Before his tour in the NBA, Jefferson spent three memorable years at Arizona.
Former Arizona Basketball star Richard Jefferson was a key ingredient for the Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Nets in 2002 and 2003.
13 years later his role is much different at the Finals.
At the ripe NBA age of 35, he’s been mostly coming off the bench in this year’s postseason, but he’s still giving Arizona fans high-flying highlights to consume.
Let’s take a look back at when Jefferson was turning heads in Tucson, with his Top 5 memorable moments of his Wildcat career.
Next: No. 5 : Buzzer Beater Against UDub
5. Jan. 9, 1999
No. 8 Arizona 88
Washington 86
Richard Jefferson only scored 13 points against the Huskies, but his last bucket was one of the most memorable in McKale Center history.
With time winding down and the score tied, Jason Terry launched a fadeaway three-pointer. The ball fell short of the rim, but Jefferson was in the perfect spot to catch the ball and proceeded to drop it through the hoop with no time remaining.
Jefferson took in the admiration of the McKale faithful after jumping on a table behind the hoop.
Fun Fact : Jefferson’s buzzer beater was the same day Arizona retired Steve Kerr’s No. 25 jersey into the rafters.
Next: No. 4 : Another Cat/Cardinal classic
4. March 9, 2000
No. 9 Arizona 88
No. 2 Stanford 81
The golden age of the Lute Olson/Mike Montgomery battles gave the Pac-10 a ton of national relevance and during the 1999-2000 season the Cats and Cardinal played two classic games that helped that publicity.
Unfortunately for Jefferson, in the first matchup he suffered a stress fracture in his right foot that caused him to miss much of the Pac-10 season.
Jefferson returned in time to face the Cardinal in the rematch.
During Arizona’s victory, he came off the bench to score 19 points in just 21 minutes. It remains one of the loudest games at McKale Center in the past 20 years.
Next: No. 3 : Down Go the Zags
3. Nov. 29, 2000
No. 5 Arizona 101
Gonzaga 87
The Zags were college basketball’s favorite underdogs and were coming off their first Sweet Sixteen appearance when they visited Tucson during the Cats 2000-2001 Final Four season.
The Cats bounced back from their first loss of the season by created 21 turnovers.
Jefferson flirted with Arizona’s triple-double club, finishing with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Next: No. 2 : Jefferson Starts Pac-10 Career With 49 Points
2.
Jan. 7, 1999 Jan. 4, 1999
No. 8 Arizona 98 No. 8 Arizona 87
Washington State 87 USC 78
Jefferson started his Pac-10 career at Arizona with a big bang!
Against the Trojans in his second conference game, he had a then career-high 24 points. A few nights later he registered his overall career high when he dropped 25 points on the Cougars.
Jefferson also averaged ten rebounds and five assists in the two Arizona wins.
Two days after his performance against Wazzu, Jefferson had his game-winning bucket over the Huskies.
Next: No. 1 : Jefferson Shines at the Final Four
1. 2001 Final Four
The 2001 Final Four is a bittersweet one for Arizona fans.
It was an emotional time for the Cats when Lute Olson’s wife and team Mom, Bobbi Olson passed away right before the conference season.
The Cats would lose out to Stanford for the conference title but they had a bigger goal in mind in the NCAA Tournament.
Continuing where they left out in 1997, Arizona continued to throw No. 1 seeds by the wayside, beating Illinois in a Regional Final slugfest and topping the defending National Champion Michigan State Spartans in the semifinals at the Final Four.
Arizona had defeated five straight No. 1 seeds going into to the Championship game against the mighty Duke Blue Devils.
In these two games, Jefferson showcased his pro upside to NBA Executives.
The first game was a rematch of a nine-point victory the previous season in Tucson when the Cats and Spartans were both in the top 5.
In a game that could have easily been in our list, Jefferson showed the Spartans his athleticism by scoring 18 points, dishing out six assists, grabbing six boards and channeling Dominique Wilkins on a breakaway windmill jam.
The Cats cruised in the rematch at the Final Four, going on a 16-1 run out of the gate in the second half.
Jefferson finished with 17 points and eight rebounds against the Spartans.
With Gilbert Arenas and Luke Walton not at 100 percent for the title game, Jefferson had to step up for the Cats to have a chance against Coach K’s boys.
The Cats cut the Duke lead to 75-72 with three minutes left but could not come any closer leaving the Cats bridesmaids in Minneapolis.
Loren Woods and Michael Wright both finished with double-doubles and Jefferson had one of his best games as a Wildcat when he finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and shot 4-of-8 from behind the arc.
His two-game output made him a 2001 All-NCAA Final Four pick.
Soon afterward Jefferson entered the NBA draft and was the No. 13 pick by the Houston Rockets. He was later traded to the New Jersey Nets, where he averaged over 18 ppg four times in seven seasons. BearDown Richard!