Twenty years later, the feeling hasn’t gone away.
Pastner: “Everyone says it every year, but I think it’s the greatest run of any NCAA championship run in history. Three No. 1 seeds, a freshman point guard, an inexperienced team, we lost the last two regular-season games, we weren’t deep, should’ve lost in the first round against South Alabama. Bottom line is, I think it’s the greatest run in NCAA tournament history.”
It could be.
But to these guys, it’s so much more.
These are treasured memories, collectively, but each player and coach has his own sense of pride about the title. That will never fade. Standing around McKale Center on a Friday night to soak in the roaring applause and to cheer on Simon, their erstwhile leader, they reminisced.
Harris: “It seems as if all of us have retained our youth. We all look pretty much like we did.”
Davison: “I’ll be in Dallas, and I’ll be driving, and I’ll just see the A. I was in Rome, and I met these people in front of the Coliseum, and I saw their A, and we hugged. People ask, did you play, and look I don’t wear the gear, all the jewelry — but I’ll say yeah. When? I say ’97, and it dawns on them … wait, didn’t … wasn’t that the … you were on that team?... Are you A.J. Bramlett?”
Simon: “I’ll never get tired of it. I love college sports. I was fortunate enough to win a national title, but I also went to six or seven Final Fours as a kid. I love college basketball. I’ll watch it over pro sports any day of the week. It’s a cool, cool thing. To win one with my teammates, and more importantly for Lute Olson — one of the greatest there ever was — and I’m so glad he got a title on his résumé. He deserves it.”
Edgerson: “The beauty of life is being able to share it with family. I have my 8-year-old son here, and he gets an opportunity to see that dad really did something amazing. He gets a chance to look around McKale, see the place packed, same as it was when I played, the video of us winning the national championship, and I get the chance to share those moments with my son, and to me that’s priceless. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll get the opportunity to come to the UA and play ball and maybe attain something like we attained back in 1997.”
Pastner: “When I talk to my team, you know what I tell the guys? How many of you have won a national championship? How many people can say that? Since 1939 is when the NCAA started awarding championships in men’s basketball. UCLA has won what? Eleven? Duke? Kentucky? With all those duplicates, you’re in such rarified air. So when I talk to my kids I say you want to win? Well I’m the only one who has, so you better listen to me. I have the blueprint.”
Harris: “A friend of mine told me, ‘Most things in life, people can take from you.’ And then he said, ‘But what you guys did, no one can ever not acknowledge it. It’s something that will be etched in stone, and you should be proud of it.’ Cool. So I’m going to be proud of it, I’m going to come back and get to see my friends, the friends who were closest to me. I take it as a blessing.”
