May 12, 2008

Rivals.com College Basketball Staff

For better or worse, the Arizona basketball program has undergone an extreme makeover for the 2008-09 season.

The changes have been fast and somewhat furious. Kevin O'Neill was hired to replace Jim Rosborough as an assistant on May 1, 2007. On Nov. 4, coach Lute Olson took an indefinite leave of absence and O'Neill was put in charge of day-to-day operations of the program. He was named interim coach on Dec. 6 when Olson released a statement saying his leave would extend through the end of the season. On Dec. 18 Wildcats Athletic Director Jim Livengood announced that O'Neill was the designated successor to Olson.

At some point a rift developed between O'Neill and Olson. When Olson held a news conference on April 1 to announce his return for this season, he said O'Neill would not be on the staff.

Miles Simon also has been let go from the staff. That occurred on May 3. The Most Outstanding Player on the 1997 Arizona national championship team was hired as an assistant in July 2005. No reason was given as to why his contract was not renewed.

Assistant Josh Pastner is on the verge of leaving the program as well. A former Wildcat like Simon, published reports have him close to taking a job on John Calipari's staff at Memphis. He has been a full-time assistant at UA since 2002.

On top of that, Wildcats underclassmen Jerryd Bayless and Chase Budinger have put their names in the NBA Draft pool. Bayless does not plan to return to Tucson, but Budinger does not plan to sign with an agent and could stay at Arizona next season.

With all of that in mind, we asked Basketball Editor Bob McClellan and staff writer Andrew Skwara this question: Is the Arizona program OK or in disarray?

SKWARA'S PICK: OK

All the recent turnover on Arizona's coaching staff certainly has been puzzling.

But, ultimately, the changes are for the better.

That's largely because Olson is back. If Arizona is going to start contending with the elite programs again, having Olson on the sideline is critical. The Hall-of-Famer long has been considered one of the best recruiters in college basketball. If he wasn't going to coach in some capacity next season, I'm not sure the Wildcats would have been able to hold on to the three top-50 prospects they signed from the 2008 class, including five-star point guard Brandon Jennings.

I think taking O'Neill out of the equation is also a plus. Much was made about how the defensive guru was going to be exactly what Arizona needed. While their defense did improve last season, the team also played well below expectations. UCLA was probably the only Pac-10 team with more talent, yet the Wildcats finished in seventh place. With an 8-10 league record in the Pac-10, they were fortunate to extend their string of NCAA Tournament appearances to 24.

O'Neill doesn't deserve all the blame. He was thrust into a tough situation when Olson took an abrupt leave of absence. But, sometimes a change is in the best interests of everyone.

Arizona must find a way to keep improving defensively. But, with Olson back and another great crop of talent soon to arrive in Tucson, I think it's only a matter of time before we see the Wildcats make another deep NCAA Tournament run.

MCCLELLAN'S PICK: DISARRAY

Shouldn't this be sandwiched between The View and Oprah in the daytime TV lineup? This thing has been harder to follow than any soap opera.

How can you say the program isn't in disarray? What's the same as last season? You have a different head coach and an entirely new staff, and if Budinger stays in the draft your two best players are gone.

Olson took the leave of absence to deal with a messy divorce from his second wife, a subject on which he kept mum during the season. But on April 18 the coach went on a popular Phoenix radio station and gabbed with the morning-show hosts about the case.

"I've been told (by Christine's side) that, 'I'm going to ruin your reputation. You're gonna be a dead man in this town.' These are direct quotes. I think my reputation is based on 25 years not just a few months. It's strictly a matter of trying to get publicity, to try to question my integrity, and I don't think anyone has been able to question my integrity, ever. It's just harassment, and nothing more than that."

The estranged wife, Christine Olson, called the program shortly after the coach was done and refuted his remarks. "I married this guy. I still care deeply for this man. He is a wonderful human being. But something has changed. I don't know what it is. I'm so proud of everything he has accomplished. I'm proud of what he's built here, but I don't know what's going on. It's just really sad."

I'm not taking sides in the divorce, but isn't calling a radio station to discuss it at least a little disconcerting?

Simon told ESPN's Doug Gottlieb that, "They have given me no explanation, no closure. I have known Coach O since I was 17, and this is not a side of him that I know."

Olson has hired two new assistants. Russ Pennell spent eight seasons as an assistant at Arizona State, but he spent the past two seasons running the Arizona Premier Basketball Academy. Mike Dunlap spent the past two seasons as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets after a nine-year run as the coach at Division II Metro State in Denver.

Are they supposed to renew all confidence in the direction of the program?

The Wildcats have a lot to prove in 2008-09. Until they do, this program looks like a mess to me.

Bob McClellan is the college basketball editor for Rivals.com. He can be reached at bmcclellan@rivals.com.
Andrew Skwara is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at askwara@rivals.com.