Position: Guard
Class/Experience: Freshman/HS
Height: 5-10
Weight: 178
Hometown: Indianapolis, Ind.
High School: North Central HS

General: One of the top high school recruits in the country, he comes to Arizona after winning the prestigious Mr. Basketball award for the state of Indiana... A McDonald's All-American as well, he is the fourth Wildcat on this year's roster to have received that honor (Loren Woods, Richard Jefferson, Luke Recker)... Had seven points, six assists and six rebounds in the McDonald's All-America Game... Second team Parade All-American as a senior... Will get the chance to compete for the starting point guard position right away... Led North High School to the Indiana State 4A Championship and the Indiana Tournament of Champions title as well... The 4A division is the top level of high school athletics in Indiana... Averaged 22.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.0 apg, 3.0 spg... Owned a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio... Owns a 36-inch vertical jump... A teammate of current Wildcat Michael Wright when the two were members of the gold medal winning USA Basketball Junior World Championship Qualifying team in the summer of 1998.

High School: In addition to the national awards garnered during his senior year, was also named the Indianapolis city Player of the Year by the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News... In the state semi-final game of his senior year, he scored 29 points with eight rebounds, four assists a hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the game into overtime... Three days later he played in the McDonald's All-American game and then returned to Indianapolis for the state title game two days later... He scored 24 points and had five assists as North Central beat Elkhart Central in the RCA Dome for the championship... He added 49 points in the two games of the Tournament of Champions, which pits the four teams who won the Indiana 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A titles... Two-time Gatorade Circle of Champions Indiana Player of the Year (1998 & 1999)... In his junior season, he was named the Indiana state player of the year by USA Today and Gatorade Circle of Champions after averaging 21.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 2.4 apg... Shot 50% from the floor and 40% from the three-point line... Parade fourth team All-America as a junior, as well as a Associated Press All State third team selection... Scored 20 or more points in 13 of the team's 21 games...  A member of the honor roll during high school... Named the Indianapolis Star Player of the Year as a sophomore after averaging 15.3 ppg, 4.2 apg, 3.1 rpg and leading his team to a 22-4 record... Started every game for North Central HS since his freshman season... All-time leading scorer at North Central High School (1,699 pts) and set five other school records... High school coach, Doug Mitchell, was an assistant at Butler University with current UA assistant coach, Jay John.

Personal: Jason Corey Gardner... Born 11-4-80 in Indianapolis, Ind... Majoring in business management... Son of James C. Gardner, Sr., and Stephanie Gardner... Father, who is a supervisor with General Motors, attended Miami of Ohio where he wrestled for two years... Mother attended Indiana University and is a consultant for the state of Indiana... Has a brother, James, who plays basketball at Marion College in Indianapolis... Picked Arizona over Duke, Kansas, Purdue and Indiana... Said one of his main reasons for picking Arizona was the program's history of developing quality guards... Consulted former UA All-American Damon Stoudamire during the recruiting process... When Arizona won the NCAA championship at Indianapolis in 1997, the Cats practiced at his high school gym, but he was kept away from the gym by school security... Lists his hobbies as collecting sports cards and sports memorabilia... Met Wilt Chamberlin when Kansas retired his jersey... Also listed as notables he met as Allen Iverson, Jimmy Jackson and Reggie Miller.