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RELATED LINK: Analyzing Arizona’s recruiting classes since 1972

Arizona coach Sean Miller has a high-profile recruiting class and adequate returners that would soften the blow of a potential departure of Derrick Williams to the NBA after his sophomore season (US Presswire photo/Jason O. Watson)

Arizona coach Sean Miller has a potential top five recruiting class to soften the blow if Derrick Williams foregoes his last two years with the Wildcats to enter the NBA draft and hires an agent.

What did former coach Fred Snowden, bless his soul, have in mind in a similar situation in 1974 with the threat of losing prolific-scoring sophomores Eric Money and Coniel Norman to the NBA?

This is what was written by Steve Weston of the Tucson Citizen near the end of Snowden’s second season at Arizona on March 2, 1974:

No. 1 on most (recruiting) lists this season is 6-11 Moses Malone from Petersburg, Va. “We hope to have him visit,” said Snowden. “Of course, he’d be a great asset to our program.”

A great asset? How about a validation for a national championship?

Moses, a 13-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer, never took that recruiting visit to Tucson, although he reportedly became interested in Snowden and the Wildcats after watching them play New Mexico in Albuquerque that season. He signed a national letter of intent with Maryland but eventually went straight from Petersburg High School to the ABA in 1974.

Money and Norman, meanwhile, were chosen in the NBA draft that year. Money was taken in the second round (the 33rd pick overall) and Norman was the first pick in the third round (37th overall). That equates to early-second round selections today because the number of NBA teams has increased from 18 then to 30 now.

How did the Wildcats respond the following season after they finished 19-7 and failed to reach the postseason in the final year with Money and Norman? They actually had a better season, finishing 22-7 after losing to Drake in the championship game of the defunct National Commissioner’s Invitational Tournament (which featured teams that finished second in their respective conference).

The Wildcats excelled behind All-Western Athletic Conference frontcourt players Bob Elliott and Al Fleming, and a solid recruiting class that included playmaker Gilbert Myles and burly forward Phil Taylor.

Sports Illustrated, noting the Wildcats would take on a more physical look without Money and Norman, rated the UA No. 16 that year in its preseason Top 20. Snowden wanted more of a fearsome defensive presence after the loss of his star guards, who combined for more than 40 points a game in their UA careers.

Taylor, SI wrote, “bears a strong resemblance to Sonny Liston.” Snowden, known for his hyperbole, told the magazine that the team would be his best at Arizona after he went 35-17 in his first two seasons in Tucson.

Snowden proclaimed that Arizona would be “one of the five best in America by season’s end.” He looked like a prophet when the Wildcats started 11-1, but they staggered down the stretch.

Chances are that Miller, who is more close to the vest, will not proclaim next season that Arizona will be one of the nation’s top five teams if Williams does not return.

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Arizona forward Derrick Williams overpowered Duke's Kyle Singler with 32 points and 13 rebounds in the UA's 93-77 Sweet 16 win Thursday in Anaheim (US Presswire photo/Gary A. Vasquez)

If somebody was lost at sea since 2007 and returned to hear the news about Arizona qualifying for the Elite Eight on Thursday, what would the reaction be?

“That’s great to hear. Lute’s finally got them back where they belong. Great to see it happen after that collapse in 2005 against Illinois. When is he hanging it up? What is he 80?”

You were lost only four years ago, but since then, Lute Olson took a leave of absence and eventually retired. In the meantime, a couple of coaches replaced him as caretakers, each for a season, and then they finally hired this young, 42-year-old guy named Sean Miller.

Arizona is in the Elite Eight and Lute is not the coach? What?

Believe it. Nobody, not even Miller, can say they are not surprised. Last season, the Wildcats failed to make the NCAA tournament … (interrupted)

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Didn’t make NCAA tournament? Don’t they go every year?

Until Miller’s first year last season they went 25 straight years. But it’s not his fault the streak was snapped. The interim coaches — Kevin O’Neill and Russ Pennell — did not actively recruit in the two years after Lute left. A lot of turnover occurred as Miller brought in five of his own guys last year — three at the last minute because the USC coach left amid turmoil and those guys shifted their allegiance to Arizona. Miller told the Tucson media that he has a three-year plan to coach Arizona back to prominence.

Hold on. Arizona lost Olson, used two interim coaches, hired Miller … lost out on some recruits, all in the last four years … didn’t make the NCAA tournament last year. … and this guy Miller, in only his second year, has Arizona in the Elite Eight?

Like I said. Believe it. The Wildcats also won the regular-season Pac-10 title this year.

C’mon. Being lost at sea is troubling enough for my brain to process.

In my opinion, Miller’s coaching performance and the Wildcats’ 93-77 dominating win over No. 1 seed and defending national champion Duke on Thursday in Anaheim ranks as one of the program’s top five victories in their history.

Not to beat my own drum, but I have followed the Wildcats since Fred Snowden coached in the early 1970s. I sat in McKale Center with the 6,000 or so fans in Olson’s first year at Arizona in 1983-84 after the embarrassing year of Ben Lindsey as head coach. Yes, I also attended most of the games when Lindsey’s team went 4-24.

I covered the Wildcats for The Arizona Daily Star during their historic run through the NCAA tournament in 1997. I have watched probably more than 1,100 Arizona basketball games in my lifetime (I turn 44 in July).

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Front page of the Tucson Citizen the day after Arizona outlasted UNLV 114-109 in overtime on March 18, 1976

The day Arizona starts its Sean Miller NCAA tournament chapter is a day that produced one of the Wildcats’ greatest victories and most forgettable defeats in March Madness history.

Former UNLV legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian led his team to a 29-1 record before Arizona's upset victory over the Running Rebels in the 1976 NCAA West Regional semifinals

The Wildcats defeated UNLV 114-109 in overtime in the NCAA West Regional semifinal on March 18, 1976. The No. 2-seeded Wildcats were upset 64-61 by Santa Clara and Steve Nash on March 18, 1993.

Obscure fact: When the Wildcats face Memphis and former player and assistant coach Josh Pastner on Friday morning, it will mark the program’s 10th NCAA tournament game played on March 18. That’s the most games in a day in Arizona’s NCAA tournament history, two more than March 16.

The Wildcats’ record on March 18 is 5-4. Too bad for those superstitious Arizona fans that the Cats’ first-round game was not on Thurs., March 17. The Wildcats are 3-0 in the NCAA tournament on March 17.

Performances in Arizona’s monumental 1976 win over the Running Rebels, coached by Jerry Tarkanian, still litter the UA postseason record book. Fred Snowden‘s Wildcats advanced the farthest in school history at the time — only a game away from the Final Four — behind Herman Harris‘ 31 points.

Harris’ scoring output ranks second in NCAA tournament scoring, behind Khalid Reeves‘ 32 against Loyola (Md.) in an 81-55 win on — yes, March 18, 1994.

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