O'Hara leaves men's basketball roster to focus on football
The No. 7 Arizona men's basketball team may finally be ready to start firing on all cylinders after completing what appears to be its final roster change of the season.
Forward Ryan O'Hara left the team earlier this week to return to his signal-calling duties with the Arizona football team, following a nine-game stint with the UA hoops squad.
The 6-foot-6 O'Hara first joined the basketball team in early December after junior Isaiah Fox's injury in the team's second game left the Wildcat front line lacking practice depth.
"We really owe Ryan. He came at a time when we were really down in numbers," said associate head coach Jim Rosborough. "He helped us a great deal with the scout team, getting us ready for games."
O'Hara saw 12 minutes of action in six games with the basketball team. The Wildcats' only loss with the sophomore quarterback on the roster was Saturday's 82-72 home defeat at the hands of a top-five Stanford squad.
Rosborough said that O'Hara was only expected to be with the team a short time because of his football obligations, but that the team appreciates how seriously he took his role.
"His future, of course, is with the football team, but during his time you could actually see improvement," Rosborough said of O'Hara, who lettered for four years in both football and basketball during high school in Southern California. "He did a great job there and was a very, very good team member."
Rosborough said the Wildcat roster is set, adding that the team won't have any additional roster changes this season, after making four significant moves last semester.
Arizona first lost the services of Chris Dunn, who ultimately enrolled in classes at Pima Community College because of academic reasons, followed by Fox's season-ending leg injury. After adding O'Hara to the practice squad, the Wildcats picked up 6-foot-10 forward Ivan Radenovic, a native of Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro, just five games ago.
"He's a tremendous shooter and very skilled," said assistant coach Josh Pastner. "He knows the game. He helps us in a lot of areas, because he makes room for (junior center Channing Frye). Because you have no choice but to guard him."
Radenovic has been a bright spot in his short time in Tucson, averaging close to 12 points and just over five rebounds per game off the bench.
"Ivan has come in and done a pretty nice job, considering he's been with us for about 10 practices and five games," Pastner said. "We also have to remember he's a freshman, not a 26-year-old senior. He's been thrown into the fire and done very well."
Radenovic has adjusted well off of the court as well, according to Pastner, Radenovic's lead recruiter. Pastner said the language barrier between Radenovic and his teammates and coaches is gradually shrinking.
"Sometimes I talk to him like he's a 3-year-old, and he gets on me and says, 'Josh, I'm not from Mars,'" Pastner said. "Back in his hometown, they lose a game and the fans throw rocks and try to fight you. When we were losing (to Stanford), the fans were chanting 'U-of-A, U-of-A', and that's new to him. He was very appreciative of the support we get here."
"It's a real neat story. It's good for the university and good for him as well," Pastner added.
Radenovic's addition couldn't have come at a better time for the Wildcats, since Fox is sidelined for the season after undergoing surgery last month.
Rosborough said that Fox will preserve a year of eligibility because he is able to take a medical redshirt for this season. He will have two years remaining when he returns next season.
Even if Fox was able to make it back on the court by the start of the NCAA tournament in March, Rosborough said, the UA coaching staff wouldn't want him to play again this season.
"If we bring him back, he'd lose a year. We're counting on him for those next two years."
Rosborough added that the addition of Radenovic definitely bolsters the Wildcats' front line, but said the two are actually different types of players.
"Isaiah is a big brawny body inside, and frankly, we could probably use a big body like that," Rosborough said. "But we now have another kid that can shoot the ball from anywhere on the floor. Ivan fits in very well with how we are playing right now."
With the addition of Radenovic, Rosborough squashed rumors of Dunn returning to the Wildcats this semester.
While he could not comment on whether or not Dunn could become a recruit again in future seasons, Rosborough said that to his understanding, the general rule required community college students to receive an associate's degree prior to joining a program at a four-year school.
With the team's roster movement finally complete, Rosborough said it is now time for the team to focus on winning games, and learning from games like Saturday's convincing 10-point Stanford win over Arizona.
"The thing that no one has brought up at this point, which is interesting to me, is that they must not have played pretty well that particular day, and we didn't play well Saturday," Rosborough said, recalling Stanford's bullet-dodging 1-point win at Arizona State two days before the UA game. "For whatever reason - and I don't know what it is - good teams can just play bad on any given day."
"Our job is to get this one behind us, though," he added. "It's a marathon, not a sprint.