Perhaps someday there will be a single word that can do justice to what Reggie Geary means to the Arizona men's basketball team.

In his four years in Tucson, Geary has been a recruiter, distributor, communicator, defender and competitor. But those words seem to fall short in describing what this senior brings to the table each and every night. Until a new word comes along, the best anyone can do is simply call him "leader."

Despite his protests against the idea, this year's edition of the Wildcats is his team. He is, to call to mind another Reggie, the straw that stirs the drink.

Geary, who will make his last rounds at McKale Center tomorrow and Saturday, leads the team with 6.8 assists, good for second in the Pacific 10 Conference. He has become a consistent scoring threat with a 10.1 average. His defense, as it has been since he first stepped on the court four years ago, is above reproach. He is tied for third in the conference with 2.1 steals, first among active players on the Wildcat team with 16 blocks and draws the opponent's toughest perimeter player every night.

But those numbers, like most words, do not show the importance of the 6-foot-2, 187-pound Geary. His presence on the court - the graphic facial expressions and his "verbal ability" as he calls it - is what makes him such a valuable player. It's not restricted to basketball either. Freshman Jason Terry even listened when Geary told him how to stand for the team picture back in October.

"From the first day he stepped on the court," UA head coach Lute Olson said, measuring his words slowly, "he has been a natural leader."

But Geary had been a leader before that. UA assistant coach Jessie Evans told of when the Wildcats were trying to recruit Geary out of Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) High School. Geary, Joe McLean and Corey Williams were brought in on the same weekend for a recruiting trip, and Geary, who had already tipped Evans off to his bent toward Arizona, spent the time trying to bring McLean and Williams to Tucson with him. The three of them now make up 60 percent of the UA starting lineup.

"He got the guys to come play with him," Evans said. "He said, 'We're going to come here and we're going to win.' He knew he wanted to play with those guys, and he was instrumental in getting them there."

Confidence and personality like that are crucial if you're going to survive the scrutiny that accompanies playing on a top-10 team and manning the position - point guard - that has sent three players to the NBA (Steve Kerr, Damon Stoudamire and Khalid Reeves) and one to baseball's American League (Kenny Lofton) in the last ten years.

Before this season, Geary's talent and consistency was being doubted, and many in the media wondered out loud whether he was good enough to run the point. But five months later, Geary has silenced just about everyone with his solid play.

"It's just me having confidence in myself and my teammates and coaches having confidence in me," said Geary, who will graduate with a political science degree at the end of the summer. He's not kidding about the confidence. During his freshman year in preseason drills, he tangled with all-everything senior forward Chris Mills, showing he had no intention of backing down from anyone.

"The way he's handled himself this last year has been how he has handled life," said senior forward Corey Williams, whom Geary met at a Nike camp before coming to Arizona. "Hard work makes up for a lot. A lot of people had doubts, but he's done as good as anyone at continuing the team's success."

"Nothing he does on a basketball court surprises me," Evans said, who had recruited Geary since the 10th grade. "He is such a fierce competitor."

While one of Geary's trademarks has been his "verbal skills" on the court, those skills are usually directed at opposing players. As a senior, however, Geary still talks, but now it's to guys wearing the same uniform.

"I've just placed the focus in a different area," Geary said. "I don't talk as much to other players and refs, now it's to the team, giving words of encouragement and instruction."

Suspended Arizona senior center Joseph Blair said Geary's new level of maturity is evident in all areas of his game.

"Honestly, I think he's the same player he was when he got here, a tenacious defender who plays hard," he said, "but he's matured a lot as a defender and a player and has stepped it up in his senior year."

As for the future, who knows? Geary would love to play in the NBA, but he is going in with his eyes wide open.

"I have options in life. I'm not a basketball person, I'm just a person who plays basketball," he said. "I'm articulate and intelligent. Hopefully, there'll be a place for me."

In the end, perhaps it's fitting that Geary - one of those rare players whose contributions are always prefaced with the words "what he does doesn't show up in the box score" - will probably be remembered more for his presence than for any one play or game. To limit him to that would not do him justice.