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February 2002. USC-UCLA basketball road swing. Midnight in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel, Venice Beach, Calif.

UA assistant coach Jay John is explaining why he did not attend nearby Westchester High School's game to watch UA signee Hassan Adams and junior Parade All-American forward Trevor Ariza.

"We decided not to recruit Trevor," John told me, explaining that Ariza was seen as an academic risk who would likely bolt for the NBA at his first opportunity, perhaps after his freshman season.

"We don't want to get into that kind of player," John said. "Let him go to UCLA. He's not going to hurt us much at UCLA."

Ariza indeed went to UCLA for a single season. He averaged 11.6 points and true to John's projection, he was not a factor. Arizona routed UCLA 107-83 and 97-72 and the Bruins went 11-17 during Ariza's lone college season.

At the time Arizona decided not to recruit Ariza, the Wildcats were teeming with big-time players. It was ridiculous.

Adams was to join a freshman class of Andre Iguodala, Chris Dunn and Chris Rodgers. They were one year behind a group that included Salim Stoudamire, Will Bynum, Channing Frye, Isaiah Fox and Dennis Latimore.

When the Wildcats would lose someone like J.P. Prince there was a shrug of the shoulders and a few more dunks.

The Wildcats were so deep that Dunn flunked out, Iguodala jumped to the NBA, Latimore and Bynum transferred, Rodgers became a disruptive force and Fox fizzled — and yet in 2005 they still went into overtime against No. 1 Illinois with the Final Four at stake.

It seems like yesterday.

But now the world has changed. Now it is UCLA beating Arizona 82-60.

Instead, the Wildcats have been caught short, way short, because Brandon Jennings has decided to play in Europe and not at McKale Center.

It is a decision that will probably cost Arizona at least five games next year and seriously threaten the school's streak of 24 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

It is a decision that does not reflect on Lute Olson or Arizona because, clearly, this young man did not intend to play college basketball anywhere, and that includes Kansas and North Carolina. This is where the story should end.

But Jennings is being portrayed as the bad guy here, and he probably is not a bad kid at all. He is not much different from former Sabino High School shortstop J.J. Hardy.

In June of 2001, rather than follow through on his commitment to play baseball at Arizona, Hardy signed a $735,000 bonus contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Where was the outrage then? The Wildcats desperately needed Hardy. After a fifth-place Pac-10 finish that season, coach Jerry Stitt was fired.

Those who insist that Jennings is getting in over his head, bunched with adult ballplayers in a strange land with language barriers, did not voice much concern when Hardy was sent to the bush leagues at 18.

Jennings' move to Europe, an unprecedented end-run around NBA rules, does not mean he is a pioneer in any form. He is just the first with an entourage and staff of advisors smart enough to think of it.

Overall, Jennings is not much different from Diana Munz.

After the 2000 Sydney Olympics, UA swimming coach Frank Busch returned to Tucson excited that gold and silver medalist Munz of Cleveland would be joining a talent-laden team that needed one more star to win an NCAA title.

The Wildcats had finished No. 2 in the nation in 2000.

And then Munz phoned and said, "Sorry, Frank, I'm not going to follow through on my letter of intent to Arizona. I'm turning pro and taking some money from Speedo and a fitness conglomerate."

Munz was taking a considerably bigger risk than Jennings. There is no Swimming Draft that guarantees millions of dollars; Munz was out of elite swimming four years later.

She went to John Carroll University and got a degree in communications. She got married. She has designed some jewelry and is periodically paid to make motivational speeches. She might write a children's book and teach swimming.

By comparison, Brandon Jennings' decision to play in Europe is worry-free.

The real story here is that a few years ago, UA basketball was big enough to withstand the loss of anybody. Gilbert Arenas, Michael Wright and Richard Jefferson all bolted for the pros after the 2001 Final Four.

A year later Arizona won 24 games. Two years later it was in the Elite Eight. And now Brandon Jennings is going to Europe.

Oh, how the Wildcats could use Trevor Ariza now.

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