Arizona Wildcats basketball: On remembering the β97 champs, JET's apology, coach's trust
Seen and heard at McKale Center during the Red-Blue Game.Β
Arizonaβs Red-Blue Game is a lot of things.
Itβs a preview of whatβs to come in the upcoming season for the Wildcats, the first look at all the newcomers.
Itβs a prime recruiting weekend, where coach Sean Miller often will host Arizonaβs top targets β and commits β for upcoming classes.
It was all of that on Friday, but it wasnβt only that β this yearβs Red-Blue Game was, over everything, a commemoration of Arizonaβs best team ever on its 20th anniversary.
Twenty years ago, the Wildcats improbably defeated three No. 1 seeds β the first team to ever do that β on their way to a national championship.
The bulk of that roster returned Friday for Arizonaβs season-opening scrimmage. Included in that group was Miles Simon, the Final Fourβs Most Outstanding Player during that title run. He had his jersey retired at McKale Center on Friday night.
Before the festivities began, Miller took a microphone and spoke to the crowd about that team, and Simon.
βThere have been a lot of great teams and great playersβ at Arizona, Miller said. βThis weekend is a reunion weekend, players from many generations have come back. On behalf of our program, letβs all congratulate the 1997 team.β
Loud applause rained down.
βThey did it with such style,β Miller said of that team. βTo win it all is something thatβs obviously not easy to do.β
Who was in attendance, besides Simon?
An NBA standout: guard Mike Bibby.
The key players: A.J. Bramlett, Bennett Davison, Eugene Edgerson, Donnell Harris
The head honcho: Lute Olson.
The lead assistant coach: Jim Rosborough
The walk-on freshman who became a coach: Josh Pastner, the Georgia Tech coach who flew to Tucson on his day off to celebrate with his old teammates.
Also there: John Ash, Jason Stewart, and some former team managers, including Ed Orr, who eventually became a team trainer at Arizona State.
Jason Terry and Michael Dickerson were the most notable absentees.
During player introductions, all of Arizonaβs players wore Simon shirts to honor the former UA star, who was wearing a suit.Β
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The experience of guards Kadeem Allen and Parker Jackson-Cartwright showed at the Red-Blue Game.
