1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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 Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible(W) Walk-on
Schedule
Date
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance)
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
McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Jan. 4, 1997 No. 9
No. 21 Stanford
W 76–75 9–2
McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Jan. 11, 1997 No. 7
at Arizona State Rivalry W 92–84 10–2
Wells Fargo Arena Tempe, AZ
Jan. 16, 1997 No. 6
at USC
L 62–75 10–3
Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
Jan. 18, 1997 No. 6
at UCLA Rivalry L 78–84 OT
10–4
Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
Jan. 23, 1997 No. 11
Oregon State W 99–48 11–4
McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Jan. 25, 1997 No. 11
Oregon W 88–68 12–4
McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Jan. 30, 1997 No. 10
at Washington State
W 87–78 13–4
Beasley Coliseum Pullman, WA
Feb. 2, 1997 No. 10
at Washington
L 88–92 13–5
Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA
Feb. 5, 1997 No. 14
Arizona State Rivalry W 87–71 14–5
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
McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Feb. 15, 1997 No. 11
USC W 101–77 16–6
McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Feb. 20, 1997 No. 13
at Oregon
L 72–78 16–7
McArthur Court Eugene, OR
Feb. 22, 1997 No. 13
at Oregon State
W 74–64 17–7
Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR
Feb. 27, 1997 No. 15
Washington State W 100–86 18–7
McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Mar. 2, 1997 No. 15
Washington W 103–82 19–7
McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Mar. 6, 1997 No. 12
at No. 23 Stanford
L 80–81 19–8
Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Mar. 8, 1997 No. 12
at California
L 77–79 19–9
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
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 . Retrieved January 26, 2021 .^ "Arizona Tops S. Alabama 65-57" . The Washington Post . Retrieved February 12, 2022 .^ "Arizona Ends Charleston's Dream" . The Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 11, 2021 .^ "1 + 1 + 1 + Arizona = Final 4" . The Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 6, 2021 .^ "Bibby Makes 6 Three-Pointers as Arizona Gains First Final" . The Washington Post . 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 .
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics
