squad are "50-50," head coach Lute Olson said during his season-ending press conference yesterday in McKale Center.
Olson said he would like Iguodala, voted MVP by his teammates, to decide as soon as possible whether he will stay at Arizona or declare for the NBA draft. Olson even set an Easter weekend ÷ April 9-11 ÷ deadline when he would like to know.
"I want to know if he's strongly thinking about going or if he's strongly thinking about staying," Olson said. "I don't like to be at a toss-up."
Olson addressed a number of issues during the conference, including the team's lack of a go-to player down the stretch this season and the development of the team's returning players during the upcoming offseason. The 69-year-old Hall of Famer also stressed the importance of junior forward Isaiah Fox's return to the lineup.
His greatest concern, however, was the status of Iguodala, whose decision will ultimately affect both the team's recruiting in the upcoming months and its lineup at the start of organized practice in October.
Iguodala finished fourth on the team in scoring while leading the team in assists, steals and rebounds during Arizona's tumultuous 20-10 season.
Olson said Iguodala's potential departure and Isaiah Fox's return from knee surgery could open up the three spot for sophomore swingman Hassan Adams, the Wildcats' leading scorer this season at 17.2 points per game.
"The great thing about Hassan is he's going to play wherever you feel he can help the team. He's about winning," Olson said of the 6-foot-4 Adams, who also collected 7.3 rebounds per game in starting all but two games at the power forward spot.
Olson said it's possible Adams could still see more time at small forward even if Iguodala returns, with the integration of Fox and incoming forward Mohamed Tangara into the UA rotation. He said there's no way to tell at this point.
"We're going to have to see once we see (Adams) in the fall," Olson said. "The good thing is that he's able to go wherever we need him."
Olson said that despite Adams' consistent productivity this season, having the sophomore playing out of position was a major factor in Arizona's inability to advance past the NCAA Tournament's first round. Adams replaced Fox in the power forward spot for much of the season.
Olson cited the lack of depth and the lack of specific leadership as the main reasons the Wildcats stumbled to a 10-9 record down the stretch after opening the season 10-1.
"The biggest problem was the fact that we had only two juniors and no seniors, other than walk-on types. They were freshmen and sophomores. We needed maturity; we needed a leader," Olson said. "The loss of Isaiah was a much larger loss than we anticipated.
"Isaiah would have made a huge difference in that area and as a leader. Isaiah would have surfaced as one of the leaders. The guys really like him. He's well thought of; he works hard."
Olson said Fox's return and the expected emergence of point guard Mustafa Shakur as a leader should do wonders for the team next season.
Olson added that he will expect shooting guard Salim Stoudamire to do more than just score points and hit the outside jumper.
"Salim can help in a lot of ways other than scoring. He can be a good passer. He's obviously our best defender. But in his growth, he just needs to recognize that he can help the team in a lot of different ways," Olson said.
"He was disappointed in his year, as I was," said Olson of Stoudamire, who was suspended one game late in the season for conduct detrimental to the team. "What I was disappointed (with) was the fact that he let his shooting affect how he viewed the game."
Olson said looking back to recent Wildcat teams has helped him realize why this year's squad struggled, and has also given him insight into what the team needs come next season.
"The thing that was obvious that was missing was someone like Luke (Walton) or Jason (Gardner) ÷ someone who could just sort of take over when we got to the final three minutes," he said. "This year, we just didn't have anyone who was consistent in that kind of a role for us."