SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGUN) — As Arizona tips off its National Championship run in San Diego, it's a stark reminder of just how long it has been since the Wildcats last made it to a Final Four.
Here is an "Absolutely Arizona" look back at the Wildcats' last Final Four team in 2001.
A star-studded roster
For the players and staff who lived it, the passage of time is hard to fathom.
"Really can't believe it's 25 years ago," said Jason Gardner, the point guard on Arizona's 2001 team that made it all the way to the National Championship Game.
Ryan Hansen, who was on head coach Lute Olson's staff when the Wildcats lifted the National Championship trophy in 1997, was there four years later when Arizona was preseason number one.
"I think that might be the most talented roster Arizona's ever put out on the floor," Hansen said.
The starting five was a powerhouse lineup made up of Jason Gardner, Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, Michael Wright, and Loren Woods, with Luke Walton coming off the bench.
Overcoming heartbreak
Despite all the talent, it wasn't smooth sailing for the 2001 Wildcats.
"The clear adversity that everybody faced was the death of Bobbi Olson," Hansen said.
Head Coach Lute Olson's wife, Bobbi, lost her battle with ovarian cancer at the age of 65. Thousands turned out for a memorial at McKale Center honoring the First Lady of Arizona Basketball.
"To have Bobbi, who was right with him alongside him the entire journey, go through her health challenges and then ultimately pass on New Year's Day - right smack dab in the middle of the season," Hansen recalled. "That was some adversity I don't think anybody would have ever expected us to come on the other side of. But the adversity and what that team overcame was pretty special."
Lute Olson stepped away from the team for a couple of weeks, leaving Associate Head Coach Jim Rosborough to guide the team in his absence.
"It was a tough process, but what he had was his family, the community, and the support of our team," Gardner said. "I think we all kind of rallied through that."
The magical run
When Olson returned to the team, it sparked another magical run for the Cats.
A second-place finish in the PAC-10 led to a 2-Seed in the Midwest Region. The Wildcats survived a scare in the Sweet 16 against Ole Miss and beat a talented Illinois team to advance to the Final Four in Minneapolis.
First up: defending National Champion Michigan State.
"Everyone thought that was going to be a very difficult game, which it was in the first half," Hansen said. "Then Arizona blew doors open. Athleticism, quickness, steals really just kind of dismantled Tom Izzo as a younger coach at that moment."
The clash with Duke
That victory set up the National Championship game against Duke.
"It set up for the clash of the titans, and it really was that," Hansen said. "It was back and forth."
Wildcat fans still point to a crucial moment in the first half where they believe Gardner was fouled by Duke's Jay Williams. It would have been Williams' third foul, likely forcing him to the bench.
"It was a hard-fought game," Gardner said. "I definitely think, ah, it definitely was a foul."
Instead, Duke and Arizona played a tight game until the final three minutes.
"In winning time, Arizona had every chance possible to win the title, and just Duke made the plays down the stretch," said Hansen.
Duke ultimately knocked off Arizona 82-72, denying the Wildcats a second national title.
"I think we kind of had it all," Gardner noted. "Just kind of came up short in that Championship Game."
A lasting legacy
Hansen says one lingering regret for the 2001 team is that Bobbi Olson wasn't there to see Lute make his fourth Final Four, a game that would mark the beginning of a Final Four drought for the Cats.
"Especially now that it's been 25 years, that moment you wish you could have capped it off with the ultimate prize," Hansen said.
But, despite coming up one win short of the ultimate prize, the resilience and talent of that 2001 Wildcat team remain Absolutely Arizona.
