Gilbert Arenas, despite a troubled career of late, will have made around $160 million in salary when his current contract expires. Photo by Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

When Arizona’s Derrick Williams is selected in Thursday’s NBA Draft — with likely the No. 1 or No. 2 pick — it will start a new era for the Wildcats: He’ll be the first of Sean Miller’s recruits to move on to the next level.

But the meter is still running on Lute Olson’s former players … and that meter has passed three-quarters of a billion dollars in NBA salaries for the more than 30 ex-Cats who have (in many cases) gone from Lute to luxury.

Not counting money from endorsements, appearance fees, autograph shows, camps or any of that other stuff — strictly NBA salary — the grand total is approaching $770 million.

And that doesn’t include the very good living that several former Wildcats have made playing in leagues overseas.

There is still plenty of money on the books, too. Gilbert Arenas, now with the Orlando Magic, is still owed $62 million over the next three seasons, for example. The San Antonio Spurs are on the hook to Richard Jefferson for about $30 million over the next three years.

(more…)

Roberta O'Neill. 2008 Tucson Citizen photo

UPDATE: 12:05 p.m.: Yahoo! Sports: O’Neill apologizes for confrontation

UPDATE: 11:50 a.m.: Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne tweets that: “U of Arizona is aware of the situation from last night and we know that the conference and USC is looking into the incident.”

The subplot for tonight’s Pac-10 tournament semifinal between USC and Arizona has changed.

It’s not just a Trojans team desperate for a victory as it pushes for the NCAA Tournament. It’s not just Arizona, the regular-season Pac-10 champion, trying to improve its seeding for the NCAA.

Now, it’s back to the whole Kevin O’Neill mess.

USC athletic director Pat Haden released a statement Thursday night in response to a postgame incident involving O’Neill:

“We have received some information tonight about an incident involving coach Kevin O’Neill, his wife and a fan from another school that occurred following our men’s basketball game today.

“We are looking into this and gathering facts. We will determine what appropriate action is necessary.”

(more…)

Steve Kerr will be doing a lot of talking in front of the camera in April.
2010 photo by Emmanuel Lozano, The Arizona Republic

Arizona basketball great Steve Kerr will be back in the Final Four this season, 23 years after helping lead the Wildcats there.

Kerr, an NBA analyst for TNT and an occasional college analyst for Fox Sports Net, will join CBS for the Final Four games on April 2 and the national championship game two nights later. He will join play-by-play man Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg on the telecast.

(Richard Deitsch of SI.com has many more details about the new broadcaster configurations for the NCAA Tournament.)

For Arizona fans, it will be nice to have Kerr in such a prominent college role, especially one in which he excels. Kerr is a natural storyteller and completely at ease on the air — lighthearted yet informative.

(more…)

Lute Olson talks to the media Thursday/KOLD-TV screenshot

Former Arizona Wildcats basketball coach Lute Olson met with the media Thursday afternoon at the annual Lunch with Lute event, a benefit to raise funds for the Arizona Arthritis Center.

Damien Alameda of KOLD Channel 13 posted a story and video of Olson’s interview on the station’s web site.

Speaking about this season’s Arizona team, Olson said:

“You look at it last year, they had a lot of freshmen and sophomores. This year there will still only be one senior, Jamelle Horne. …

“I always said when I was coaching, the biggest change you’re going to see is between their freshman and sophomore year. They come in as freshmen and they have no clue what it’s going to be like. They finish that freshman season and begin working toward that sophomore season knowing exactly what they need to do.”

Arizona coach Sean Miller and the Wildcats will hold their annual Media Day on Tuesday.

KOLD-TV also has video of ex-Wildcats Joseph Blair’s introduction of Olson at the luncheon, when the retired coach still had something to teach his former player.

Former Arizona coach Lute Olson, in his 2006 autobiography, recalls a special phone call from UCLA coach John Wooden in the summer of 1971.

Olson’s Long Beach City College team had recently won the California Junior College championship by beating Cerritos Junior College.

Olson wrote:

One day during that summer the phone rang. It was Coach Wooden, inviting me to speak at his annual coaches clinic. I’m certain I responded calmly that I would be delighted. That’s the way I respond, calmly, but I’m just as certain I felt anything but calm. I was thrilled. There was no basketball coach — and few men — I admired more than John Wooden. Two years earlier I’d been coaching at Marina High School, and now the most successful coach in the history of college basketball was asking me to lecture other coaches.

Coach Wooden treated me with great respect that day, discussing basketball with me as an equal, even occasionally asking my opinion. I’m practiced at keeping my emotions contained but, dang it! this was a very special event for me. Afterward Coach Wooden and his wife, Nell, asked Bobbi and me to join several other coaches and their wives at dinner. We were all sitting a round table and a waitress came over and asked, “Would you like some wine or a cocktail?”

As well all looked at the wine list, ready for a nice, relaxing glass of wine, or two, Coach Wooden said simply, “No. No, we don’t care for any cocktails or wine.” You could hear the wine lists snapping closed. As far as any of us sitting at the table were concerned, not only didn’t we want any wine that night, we’d never wanted any wine in the past and never would want any wine in the future.

Wooden, by the way, wrote the foreward for Olson’s autobiography.

Related: Olson reacts to Wooden’s passing

Lute Olson listens to new UA athletic director Greg Byrne at a press conference./Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Former Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson, who attended the introductory press conference for new athletic director Greg Byrne on Wednesday, made his first public comments on the end of the program’s streak of 25 consecutive years in the NCAA Tournament.

Olson began the streak in his second season, 1984-85, and it continued through interim head coaches Kevin O’Neill and Russ Pennell before finally ending this season in coach Sean Miller‘s debut.

“When I first took the job here and the team was 1-17 in the league, I came in with the idea that we wanted to develop a program that would be pretty consistent,” Olson said. “Never did I dream that we would end up with a streak like that.

“The program is in great hands with Sean and his staff. I think they will get their own streak started here pretty soon, and it will be fun to watch that as it goes. …

“I guess when the streak ended, you just think, ‘Wow, that was quite an accomplishment by a lot of outstanding players who came through the program. I just look forward to the next one starting.”

Despite Arizona not being involved, Olson said he has been “peeled” to the coverage of the NCAA Tournament.

“There have just been so many great games,” he said. “The fact that there are 11 different conferences represented in the round of 16 is amazing. I don’t think that has ever happened.

“It sort of tickles me, too, that the Pac-10 and the West have knocked out so many of those Big East people that I kept hearing about all year long, about how it could be an entire Final Four of Big East teams. Some of them took early vacations, in fact.”

Olson is keeping a close eye on 11th-seeded Washington, which takes on No. 2 seed West Virginia in the Sweet 16.

“I love the way Washington is playing. I tell you, they could still be a huge factor, I think, with their quickness and length and shooting ability,” Olson said. “Lorenzo (Romar) has done a great job with those guys.”

Legendary UA men's basketball coach Lute Olson awaits new UA athletic director Greg Byrne, left, at Byrne's introductory press conference/Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

New Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne shares something with almost all Wildcats fans. Even though he attended Arizona State, he appreciates Lute Olson and the basketball program.

One of the first things Byrne did Wednesday at his introductory press conference at McKale Center was acknowledge the presence of Olson, standing in the back of the room.

“I looked up to him for a lot of years as a young fan,” said the 38-year-old Byrnes. “I was a basketball player that he certainly didn’t know who I was because of my ability. It’s great to be around him today.”

Byrne said he remembers attending the Pac-10 tournament, when it was held in McKale during the 1987-88 season. His father, Bill Byrne, was the athletic director at Oregon at the time.

“Steve Kerr would throw in a 3-pointer and the whole crowd would yell out, ‘Steeeeve Kerrrrr,’” Byrne said. “I remember getting to meet Sean Elliott when I was a high school basketball player and how thrilled I was at that opportunity.”

Olson, who retired because of health reasons just before the 2008-09 season, said it’s not unusual to hear how the basketball program has impacted people, even those from rival schools.

“I hear that from Washington, Washington State, pretty much up and down (the Pac-10) and nationally, people who have followed the program,” Olson said.

“I think the basketball program through the years has been a good selling point for the university. I still run into students who come and say, ‘The reason I came here was because of you and the basketball program.’

“You don’t realize those things are out there. That’s the far-reaching success of good athletic programs. Just like with the swimming program and the softball program. We, without a doubt, have the best ‘Olympic sports’ coaching staff in the country. There is no one who even comes close, in my opinion.”

And now Byrne, whose dad knew Olson from Pac-10 meetings, is in charge of it all.

Olson approves, which still means something.

The Hall of Fame coach cited Byrne’s experience within the Oregon and Oregon State athletic departments.

“I think that it is important that we get somebody who is familiar with this conference,” Olson said. “And with his experience as a fund-raiser, I think that is critical. I think there is a lot of work to be done in that area.”

Jennie Finch's 60 consecutive pitching victories might be the most impressive individual streak in Arizona history.

The Arizona Wildcats have the now dearly departed Streak in basketball — 25 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Thanks, Lute.

Arizona has The Streak in football — the upset-filled nine-season unbeaten run against Arizona State, from 1982 to 1990. Thanks, Larry Smith and Dick Tomey.

Arizona has so much more.

With a big boost from coach Mike Candrea‘s eight-time national championship softball program, the Wildcats have plenty of other (lower-case) streaks to celebrate.

Here are 12 of the best team streaks, in no particular order:

1. Softball’s 16 consecutive appearances in the College World Series, from 1988 to 2003. If not for a shocking upset in the regionals when the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 under interim head coach Larry Ray, the streak would be up to 22.

2. Softball’s 17 consecutive seasons with an All-American pitcher, from 1991 (Debby Day) to 2007 (Taryne Mowatt). This helps explain that College World Series streak.

3. Men’s basketball 71-game winning streak in McKale Center (1987-1992). It included a double-overtime win against eventual national champion Duke in 1991 and ended with an 89-87 loss to UCLA on Jan. 11, 1992.

4. Softball’s 18 consecutive years of being ranked No. 1 at some point of the season. That streak ended in 2009.

5. Women’s swimming current streak of 19 consecutive top 10 finishes in the NCAA meet. Thanks, Frank Busch. (The women also have a streak of six top three finishes in a row.)

6. Men’s swimming current streak of 12 consecutive top 8 national finishes in the NCAAs. Thanks again, Frank Busch. (Men’s and women’s swimming each won a national title in 2008.)

7. Men’s basketball 312 consecutive appearances in the AP regular-season poll. But not one week in 2009-10.

Not only was Lute Olson the author of the The Streak, he had significant runs at McKale Center and in the AP poll/Tucson Citizen photo

8. Softball’s 38-game winning streak over Arizona State (1991-2000). All the more amazing because the Sun Devils had a decent program, but Candrea owned his alma mater.

9. Men’s basketball’s 81-game winning streak in Bear Down Gym (1945-51). All that in the watch of coach Fred Enke.

10. Football’s 214-game scoring streak. It started with the 1972 season and ended with a 28-0 loss to Syracuse in the 1990 Aloha Bowl. It was the second-longest streak in the nation at the time.

11. Softball’s 47-game winning streak from April 1996 to March 1997. That’s an NCAA record.

12. And here’s one more from softball: The Wildcats had a 70-game winning streak at Hillenbrand Stadium from 2000 to 2002).

Individually, it’s hard to believe anything tops Jennie Finch‘s 60 consecutive pitching victories from 2000 to 2002. Another super softball streak: Caitlin Lowe stole 56 bases without being caught.

In softball, Amy Chellevold has the school’s longest hitting streak at 30 games. The baseball hitting streak belongs to Brian Anderson (2003) and Jason Donald (2006) at 26 games.

More impressive might be what Jake Thrower did in 1997. He had hits in 11 consecutive at-bats.

Have a favorite streak we missed? Let us know in the comments section or at anthonygimino (at) gmail.com.

An animated Kevin O'Neill was a familiar sight on the Arizona sideline/Tucson Citizen photo

When Arizona plays USC on Saturday morning, there will be a head coach on the sideline who has been known to use salty language, stubbornly refuses to play anything except a man-to-man defense, sometimes burns timeouts early in games and shields his assistants from the media because he wants to be “voice of the program.”

And, oh yeah, Kevin O’Neill will be there, too.

OK, OK … USC’s O’Neill and Arizona’s Sean Miller aren’t exactly the same kind of coach, but they are the most alike of the four coaches the Wildcats have had in the past four seasons, although their circumstances could not be more different.

Miller has the fans’ patience and trust, lowered expectations, and he doesn’t have the shadow of Lute Olson over his shoulder. He was Arizona’s choice after the school conducted a search for several months.

O’Neill was at Arizona when all hell was breaking loose. He was Mr. Right Now. He became the interim head coach after Olson’s stunning and unexplained leave of absence. Everything was a colossal mess. O’Neill literally had Olson looking over his shoulder. Was he coming back or wasn’t he?

Fans were aching to have the Coach Olson they knew and loved back on the court. But that Olson wasn’t ever coming back. We know that now; nobody knew it then.

To me, that 2007-08 season was really about two things — change and uncertainty. Two qualities that rarely bring out the best behavior or the best judgment in anybody.

But the story of the 2007-08 season needed villain … and, for many fans, O’Neill was it.

Which makes his first return Saturday to McKale Center all the more interesting.

How will the fans react?

“I would hope that they would boo,” O’Neill said with a chuckle Friday afternoon as he brought the Trojans to practice on the UA campus.

“Aren’t they supposed to boo all the opposing coaches? That’s what everybody does. You know, when you go on the road, that’s just the way it is. The reaction won’t matter to me one way or another …

“I can’t control what the reception is going to be. No matter what the reception is, I have great memories of being here. I have lots of friends here and have had two great stints here.”

If you require a villain for the story, I think it should be Olson. That’s not easy to say, but he kept everybody in the dark about his illness, and people made bad decisions and followed individual agendas based, at least in part, on lack of information.

The toxic stew was not of O’Neill’s making. He once explained the difficulty of his task by saying something like it was trying to jump into a truck going 60 mph.

One more thing: O’Neill had better talent on hand than Miller but had to navigate possibly the toughest Pac-10 in history. Miller has to wade through the shallow end in perhaps the worst Pac-10 ever.

The degree of difficulty doesn’t absolve O’Neill for what he did or didn’t do that season. Clearly, he wasn’t the right man at the right time. But I’m not sure how many coaches could have been.

To me, he’s no villain.

In fact, one of the things I admire about O’Neill is that he doesn’t care about the past, what might have been or what other people think of him. It is what it is, he likes to say. He doesn’t waste a second worrying about anything that’s out of his control.

“I had a great time when I was here,” he said. “It’s a great place. It’s full of tradition. I have good memories here.”

So boo him, cheer him, love him, hate him. He’s a polarizing figure, and probably everybody who has known him a little at all has a KO story that’s not fit to print.

Also know this: He had his detractors but also his ardent supporters within the athletic department, from those who had more of a clue than most about what was really going on behind the scenes. Would several members of the athletic department have made it a point to see him Friday as his team practiced at Richard Jefferson Gym if they thought he really screwed over the program?

Don’t you think O’Neill could have raised holy hell about Arizona not following through on its promise that he would be the next head coach at UA? Don’t you think he could have at least tried to set the department in flames?

It might be fun to boo him, but he doesn’t deserve it.

“I’m comfortable with what I did when I was here,” O’Neill said. “Things all happen for a reason. I’m happy with where I’m at. … I’m more than happy at USC.”

And Arizona is more than happy with Miller.

So, yeah, maybe things do happen for a reason.

Sean Miller/Wildcat Sports Report photo

(UA notebook compiled from members of the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network. Some of these notes first appeared in the weekly “Nothing but the Notes” column on wildaboutazcats.com. Find more notes there in this weekend’s edition.)

So much for the McKale magic.

It’s hard to believe. In less than three Lute Olson-less seasons, Arizona has lost at home to eight of the other nine Pac-10 teams. The only conference team that has failed to win in Tucson since 2008: Washington. Go figure.

Saturday night’s 63-55 loss to Oregon State might have been the most painful, the one that double locks the door against Arizona’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.

“This crowd and this arena is so spectacular, and they tried to will us to win,” coach Sean Miller said Saturday night. “And we had no answer.” …

Just too young?

According to StatSheet.com, only two other major-conference Division I schools have at least five freshmen and no more than two upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) like Arizona. They are Iowa (which like the Cats has five freshmen, one junior and one senior) and Washington State (which has eight freshmen, no juniors and one senior). The Wildcats depend on their freshmen far more than the Hawkeyes and Cougars — or any other major-college program for that matter. The UA frosh account for 47.4 percent of the team’s scoring (34.2 points per game out of 72.1 overall). Iowa’s percentage is 34.2 (24.3 points per game out of 70.9) while Wazzu’s mark is 33.2 (25 points per game out of 75.2). With such an influx of talent, and a brand new coaching staff, it’s not really a surprise that Arizona is way on the wrong side of the bubble. …

TucsonCitizen.com video:
Miller talks about his five freshman (Feb. 9)

Miller talks about MoMo Jones (Feb. 11)

Wes Bunting at the National Football Post wrote this recently about ex-UA cornerback Devin Ross‘ performance in the week of the East-West Shrine Game practices: “For a guy who showcases as much closing speed as Ross in coverage, you’d think he would be able to make more plays on the football. However, he isn’t a real instinctive corner and consistently gets caught bailing out of his back-pedal and opening his hips too early in his drop. There’s no doubt this guy has the ability to play on the outside at the next level from an athletic standpoint, but as of now he simply gives up too many plays and lacks the instincts to be trusted on an island in the NFL.” … Don’t expect to hear much from former UA defensive coordinator Mark Stoops, who is now the coordinator at Florida State. New head coach Jimbo Fisher has put his assistant coaches off limits to the media, with a one-time exception for the new guys. Too bad. Stoops is a thoughtful interviewee who is pretty honest in his assessments. …

While it’s true that Arizona has offered a scholarship to power forward Jesse Perry of John A. Logan Junior College of Carterville, Ill., the UA coaches are likely keeping an eye on what Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice High School forward Kadeem Jack decides first. Perry will officially visit Arizona after Logan’s season ends next month. Perry, 6-foot-8 and originally from St. Louis, is averaging 15.6 points, 10.5 rebounds and nearly 2 blocked shots per game this season. In a victory over Olney (Ill.) Central College on Thursday, Perry made 17 of 21 free-throw attempts. Arizona stands apart from its competition for Perry: Southern Illinois, Alabama-Birmingham and Iowa State. Rivals.com reports that the UA is the only school that has offered a scholarship. …

Former UA running back Mike Bell, who fashioned a nice comeback season with a team-high 172 carries for 654 yards for the New Orleans Saints, had a regrettable play in the Super Bowl when he slipped on an off-tackle run on third-and-goal from the 1 late in the first half. The biggest television audience in history watched that play. But what you didn’t see was the exchange that took place as Bell returned to the sideline. Saints coach Sean Payton asks Bell, “What kind of shoes you got on?” and Bell shows him the bottom of his left shoe. Payton then yells as Bell walks away, “That (expletive) figures. Put on the cleats!” Yeah, it helps to have the right shoes. You can watch the NFL Films highlights, with wired sound from players and coaches, at NFL.com. Good stuff. …

TucsonCitizen.com blogger Matt Minkus interviewed ex-UA center and current Phoenix Suns player Channing Frye for his podcast at radioexiles.com. Frye recently had his jersey number retired at his high school, Phoenix St. Mary’s, an event that was attended by Olson. Frye, Olson, friends and family members went to dinner afterward. “Coach O is great,” Frye said. “He is probably in better health now than I’ve seen him in a long time. He’s healthy. He’s relaxed. His memory is great. We were just talking about old times and some of his players. We sat there about 2 1/2 hours and just talked and reminisced about the good old days.” …

Jennie Finch

Jennie Finch was selected the 2009 USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year. Finch was the MVP of the Japan Cup, throwing a one-hitter and hitting a two-run double in a 2-0 title game victory over Japan, to (somewhat) avenge a loss to the Japanese team in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Finch also led Team USA to the championship of the Canada Cup, with a two-out walk-off single for a 3-2 win over Canada. In three events — the U.S. also won the World Cup of Softball — Finch was 5-0 with a 0.54 ERA and she hit .447. “I am completely honored all the way around to not only play for our great country but also to be recognized out of a group of extremely talented athletes. I am surrounded by amazing women and feel blessed to be a part of USA Softball,” Finch said in a release. “I feel privileged to still have the opportunity to play the game I love at this stage in my life. Just to wear USA across my chest is a great honor and I am grateful for the opportunities I continue to have.” … UA’s next great pitcher, freshman Kenzie Fowler, struck out 18 batters in a 4-3 win over 15th-ranked Northwestern on Saturday. The school record for strikeouts is 20, set by Alicia Hollowell in a seven-inning perfect game against Indiana in 2004. Yep, she struck out 20 of 21 batters. That will be tough to top.