Former Arizona and NBA standout Jason Terry indicated interest in joining Sean Miller's Arizona coaching staff, retweeting a Twitter mention that he had emerged as the top candidate with emojis that signal "Bear Down" and his "Jet" nickname.
— Jason "The Jet" Terry (@jasonterry31) April 21, 2020
Terry's former teammate and longtime friend A.J. Bramlett also saluted the notion.
Yes sir!!!
— A • J • B / R / A / M / L / E / T / T (@AJBRAMLETT) April 21, 2020
Terry's name, and those of other Seattle-area coaches, has been speculated since Justin Gainey left to become Marquette's associate head coach earlier this month.
New Arizona commit Terrell Brown of Seattle U is a godson of Terry's, and the Wildcats have made inroads with several members of the loaded Seattle-area recruiting class of 2021, including five-star wing Paolo Banchero and Nolan Hickman.
Banchero added Arizona suddenly to a list of nine finalists earlier this month.
However, other than what little he would be allowed to do as an alum, Terry isn't allowed to recruit for the Wildcats until he is named an assistant coach, and that could be a while. Arizona's athletic department is under an indefinite hiring freeze, though AD Dave Heeke said last week that exceptions are possible in some situations -- most likely when the coronavirus-prompted NCAA recruiting dead period is lifted.
In 2008, the NCAA alleged that assistant coaches Russ Pennell and Mike Dunlap were invited shortly before their UA hirings to watch the Cactus Classic recruiting event at McKale Center at a time when Division I coaches were not allowed.
Hiring Terry would be a certain hit for Miller, considering Terry's popularity with UA fans as as former Wildcat star and his NBA credibility with recruits.
If Terry is interested in the job, that would signal a remarkable turnaround from his outspoken criticism of Miller in 2018, in the wake of the federal investigation into college basketball and an ESPN report saying Miller discussed a pay-for-pay scheme.
@APlayersProgram BearDown it’s time to clean house and bring home our own bloodlines to carry on Lutes Legacy. We have too much pride, too much tradition to allow outsiders to tear down what we built.
— Jason "The Jet" Terry (@jasonterry31) February 24, 2018
But Terry signaled several times last year that his relationship with Miller and the program were on the mend.
Spending four seasons with the Wildcats between 1995-99 before going on to a 19-year NBA career, Terry was a sixth man on Arizona's 1997 national championship team and an all-American as a senior in 1998-99.
Terry qualified to have his jersey retired at Arizona because he was named the national player of the year in 1998-99 by Sports Illustrated, CBS and the Basketball Times but the school was not allowed to honor him for 15 years because of NCAA violations.
In 2000, UA made an agreement with the then-Pac-10 Conference after an investigation found Terry accepted $11,500 from agents while playing for the Wildcats.
Terry was already in the NBA when the investigation concluded in June 2000, but the Wildcats’ one-game 1999 NCAA tournament appearance was formally vacated.
In addition, UA asked Terry to repay the $45,363 in forfeited NCAA 1999 tournament revenue and banned him from the UA Sports Hall of Fame, including a provision that his jersey would not be retired.
After Terry repaid the $45,363 sometime before 2015, then-UA athletic director Greg Byrne said he and UA president Ann Weaver Hart began discussing the issue with their colleagues around the conference and the school was free to honor Terry and his jersey was put on display in McKale Center in 2015.
Terry finished up a UA degree in Social Behavior and Human Understanding in 2014, making him eligible to take a college coaching job. While Terry does not have experience in college coaching, he was named the assistant GM of the G League's Texas Legends last season and has been the CEO and a coach of the Texas Elite club's Lady Jets team.
Jeff Goodman says it sounds like the frontrunners for Purdue big man grad transfer Matt Haarms are Kentucky and Texas Tech, with BYU also a possibility. If so, the Wildcats will likely be banking on an international big man to help out in 2020-21.
