Make sure to check out our partner site WILDABOUTAZCATS.com for videos of some of these former Wildcats, including an off-beat yet informative interview with Daniel Dillon

Former UA coach Lute Olson recruited 13 current NBA players, including four that are still alive in the NBA playoffs — Mike Bibby, Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton and Channing Frye.

Two of the 13 did not play at Arizona — Brandon Jennings and Stephen Jackson — but they signed national letters of intent. Add to that the 11 other former players who remain active professionally overseas, and that’s at least 24 players who have currently continued their careers after signing with Arizona.

Moreover, ex-UA greats Steve Kerr (Suns general manager and vice president) and Damon Stoudamire (Memphis assistant) remain employed with the NBA.

The legacy that Olson built in the professional ranks is a chore to follow for UA coach Sean Miller, especially in terms of establishing an identity with the NBA and professional leagues overseas. Here is the list of players alphabetically you may have forgotten about but are still involved with the game one way or another:

Bennett Davison

• Played at Arizona from 1996-98, averaging 8.6 points and 6.5 rebounds in 69 games overall.
• Recently signed a contract with the Gold Coast Blaze of the National Basketball League in Australia.
• Davison has played professionally in Australia before, with the Melbourne Tigers in the 1999-2000 season. He has also played professionally in Turkey, Napoli, Milano and Bologna in Italy, Greece and Venezuela. He signed a free-agent deal with the Clippers in 2002 but did not make the final cut.

Michael Dickerson

• Played at Arizona from 1996-98, averaging 18.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in 69 games.
• He was selected as the 14th overall pick by the Rockets in the 1998 NBA Draft and played one full (lockout-shortened) season before being traded in 1999 to the Vancouver Grizzlies. In the lockout-shortened 1999 NBA season, Dickerson led the league in games played (50), was sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.433), and was named to the All-Rookie 2nd Team. He played all 82 games for the Grizzlies in 1999-2000, averaging 18.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.41 steals per game. His scoring average fell to 16.3 points per game the following season. After the Grizzlies relocated to Memphis he played in just four and six games over the next two seasons due to injuries. He was released by the Grizzlies in 2003, and retired due to severe hamstring and groin injuries from which he was unable to fully recover. In 2008 he attempted a comeback. He was invited to training camp by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was waived before the season.
• This season, Dickerson returned to basketball as a member of Faymasa Palencia in Spain but he only played four games because he got involved in a contract squabble with Palencia’s owners. Dickerson, who averaged 11 points in those four games, has not announced whether he will return to basketball or not.

Daniel Dillon

• Played at Arizona from 2004-2008, averaging 1.6 points and 0.8 assists in 113 games.
• Dillon, who hails from Down Under, played for the Melbourne South Dragons in 2008-09 and did not sign with an Australian team in the NBL this season after the South Dragons folded. He averaged 1.8 points in 12 games. Dillon is rumored to be close to signing with the Melbourne Tigers.

More ex-Cats overseas are documented after the jump

Ruben Douglas

• Played at Arizona in 1998-99 as a freshman before transferring to New Mexico. He averaged 8 points in 27 games with the Wildcats and went on to be the NCAA’s top scorer with the Lobos in 2002-03 with 28 points a game.
• After going undrafted by the NBA in 2003, Douglas has played in Greece, Italy, Spain and Russia. Douglas won the ULEB Cup championship in 2006 with Dynamo Moscow and he was also named the MVP of the league’s final that same year. He currently is playing for Cajasol Sevilla in Spain, averaging 8.5 points in 11 games.

Jason Gardner

• Played at Arizona from 1999-2003, averaging 14.6 points and 4.6 assists in 136 games.
• Gardner is in his third season with EWE Baskets Oldenburg, which he led to a national title last year. He currently averages 8.7 points and 2.7 assists per game.
• He was not drafted by the NBA, but has found success overseas. He has played in Slovenia, Belgium, Israel and Germany. He has appeared in two All-Star games in Germany and was also the league’s MVP in 2008-09

Ivan Radenovic

• Played at Arizona from 2003-2007, averaging 10.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 122 games.
• Radenović went undrafted into the NBA after entering his name in the 2007 NBA Draft. He has played professionally in Spain, Greece and Russia. He signed a one-year contract with CSKA Moscow in September but at the end of December his contract was terminated after he averaged 2.5 points and one rebound in six games.

Mohamed Tangara

• Played at Arizona from 2004-08, averaging 1.4 points and 1.0 rebounds in 47 games after redshirting as a freshman. Transferred to Chaminade his final year and averaged 8.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.
• Completed his first year at the pro level with Fath US de Rabat in April. No official stats were obtainable.

Jesus Verdejo

• Played at Arizona in 2004-05 as a freshman before transferring to South Florida. He averaged 2.3 points in 26 games with the Wildcats.
• Verdejo is playing his first season of pro ball with the Quebradillas Pirates of the Puerto Rican professional league. He is averaging 2 points a game in 12 games to this point.

Marcus Williams

• Played at Arizona from 2005-07, averaging 14.7 points and 5.6 rebounds in 63 games.
• Williams played for Austin of the NBA’s D-League for about a month until April 21 after playing in China from December through March. He was a member of the Zhejiang Wanma Cyclones. He averaged 19.7 points and 11.2 rebounds in 30 games with Zhejiang. With Austin, he averaged 21.2 points and six rebounds in 13 games. Did you know?: On March 24, against Springfield, Williams was perfect from the field while scoring 29 points. He shot 8 of 8 from the field, 4 of 4 from three-point range, and 9 of 9 from the free throw line.
• Williams was signed by San Antonio twice in his career, but he only played three games with the Spurs in 2007-08 and 2008-09. He played 10 games with the Clippers in 2007-08.

Loren Woods

• Played at Arizona from 1999-2001, averaging 14.4 points, 7 rebounds and 3.4 blocks a game after playing two years at Wake Forest.
• Recently won the Iranian Basketball Super League championship with Mahram Tehran, which is based in Tehran. The team went 18-0. Woods, the starting center, got a little feisty in the playoffs there, kicking the ball at an opposing bench and supposedly stepping an on opponent’s chest. No official stats were obtainable.
• Woods was selected by the Timberwolves in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft. After leaving the Timberwolves, Woods played for the Heat and the Raptors, where he appeared in 45 games during the 2004-05 season and posted a career best 3.9 points per game. On Aug. 15, 2006, he signed with the Sacramento as a backup center, but he was waived before the season began. He played seven games with Houston in 2007-08. Woods has played professionally overseas in Lithuania, Turkey, Spain and Iran. He has also played in the NBA’s D-League with Austin.

Michael Wright

• Played at Arizona from 1998-2001, averaging 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds in 99 games overall.
• Playing for PGE Turow Zgorzelec in Poland. He is averaging 21 points (which leads the league there) and 6.4 rebounds in 29 games.
• Wright has played professionally in Poland, Spain, Israel, Turkey, South Korea and France. He was drafted in the second round of the 2001 NBA draft by the Knicks after foregoing his senior season with the Cats, but he was waived and has yet to play in the NBA.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 3:10 am and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Bennett Davison, Daniel Dillon, Ivan Radenovich, Jason Gardner, Jesus Verdejo, Loren Woods, Marcus Williams, Michael Dickerson, Michael Wright, Mohamed Tangara, Ruben Douglas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.