Nic Wise may have made the wisest decision of his yet-to-be started professional basketball career, informing Arizona coach Sean Miller that he plans to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and return to Tuscon for his senior season. Wise was projected as a late second-round pick or perhaps even undrafted. His return gives Miller a veteran, tested player who can help the Wildcats' resurgence.
"We are all very excited with Nic's return," Miller said on the school's Web site. "His talent, leadership and ability will make him one of the premier players in the Pac-10 this coming season. As important, this puts him in position to leave the University of Arizona with his degree. We are looking forward to a great senior year for Nic."
Sean Miller views what's left of his inherited roster at the University of Arizona and realizes he will be his seniors' fourth coach in four years. He is preceded by Kevin O'Neill, Russ Pennell and of course Lute Olson, who retired because of health reasons. Pennell led the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 in March but was told there was no chance he would retain the job.
So Miller takes over after a successful tenure at Xavier, but with only residue of a team in Tucson. Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill declared for the NBA draft and have hired agents while point guard Nic Wise is still pondering his draft options. Miller seeks to bring the tradition back to Arizona but the process will take time, especially considering the recent coaching upheaval.
The upheaval at USC and constant defections at UCLA may have sent conference supremacy north.
The NBA draft's early entries have one month to return to school (June 15), but it doesn't appear any of the Pac-10 entries are coming back. Six underclassmen -- USC's DeMar DeRozan and Taj Gibson, UCLA's Jrue Holiday, the Arizona duo of Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger and Arizona State's James Harden -- will participate in the draft combine beginning May 28 in Chicago, and none are likely to return to their schools. Even Holiday, a projected late first-rounder, is reportedly close to hiring an agent and remaining in the draft.
Stanford has ruled the Pac-10 Women's basketball landscape for the past 20 years, and California and Arizona State have recently emerged to make the conference a three-team scramble for supremacy. But two recent hires by Oregon and USC have made it apparent that women's basketball is indeed becoming a higher priority on the West Coast.
The few weeks after the NCAA Basketball season concludes are traditionally chock full of player movement announcements -- new recruits, transfers, entry entrants into the NBA draft, etc. This year has been no exception, but there is a trend gaining more steam. Having a collegiate basketball player become a football player isn't a new thing. Antonio Gates is an All-Pro tight end who didn't play a snap of college football, for example.
Still, the movement from football to basketball seems to be increasing in recent weeks. It makes sense, considering the speed, quickness and agility needed in both. For post players in basketball, they've become accustomed to a physical game anyway, and have the necessary strength-athleticism combo for a position like tight end. Here are four currently considering the shift:
On a night when the University of Arizona honored famed coach Lute Olson during halftime, something became very clear as the ceremonial speeches ended and the basketball began. If the Wildcats want to continue their NCAA streak of 25 consecutive tournament appearances, they would need more than an uplifting video (it got dusty in my apartment) and the memory of a coach that has been through a lot the last two years. The Wildcats need a W.
It wasn't happening, as Jerome Randle absolutely murdered the 'Cats in the second half, helping California (22-8, 11-6) improve to third in the Pac-10 with the 83-77 win and put the Wildcats in another uncomfortable position similar to last season -- leaving their March Madness dreams up to chance.
It wasn't very pretty, but the Washington Huskies did what they hoped to do: Sweep the Arizona schools and assure the program at least a share of the Pac-10 regular season championship for the first time in nearly a quarter century.
Washington took down Arizona State on Thursday 73-70 in Seattle, and today had the Wildcats come to town in desperate need of one more big win to assure they'd be returning to the NCAA tournament for the 25th straight time. The Wildcats dominated in the first half on the back of Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger, but an injury to Hill in the second half and foul trouble for the 'Cats allowed the Huskies to pull away and take it 83-78.
Headlining: The beauty of a Tuesday column, at least this season, is that whoever ends up No. 1 can do so with an asterisk based on Monday's games. (*In case you didn't know already, Pittsburgh beat Connecticut.) And it appears that next week, we'll likely have a new No. 1 team in the nation. That will likely be Blake Griffin and the Oklahoma Sooners. Which is fitting, considering Griffin dropped a rediculous 40-point, 23-rebound Valentine's Day stat line on Texas Tech Saturday night.
One thing has always haunted the Wildcats -- their inability to finish games.
On Thursday night against Southern California and Saturday against UCLA, the Wildcats again let both teams back in the game before doing something that is very un-Tucson like ... they stepped on some throats.
The win over the Bruins was about streaks, and Arizona continued one while putting the other to rest. UCLA had taken down the Wildcats in eight straight games before Russ Pennell's crew kept it together, winning 84-72 to take their current winning streak to seven.
This is never why you listen to the stat heads. They will let you down. Just when you start to doubt UCLA, the Bruins go on a huge winning streak with impressive wins. And just when you completely buy in and believe that UCLA has turned the corner, the Bruins lose on the road at Arizona State, 74-67.
Are we ever going to get an accurate read on this team or are we doomed to be on the back end of a trend?
NCAA Basketball 
Nic Wise may have made the wisest decision of his yet-to-be started professional basketball career, informing Arizona coach Sean Miller that he plans to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and return to Tuscon for his senior season. Wise was projected as a late second-round pick or perhaps even undrafted. His return gives Miller a veteran, tested player who can help the Wildcats' resurgence.
The upheaval at USC and constant defections at UCLA may have sent conference supremacy north.
The few weeks after the NCAA Basketball season concludes are traditionally chock full of player movement announcements -- new recruits, transfers, entry entrants into the NBA draft, etc. This year has been no exception, but there is a trend gaining more steam. Having a collegiate basketball player become a football player isn't a new thing. 
On a night when the University of Arizona honored famed coach 
It wasn't very pretty, but the Washington Huskies did what they hoped to do: Sweep the Arizona schools and assure the program at least a share of the Pac-10 regular season championship for the first time in nearly a quarter century. 
Ranking the rankings
This is never why you listen to the stat heads. They will let you down. Just when 
