Citizen Staff Writer
By STEVE RIVERA
srivera@tucsoncitizen.com
SEATTLE – It’s no surprise that former Arizona guard J.P. Prince is going to play closer to home, choosing to attend Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., for the spring semester.
Prince is from Memphis, Tenn.
The Citizen earlier reported that would be the likely scenario when he left UA on Dec. 19. Vanderbilt was his second choice to Arizona in the recruiting process.
In an interview with The (Nashville) Tennessean, Prince said he’ll petition the NCAA for a medical redshirt season. He was hit by a virus late in the spring semester last year and didn’t recover this past fall. He played just 17 minutes for UA in three games. He averaged 1.0 point and 1.0 assist a game.
The paper quoted Prince as saying he was in contact with “many SEC schools and a couple of other schools” before settling on Vanderbilt.
He declined to say what the other schools were.
Happy at home
Arizona sophomore Marcus Williams had another solid game in his return to Seattle, his hometown. He went 10 for 14 with three rebounds. He finished with 22 points.
After the game he met with a number of friends and family.
“It was a crazy game,” Williams said. “Both teams shot lights out. It’s a rivalry that’s good. We’re happy to walk out of here with a win.”
Williams had 16 points last year in Seattle.
“I was a crowd favorite,” he joked.
Brielmaier out
UA’s Bret Brielmaier injured his right knee in the morning shoot-around. He said it was a sprain, but he’ll return to Tucson today to get an MRI.
Olson said Brielmaier won’t be available for at least three weeks.
UA as No. 2 seed
On ESPN.com’s Bracketology on Wednesday – an unscientific look at the NCAA Tournament – Arizona was a No. 2 seed in the West, playing in Sacramento, Calif. UCLA was the No. 1 seed. UA didn’t hurt its seed after its win.
Old friend on hand
Jack Murphy, who worked for UA for nearly 10 years in the basketball office before leaving in September, is with the Denver Nuggets in the video department. He’s also been given scouting duties and scouted the UA-UW game.
NOTABLE
Cheers: To UA, for shooting a season-high 65.3 percent.
Jeers: Only that the game had to end.
Player of the game: UA’s Jawann McClellan hit six 3-pointers in nine attempts and finished with 22 points.