Olson takes recruiting on the road

Arizona Wildcat File Photo Head Coach Lute Olson will be traveling to two camps this summer in search of new recruits.

With the recruiting season at hand, UA's men's basketball coach

Lute Olson has turned his attention toward maintaining the best college basketball record in the last 10 years.

"Recruiting is the biggest part of success because you need good people on the floor," Olson said.

Olson, and assistant coaches Jim Rosborough and Phil Johnson, will travel to two camps this week to evaluate 200 of the country's best high school basketball players, who will attempt to prove that they are worthy of a scholarship.

With the departure of former assistant coach Jessie Evans to Southwest Louisiana State University, assistant coach Johnson will travel with Olson and Rosborough to the two camps to help evaluate players.

The two camps are the main resources for coaches during the July evaluation period, beginning yesterday and running through the end of the month.

The two week-long camps, in Indiana and New Jersey, provide coaches from around the country with an opportunity to see the recruits perform against other college-level players.

Olson said that he will look for "two wing players and an inside presence" to replace seniors Michael Dickerson, Miles Simon and Bennett Davison, whose eligibility will run out after next season.

Olson also said he will look at point guards to insure that a possible early departure to the NBA by sophomore Mike Bibby does not leave the team short handed.

The Wildcats have already signed one player, 6-foot-8-inch forward Dion Broom, from Mesa Westwood High School, Mesa.

Broom's health is a question right now, though, after tearing a ligament in his knee during his senior season.

Broom told the Arizona Daily Wildcat in April that his rehabilitation was going well and that he still hopes to make a significant contribution to the Wildcats next season.

As to what kind of player Olson will look for, he said: "We want the quickest guy we can find."

Johnson said the team is also in need of thickness and size to complement 222-pound junior A.J. Bramlett, 255-pound Broom, and junior Donnell Harris and sophomore Eugene Edgerson, both of whom weigh 210 pounds.

Olson said a player must possess two qualities outside of physical athleticism in order to be offered a scholarship.

First, said Olson, a player must be able to succeed academically.

Second, a player must have a good character so the team chemistry will not be negatively effected.

"We don't recruit jerks," he said.

While Olson wants a player who can succeed in the classroom, he will not shy away from a player with talent who has not yet met NCAA minimum academic requirements.

This was the case last year with Stephen Jackson, a 6-foot-8-inch forward out of Oak Hill Academy, in Virginia, who signed a letter of intent to play for the Wildcats but could not meet the NCAA minimum required mixture of grades and standardized test sco res.

Jackson was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 43rd pick in last week's NBA draft.

Olson said that if another player of Jackson's caliber wanted to sign with the Wildcats, but had not yet qualified academically, he would not hesitate to sign him.

After deciding what players to recruit, the coaches must find a way to convince them to choose Arizona instead of other top programs like UCLA, North Carolina and Kentucky.

Johnson said the coaches "do some homework" and promote particular university programs that coincide with a player's interests.

Olson said coaches tend to have more success recruiting players from their own geographical location. For the Wildcats this means trying to sign the top players out of Arizona, as well as California, Washington, Oregon and parts of Texas and New Mexico.

The only player on the Wildcats not from any of these states is Edgerson, who is from Louisiana.

The only senior to leave last year's team was reserve-guard Jason Lee, leaving only one spot for a new recruit.

With sophomores Ortege Jenkins and Justin Wessel healthy again after injuries last season, the Wildcat's are loaded with guards - returning seven from last year.

And with Bramlett, Harris, Davison and Edgerson filling the post, any recruit who signs with Arizona, barring an injury, should realize there will be little playing time next season.