UA’s Olson looks forward

TUCSON, Ariz. – With his team playing its best basketball at the end of an otherwise difficult season, Arizona coach Lute Olson is painting a bright picture for the program’s future.

In his wrap-up news conference Tuesday, Olson also said he was rethinking his philosophy of playing mostly tough preconference games. It might be better, he said, to schedule more home games against lesser opponents to beef up the record when the NCAA tournament slots are chosen.

“Washington and ourselves split and we went a game deeper in the league tournament,” Olson said. “Maybe it is best to play 10 out of your first 11 at home. They say they’re not going to be influenced by a team’s record, but I’m not ready to buy that.”

The Wildcats, Olson noted, played five of their 11 non-conference games at home.

Arizona (20-13) was seeded 10th in the Minneapolis Region. Washington (26-6) was seeded fifth in the Washington, D.C., region and plays Connecticut in the regional semifinals Friday night.

Despite his swipe at scheduling, Olson confirmed that he is trying to work out a home-and-home series against Villanova, the team that knocked the Wildcats out of the NCAA tournament 82-78 in Philadelphia on Sunday.

The 71-year-old coach acknowledged that his team could have avoided its tough NCAA assignment by playing better earlier in the season, and he looked forward to what he believes will be a “quick, really exciting team” next fall.

The Wildcats lose all-conference guard-forward Hassan Adams and troublesome guard Chris Rodgers, but guard Jawann McClellan will be back after missing nearly all of the season, first because of ineligibility and then injury.

Arizona also welcomes one of the nation’s top recruits in 6-foot-7 Chase Budinger from Carlsbad, Calif. With anticipated improvement of freshman Marcus Williams, along with the return of Mustafa Shakur, Ivan Radenovic and Kirk Walters, Olson likes the looks of the coming season.