Kaleb Tarczewski
Tarczewski will take the floor one last time in McKale Center Saturday and has a special place in head coach Sean Miller’s heart. In the final stretch of the season, Miller pushed Tarczewski to leave behind a memorable legacy.
This season, Tarczewski averaged nine rebounds per game compared to 5.2 rebounds last season. If Tarczewski plays his cards right and the Wildcats make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, he will go down as the all-time winner at Arizona.
“I have a hard time believing that there won’t be a team out of the 30 in the NBA that wouldn’t love to have him in that role that he can bring to the table, and that is an intelligent, big guy who is a great defensive player, a physical rebounder and the ultimate winner,” Miller said. “We’ve butted heads for four years, but in a way, it’s what also brings us together because we have a lot of similarities …”
Gabe York
York didn’t see much playing time his freshman season. He averaged 5.8 minutes per game and less than three points.
Rather than taking the easy way out and transferring, the combo guard honored the process at Arizona. York finally received the leadership role he’s been holding his breath for and has averaged 14.3 points per game in his senior campaign. York is also shooting a career best 41 percent from the 3-point line.
“Guys like Gabe York don’t become seniors in one program anymore, because they had it so tough at the beginning, not playing, that they don’t stick it out, they leave,” Miller said. “You look at him now as a senior, again an all-conference type of player having the best year of his career.”
Jacob Hazzard
Take one look at Jacob Hazzard with his flat-top fade and you’d think you just bumped into New Orleans Pelicans point guard Norris Cole. Hazzard, however, isn’t just known as a Cole doppelganger. His role on the Arizona team is more than meets the eye.
Hazzard is a walk-on who has been a part of some of the most iconic Miller squads. He made a run to the Sweet 16 his freshman season and had two Elite Eight appearances.
To think everyday in practice for four years he matched up with Mark Lyons, Nick Johnson, T.J. McConnell, Gabe York or Kadeem Allen—not too shabby a list of players.
“He has really fulfilled his role as the best we could ever hoped when you bring somebody to your program in a non-scholarship way,” Miller said. “There are many, many days he practices two and a half hours harder than anybody because he’s a part of the scout team and the red-blue group.”
Mark Tollefsen
Tollefsen is arguably the most notable player to come out of the University of San Francisco since Bill Russell in 1956.
Actually, Russell will probably remain the guy to come out of USF, but Tollefsen’s transferring to a program like Arizona allowed him to finally blossom into a role that Miller needed after losing four players to the NBA.
“Mark’s done a great job for us, he really has,” Miller said. “He’s been key in several big wins and one of the keys moving forward is to get more out of him and let him play with more confidence because he has such a versatile game and helps us in a lot of different ways.”
Ryan Anderson
The Boston College transfer proved his presence with the program in a timely manner. In his last season, the forward posts double-doubles like he’s working at In-N-Out Burger. Anderson averages 15.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
His scoring is tied for eighth with UCLA’s Bryce Alford and his rebounding is second in the conference behind Washington State University’s Josh Hawkinson.
“I used ‘God send’ the other day and I really mean it,” Miller said. “I don’t know where our team would be without him … his leadership on and off the court is invaluable.”
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