Editor’s note: The following story first appeared in the April 1, 1997 edition of the Arizona Daily Star.

INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Dickerson may have lost his shot weeks ago, but he never lost any brainpower.

Knowing early that he was en route to another woeful shooting night, the Arizona forward resourcefully decided instead to focus on defending Kentucky star Ron Mercer.

Dickerson was 1 of 6 from the field in the first half, making a lone three-pointer from the left side, then took only two shots in the second half. Not surprisingly, both missed.

“I said: ‘Forget it. I’m not going to shoot anymore,’” Dickerson said. “I was bricking. It didn’t take me long to know I was bricking, and I knew I had to do something else to help this team.”

Of course, Dickerson has come to expect this sort of thing. After leading the Wildcats in scoring 19 times this season, Dickerson made just 25 of his 78 field goal attempts during the NCAA Tournament.

In the breezy and wide-open confines of the RCA Dome, things only became worse. Dickerson was 1 of 10 from the field in Arizona’s 66-58 victory over North Carolina in the semifinal and was 1 of 8 last night.

“I struggled tonight,” Dickerson said. “I struggled the last game. I struggled the whole tournament.”

Arizona coach Lute Olson was aware of it. After a while, defending Mercer wasn’t enough. Dickerson played just eight minutes in the second half and spent the entire overtime period as a high-profile cheerleader.

He swallowed hard and made the best of it.

“I wanted to be out there, but I’ll do anything to help my team,” Dickerson said. “At that point, I was missing shots, and I just wasn’t playing my game. I got the ball, and I wasn’t doing the things I was capable of doing, so it was better for me to be on the bench. Coach Olson saw that, and that’s what he did.

“I’m not mad at all. We just won the national championship. I’m not devastated at all.”

He couldn’t be. Dickerson had plenty to smile about. Just as he took over the Wildcats when Miles Simon was spending games in street clothes because of academics. Simon took over the team last night.

Simon scored 30 points, splitting defenders seemingly at will. Point guard Mike Bibby virtually ignored yet another vicious press, scoring 19 points with nine rebounds to help compensate for the eight turnovers he did have.

Dickerson meanwhile, could only sit there proudly.

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