One of the top college players in the country, Arizona sophomore Chase Budinger says he’s paying no attention to analysts who have him pegged as a certain top-10 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
“There’s always those players that get hyped up in things. … When people tell me that stuff, I let it go in one ear and out the other,” the 6-foot-7, 203-pound Budinger told the Arizona Daily Star.
The modest Encinitas, Calif., native, who averaged 15.6 points and 5.8 boards as a freshman, takes a 16.5 scoring, 4.8 rebound, 4.8 assist average into today’s 7 p.m. battle at Kansas.
Budinger, who hit 48.5 percent of his shots and 84.5 percent of his free throws last season, has made 44.7 percent of his floor attempts and 16-of-16 free throws for the 3-1 Wildcats.
“It started with my family,” Budinger said of keeping a humble attitude and concentrating on college and not what might happen this spring with the NBA.
“They’ve always taught me to be humble, to never get full of yourself. They’ve always said if I get too cocky they are going to come down and kick my (behind). They taught me to respect other people and just be a nice guy. I think being a nice guy will help you in the end.”
ESPN.com currently has Budinger the No. 7 prospect and UA freshman Jerryd Bayless No. 18 for the 2008 Draft. KU, of course, also has its share of early entry possibilities. Darrell Arthur is right behind Budinger at No. 8 on ESPN’s list, while Brandon Rush is at No. 20, Sherron Collins No. 36 and Mario Chalmers No. 70. Arizona’s Jordan Hill is No. 78.
¢Busy slate: Unranked Arizona, 3-1, is in the midst of a hectic stretch of four games in eight days.
“I love the games. I love high level basketball games,” interim coach Kevin O’Neill told the Arizona Daily Star.
The former NBA assistant and head coach of the Toronto Raptors (33-49 record) entered this season with a 152-165 mark as college coach at Marquette, Tennessee and Northwestern.
“I like it. Its harder for college guys to make quick turnarounds because they’re not used to it. They like a day to soak up the win or the loss and get ready, then play another. This week they can’t do that. Get ready to play. That’s all there is to it,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill said he misses veteran Wildcat coach Lute Olson, who is away from the team on a personal leave of absence.
“Anytime you lose someone of his stature … somebody who has been on the sidelines 25 years you lose greatness,” O’Neill said. “He’d been here the first 21â2 weeks and left the first exhibition game so it was an adjustment. It will be an ongoing process especially with as young a team as we have.”
Olson, who will begin his 25th season at Arizona and 35th overall as a head coach when he returns, has a career record of 780-280 and 589-187 mark at Arizona.
¢This, that: KU leads the all-time series, 6-3. Five of the nine meetings have come at neutral sites, including the last, a 61-49 Wildcat win at the 2005 Maui Invitational.
KU stopped Arizona, 78-75, in an NCAA West Regional final in 2003 in Anaheim, Calif. KU fell to the Wildcats, 85-82, in a 1997 West Regional semifinal in Birmingham, Ala.
The Wildcats won the last meeting, 91-74, on Jan. 25, 2003 at Allen Fieldhouse. In that game, Arizona erased a 20-point deficit to earn the 17-point victory.
¢Brandon Rush on the contest: “I think it will be good for us to get into a (difficult) game like this. We know we’ll have games like this down the stretch of the season. We’ll be fired up. We’d be fired up no matter who we were playing.”
¢Darrell Arthur’s take: “The competition is getting better. That’s why coach is making us lock down more on defense. He wants us to make it difficult on teams to score. Arizona is a fast-paced team. We’ve got to try to slow them down a bit, get them off their game.”
¢Minutes: Self said Rush, who has played in two games since returning from right ACL surgery, would not start tonight.
“I don’t know the exact number of minutes yet. It’s still the same game plan (with Rush),” Self said of Rush playing about 15 minutes a game.
¢Big-time test: Arizona senior guard Jawann McClellan usually doesn’t hide his thoughts.
So he gave an honest appraisal about UA’s game at Kansas:
“It’s going to be brutal,” McClellan told the Tucson Citizen in an interview in Saturday’s paper.
Kansas may be the best team UA will face this season, although No. 2 UCLA also is in that conversation.
O’Neill called Kansas a “big-time team,” and Arizona must face the Jayhawks in imposing Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
“My mind-set is to go in there and play as well as we can and get a win,” O’Neill told the Citizen, perhaps knowing it’s easier said than done. “Anytime you play on the road is tough, and we know they are a good basketball team. It’s a tough environment.”
“They’re Kansas, but we’re Arizona, too.”
