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Arizona basketball: 30 Greatest Wildcats of all time

By Shereen Rayan

TUCSON, AZ - SEPTEMBER 22: Former Arizona Wildcats basketball coach Lute Olson waves to fans as he walks with wife Kelly Pugnea during the first half of the college football game against the Utah Utes at Arizona Stadium on September 22, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ - SEPTEMBER 22: Former Arizona Wildcats basketball coach Lute Olson waves to fans as he walks with wife Kelly Pugnea during the first half of the college football game against the Utah Utes at Arizona Stadium on September 22, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images /

Arizona Basketball Greatest Player No. 8 – Luke Walton

Position: Small Forward

Years at Arizona: 1999-2003

College Stats: 9.1 pts, 7.3 reb, 1.3 Ast, 1.2 stl, 0.4 blk

College Awards: 

2005 NCAA Tournament All-Region
2002 Second-team All-American
First-team All-Pac-10 2002 2003
2003 Pac-12 Champion
NCAA Assistant Coach (Memphis)

NBA Draft: 2003 / Round: 2 / Pick: 32nd overall
Years in the NBA: 11 as a player, Eight as a coach

NBA Awards:

NBA Champion (Lakers) 2009, 2010
2015 NBA Champion – Asst Coach (Warriors)
2016 Western Conference Coach of the Month (November)

NBA Positions:

Current NBA Head Coach (Lakers)
NBA Assistant Coach (Warriors)
NBA G-League Development Coach (D-Fenders)

Luuuuuuuukkkeeee! The chant sounds like a boo from Wildcats fans anytime Luke Walton is introduced to the crowd. Luke Walton chose Arizona instead of his dad Bill Walton’s alma mater UCLA. Luke went 6-3 over the Bruins in his college career and 179-27 overall when Luke was playing. Maybe he chose to move to Tucson because it was the year after Lute Olson coached the Wildcats to the National Championship? Whatever the reason, Walton is a beloved by Arizona Wildcats fans.

Walton scored a total 1,179 points and earned 662 rebounds and 582 assists during his college career.

Walton enjoyed going to the NCAA Tournament each season he played for Arizona getting to the Finals in 2001 and ranked No. 1 in the nation in 2003. Luke’s best man at his wedding was Richard Jefferson. Luke married his college girlfriend, former Volleyball player, Bre Ladd in front of Olson, Andre Iguodala, and Jason Gardner.

Both Luke and his dad Bill have two NBA Championships under their belt. The irony is they played for rival teams in the Lakers and the Celtics.

Luke served as assistant coach to Steve Kerr for the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors and when Kerr took a leave of absence, Walton coached the team to a 39-4 record in the first 43 games of the season. Kerr won coach of the Year with Walton’s help.

Walton has done a great job as a head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, that is until his front office went out and got LeBron James. We all knew James would bring drama to the team, and after several injuries to key starters, it looks like the Lakers will miss the playoffs. Since someone has to get the blame, and you know Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka and James won’t want to take it, Luke may be looking for a job. There are heavy rumors he is favored for the UCLA Head Coach position which is vacant at the time of this post (2019).

Whatever happens in his coaching career, it should be long and memorable.

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