1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball

NCAA tournament National Champions
National Championship Game, W 84-79^OT vs. Kentucky
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 15
Record	25–9 (11–7 Pac-10)
Head coach	Lute Olson (14th season)
Assistant coaches	Jim Rosborough (8th season) Jessie Evans (9th season) Phil Johnson (4th season)
Captain	Michael Dickerson Miles Simon
Home arena	McKale Center
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

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

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

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)

Phil Johnson (East Central)
Jim Rosborough (Iowa)
Jessie Evans (Eastern Michigan)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov. 22, 1996*	No. 19	vs. No. 7 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 No. 19 New Mexico	L 77–84	2–1	The Pit Albuquerque, NM
Dec. 7, 1996*	No. 15	vs. No. 3 Utah John Wooden Classic	W 69–61	3–1	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim, CA
Dec. 9, 1996*	No. 15	No. 18 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 No. 4 Michigan	L 71–73 ^OT	5–2	The Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, 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	No. 21 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. No. 21 Tulane 7-Up Shootout	W 81–62	15–5	Veterans Memorial Coliseum Phoenix, AZ
Feb. 13, 1997	No. 11	No. 24 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 No. 23 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^[3]	20–9	Pyramid Arena Memphis, TN
Mar. 15, 1997*	(4 SE) No. 15	vs. (12 SE) No. 16 College of Charleston Second round	W 73–69^[4]	21–9	Pyramid Arena Memphis, TN
Mar. 21, 1997*	(4 SE) No. 15	vs. (1 SE) No. 1 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^[5]}	23–9	BJCC Arena Birmingham, AL
Mar. 29, 1997*	(4 SE) No. 15	vs. (1 E) No. 4 North Carolina Final Four	W 66–58^[6]	24–9	RCA Dome Indianapolis, IN
Mar. 31, 1997*	(4 SE) No. 15	vs. (1 W) No. 5 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.

^[7] ^[8]

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

^ 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

^ "Pacific 10 conference 1996–97 standings". Retrieved November 21, 2007.
^ "No. 12 Arizona Falls to Cal". Los Angeles Times. March 9, 1997. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
^ "Arizona Tops S. Alabama 65-57". The Washington Post. March 14, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
^ "Arizona Ends Charleston's Dream". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1997. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
^ "1 + 1 + 1 + Arizona = Final 4". The Los Angeles Times. March 24, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
^ "Bibby Makes 6 Three-Pointers as Arizona Gains First Final". The Washington Post. March 30, 1997. p. D1. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
^ "2019-20 Arizona Wildcats Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Arizona Athletics. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
^ "1996-97 Arizona Wildcats Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 26, 2020.

Arizona Wildcats men's basketball

Venues

Bear Down Gym (1926–1973)
McKale Center (1973–present)

Rivalries

Culture & lore

People

Seasons

List of seasons
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25

NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Arizona Wildcats men's basketball 1996–97 NCAA champions
10 Mike Bibby 12 Josh Pastner 21 Bennett Davison 23 Michael Dickerson 31 Jason Terry 33 Eugene Edgerson 34 Miles Simon (MOP) 42 A. J. Bramlett Head coach Lute Olson Assistant coaches Jessie Evans Phil Johnson Jim Rosborough

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball champions
1939 Oregon 1940 Indiana 1941 Wisconsin 1942 Stanford 1943 Wyoming 1944 Utah 1945 Oklahoma A&M 1946 Oklahoma A&M 1947 Holy Cross 1948 Kentucky 1949 Kentucky 1950 CCNY 1951 Kentucky 1952 Kansas 1953 Indiana 1954 La Salle 1955 San Francisco 1956 San Francisco 1957 North Carolina 1958 Kentucky 1959 California 1960 Ohio State 1961 Cincinnati 1962 Cincinnati 1963 Loyola (IL) 1964 UCLA 1965 UCLA 1966 Texas Western 1967 UCLA 1968 UCLA 1969 UCLA 1970 UCLA 1971 UCLA 1972 UCLA 1973 UCLA 1974 NC State 1975 UCLA 1976 Indiana 1977 Marquette 1978 Kentucky 1979 Michigan State 1980 Louisville 1981 Indiana 1982 North Carolina 1983 NC State 1984 Georgetown 1985 Villanova 1986 Louisville 1987 Indiana 1988 Kansas 1989 Michigan 1990 UNLV 1991 Duke 1992 Duke 1993 North Carolina 1994 Arkansas 1995 UCLA 1996 Kentucky 1997 Arizona 1998 Kentucky 1999 Connecticut 2000 Michigan State 2001 Duke 2002 Maryland 2003 Syracuse 2004 Connecticut 2005 North Carolina 2006 Florida 2007 Florida 2008 Kansas 2009 North Carolina 2010 Duke 2011 Connecticut 2012 Kentucky 2013 Louisville (Vacated) 2014 UConn 2015 Duke 2016 Villanova 2017 North Carolina 2018 Villanova 2019 Virginia 2020 No tournament 2021 Baylor 2022 Kansas 2023 UConn 2024 UConn

NCAA Division I men's basketball champions