COLLEGE BASKETBALL: 1994-95 PREVIEW : PACIFIC 10 / THE OTHER TEAMS : Defending Champion Wildcats Are Bigger Than Ever

These days, Lute Olson, never a nervous Nelly anyway, seems so comfortable with his team that he might as well snooze on the sideline.

Why? A few months after coaching Arizona to its second Final Four appearance in seven years, with a team UCLA Coach Jim Harrick says was probably less talented than four other Arizona teams he has coached against, Olson’s Wildcats are stronger and bigger.

Arizona returns with senior guard Damon Stoudamire, a cast of several larger, more-athletic players and the swagger of a team that knows this season’s edition is more talented than the one that lost to eventual champion Arkansas in the national semifinals.

“Believe it or not, he’s a better player than he was last year,” Olson said of Stoudamire.

Believe it or not, in the Pacific 10 Conference, Arizona, last year’s champion, is bigger; UCLA is deeper, and California and Arizona State are far more fit.

Sound familiar?

So, no, despite having lost Jason Kidd, Khalid Reeves and Lamond Murray, the Pac-10 hasn’t undergone a total changing of the guards.

A brief look at the conference, team by team, excluding UCLA and USC:

ARIZONA

1993-94: 29-6 overall, 14-4 Pac-10

The Wildcats lose Reeves’ 24.2-point scoring average and streaky perimeter game, but Arizona still has Stoudamire’s flash and dash, and should be able to replace Reeves with size reminiscent of the Sean Rooks-Brian Williams-Chris Mills days.

Junior center Joseph Blair, who emerged in the NCAA tournament, will get some help when 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior college transfer Ben Davis becomes eligible--possibly as early as Dec. 22, when Arizona plays Syracuse.

Davis’ arrival will allow senior forward Ray Owes, last season’s leading rebounder, to move to small forward. Most important, that will free junior Reggie Geary, who, at 6-2, redefined the term small forward, to play as a guard, where he will run with Stoudamire.

Olson’s tip: Freshman shooter Miles Simon will be one of the surprises in the league.

CALIFORNIA

1993-94: 22-8, 13-5

Does having Alfred Grigsby and K.J. Roberts, who both missed most of the 1993-94 season because of injuries, make up for losing Murray and Kidd to the pros? No way. Kidd and Murray combined for 41 points, 14.8 rebounds and 11 assists a game.

But forward Grigsby and Roberts, who was the team’s starting point guard before Kidd came along, were both major factors when they were injury-free.

Sprinkle in Coach Todd Bozeman’s pickups, Tremaine Fowlkes and Jelani Gardner, two of the nation’s best freshmen, and returning contributors Michael Stewart and Ryan Jamison, and there is no disaster brewing in Berkeley.

Last season’s team, with the injuries piling up and speculation mounting that Kidd and Murray were all but gone, in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Wisconsin Green Bay.

ARIZONA STATE

1993-94: 15-13, 10-8

Yes, Coach Bill Frieder is a wild man, and yes, if they get full seasons out of junior forward Mario Bennett and senior point guard Marcell Capers, the Sun Devils could challenge for the conference title.

A broken bone in his left foot sidelined Capers last year and chronic knee troubles limited Bennett, a dominant inside player, to 21 games. The injuries showed, especially during a 1-5 stretch during February that kept Arizona State out of the NCAA tournament.

But both players are back, joining a team that, as Frieder’s teams typically are, is loaded with athletes who can press and shoot three-pointers, including guards Quincy Brewer and Isaac Burton and forward Ron Riley.

“This is the first time all 13 scholarship players are healthy at the start of the season,” Frieder said. “I think we’ll be real good.”

OREGON

1993-94:10-17, 6-12

Several big late-season victories last year--including the one-point defeat of UCLA that gave the conference title to Arizona, and victories over Washington State and Arizona State--have the Ducks looking to edge into the first division this season.

The guards--senior Orlando Williams, the conference’s leading returning scorer at 18.6 a game, and sophomore Kenya Wilkins--are the keys on this senior-dominated team.

STANFORD

1993-94: 17-11, 10-8

Coach Mike Montgomery says his team is young and weak inside, lacks depth and would be helped immeasurably if it got instant production from 7-1 freshman Tim Young, who is the Cardinal’s first 7-footer since Rich Kelley in the early-’70s.

Last season’s conference freshman of the year, point guard Brevin Knight, and Stanford’s leading scorer , Dion Cross, who averaged 15.1 points, are the players Montgomery can count on.

WASHINGTON

1993-94: 5-22, 3-15

Three players--among them guard Jason Hamilton, the Western Athletic Conference’s freshman of the year in 1992-93 while he was playing for San Diego State--join the active squad after sitting out last season for various reasons.

Center Mike Amos, a transfer from Creighton, where he averaged 13.3 points and 7.5 rebounds two seasons ago, and forward Bryant Boston, a medical redshirt, are the other newcomers.

WASHINGTON STATE

1993-94: 20-11, 10-8

It’s overhaul time.

After finishing the season in upbeat fashion, winning four of their last five regular-season games and earning a tournament berth, the Cougars lost Coach Kelvin Sampson, who left to take the Oklahoma job.

New Coach Kevin Eastman, late of North Carolina Wilmington, wants to have an up-tempo, pressing game, but does he have the bodies to pull it off?

Three starters last season were seniors.

In addition, sophomore guard Nathan Erdmann transferred and freshman forward Steve Slotemaker has decided to skip the season for personal reasons.

Left are forward Mark Hendrickson, sophomore guard Isaac Fontaine, fifth-year senior Rob Corkrum, and top freshman guard Chris Griffin.

OREGON STATE

1993-94: 6-21, 2-16

Pac-10 co-champions as recently as 1989-90, the Beavers hit bottom last season, despite the all-around play of senior forward Brent Barry, who averaged 15.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

But it was a young team that lost only one starter, senior forward Kareem Anderson, who is out for personal reasons.

Times staff writer Lonnie White contributed to this story.