Arizona hoops mock draft: Building the best roster of past Wildcats

The Arizona Wildcats have built a pipeline to the NBA that’s had consistent traffic for the past three decades.

But while some had great pro careers, others saw the height of the basketball days come as college players. Knowing that, let’s build a team of Wildcats via a two-person mock draft.

ArizonaSports.com’s Kellan Olson and Kevin Zimmerman are reaching back three decades to consider Wildcats who played from 1990 onward, ultimately to create a 10-man squad. They’ll alternate by drafting players based on their abilities at the peak of their college careers, and not what they’d ultimately become as pros.

To be clear, this is a team-building exercise, not a “Who was the best player?” list. Once they mock, we will put the results up for a public vote to see who constructed the best roster of UA players.

You can scroll to the bottom of this page to see their final rosters, or read through the mock draft starting here to see the order of picks.

Arizona basketball three-decade mock draft

No. 1 — Channing Frye, 6-foot-11, 248 pounds

Career stats (2001-05): 13.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.9 BPG

Olson: I laid out players into four positions: PG, SG, wing and big. There is unquestionably the least amount of depth down low, so I knew I could take who I thought was easily the best center here and get whatever’s left at the other spots.

Grabbing a four-year player to anchor my defense who has the athleticism and mobility to play up-and-down the way I’ll want was crucial. While the jumper only extended out to mid-range at the time, that’s good enough with the shooting I plan to put around him.

No. 2– Salim Stoudamire, 6-foot-1, 179 pounds

Career stats (2001-05): 15.2 PPG, 2.0 APG, 47.1 FG%, 45.8 3FG%

Zimmerman: The guy found himself in the 50-50-90 club as a senior, scoring 662 points while doing so. In the history of college basketball, only 12 players have scored more than 100 points while shooting that well, and the next-highest total point scorer only reached 388 points in a season.

Dude was ice cold, could get his shot off on his own and was a low-key solid defensive player.

No. 3 — Luke Walton, 6-foot-8, 235 pounds

Career stats (1999-2003): 9.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.5 APG, 1.2 SPG

Olson: I had a similar worry about getting the right four-man as I did getting a center, so I went Walton. I wanted at least one of my wings to be a do-it-all playmaker, and Walton is 1-of-1 for that. An awesome passer and scorer to be a secondary funnel when we’re not running things through our point guard.

No. 4 — Andre Iguodala, 6-foot-6, 207 pounds

Career stats (2002-04): 9.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.5 SPG

Zimmerman: His numbers weren’t crazy, but like Walton you could tell the guy impacted so many different things. I remember being a middle-schooler when I watched an open practice before his freshman year, and his athleticism popped to little ol’ me then. He came back his sophomore year looking, well, different. He was a triple-double threat and freak athlete who absolutely mobbed guys on the defensive side of the ball.

No. 5 — Richard Jefferson, 6-foot-7, 222 pounds

Career stats (1998-2001): 11.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.8 APG, 36.8 3FG%

Olson: Kevin scared me by going Iguodala because I wanted to load up on athletic wings after getting my top two picks. Jefferson, like Walton, could do a little bit of everything. He brings the athleticism while also being a sneaky-good passer and shooter at this stage of his career.

No. 6 — Mike Bibby, 6-foot-1, 190 pounds

Career stats (1996-98): 15.4 PPG, 5.5 APG, 2.3 SPG, 39 3FG%

Zimmerman: It was inevitable that the first point guard off the board for Point Guard U would take a while just because there are so many, but I had to solidify a killer backcourt at this point. Bibby is a darn good shooter and scorer overall, but he also has the tempo and feel to keep a talented set of teammates happy.

No. 7 — Hassan Adams, 6-foot-4, 220 pounds

Career stats (2002-06): 14.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.8 SPG

Olson: Kevin and I both love Hassan Adams more than most of our family members, so I knew I had to take him high. There has never been a better energy/scrapper/Gruden grinder than Adams. He does everything on the floor, except shoot, which I can worry about later in closing time. I need someone to guard Salim, and who knows his game better?

No. 8 — Loren Woods, 7-foot-1, 245 pounds

Career stats (1999-2001): 14.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.4 BPG

Zimmerman: Kellan’s last pick is why you don’t tip your favorite players before a draft. Remember when he went blow for blow with Brandon Roy? Anyway, Woods is my best bet to counter Channing Frye. Woods wasn’t a lot of things, but he was a lanky-as-heck rim protector.

No. 9 — Jason Terry, 6-foot-2, 176 pounds

Career stats (1995-99): 11.3 PPG, 3.8 APG, 37.4 3FG%

Olson: With Jefferson and Adams, I needed some real shooting and perimeter creation. My imaginary head coach who will absolutely not be Sean Miller will get Terry and my next pick in there quite a bit. Jet shot 39.8% from three on over six attempts a game in the 1998-99 season, which is the equivalent to about 3.6 million attempts per game in today’s game. He also ran the point in his senior season, something he will do in stretches for this squad.

No. 10 — Derrick Williams, 6-foot-8, 235 pounds

Career stats (2009-11): 17.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 58.6 FG%

Zimmerman: He was a bust in the NBA and might struggle against small ball matchups at power forward. He will also struggle to defend the rim as a center, but that’s why I’ll draft a versatile roster behind him! He was a wildly efficient scorer, an intimidating rim attacker who got to the foul line 8.2 times per game over two years and even an accurate but picky three-point shooter.

No. 11 — Gilbert Arenas, 6-foot-3, 191 pounds

Career stats (1999-2001): 15.8 PPG, 2.2 APG, 46.6 FG%

Olson: MORE BUCKETS! Hibachi became the best scorer the program has ever had, given that he only played for two years. He and Jet will lead my bench mob. I don’t know what squad could stop Arenas and Terry in the same backcourt. Also, who wouldn’t love to see those two play together?

No. 12 — Michael Dickerson, 6-foot-5, 190 pounds

Career stats (1994-98): 13.8 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 36.7 3FG%

Zimmerman: People forget that Dickerson was like a college-level Paul Pierce. A bucket off the bounce, in the mid-range and from three. And I need to pull some of those guys off the board now because I see what Kellan is doing.

No. 13 — Jason Gardner, 5-foot-10, 191 pounds

Career stats (1999-2003): 14.6 PPG, 4.6 APG, 39.8 FG%

Olson: I had Bibby ranked higher and was willing to take him a few spots before this, but knew that if he was gone I’d wait as long as I felt possible to take either Gardner or Damon Stoudamire. Gardner was basically a college-level version of Chris Paul. He was the ultimate floor general, very balanced in his game and underrated as a scorer. Not sure how much he will play for me given the two point guards I just took, but it’s malpractice to not take a true point guard at Point Guard U and he will start for me.

No. 14 — Lauri Markkanen, 7-foot-, 230 pounds

Career stats (2016-17): 15.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 42.3 3FG%

Zimmerman: Good luck, Kellan, with a starting point guard who picks up his dribble at the first sign of ball pressure. Anyway, this guy is an elite shooter and 7 feet tall. You can swap him in for Woods to provide a scoring and floor-spacing boost. Either need to play him alongside small-ball Iguodala at power forward and/or add frontcourt defensive help.

No. 15 — Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, 6-foot-7, 215 pounds

Career stats (2013-15): 10.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.2 APG

Olson: Rondae is my glue guy. I can play him anywhere, from backup five to two-guard if I want to make life even more miserable for Salim. Our small-ball death squad is Terry, Arenas, Jefferson, RHJ and Walton, featuring five guys that can make plays off the dribble and four shooters. Whenever we need energy, he’s coming in.

No. 16 — Miles Simon, 6-foot-3, 202 pounds

Career stats (1994-98): 14.6 PPG, 3.6 APG, 3.8 RPG, 37.4 3FG%

Zimmerman: I mean, this is good value for a Most Outstanding Player of the entire NCAA basketball tournament to fall to the No. 16 pick, right? I’ll say we drafted great athletes and elite NBA guys ahead of Simon for a reason, but he dropped two 30-pieces on the biggest stage in 1997. He did that against teams that deployed God Shammgod and Austin Croshere (Providence) and then Ron Mercer, Scott Padgett, Jamaal Magloire and Nazr Mohammed (Kentucky).

No. 17 — Deandre Ayton, 7-foot-1, 250 pounds

Career stats (2017-18): 20.1 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 1.9 BPG

Olson: As we covered at the time of the 2018 NBA Draft, Ayton’s defense was a wreck and his offense was rather limited even though his potential and athleticism obviously trumps anyone the school has ever seen. I’m still willing to grab him here as an awesome rebounder and rim runner to use over small blips.

No. 18 — Aaron Gordon, 6-foot-9, 225 pounds

Career stats (2013-14): 12.4 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.0 BPG

Zimmerman: The numbers don’t pop, but Gordon was an incredible lockdown defender at the power forward spot and beyond in college. Asking him to carry a defensive load paired off the bench with Markkanen is a perfect role for him, and he and Iguodala fit well to keep the ball moving, creating for the many perimeter scorers on this fine team.

No. 19 — Solomon Hill, 6-foot-7, 220 pounds

Career stats (2009-13): 10.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.2 APG, 37.5 3FG%

Olson: The most underrated Wildcat we will cover. Hill improved consistently year-to-year unlike any other player in the program’s history. A perfect combo forward I can play at either spot that fits the mantra of my wings by being capable at just about everything.

No. 20 — Kyle Fogg

Career stats (2008-12): 9.6 PPG, 2.2 APG, 40.4 3FG%

Zimmerman: He bridged the post-Lute Olson era with the Sean Miller era. A shooter, active defender, high character teammate, good dude and someone who won’t mind a limited role.

Olson’s team

Starters: PG Jason Gardner, G Hassan Adams, F Richard Jefferson, F Luke Walton, C Channing Frye

Bench: G Jason Terry, G Gilbert Arenas, F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, C Deandre Ayton, F Solomon Hill

Olson’s final thoughts: I wanted to get the versatile athletes on the wing Arizona has been known for, in my opinion, more than point guards. I also wanted to get one of those true point guards and some scoring pop off the bench.

I think I can run all sorts of offense: traditional stuff through Gardner, Walton and Frye, post-oriented with Ayton, and a blitzkrieg run-and-gun open floor style with Terry and Arenas.

Kevin’s team has tremendous offense in Bibby, Salim, D-Will and his bench, but I think the defense I have at the rim with Frye and the athleticism through Jefferson, Adams, RHJ and Hill on the perimeter is enough to come out on top.

Zimmerman’s team

Starters: PG Mike Bibby, SG Salim Stoudamire, SF Andre Iguodala, PF Derrick Williams, C Loren Woods

Bench: G Michael Dickerson, Lauri Markkanen, F Aaron Gordon, G Miles Simon, G Kyle Fogg

Zimmerman’s final thoughts: Agreed with Kellan that we couldn’t draft all the great guards in the program, leaving the likes of Damon Stoudamire, Jerryd Bayless, T.J. McConnell and Khalid Reeves on the board.

In my defense, I feel like my team has enough ball handling and play-making through the power forward spots to make that matter nada. Some of the fits are weird (Derrick Williams attacking the rim with Loren Woods clogging things) but I feel like there’s diversity to find which players fit fine next to one another.

I’m at an athletic deficit compared to Kellan’s team, but I got three of the best defensive players in Iguodala, Gordon and Woods to cause problems for all his best offensive weapons.

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