Javier Morales took first place in the 2010 Arizona Press Club’s Metro Sports Reporting category

In case you missed it: The Top 10 Badass Defensive Players and the Top 10 Badass Offensive Players in Arizona football history

2000-01 Arizona Wildcats (28-8)
–Beat Illinois 87-81 in the Midwest Regional Final; beat Michigan State 80-61 in the Final Four; and lost to Duke 82-72 in the national title game. To note: Four players were drafted in the first two rounds of the 2001 NBA draft — Richard Jefferson, first round, 13th pick overall (Rockets); Gilbert Arenas, second round, 30th pick (Warriors); Michael Wright, second round, 38th pick (Knicks); and Loren Woods, second round, 45th pick (Timberwolves).

1996-97 Arizona Wildcats (25-9)
–Beat Providence 96-92 in overtime in the Southeast Regional Final; beat North Carolina 66-58 in the Final Four; and defeated Kentucky 84-79 in overtime to win its first NCAA championship. To note: The Wildcats had five players drafted in 1998 and 1999, three of them in the first round — Mike Bibby, second pick overall in 1998, Grizzlies; Michael Dickerson, 14th pick in 1998, Rockets; and Jason Terry, 10th pick in 1999, Hawks.

First Round Arizona Elite Eight Event Matchups:
>> Poll: 1987-1988 versus 2010-2011. Story: TucsonCitizen.com analysis
>> Poll: 1993-1994 versus 2004-2005. Story: TucsonCitizen.com analysis
>> Poll: 1996-1997 versus 2002-2003. Story: TucsonCitizen.com analysis
>> Poll: 1975-1976 versus 2000-2001. Story: TucsonCitizen.com analysis

EDITOR NOTE: The following is a fictional depiction of what could occur between the 1996-97 and 2000-01 teams. The quotes used are also fictional.

VOTE ON HOW YOU FEEL THIS GAME STORY SHOULD END AT WILDABOUTAZCATS.NET!!!

The buzz at a standing-room-only McKale Center before this semifinal game of the Arizona Elite Eight Event — pitting the only two Wildcat teams to advance to an NCAA title game — centered around which starting lineup matchup was most intriguing.

Mike Bibby of the 1996-97 team engineers a dramatic comeback against the 2000-01 team but is the effort good enough for a victory?

Mike Bibby vs. Jason Gardner — A couple of young leaders who pioneered Point Guard U., their retired jerseys hanging from the rafters.

Miles Simon vs. Gilbert Arenas — Simon and his Final Four MVP credentials going against one of Arizona’s most potent shooting guards in the program’s history.

Michael Dickerson vs. Richard Jefferson — Dickerson with his equally strong defensive and offensive capabilities against the athletic Jefferson, who always had the capability to go for 19 points and eight rebounds.

Bennett Davison vs. Michael Wright — The wiry athletic Davison with springs for legs against the burly, strong Wright, who owned the paint around the basket.

A.J. Bramlett vs. Loren Woods — The efficient Bramlett who ended his career as a very strong rebounder against shot-blocking extraordinaire Woods.

Indicative of the 1996-97 team’s resiliency, it never gave up after falling behind by as many as 22 points. Bibby, Simon and Co. forced the 2000-01 team into an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers, including 12 during the game’s final 11 minutes. Conversely, the 1996-97 team committed just six turnovers the entire game and outscored the the 2000-01 team in points off turnovers by a 25-6 margin.

“The one thing I can always can count on with that ’96-97 team is that no situation was too much to overcome,” said Arizona coach Lute Olson, whose team beat three No. 1 seeds en route to the 1997 NCAA championship. “Mike (Bibby) and Miles (Simon) and those guys always know how to make things interesting don’t they?”

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A University of Arizona official speaking on condition of anonymity told me today that the retirement of Jason Terry‘s jersey number “is out of our hands” and up to the Pac-10 presidents to decide.

In the last vote a couple of years ago, the league presidents voted 8-2 to not allow Terry’s No. 31 to be retired at McKale Center. School officials made another attempt recently, but all of the league presidents who voted against Terry remain in their position.

Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne supports the idea of retiring Terry’s number, the school official told me.

Terry, who won his first NBA title Sunday night with the Dallas Mavericks, took more than $11,000 from two agents before his senior season at Arizona in 1998-99. The NCAA forced the UA to forfeit the $45,362 for its NCAA tournament appearance in 1999, when the UA lost to Oklahoma in the first round in Terry’s last game as a Wildcat.

Terry has since repaid Arizona the $45,362 and has talked about his desire to be among others whose jersey numbers have been retired — Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Mike Bibby and Jason Gardner. The UA’s criteria to have a number retired is for the athlete to be a national player of the year.

Terry, 33, is the only player in Arizona history to collect more than 1,000 career points and 200 career steals. He capped his senior year by being selected First Team All-America by AP; National Player of the Year by Sports Illustrated, CBS/Chevrolet and Rawlings/Basketball Times; and the Pac-10 Player of the Year.

“Hopefully one day my jersey will be up in the rafters,” Terry told me last summer. “I don’t know when. It would be a tremendous honor.”

Fourteen years after winning a national title with Arizona, Jason Terry is an NBA champion (US Presswire/Matthew Emmons)

RELATED LINK: Jason Terry still coming up clutch (Percy Allen, Seattle Times)

No words were better spoken than by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, a true maverick when it comes to professional sports ownership, after his franchise won its first NBA title Sunday night.

“(Jason Terry) shoved it up everybody’s ass,” Cuban was quoted as saying in an ESPN report.

“Jet had to take all that criticism,” Cuban said. “The media was killing him: ‘He can’t perform in the playoffs. He’s not clutch in the playoffs. He’s too this, he’s too that.’”

Terry has also received criticism from Arizona fans after he mentioned that he would cheer for Washington guard Isaiah Thomas against the Wildcats this year. He told a Seattle radio station last month that if he was recruited out of his alma mater — Seattle Franklin High School — again, that he would choose the Huskies over the UA because Lute Olson is retired.

Many UA fans, administrators, and, most importantly, the Pac-10 (soon to be Pac-12) presidents do not forgive Terry for accepting more than $11,000 from two agents before his senior season of 1998-99. Although Terry has repaid the $45,362 the UA had to forfeit to the NCAA for its tournament appearance in 1999, stubborn Wildcat followers hope his jersey number “31″ is never retired.

Note to the league presidents, who currently are overwhelmingly against Terry’s jersey number retirement: Terry is much more positive for the conference’s image than negative. That’s not even worth debating.

And it has nothing to do with Terry crowned for the first time as an NBA champion. Never mind that Terry outplayed the ballyhooed LeBron James in the Finals. Who would have thought that? And how fitting?

Terry is all about substance, whereas others like James come off as a Ken doll.

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