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College sports can be a bit lopsided at times. They too often are about money, the upcoming pro draft and sticking it to the man.

When was the last time you heard an NCAA champion exit his alma mater by saying "this is not about me; it's about my coaches, my teammates and the opportunity I had to learn from some of the world's finest professors"?

OK, maybe one guy. Steve Kerr.

Neither are college sports entirely fair.

The NCAA allows men's swimming teams nine full scholarships. Most teams have 20 to 25 swimmers, which means that even the All-Americans are getting by with about 60 percent of a scholarship.

Some people see beyond the numbers.

Arizona's Adam Ritter is one of those people.

Ritter, a senior from Columbus, Ohio, completed his college eligibility last week at the NCAA finals in Minneapolis. He not only won the national championship in the 200 IM (with the third-fastest time in history, pro or amateur), he was third in the 200 freestyle, fifth in the 100 freestyle and part of the record-shattering 800 freestyle relay champion.

His events produced an astonishing 186 points, which, alone, would have allowed the Wildcats to finish in seventh place.

I asked Adam about all the points, his 200 IM school record, his NCAA championship and a meet that launched him onto the radar for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Here is what he said:

"I got more than I bargained for by coming to the UA. I almost feel like I robbed from the school to be able to be part of Frank Busch's swimming program.

"It's funny, I almost had to coax Frank to bring me out here on a recruiting visit. I wasn't a big-time recruit and I never had anything close to a full scholarship. I got a generous offer; more than a swimming program like Arizona should've given me.

"But had I known what kind of experience I was going to have here, I would have come to the UA for nothing."

Adam Ritter completed his UA career as a 12-time All-American, with NCAA championships in five events. His Wildcat teams finished No. 2, No. 3 (twice) and No. 4 in the country.

And he feels like the debt is his.

I told Busch of Ritter's comments; the coach was silent for a moment.

"Since Adam has been here, our men's and women's swimming teams have been as close as you can possibly come to winning national championships," he said. "The guys and the girls badly want to be called champions. That's what they work for.

"But regardless if we ever win a title or not, the rewards from coaching come from watching people like Adam progress in swimming and in life. It is the truest perspective a coach can get. You can look back and say the system works. Forget the swimming; it's the people we turn out."

Ritter is a civil engineering major with a 3.1 GPA.

To be part of "Frank's team," he awakened at 5 a.m. almost every day for a morning training session. He went to class until noon. By 2 p.m. he was back at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center for the daily afternoon workout.

Along the way, Ritter was selected homecoming king, found time to adopt and passionately follow the UA basketball team (over his hometown Ohio State Buckeyes) and took a formidable class load that this semester includes "Advanced Hydrolics," "Chinese Civilization" and a particularly difficult course called "Advanced Concrete," one he says "is much harder than it sounds."

He will remain in Tucson to train for August's World University Games, in Bangkok, Thailand, and thereafter get serious about making the 2008 USA Olympic team.

Ritter's emergence as a world-class swimmer is sometimes obscured by the enormously successful UA program. But that obscurity, he believes, is part of the reason why he evolved from unknown to national champion.

"Ever since I've been here I've been swimming with gold medalists and national champions. Initially, there was a shock factor," he said. "But then I started believing that if I train with them, I can compete with them. This is the best training atmosphere in the world. That's why I have been able to accomplish everything I set out to do four years ago."

As Busch said, the system works.

Ritter exits the UA swim program thinking not of what he accomplished as much as what his school accomplished.

"Every young swimmer grows up wanting to be swim for Auburn or Texas or Stanford," he said. "Those were the schools on my radar and on the radar or most kids.

"But now people mention Auburn, Texas, Stanford and Arizona. To be a part of that legacy is awesome, to see something grow like that, is so rewarding. It has been the opportunity of a lifetime for me."

Adam Ritter can swim on my team any time.

Read Greg Hansen's blog online: go.azstarnet.com/hansenblog