11 ARIZONA

Bucking the big man trend, the Wildcats will go smaller and faster with a trio of explosive wings

Talk about a badcase of mistaken identity. Wildcats sophomore Marcus Williams received callslast season from people who thought he'd been suspended for stealingcomputers--an offense that was famously committed by another NBA prospect namedMarcus Williams, who played at Connecticut. "They'd say, 'I heard you gotsome laptops,'" recalls the Arizona Williams, who also received a franticmessage from his mother, Gayle, saying, "Maybe you should change yourname."

Not to worry,Mom: The other Marcus Williams is in the NBA now, and your son is fast making aname for himself as one of the top swingmen in the college game. In fact, noteam in the land has a trio of wings as explosive as Arizona's 6'7"Williams, 6'7" freshman Chase Budinger and 6'4" junior JawannMcClellan. While other elite outfits are building around big men, coach LuteOlson plans to go smaller and faster, complementing two seniors (6'3" pointguard Mustafa Shakur and 6'10" Serbian forward Ivan Radenovic) with hiswingman trio. "I'd love to have all three on the floor at the sametime," says Olson, who believes McClellan has enough muscle to guard tallerpower forwards on the blocks.

Williams (above)has a deadly touch (43.5% from three-point range as a freshman), and Olson hasasked him to be more vocal. "I'm expected to be the leader," saysWilliams, who turned heads in March by lighting up UCLA (25 points) andVillanova (24). "Freshmen sometimes defer to the older guys, but now I havethe confidence to be a leader and take us to Atlanta."

STARTINGLINEUP
COACH: Lute Olson (24th year)

6'11"Sr.6.1 ppg1.52 bpg

RETURNINGSTARTER *HIGH SCHOOL STATS

SCHEDULE

Nov. 12 atVirginia

Nov. 15 NorthernArizona

Nov. 19 NewMexico State

Nov. 22Samford

Nov. 28 UNLV

Dec. 2Illinois*

Dec. 5Louisville†

Dec. 9 at SanDiego State

Dec. 17Houston

Dec. 20Memphis

Dec. 28California

Dec. 30Stanford

Jan. 4 atWashington

Jan. 6 atWashington State

Jan. 11 OregonState

Jan. 14Oregon

Jan. 18 atUSC

Jan. 20 atUCLA

Jan. 24 ArizonaState

Jan. 27 NorthCarolina

Feb. 1Washington State

Feb. 3Washington

Feb. 8 at OregonState

Feb. 10 atOregon

Feb. 15 USC

Feb. 17 UCLA

Feb. 25 atArizona State

March 1 atCalifornia

March 3 atStanford

*Hall of FameChallenge, Phoenix †Jimmy V Classic, New York City

ILLUSTRATION

PHOTO

BOB DONNAN/US PRESSWIRE