One barometer for judging the success of a college basketball program is the amount of players a school sends to the NBA. All told, 39 former Wildcats have played in the NBA and ABA. This season, there are 10 ex-‘Cats are competing among the NBA’s best.

GILBERT ARENAS of the Washington Wizards. Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE

GILBERT ARENAS

(AKA Agent Zero, the Hibachi)

WILDCAT YEARS: 1999-00 to 2000-2001

15.8 PPG

NBA CAREER: 10th season, 22.7 PPG

Golden State Warriors (2), Washington Wizards (8)

HOW IT ENDED: Loss to Duke in 2001 NCAA Finals

THE SKINNY: When not injured or suspended, the Hibachi — a three-time all-star — can be one of the hottest shooters in the league.

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JERRYD BAYLESS of the New Orleans Hornets. Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

 

JERRYD BAYLESS

WILDCAT YEARS: 2007-08

19.7 PPG

NBA CAREER: 3rd Season, 6.5 PPG

Portland Trailblazers (2)

New Orleans Hornets (1)

HOW IT ENDED: First round exit to West Virginia

THE SKINNY: Sitting behind perennial all-star Chris Paul on the Hornets’ depth chart at guard doesn’t help Bayless’ playing time.

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Bear Down…and Blog!

Current and former University of Arizona athletes are always making news and not always in traditional mediums. We scoured the Internet and found Wildcats online by visiting these lynx

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(WILD)CAT-PHISHING

Reaching out to Wildcat Nation through alternate mediums:

We Tweeted University of Arizona Athletic Director Greg Byrne after allegations arose about former Wildcat Rob Waldrop accepting money from retired agent Josh Luchs.

@AtPressTime: “Greg, what steps does the UA take to prevent current athletes from such temptations?

@GregByrne: “You have to have consistent education and interaction with SA’s and compliance. Also coaches have to stay aware.”

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PHOTO

Bobcat on Bobcat Crime

Richard Jefferson throws down a dunk while another Wildcat hoops star, Jordan Hill watches on during the Spurs and Rockets final tune-up for the NBA season opener this week. Soobum Im-US PRESSWIRE

 The NBA tipped-off its season this week, which means that the summer vacation is over and it’s back to work for 10 former Wildcats.

Among the ex-Arizona basketball players taking to the hardwood this season is Richard Jefferson of the San Antonio Spurs and Jordan Hill of the Houston Rockets.

Gilbert Arenas, Washington Wizards; Jerryd Bayless, New Orleans Hornets; Mike Bibby, Atlanta Hawks; Chase Budinger, Houston Rockets; Channing Frye, Phoenix Suns; Jordan Hill, Houston Rockets; Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia 76ers; Richard Jefferson, San Antonio Spurs; Jason Terry, Dallas Mavericks; and Luke Walton, Los Angeles Lakers

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THOUGHTS: Go out to former Wildcat player and Pima Community College assistant coach Brenda Frese, who informed reporters at Tuesday’s University of Maryland media day that her 2-year-old son has begun treatment for Leukemia. Frese has turned around the once moribund women’s basketball program, guiding the Terps to the 2006 NCCA title.

Said Frese via Twitter:

“So many have reached out to our family recently. I could spend all day & night thanking each of you. We’re very touched by the support. THX!” 

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TWITTER

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“just because your not ready, doesn’t mean the person that your gonna wanna settle for, is gonna want to settle for yu.”

- Solomon Hill, the wise guru of the Arizona basketball program.

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“Learning to play two positions is tougher than I thought.”

- Kevin Parrom contemplating the life of a guard/forward.

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“Imma start investing in 5hoyr energy shots”

- Wildcat wide receiver Dan Buckner in need of a boost.

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“Culling the thoughts that occur when you’re standing around waiting for something to happen”

How do you suppose former University of Arizona Wildcat Richard Jefferson and his teammates feel about the recent photo of Mexican drug cartel kingpin Sergio Villarreal Barragan being arrested on Sept. 10 proudly wearing a San Antonio Spurs T-shirt?

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The NHL preseason is underway and if you’re anything like me you…well, you also probably hadn’t noticed.

It seems like just yesterday the Chicago Blackhawks were hoisting the Stanley Cup, 10 days before the Los Angeles Lakers did an Irish jig on the Boston Celtics’ NBA Finals dreams.

Well, the boys of winter are back — despite the fact that Los Angeles hit  a record high 113 degrees today.

Off-seasons appear to be shrinking in the big-dollar game of sports. How much of a hiatus do we actually get to ease out of our post-title hangovers?

On average? About 100 days.

SEASON FINALE     .     TRAINING CAMP BEGAN     .     DAYS

NHL     June 9     Sept. 17     100

NBA     June 17     Sept. 27     102

MLB     Nov. 4     Feb. 15     103

NFL     Feb. 7     July 23     166*

*Mini camp after 75 days

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David Aardsma recently picked up his 30 save of the season for the Seattle Mariners.

I’ll never forget my first encounter with the closer when he pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 2007.

Aardsma was in the Sox’ spring training office in Tucson and using a copy machine.

All I could think was “what the heck does a baseball player need to make copies of?”

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