| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
TUCSON, Ariz. -- They file in one by one to our interview room, none of them coached on what to say.
No coach would want a team to be so bold on the first day of practice.
But Arizona coach Lute Olson might not mind this season. He can't argue with the outspoken, downright cocky, albeit in a quiet gentleman fashion, approach the Wildcats take to this season.
|  | | Richard Jefferson says anything less than a national title would be a disappointment in the desert. |
Five starters return. Five potential all-Americans. Five future pros.
Point guard Jason Gardner, shooting guard Gilbert Arenas, forwards Richard Jefferson and Michael Wright, and center Loren Woods make up ESPN.com's preseason No. 1, ESPN/USA Today's No. 1 and the team to beat for the 2001 national title.
"If you had to draw up a college basketball team, how could you draw up a better team," Arizona junior forward Richard Jefferson said. "We've got a strong point guard who distributes the ball; a lanky two-guard who can score in so many different ways; an athletic three-man in myself; a strong power forward and a strong seven footer who loves to block shots.
"On paper, we're as good as it gets."
Arizona bowed out of the NCAA Tournament with a second-round loss to Wisconsin in Salt Lake City last March. But the top-seeded Wildcats were a shell of themselves. Woods was out with an injured back. Jefferson had just come back from a foot injury. The Wildcats didn't have the depth last season to replace them the way they do this season. Returning to the bench is enforcer and fifth-year senior forward Eugene Edgerson, while freshman Andrew Zahn arrives with plenty of raw talent.
After flirting with declaring for the NBA draft, Woods returned in shape and hungrier than ever for a chance to prove that he can carry a team to a title. Jefferson spent the summer becoming an NBA two-guard in a college small forward's body. Gardner and Arenas are no longer baby-face frosh, even though Arenas still wears braces. Wright has toned up even more to be a force on the backboard.
Add role players like Luke Walton, Rick Anderson, Justin Wessel, Lamont Frazier and Travis Hanour and the Wildcats have depth at every position.
Duke, Maryland and Michigan State can compete with pro-like talent in their starting fives. But Arizona proclaims to have the depth and the outright hunger to win the national title.
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“ |
If you had to
draw up a college basketball team, how could you draw up a better team ... On paper,
we're as good as it gets. ” |
|
|
— Richard Jefferson,
Arizona junior forward |
The Wildcats see it as their right, especially after they stayed intact when everyone else assumed they would break up because of the early-entry bug.
"I don't think we have any flaws," Arenas said. "We shouldn't. We're the same team as last year and everybody is stronger, healthier."
Arenas said the national title race is Arizona and somebody, maybe Duke, but definitely Arizona.
"It definitely would be disappointing if we don't win it, but I'm sure a school like Duke feels the same way," Jefferson said. "When was the last time that two of the most talented teams met for the national championship? I'm not guaranteeing a national championship, but we're working toward it."
If there are flaws it's in that this team might tire from the weary schedule playing in a loaded Maui Invitational against potentially Connecticut, Illinois and Maryland. The Wildcats will then travel from Maui to Indianapolis to play Purdue; come home to play Gonzaga and St. Mary's, and travel back-to-back Saturdays to Connecticut and to Chicago to play Illinois.
By the time the Pac-10 season comes, something Olson has always placed a premium on, the Wildcats will be primed for a title race with Stanford en route to a potential No. 1 seed yet again in the NCAA Tournament.
"A lot of teams shouldn't stay on the court with us," Jefferson said. "There may be times when we look at the film and say that no way should a team play with us. I don't think there has been a team in the past that had our lineup. We've got two juniors, a senior and two sophomores. That's rare today. You'll see a team like the early Duke teams in the '90s that had experience playing together."
Gardner went as far as to say the Wildcats might be akin to the UNLV team that went undefeated in 1991 before losing to Duke in the national semifinal.
Getting rid of potential playing-time issues with the departures of Luke Recker and Ruben Douglas last December for Iowa and New Mexico, respectively, got this group even tighter. Despite their words Thursday, Gardner said the egos are gone, and so is the selfishness. Walton started 19 games last season because of various injuries but isn't worried about coming off the bench.
"Everyone is equal on our team," Walton said. "We're a lot closer this year and we honestly feel we're the best team in the country."
But it almost didn't happen. Woods said he seriously considered leaving for the NBA, even after his back injury. Jefferson said he thought about it before he was injured.
"If Loren doesn't get hurt then he's gone," Jefferson said. "If he's not hurt then maybe Michael Wright thinks about leaving because we win the national title. Then I got hurt. There were a lot of different circumstances that we didn't control that allowed our team to come back. We knew if we worked hard and stayed together that we could win the national title this year."
Arenas said if the Wildcats win the title, he wants to return. But he said it's rare for anyone to come back when money is involved, especially millions. Gardner probably isn't ready yet. Jefferson and Wright might bolt. Walton said he could see the whole starting five leaving if they win the title, but then again they could stay because this team is so close and enjoys going to school at Arizona.
But the window is closing.
"This team might split up and never be a team like this again," Gardner said. "Anything but a national title will be disappointing." | |
ALSO SEE
High Five: Woods returns to make Arizona a title threat
Olson's built a coach's dream in the desert
Katz postcard from Arizona
ESPN.com Preseason Top 25
Weekly Word: Following the madness from the road
AUDIO/VIDEO
 ESPN.com's Andy Katz checks in from No. 1 Arizona prior to Midnight Madness.
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