After breaking the Sean Miller-era bench press record during preseason workouts, Ryan Luther picked up a new "10th Warrior Belt" award from the program.
The award's name is a play off of the "10th war," or the minutes after the final media timeout of a game. Miller refers to each roughly four-minute stretch between media timeouts as "wars."
"I was pretty honored," Luther told UA's sports publicity arm. "It was humbling because (Miller) could have given it to a lot of different guys. Everyone worked real hard in the offseason and made great improvements throughout the summer. So just to get recognized felt real good."
During UA's preseason media day on Monday, Miller said Luther would be valued for his strength and experience. Luther was limited with foot injuries his past two seasons at Pitt but was leading the Panthers in scoring and rebounding when he was forced to sit out the rest of last season.
Among other preseason tests, Arizona players are asked to bench press 185 pounds as many times as they can. Miller said Luther lifted that amount 25 times, breaking the old record of 23 set by Talbott Denny.
"He's been through a lot. He's older, he's stronger," Miller said of Luther. "We're welcoming in a new player that I think can bring some things to the table to help us."
After finishing up his Pitt degree and arriving at UA last summer, Luther told the Star he was looking to the opportunity he had this season as a grad transfer. He is expected to play heavily at both power forward and center.
After an Adidas rep said Oregon was prepared to offer an "astronomical" amount of money" for Brian Bowen, during the college basketball trial in New York, Oregon issued a statementΒ Thursday saying it is confident coach Dana Altman and his staff "uphold the highest standards of integrity."
Oregonian columnist John Canzano wrote Wednesday that Altman needed to make a statement.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday, Josh Green said he'd announce his college choice within 24 hours so word is expected to come very soon...Β
