First of Two: The Arizona Wildcats (No. 9 USA Today/ESPN) kick off their two-game exhibition season, facing a professional team from Lithuania Alytus Alita this Sunday, Nov. 7, at 3:07 p.m. in McKale Center. Currently taking a break from its Lithuanian Basketball League regular season schedule to travel in the United States, Alytus Alita has compiled a record of 3-6 in its league so far. The Cats are coming off their annual Red/Blue scrimmage last Tuesday night, an intrasquad game that was played before 8,824 fans in McKale Center. Following this outing against the Lithuanian team, Arizona will have one more exhibition game, hosting the California All-Stars on Sunday, Nov. 14, at 3:07 p.m. The Wildcats, who welcome back eight letterwinners and three starters from last year's 22-7 team, will open the 1 regular season campaign at home on Tuesday, Nov. 16, taking on Kansas State in the first round of the Preseason NIT. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. and it will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

Television & Radio for Sunday: The game against Alytus Alita will be televised on KWBA (channel 58) in Tucson and on Cox cable channel 9 in Phoenix. Dave Sitton will handle the play-by-play for the television broadcast and former Arizona basketball All-America Bob Elliott will do the color commentary... The contest can also be heard on KNST radio in Tucson (790 AM) and on each of the 11 other Arizona Wildcat Network affiliates across the Southwest.

Arizona In Exhibitions: The Wildcats have an all-time record of 234-58 against non-collegiate competition in its 95-year hoops history... Arizona has won its past 19 exhibitions in a row, last suffering a defeat on Nov. 9, 1989, losing to the Australian National Team 71-60... Last season, Arizona opened up its exhibition season against another team from Lithuania, Sakalai, and won 72-64.

The Cats' Last Action: Last Tuesday night was Arizona's annual Red/Blue intrasquad scrimmage and it was an evening that saw the Blue squad defeat the Red, 93-86. The winning team was led by the high-flying exploits of sophomore three-man Richard Jefferson and freshman guard Gilbert Arenas. Jefferson, one of three returning starters this season, went for a game-high 24 points on an 8-of-11 shooting performance from the field (helped in part by four dunks) and was 8-of-11 from the free throw line as well. As for Arenas, he scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Another frosh, 6-foot-10 center Robertas Javtokas hit all six of his shots on the way to a 12-point night for the victors. The Red team was led by sophomore forward Michael Wright, who had the only double-double of the game with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while hitting 9-of-10 shots. Junior center Loren Woods netted 20 points (8-of-11 FG) to go with six boards and four blocks. Sophomore three-man Rick Anderson was effective from the outside, hitting all four of his three-point attempts on the way to a 19-point, six rebound, three assist evening.

WILDCAT CALENDAR


Sun., Nov. 7 - Exhibition vs. Alytus Alita, 3:07 p.m., 
McKale Center, KWBA televises.


Wed., Nov. 10 - Press Conference; Lute Olson at 1 p.m. in 
SID office; Players at 1:30 p.m. on the floor.


Thurs., Nov. 11 - UA Men's Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon Noon, 
La Paloma Resort. Tickets are $26 per person and can be 
purchased by calling .


Sun., Nov. 14 - Exhibition vs. California All Stars, 
3:07 p.m., McKale Center, KWBA televises


Tues., Nov. 16 - Preseason NIT vs. Kansas State, 8:30 p.m., 
McKale Center/ESPN2


Fri., Nov. 19 - Possible Second Round Preseason NIT game if 
UA beats Kansas State; Cats would host winner of Hofstra/New 
Mexico State; 9:30 p.m./ESPN2


Wed/Fri., Nov. 24/26 - Preseason NIT Semi-Finals and Finals; 
New York City; Madison Square Garden; ESPN televises

Preseason Rankings: Arizona is drawing a lot of attention in the preseason rankings and magazines that have come out so far. The Cats have been anywhere from No. 5 (The Sporting News) to No. 18 (Lindy's). They were No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN Coach's Poll, which was released on Thursday... A complete listing of all the preseason polls and individual accolades are listed later on this release.

Pac-10 Prognostications: The Wildcats were picked to win the 1 Pac-10 Conference title, according to a poll of media members who regularly cover the league... The poll showed Arizona getting 32 of the possible 36 first-place votes, edging No. 2 UCLA, who received three first place votes and No. 3 Stanford, which garnered one first place vote... Following the top-three were Oregon, Oregon State, California, USC, Arizona State, Washington and Washington State. This poll has correctly picked the Pac-10 Champion for five years in a row and Arizona has now been the preseason No. 1 pick six times since the poll was started back in 1989.

Lithuanian Connection: Arizona freshman center Robertas Javtokas (YAHV-toe-kus) is a native of Lithuania and was born in Siauliai, Lithuania (pronounced SHAW-lay). He has a brother, Arturas, who currently plays on the Clemson basketball team... He has been in the United States for the past two years, first coming to Winston-Salem, N.C., where he attended Bishop McGuiness High School... He spent last year in Akron, Ohio, attending St. Vincent/St. Mary's High School... Lists his favorite NBA teams as Portland and Cleveland, because of fellow countrymen Arvydas Sabonis and Zydrunas Illgauskas, who play for the Blazers and Cavs.

Arizona Basketball On TV This Year: Each of Arizona's 29 regular season games will be televised on either Fox Sports Net, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS or KWBA. The Wildcats appear on Fox Sports Net 20 times, ESPN twice, ESPN2 twice, CBS once, ABC once and on Tucson's KWBA five times. Should Arizona advance to the Preseason NIT's second round, semi-finals and final, it would make one more showing on ESPN2 and have two more ESPN games.

Counting Classes: The 1 Arizona basketball roster is relatively young... From top-to-bottom, it is comprised of just two seniors, of which only one will play, due to Eugene Edgerson's redshirt season (Josh Pastner, who has played just 77 minutes in his three year career is the lone "playing" senior)... After that, there are five juniors two of which have never played in a game for the Cats (Wake Forest transfer Loren Woods & junior college transfer Lamont Frazier) and one who can't play this season because he is a transfer (Luke Recker)... Then there are four sophomores, one redshirt freshman and four true freshman... In all, the 16 players on this year rosters have combined to play in an average of only 19 career games for the Wildcats.

The UA's record of 320-74 over the course of the past 12 years gives it the nation's best winning percentage during that span (.812).

Who's Back: Heading the group of three returning starters and eight letterwinners is last year's Freshman All-American and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Michael Wright. A 6-foot-7, 238-pound sophomore from Chicago, Ill. (Farragut Academy), he has received preseason acclaim as being one the top power forwards in the country for 1. He is the team's leading returning scorer (13. 9 ppg) and rebounder (8.8 rpg) after posting the best rebounding average by a freshman in Pac-10 history last season. The other two returning starters from last year are also sophomores this year, and they are Richard Jefferson (F, 6-7, 222, Phoenix, Ariz.) and Ruben Douglas (G, 6-4, 192, Altadena, Calif.). Jefferson was an All-Pac-10 Freshman team performer last season after averaging 11.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 2.9 apg, while Douglas was named to the All-Pac-10 Freshman honorable mention team in 1998-99. Among the other returning letterwinners are Justin Wessel (F, 6-8 , 225, Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Rick Anderson (F, 6-8 , 221, So., Long Beach, Calif.), John Ash (G, 5-10, 177, Jr., Tucson, Ariz.) and probably the most valuable player in the country who has averaged 2.8 minutes per game during his three-year career, Josh Pastner (G, 5-11, 182, Kingwood, Texas).

A Redshirt Year: Another face that is returning this season, but will not be playing is Eugene Edgerson... He will redshirt this season so he can complete his degree requirement in his education major... In order to accomplish his goal of getting his degree and teaching certificate from the UA in four years, he will student teach during the 2000 spring semester, while fulfilling other requirements this fall... Depending on his teaching schedule, he will still practice with the team but will miss Wednesday practices during the fall semester.

University of Arizona  
1 Preseason Rankings


The Sporting News - 5th
Basketball News - 7th
Blue Ribbon College Yearbook - 7th
ESPN/USA Today - 9th
Street & Smith's - 9th                   
Sport Magazine - 9th
Playboy - 11th
ESPN.com - 13th
Basketball Times - 13th
Lindy's College Sports - 18th


Picked to finish first in the Pac-10 - The Sporting News
Picked to finish first in the Pac-10 - Basketball News
Picked to finish first in the Pac-10 - Athlon Sports
Picked to finish first in the Pac-10 - Street & Smith's
Picked to finish first in the Pac-10 - Sport Magazine


The Sporting News No. 3 Frontcourt in the Country
Lindy's College Basketball No. 5 Frontcourt in the Country 
Street & Smith's No. 2 Frontcourt in the Country


Individual Rankings
Michael Wright
* The Sporting News No. 2 Power Forward in the Country 
* The Sporting News Pac-10 All-Conference First Team
* Pac-10's Best NBA Prospect - The Sporting News
* Street & Smith's No. 3 Power Forward in the Country
* Street & Smith's All-Pac-10 Team
* Basketball News All-Pac-10 First Team
* Basketball News No. 6 "Banger" in the Country
* Athlon Sports All-Pac-10 First Team
* Lindy's No. 8 Power Forward in the Country 
* "All Class of 2002" (Sophomores Who May Be Raw But 
Have Serious Skills), Sport Magazine

Loren Woods
* The Sporting News No. 6 Center in the Country
* The Sporting News Pac-10 All-Conference Team
* The Sporting News Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year 
* Athlon Sports All-Pac-10 Second Team
* Athlon Sports Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year 
* Lindy's No. 8 Center in the Country 
* "All-Witness Protection" (Impact Transfers Whose 
Time is Now), Sport Magazine

Richard Jefferson
* Athlon Sports All-Pac-10 Third Team
* Lindy's No. 14 Small Forward in the Country 
Jason Gardner
* Basketball News Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year
* Street & Smith's Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year

The New Guys: The six fresh faces on the team are comprised of a talented group... There are two transfers and four true freshmen... Junior college guard Lamont Frazier (6-3, 182, Jr.) comes to Tucson from Lon Morris Junior College in Jacksonville, Texas and is originally from Los Angeles... His has missed most of the practices so far due to a recurrent medical condition, but returned to practice on Oct. 28 -- his first time on the floor with the team since Oct. 17... The second high-profile transfer in two years to come to Arizona is Indiana transfer Luke Recker (G/F, 6-6, 190, Jr., Auburn, Ind.)... Just as the case was with Loren Woods last season, he must sit out this season as a result of NCAA transfer rules, but will be allowed to practice with the team... As a result of the broken left wrist he suffered in a car wreck back in early July, he has been held out of some drills to avoid contact, but was able to play in last Tuesday's Pepsi Red/Blue Scrimmage... His rehab process is going extremely well and his progress has been much better than first expected... The four true freshmen on the squad include McDonald's All-American Jason Gardner (G, 5-10, 178, Indianapolis, Ind.), Gilbert Arenas (G, 6-3, 191, North Hollywood, Calif.), Robertas Javtokas it's pronounced YAHV-toe-kus (C, 6-10, 229, Siauliai, Lithuania) and walk-on Michael Schwertley (F, 6-5, 214, Phoenix, Ariz.).

Coach O: Lute Olson (Augsburg '56) begins his 17th season as the head coach at Arizona and his 27th overall as a head coach... This season will see him reach of number of milestones in what has become a Hall of Fame type coaching career... He has a career record of 587-212 (.735), while his mark in Tucson stands at 395-120 (.767) and he has made Arizona one the dominant programs in the country... The first game of the season will be his 800th career game as a head coach and he needs just 13 more wins for career win No. 600, which would make him one of just 33 coaches in NCAA history to win 600 or more games... With five more wins, he will reach 400 for his Arizona career (these numbers may differ from what the NCAA coaching totals list, because as opposed to the Pac-10 Conference, the NCAA does not count forfeits as wins on head coaching records, as the case is with two UA losses to Cal in 1995 and 1996, which were later changed to wins... the same holds true with a game when Olson was at Iowa, when there was a forfeit by Wisconsin in 1983 that changed a loss into a win)... During his 16-year tenure at Arizona, the Wildcats have won one national championship (1997), gone to three Final Fours (1988, 1994, 1997), won eight Pac-10 Conference titles and been to the NCAA Tournament for the past 15 years in a row, which is the second longest streak in NCAA history (North Carolina, 25)... He has been named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year six times (1986, 88, 89, 93, 94, 98) and directed the program to the nation's best winning percentage over the past 12 years... His Pac-10 record stands at 223-65 (.774) and he is one of just six coaches in league history to win 200 or more conference games... He has the second-best conference winning percentage in Pac-10 history (minimum three years), trailing only John Wooden (.810/304-74)... Prior to coming to Arizona, he was at Iowa for nine years where he owned a 168-90 mark and before that, he was at Long Beach State for one season (1973-74), where he went 24-2... In his collegiate career, he has produced 35 NBA Draft picks, including 20 at Arizona 15 alone on the 1990s... He has led Arizona to 12 consecutive 20-win seasons and has 21 overall in his career... Under Olson, the Cats have gone 243-25 during his career in McKale Center and have won 172 of their last 182 home games.

The Coach's Show: Once again this season, KNST will air the Lute Olson Coach's Show and it is hosted by Brian Jeffries... Due to Arizona travel conflicts during the non-conference season, the show will air just once prior to Pac-10 play... The first show is on Monday, Nov. 29, at 6:30 p.m. It is broadcast live from Bob's at 6350 East Tanque Verde Road... The show will then be aired for the television portion of the Lute Olson Show, showing on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 10:30 p.m. on UPN channel 18... The next Lute Olson Show after this will be on Monday, Jan. 3, at 6:30 p.m. and the TV show will be shown Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 10:30 p.m.

Final 1998-99 Pac-10 Standings
                      Pac-10  Overall
1. Stanford           15-3    26-7 
2. Arizona            13-5    22-7
3. UCLA               12-6    22-9
4. Washington         10-8    17-12      
5. California         8-10    22-11
   Oregon             8-10    19-13
7. USC                7-11    15-13            
   Oregon State       7-11    13-14
9. Arizona State      6-12    14-16
10. Washington St.    4-14    10-19

Pac-10 Team of the Decade???: Arizona has the most wins of any Pac-10 team in the 1990s (256) and was won five Pac-10 Conference crowns and tied for one other... UCLA is second with four conference titles this decade... Arizona's winning percentage of .793 in the 1990s is the third-best in the country, trailing only Kansas (.827) and Kentucky (.817)... For conference games only, Arizona record of 140-40 in the best in the league, with UCLA at No. 2 with a 134-47 mark... The Cats have been to the NCAA Tournament each year this decade and won it all in 1997... There have been 18 All-Pac-10 first team selections from Arizona and four Pac-10 Players of the Year... Arizona has not recorded a double-digit loss total since 1986-87... The Wildcats' seven All-Americans during the 1990s trails only Duke's 10... UA and North Carolina are tied for second-most All-Americans in the 1990s.

Where Are You From?: California is the state that can claim the most members of this year's Wildcats, as five players are from "The Golden State " (Rick Anderson, Gilbert Arenas, Ruben Douglas, Lamont Frazier and Luke Walton)... There are three from Arizona (John Ash, Richard Jefferson & Michael Schwertley) and two from Indiana (Jason Gardner, Luke Recker)... The rest of the roster contains six players from different states and countries, as the case is with Robertas Javtokas, who is from Siauliai, Lithuania... His city is pronounced SHAW-lay.

The Golden Arches: This season's roster has four former McDonald's All-Americans Jason Gardner, Richard Jefferson, Luke Recker and Loren Woods.

Notes on the 1 Season: Arizona will take the nation's fourth-longest home winning streak into the season... The UA has won 32 consecutive home games, trailing only Murray State (42), Duke (35) and Utah (35)... The Cats have won 172 of their past 182 home games... This will be the 12th season Arizona basketball has been sold out in McKale Center on a season-ticket basis... Only 10 pairs of mid-level tickets and 20 pairs of upper level tickets were not renewed for this year... Look for The Sporting News to run a story that deals with the influx of transfers in college basketball a majority of the piece will deal with the Arizona basketball program and the success it has had with transfers... A cover photo of Lute Olson and Loren Woods was taken earlier this week... Michael Wright's jersey will appear in ESPN Magazine's college basketball preview, along with other jerseys of the top players in the country... The design will be a take-off of the Blair Witch Project movie, which portrays the nation's "scariest players"... Please note that Jason Gardner's birthdate is Nov. 14, not Nov. 4, as the personal section in his bio states... Dating back to the start of the 1997-98 season, Arizona has been ranked in the top-10 in 30 of 36 polling periods... Since the start of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats own a record of 58-12... Overall, Arizona has been ranked in the regular season Top-25 rankings for 199 straight weeks.

Then There Were Four: Just four players on this year's roster remain from Arizona's 1997 NCAA Championship team Eugene Edgerson, Justin Wessel, John Ash and Josh Pastner.

2000 NCAA West Region First/Second Rounds in McKale Center
The University of Arizona will host the first and second rounds of the 2000 NCAA Tournament West Region this March 16 & 18 in McKale Center. Tickets are currently on sale for each of the three sessions and cost $90. Ticket orders can be made at the McKale Center ticket office or by calling . Media credential applications will be ready in January. Contact media coordinator Tom Duddleston with any questions ().

Who's Gone From 1998-99: Leading the losses from last season are 1998-99 seniors Jason Terry and A.J. Bramlett... Terry was named the National Player of the Year in three circles last season and was the Pac-10 Player of the Year after becoming the first player to lead the league in scoring (21.9 ppg), assists (5.5) and steals (2.8) in the same season since Gary Payton of Oregon State did it in 1989-90... He was No. 10 in the NBA Draft and went to the Atlanta Hawks... Bramlett was an All-Pac-10 selection last season after averaging 14.2 ppg, 9.4 rpg... He was drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers... Both Terry and Bramlett were members of four Arizona teams that went 103-28 (55-4 at home), while winning a national title, a Pac-10 Championship and they went 11-3 in the NCAA Tournament... Jason Stewart was the third senior last year, while freshman guard Traves Wilson transferred in the off-season. Arizona's NCAA History: Last year marked the 18th time Arizona has made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament and it was the 15th invite under head coach Lute Olson... UA's current string of 15 consecutive appearances in the NCAAs is the second longest streak in NCAA history, trailing only North Carolina's 25 straight invites (UNC's is a current streak as well)... Last season was the 20th time in the last 21 years that Olson has taken a team to the NCAAs... He has directed Arizona to 15 tourneys and a 24-14 record -- and when he was the coach at Iowa, he coached five Hawkeye squads to the NCAAs... With 20 career appearances in the NCAA Tournament, he is tied for fourth on the NCAA's all-time tournament appearance list for head coaches with Adolph Rupp and John Thompson... Over the course of their last 20 NCAA games, the Wildcats own a record of 15-5... In the last five years, Arizona has played in 21 tournament games... Arizona's all-time record in the NCAA Tournament is now 26-17... The Wildcats have been to three Final Fours -- 1988, 1994 & 1997... Arizona has advanced to the Sweet 16 seven times in the last 12 years.

20-Win Campaigns: With its record of 22-7 last season, it marked the 12th consecutive season that Arizona won 20 or games... Further, it was the 14th time in Lute Olson's 16 years as UA head coach that the Cats have reached the 20-win plateau... It marked the 21st time in Olson's career that he has directed a team to 20 or more victories, making him just the eighth head coach in NCAA history to reach 20 wins in 21 or more seasons (Dean Smith-30; Jerry Tarkanian-26; Adolph Rupp-23; Bobby Knight-22; Denny Crum-21; Jim Boeheim-21; John Chaney-21).

Home Sweet Home: As previously mentioned, Arizona closed the year with a 32-game home winning streak in tact... The streak includes all 14 home games last season, all 15 in 1997-98 and the final three of the 1996-97 campaign... The last loss was a 66-64 defeat to UCLA on Feb. 13, 1997... Further, Arizona has won 43 of its last 44 home games and is 172-10 in McKale Center since the 1987-88 season... During that time, the Cats have lost just two non-conference games (Arkansas, 1992-93 & Syracuse, 1995-96)... Overall, Arizona has won 18 consecutive non-conference home games... Last year was the ninth season in history that Arizona went undefeated at home.

Some Notes on Last Season: The Wildcats led the Pac-10 in rebounding (41.6 rpg), scoring (82.2 ppg), free throw shooting (.710) and rebounding margin (+8.1 rpg)... The Cats completed its home schedule with a 14-0 mark... It was the ninth time in history the UA has completed its home schedule undefeated... Last year was the first time since 1989-90 that Arizona didn't score 100 points or more in at least one game... Arizona started three freshmen in 22 of its 29 games and used 10 different starting lineups... Only three teams shot 50% or better against the Wildcats -- UCLA (50%), at Cal (51.6%) and at Stanford (54.0%)... Arizona suffered its worst shooting performance of the season against Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (19-of-57/33%)... One offshoot of the UA's rebounding dominance was the amount of times it went to the free throw line... The Wildcats attempted 252 more free throws than the opposition... The three-point field goal percentage of .350 was the lowest in team history... Arizona's 30 turnovers against Washington State on Jan. 7, were the most for the program since Dec. 4, 1982, when the Ben Lindsey-coached Cats had 36 at New Mexico... The University of Arizona retired Steve Kerr's jersey in a ceremony following the Washington game... He joined Sean Elliott as the only former Wildcats to have their jersey hung from the McKale Center rafters... Arizona has the most wins of any Pac-10 team in the 1990s (257)... That averages out to just under 26 wins a year this decade... Only A.J. Bramlett and Jason Terry started every game for the Wildcats this season... In all, nine players earned a start this season... Dating back to the start of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, Arizona owns a record of 58-12.

Shooting Sets the Tone: Since the 1996-97 season, Arizona is 60-4 in games when it has a better shooting percentage than its opponent... The Wildcats were 19-1 last season, 23-2 the year before and 18-1 in 1996-97 campaign.

80s Preservation Society: In the past three years, the UA is 75-8 when it scores 80 or more points in a game... Further, since the 1992-93 season, Arizona is 137-15 when it scores 80 or more... The Cats were 15-2 in 1998-99, 26-3 in 1997-98 and 19-2 in 1996-97.

The Century Club: The UA has not given up 100 points in regulation since Jan. 27, 1990, at Pittsburgh, a span of 302 games. UA lost that game 100-92.