Mesa Legend - ARCHIVES - Vol. 39, Issue 7


Volume 39, Issue 7. Today is .

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Volume 39, Issue 7
December 4, 2001

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Gardner returns to UA after testing NBA draft

U-Wire

TUCSON – When Jason Gardner announced in April that he would enter the NBA draft, the Arizona men’s basketball team was dealt a potentially devastating blow. Wildcat fans held their breath, waiting to see if Gardner would withdraw his name.

He did.

No. 22 is now fifth in the nation in scoring after an educational – and humbling – summer.

Following a run to the national championship game last season, Gardner decided to test the NBA draft waters and attended numerous pre-draft camps. Once in the camps, he was surprised when scouts questioned aspects of his game and his draft stock fell.

Gardner decided that another year in college would be beneficial for his future, but does not feel that he has to prove anything individually.

"I am happy to be back," Gardner said. "I’ve always wanted to be captain and tell guys how it is on and off the floor. It gave me a lot of confidence. There are things in life that make you or break you, and I think (the pre-draft camps) made me."

UA head coach Lute Olson said Gardner should not be ashamed of returning to school for another year. He pointed to past point guards such as Damon Stoudamire – who stayed all four years and then won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award a year removed from the UA – as success stories.

"That was the main point I made to him afterward," Olson said. "I went through the great point guards that we have had here – (Portland Trail Blazer Steve) Kerr, Stoudamire, and (Atlanta Hawk Jason) Terry.

There was no way in the world they could have come out after their junior year, and Jason was trying to go after his sophomore year.