Opinion: Putting together my all-time Arizona Basketball starting five

With the break in sports, the Arizona Basketball team challenged us fans to create our All-Time starting five, and happily we’ve obliged!

It may be a slow news day in the World of Sports, but nonetheless there is still plenty to talk about even with no games. For Arizona Basketball, they have seemingly started an intriguing debate/ discussion about who would be the best all-time starting five line-up for the Wildcats.

We understand this is likely going to be a hotly debated and talked about topic, and at Zona Zealots, we’ve surely had differing opinions on our staff as well, but this shouldn’t be seen as a right or wrong here. There is no right or wrong answer, just opinions.

Arizona Wildcats

With that said, here is MY break down of who I would have in an all-time starting line-up, starting with our honorable mentions who were really tough to leave off!

Honorable Mention – Mike Bibby, Derrick Williams, Deandre Ayton, Richard Jefferson and Andre Iguodala. 

Point Guard – Damon Stoudamire

From leadership, facilitation, basketball IQ, etc. there so many factors that go into analyzing and breaking down point guards and what a good point guard is versus what a terrific point guard looks like.

Luckily for Arizona, we’ve been blessed by having numerous talented point guards over the years, and it’s not easy to single out or quantify who truly is the best. Peoples’ opinions are subjective anyways.

However, for this one, I went with Mighty Mouse! Albeit a bit short in stature, this Wildcats possessed some big game, averaging 15 points in his four year career in Tucson, he did some incredible things like; helping lead the Cats to the 1994 Final Four, being a Consensus All-American, the Conference Player of the Year, being named to the Pac-10 All Freshman team, etc.

The accolades speak for itself, and in my opinion is the best point guard out of Arizona, especially as he flourished into becoming a Top 10 NBA Pick who went on to having a very respectable career, spending 13 seasons in the league!

Shooting Guard – Gilbert Arenas

In my opinion, the most talented scorer to ever come out of Tucson! Gilbert Arenas had a big personality, but also a big game to back it up!

Despite spending just two seasons at Arizona, he made his impact felt, especially as he went on to be drafted No. 31 overall by the Golden State Warriors, and played so well, he essentially played out of his contract, on his way to becoming an NBA Super Star, albeit briefly.

He truly was Hibachi, as he could certainly ‘cook it up’ on the floor whenever he stepped on the court.

Averaging 15.8 for his career, he was a big reason the Wildcats went to the Finals in 2001, and because of his talent he makes my all-time starting five.

Small Forward – Sean Elliott

Duh! Sean Elliott is an easy choice here, especially as he has easily been the most accomplished player to ever come out of Arizona!

Sean is essentially the face of Arizona Basketball from a players’ perspective in my opinion and it was him who essentially turned around a once dormant program into becoming a power.

Because of his dominance, he is the easy choice for the all-time starting five and I think this is a unanimous decision here among fans!

Power Forward – Michael Wright

Fight me! I know this is a pick not everyone will agree with, and I may be a bit biased here since Michael Wright is easily one of my favorite Wildcats of all-time, but he is on my all-time starting five.

A stocky and muscular kid from Chicago, he was a load down low and was in my opinion one of the best players to come out of Arizona.

He was feisty, could rebound like no other and had a knack for drawing fouls!

Even though his pro career never seemed to pan out, Michael was a terrific college player, averaging 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds. To me he belongs as a starter!

Center – Bob Elliott

I’m sure this isn’t everyone’s pick, but let me explain why I think Bob Elliott is the right choice here. For starters, he was a four-year player for the University, and was a TERRIFIC four-year player for the UofA.

There are only two players in the history of the school to score over 2,000 career points while at Arizona, and while Bob is one of the them, the other is also listed just a couple spots above!

He may not have the name recognition or notoriety of a player like Deandre Ayton, but Bob was a big part of Arizona’s success in the 70s.

You don’t average 18.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game by being so-so. Bob was a dominant player and deserves to be on Arizona’s all-time starting five!

Anyways, this is just my list. Do you have anything different or feel others should have been on this list? Let us know! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!