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19 Arizona
Team Page | 2001-2002 Schedule
| Roster
These Wildcats are young, but they've proved they're ready for the big
time
By Albert Lin
| |
In only his second college game Fox pulled down eight rebounds to help
Arizona, with five freshmen contributing, upset highly ranked
Florida. Manny Millan |
On Aug. 21, in the early-morning hours following a long first day of school, the
members of Arizona's gem of a recruiting class decided to sneak into the McKale
Center and have an impromptu shootaround. Grabbing some basketballs, the five
freshmen began to talk about the upcoming season and the expectation that the
Wildcats might be in for a tough time, having lost four starters (three with
eligibility remaining) to the NBA draft. "We should be ranked," said
Dennis Latimore, a 6'8" forward. "I can't wait to prove everybody
wrong," chimed in Will Bynum, a 5'10" guard. It didn't take them long.
Last week Arizona, with only two players who saw significant action on last
season's team that went to the NCAA title game, upset a pair of Top 10 teams,
Maryland and
Florida.
It took two seemingly unrelated events on March 29, 1983, for this team to come
together. The first was the introduction that day of Lute Olson, then 48 years
old, as the Wildcats' new coach. Shortly thereafter, five miles away at the
Tucson Medical Center, eight-pound, 15-ounce Isaiah Philip-Francis Fox was born
to Nils Fox, an offensive lineman on the Arizona football team, and his then
wife, Michelle. Eighteen years, 447 wins and one national championship later,
Olson is a coaching legend, and little Isaiah Fox -- who timed his arrival to
Olson's, not emerging until three days after Michelle's water broke -- has
grown into the Wildcats' 6'9", 265-pound freshman starting
center.
While it might seem that Fox was destined to play for Olson, it almost didn't
happen. In October 2000 Arizona secured an oral commitment from Rick Rickert, a
forward from Duluth, Minn., considered one of the top 10 players in the
country, as its fifth and final recruit. Fox was left to choose between
California and Connecticut. But Rickert changed his mind, and on Nov. 13 he
instead signed with Minnesota. Fox had his scholarship. "I had to take a
couple of deep breaths when I got the news," he says. Since arriving on
campus in August, he has dropped 21 pounds and earned the starting job by being
the team's top rebounder in practice. "He has impressed us more than we
might have expected," Olson says of the least heralded of his newcomers.
Joining Fox in the starting lineup is his roommate, Bynum, who scored 16 points
in the upset of Florida. Salim Stoudamire, another Arizona legacy (he's the
cousin of former All-America Damon), comes off the bench and is the Wildcats'
best on-the-ball defender. Latimore and Channing Frye are frontline
reinforcements.
As good as the freshmen already are, Arizona's fortunes rest largely on the play
of its three juniors. Jason Gardner flirted briefly with the NBA, but he's back
and played 79 out of 80 minutes in the two wins last week, totaling 46 points
and nine assists. Luke Walton fills in whatever gaps arise. ("I laugh at
people who say he's a role player," says Florida coach Billy Donovan.) And
Rick Anderson, who redshirted last season, is the Wildcats' top outside shooter;
he scored Arizona's final three buckets in the 75-71 upset of
Florida.
Arizona will no longer surprise opponents. That's fine with the freshmen.
"We look at this as just the beginning," says
Fox.
Issue date: November 19, 2001
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