
Talk about a bad case of mistaken identity. Wildcats sophomore Marcus Williams received calls last season from people who thought he'd been suspended for stealing computers--an offense that was famously committed by another NBA prospect named Marcus Williams, who played at Connecticut. "They'd say, 'I heard you got some laptops,'" recalls the Arizona Williams, who also received a frantic message from his mother, Gayle, saying, "Maybe you should change your name." Not to worry, Mom: The other Marcus Williams is in the NBA now, and your son is fast making a name for himself as one of the top swingmen in the college game. In fact, no team 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 Jawann McClellan. While other elite outfits are building around big men, coach Lute Olson plans to go smaller and faster, complementing two seniors (6'3" point guard Mustafa Shakur and 6'10" Serbian forward Ivan Radenovic) with his wingman trio. "I'd love to have all three on the floor at the same time," says Olson, who believes McClellan has enough muscle to guard taller power forwards on the blocks. Williams (above) has a deadly touch (43.5% from three-point range as a freshman), and Olson has asked him to be more vocal. "I'm expected to be the leader," says Williams, who turned heads in March by lighting up UCLA (25 points) and Villanova (24). "Freshmen sometimes defer to the older guys, but now I have the confidence to be a leader and take us to Atlanta." STARTING
LINEUP RETURNING STARTER *HIGH SCHOOL STATS SCHEDULE Nov. 12 at Virginia Nov. 15 Northern Arizona Nov. 19 New Mexico State Nov. 22 Samford |
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