1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

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1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
Arizona Wildcats logo.svg
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 15
1996–97 record25–9 (11–7 Pac-10)
Head coach
  • Lute Olson (14th season)
Assistant coaches
CaptainMichael Dickerson
Miles Simon
Home arenaMcKale Center
Seasons
1996–97 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 UCLA 15 – 3   .833 24 – 8   .750
No. 21 Stanford 12 – 6   .667 22 – 8   .733
California 12 – 6   .667 23 – 9   .719
USC 12 – 6   .667 17 – 11   .607
No. 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[]

1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 10 Mike Bibby 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
—
 Fr Shadow Mountain Phoenix, AZ
G 12 Josh Pastner 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
—
 Fr Kingwood Kingwood, TX
F 13 Donnell Harris 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
—
 So North Salinas Salinas, CA
G 15 John Ash 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
—
 Fr Salpointe Tucson, AZ
F 21 Bennett Davison 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
—
 Jr Analy
West Valley JC 		Sebastopol, CA
F 23 Michael Dickerson (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
—
 Jr Federal Way Seattle, WA
G 24 Quynn Tebbs 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
—
 Fr Bingham Salt Lake City, UT
F 30 Justin Wessel 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
—
 Fr Prairie Iowa City, IA
G 31 Jason Terry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
—
 So Franklin Seattle, WA
F 33 Eugene Edgerson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
—
 Fr St. Augustine New Orleans, LA
G 34 Miles Simon (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
—
 Jr Mater Dei Fullerton, CA
G 40 Jason Lee (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
—
 Sr Allegheny/Irvine Irvine, CA
F 42 A. J. Bramlett 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
—
 So La Cueva Albuquerque, NM
G 52 Jason Steward 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
—
 So Gardena Gardena, CA
Head coach
  • Lute Olson (Augsburg)
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Schedule[]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
Nov. 22, 1996*
 No. 19 vs. North Carolina
Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic 		W 83–72  1–0
 Springfield Civic Center 
Springfield, MA
Nov. 26, 1996*
 No. 11 Northern Arizona W 88–70  2–0
 McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Nov. 30, 1996*
 No. 11 at New Mexico L 77–84  2–1
 The Pit 
Albuquerque, NM
Dec. 7, 1996*
 No. 15 vs. Utah
John Wooden Classic 		W 69–61  3–1
 Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim 
Anaheim, CA
Dec. 9, 1996*
 No. 15 Texas W 83–78  4–1
 McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Dec. 14, 1996*
 No. 8 Jackson State W 111–83  5–1
 McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Dec. 21, 1996*
 No. 6 at Michigan L 71–73 OT 5–2
 Crisler Arena 
Ann Arbor, MI
Dec. 28, 1996*
 No. 9 Robert Morris
Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic 		W 118–54  6–2
 McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Dec. 30, 1996*
 No. 9 Penn
Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic 		W 93–51  7–2
 McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Jan. 2, 1997
 No. 9 California W 81–80  8–2
(1–0) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Jan. 4, 1997
 No. 9 Stanford W 76–75  9–2
(2–0) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Jan. 11, 1997
 No. 7 at Arizona State
Rivalry 		W 92–84  10–2
(3–0) 		Wells Fargo Arena 
Tempe, AZ
Jan. 16, 1997
 No. 6 at USC L 62–75  10–3
(3–1) 		Los Angeles Sports Arena 
Los Angeles, CA
Jan. 18, 1997
 No. 6 at UCLA
Rivalry 		L 78–84 OT 10–4
(3–2) 		Pauley Pavilion 
Los Angeles, CA
Jan. 23, 1997
 No. 11 Oregon State W 99–48  11–4
(4–2) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Jan. 25, 1997
 No. 11 Oregon W 88–68  12–4
(5–2) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Jan. 30, 1997
 No. 10 at Washington State W 87–78  13–4
(6–2) 		Beasley Coliseum 
Pullman, WA
Feb. 2, 1997
 No. 10 at Washington L 88–92  13–5
(6–3) 		Hec Edmundson Pavilion 
Seattle, WA
Feb. 5, 1997
 No. 14 Arizona State
Rivalry 		W 87–71  14–5
(7–3) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Feb. 9, 1997*
 No. 14 vs. Tulane
7-Up Shootout 		W 81–62  15–5
 Veterans Memorial Coliseum 
Phoenix, AZ
Feb. 13, 1997
 No. 11 UCLA
Rivalry 		L 64–66  15–6
(7–4) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Feb. 15, 1997
 No. 11 USC W 101–77  16–6
(8–4) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Feb. 20, 1997
 No. 13 at Oregon L 72–78  16–7
(8–5) 		McArthur Court 
Eugene, OR
Feb. 22, 1997
 No. 13 at Oregon State W 74–64  17–7
(9–5) 		Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, OR
Feb. 27, 1997
 No. 15 Washington State W 100–86  18–7
(10–5) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Mar. 2, 1997
 No. 15 Washington W 103–82  19–7
(11–5) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
Mar. 6, 1997
 No. 12 at Stanford L 80–81  19–8
(11–6) 		Maples Pavilion 
Stanford, CA
Mar. 8, 1997
 No. 12 at California L 77–79  19–9
(11–7) 		Cow Palace[a] 
Daly City, CA
NCAA Tournament
Mar. 13, 1997*
 (4 SE) No. 15 vs. (13 SE) South Alabama
First round 		W 65–57  20–9
 Pyramid Arena 
Memphis, TN
Mar. 15, 1997*
 (4 SE) No. 15 vs. (12 SE) College of Charleston
Second round 		W 73–69[3]  21–9
 Pyramid Arena 
Memphis, TN
Mar. 21, 1997*
 (4 SE) No. 15 vs. (1 SE) Kansas
Sweet Sixteen 		W 85–82  22–9
 BJCC Arena 
Birmingham, AL
Mar. 23, 1997*
 (4 SE) No. 15 vs. (10 SE) Providence
Elite Eight 		W 96–92 OT[4] 23–9
 BJCC Arena 
Birmingham, AL
Mar. 29, 1997*
 (4 SE) No. 15 vs. (1 E) North Carolina
Final Four 		W 66–58[5]  24–9
 RCA Dome 
Indianapolis, IN
Mar. 31, 1997*
 (4 SE) No. 15 vs. (1 W) Kentucky
National Championship 		W 84–79 OT 25–9
 RCA Dome 
Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast.

[6] [7]

Rankings[]

Main article: 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

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

Notes[]

  1. ^ Game played near San Francisco at the Cow Palace, since Cal's Harmon Gym (soon to be renamed Haas Pavilion) was beginning renovation.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ "Pacific 10 conference 1996–97 standings". Retrieved November 21, 2007.
  2. ^ "No. 12 Arizona Falls to Cal". Los Angeles Times. 9 March 1997. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Arizona Ends Charleston's Dream". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1997. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  4. ^ "1 + 1 + 1 + Arizona = Final 4". The Los Angeles Times. March 24, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  5. ^ "Bibby Makes 6 Three-Pointers as Arizona Gains First Final". The Washington Post. March 30, 1997. p. D1. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  6. ^ "2019-20 Arizona Wildcats Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Arizona Athletics. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  7. ^ "1996-97 Arizona Wildcats Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
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