The 1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. The head coach was

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head co ...

. The team played its home games in the

McKale Center McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena in the Southwestern United States, southwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. As the home of the university's Arizona Wildcats men's basketball, Wi ...

, and was a member of the

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

. After going 11–7 in conference play the team was seeded fourth in the Southeast Region of the 1997 NCAA tournament. They went on to win the national championship, the first in program history, defeating three top-seeded teams in the process.

Roster

Schedule

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Rankings

Awards and honors

NCAA Tournament, Champions

Team players drafted into the NBA

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team Arizona Wildcats men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...