1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
National champion
NCAA Tournament
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#13
AP	#15
1996–97 record	25–9 (11-7 Pac-10)
Head coach	Lute Olson
Assistant coach	Jessie Evans
Assistant coach	Phil Johnson
Assistant coach	Jim Rosborough
Captain	Michael Dickerson Miles Simon
Home arena	McKale Center

1996–97 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
#7 UCLA	15	–	3		.833			24	–	8		.750
Stanford	12	–	6		.667			22	–	8		.733
California	12	–	6		.667			23	–	9		.719
USC	12	–	6		.667			17	–	11		.607
#15 Arizona	11	–	7		.611			25	–	9		.735
Washington	10	–	8		.556			17	–	11		.607
Oregon	8	–	10		.444			17	–	11		.607
Washington State	5	–	13		.278			13	–	17		.433
Oregon State	3	–	15		.167			7	–	20		.259
Arizona State	2	–	16		.111			10	–	20		.333
As of November 23, 2011[1]; Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona. The Head Coach was Lute Olson. The team played its home games in the McKale Center, and was a member of the Pacific-10 Conference.

After going 11–7 in conference play the team was seeded fourth in the Southeast Region of the 1997 NCAA Tournament. They went on to win the national championship, the first in program history, defeating three top-seeded teams in the process.

Roster

Name	#	Position	Height	Year	Home Town
John Ash	15	Guard	5–11	Freshman	Tucson, AZ
Mike Bibby	10	Guard	6–1	Freshman	Phoenix, AZ
A. J. Bramlett	42	Forward	6–11	Sophomore	Albuquerque, NM
Bennett Davison	21	Forward	6–8	Junior	Sebastopol, CA
Michael Dickerson	23	Forward	6–5	Junior	Seattle, WA
Eugene Edgerson	33	Forward	6–6	Freshman	New Orleans, LA
Donnell Harris	13	Forward	6–11	Sophomore	Salinas, CA
Jason Lee	40	Guard	6–4	Senior	Irvine, CA
Josh Pastner	12	Guard	6–0	Freshman	Kingwood, TX
Miles Simon	34	Guard	6–5	Junior	Fullerton, CA
Jason Stewart	52	Guard	5–11	Sophomore	Gardena, CA
Quynn Tebbs	24	Guard	6–1	Freshman	Salt Lake City, UT
Jason Terry	31	Guard	6–2	Sophomore	Seattle, WA
Justin Wessel	30	Forward	6–8	Junior	Iowa City, IA

Schedule

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site City, State
November 22*	#19	vs. North Carolina Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic	W 83–72	1–0	Springfield, MA  {{{site_cityst}}}
November 26*	#11	Northern Arizona	W 88–70	2–0	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
November 30*	#11	at New Mexico	L 77–84	2–1	{{{site_cityst}}}
December 7*	#15	vs. Utah John Wooden Classic	W 69–61	3–1	Anaheim, CA  {{{site_cityst}}}
December 9*	#15	Texas	W 83–78	4–1	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
December 14*	#8	Jackson St	W 111–83	5–1	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
December 21*	#6	at Michigan	L 71–73 ^OT	5–2	Crisler Arena  {{{site_cityst}}}
December 28*	#9	Robert Morris Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic	W 118–54	6–2	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
December 30*	#9	Pennsylvania Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic	W 93–51	7–2	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
January 2	#9	California	W 81–80	8–2 (1–0)	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
January 4	#9	Stanford	W 76–75	9–2 (2–0)	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
January 11	#7	at Arizona St Rivalry	W 92–84	10–2 (3–0)	Tempe, AZ  {{{site_cityst}}}
January 16	#6	at USC	L 62–75	10–3 (3–1)	{{{site_cityst}}}
January 18	#6	at UCLA	L 78–84 ^OT	10–4 (3–2)	Pauley Pavilion  {{{site_cityst}}}
January 23	#11	Oregon St	W 99–48	11–4 (4–2)	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
January 25	#11	Oregon	W 88–68	12–4 (5–2)	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
January 30	#10	at Washington St	W 87–78	13–4 (6–2)	{{{site_cityst}}}
February 2	#10	at Washington	L 88–92	13–5 (6–3)	{{{site_cityst}}}
February 5	#14	Arizona St	W 87–71	14–5 (7–3)	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
February 9*	#14	vs. Tulane 7-Up Shootout	W 81–62	15–5	Phoenix, AZ  {{{site_cityst}}}
February 13	#11	UCLA	L 64–66	15–6 (7–4)	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
February 15	#11	USC	W 101–77	16–6 (8–4)	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
February 20	#13	at Oregon	L 72–78	16–7 (8–5)	{{{site_cityst}}}
February 22		at Oregon St	W 74–64	17–7 (9–5)	{{{site_cityst}}}
February 27	#15	Washington St	W 100–86	18–7 (10–5)	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
March 2	#15	Washington	W 103–82	19–7 (11–5)	McKale Center  {{{site_cityst}}}
March 6	#12	at Stanford	L 80–81	19–8 (11–6)	{{{site_cityst}}}
March 8	#12	at California	L 77–79	19–9 (11–7)	Cow Palace  {{{site_cityst}}}
March 13*	#15	vs. (13) South Alabama NCAA Tournament	W 65–57	20–9	Memphis, TN  {{{site_cityst}}}
March 15	#15	vs. (12) College of Charleston NCAA Tournament	W 73–69	21–9	Memphis, TN  {{{site_cityst}}}
March 21*	#15	vs. (1) Kansas NCAA Tournament	W 85–82	22–9	Birmingham, AL  {{{site_cityst}}}
March 23*	#15	vs. (10) Providence NCAA Tournament	W 96–92 ^OT	23–9	Birmingham, AL  {{{site_cityst}}}
March 29*	#15	vs. (1) North Carolina NCAA Tournament	W 66–58	24–9	Indianapolis, IN  {{{site_cityst}}}
March 31*	#15	vs. (1) Kentucky NCAA Tournament	W 84–79 ^OT	25–9	Indianapolis, IN  {{{site_cityst}}}
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast.

^[2][3]

Awards and honors

NCAA Tournament, Champions

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1998	1	2	Mike Bibby	Vancouver Grizzlies
1998	1	14	Michael Dickerson	Houston Rockets
1998	2	42	Miles Simon	Orlando Magic
1999	1	10	Jason Terry	Atlanta Hawks
1999	2	39	A. J. Bramlett	Cleveland Cavaliers

References

1. "Pacific 10 conference 1996–97 standings". Retrieved November 21, 2007.
2. 2014-15 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team. Retrieved 2015-Apr-12.
3. College Basketball @ Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Apr-12.