Arizona's Labor Day weekend trip to Canada won't be as much an off-season exhibition basketball tour as a preseason warm-up.
Just over two months later, the Wildcats' regular season will be fully under way. Thanks to new NCAA rules that allow the season to start a week earlier, UA moved its opener at Virginia to Nov. 12 and moved a planned game with Northern Arizona from mid-December to Nov. 15, so as to keep final-exam week free of games.
In all, the Wildcats will have five games in November, then another five before Christmas. They will open the Pac-10 season on Dec. 28 against California at McKale Center.
The four games after the opener will be at home, however, avoiding the difficult situation last season when the Wildcats played four of their first five games away from McKale and started out 2-3.
Other benefits: Only the Dec. 5 Jimmy V Classic date with Louisville in New York City will require missed class time, since there is a school holiday following the Virginia game, and there is a mix of challenging road games with solid home games during the nonconference season.
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"We love the strength of the schedule, and another thing we like is we will gain some momentum at home after the tough game on the road to start the season," said Ryan Hansen, UA administrator who handles men's basketball scheduling. "We'll have at least two days of preparation for each game."
Half of UA's 10 nonconference games will be a part of a special event, too. The opener at Virginia will mark the opening of the Cavaliers' new home court, a Dec. 2 game against Illinois in Phoenix is part of the Hall of Fame Classic, the Dec. 5 game with Louisville benefits cancer research, the Dec. 9 game at San Diego is part of a doubleheader and the Dec. 20 date with Memphis will serve as the new one-game Fiesta Bowl Classic.
Shakur's visits set
UA guard Mustafa Shakur will work out for both Cleveland and Detroit this week in a final effort to gauge his marketability for the June 28 NBA draft. Shakur has until Sunday to withdraw his name from the pool if he is to return to UA for his senior season.
Shakur stayed in Orlando, Fla., through Monday, meeting with the Utah Jazz over the weekend. His older brother, Mujahid, said he is still waiting to receive more NBA feedback before making his decision.
"It's kind of hard to tell right now," Mujahid Shakur said Monday. "We're still waiting to get everything together so we can sit down and talk about it. … There's been some feedback about the (weakness of his) jump shot. But some people are saying some positive things, that he proved he's a pro type of player."
Summer league starting
The Tucson Summer Pro League held its annual kickoff banquet on Monday at the Z Mansion, with the 10-team league scheduled to begin its third season Friday at St. Gregory's College Preparatory School.
League founder Corey Williams, a former UA player, said he expected former Wildcats Joseph Blair and A.J. Bramlett to play, with appearances possible from Salim Stoudamire, Luke Walton, Richard Jefferson and others.
Several current Wildcats are expected to play early in the league's season, which will continue through July 16, including Ivan Radenovic, Fendi Onobun, Kirk Walters, J.P. Prince, Mohamed Tangara and incoming freshman Jordan Hill.
Three games will be played every Friday and Sunday, while four will be played on Saturdays. The complete schedule and other information is available at www.tucsonspl.com.
Summer plans
Several current Wildcats will be far-flung this summer, however. Freshmen Chase Budinger and Nic Wise already participated in the Douai World Championship tournament in France last week, with Budinger earning the MVP honors.
Marcus Williams and Shakur (if he stays at UA) have been invited to work Michael Jordan's camp, while Radenovic (Serbia-Montenegro) and Daniel Dillon (Australia) will be trying out for their respective national teams, according to UA associate head coach Jim Rosborough.
Adams DUI update
Former UA star Hassan Adams' DUI case was continued Monday to a July 26 evidentiary hearing, nearly a month after the June 28 NBA draft. He was charged with DUI in the early morning of March 5.
Adams also faces a June 26 pretrial conference regarding his Dec. 11 disorderly conduct charge.
2006-07 men's basketball schedule
Date Opponent
TBA Red-Blue Game
Nov. 4/5 St. Xavier (EX)
Nov. 8 Basketball Travelers (EX)
Nov. 12 at Virginia
Nov. 15 NAU
Nov. 19 New Mexico State, 2 p.m.
Nov. 22 Samford
Nov. 28 UNLV
Dec. 2 Hall of Fame Classic vs. Illinois in Phoenix, ESPN
Dec. 5 Jimmy V Classic vs Louisville in New York, ESPN
Dec. 9 San Diego Slam vs San Diego State in San Diego
Dec. 17 Houston
Dec. 20 Fiesta Bowl Classic vs Memphis
Dec. 28 California
Dec. 30 Stanford
Jan. 4 at Washington
Jan. 6 at WSU
Jan. 11 Oregon
Jan. 13 Oregon State
Jan. 18 at USC
Jan. 20 at UCLA
Jan. 24 Arizona State
Jan. 27 North Carolina 11 a.m., CBS
Feb. 1 Washington State
Feb. 3 Washington
Feb. 8 at Oregon State
Feb. 10 at Oregon
Feb. 15 UCLA
Feb. 17 USC
Feb. 24 at Arizona State
March 1 at Stanford
March 3 at California
March 7-10 Pac-10 tournament March 15-18 NCAA tournament
March 22-25 NCAA regionals
March 31 & April 2 NCAA Final Four
Schedule tentative; HOME GAMES IN CAPS
