Lute Olson said "no way" would he recruit top players if he believes they are going to leave for the NBA after one season of college ball.

Greg Bryan / arizona daily star 2007

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Abdul Gaddy is talented, explosive and one of the elite point guards in the 2009-10 recruiting class.

Maybe more importantly for Arizona, he skipped second grade.

That means that the Tacoma (Wash.) Bellarmine Prep star, should he choose to attend Arizona, would not be eligible for the NBA draft until after his sophomore year.

That seems to fit into UA coach Lute Olson's new philosophy, as described to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.

"It's a situation now, that if someone's a one-and-done, we're not going to pursue them anymore," he told the newspaper in a story that appeared in Friday's edition. "No way."

Gaddy said Friday that Olson's statement "doesn't affect me anyway," but did not necessarily agree with it.

"He thinks that it's just kinda affecting the college game," said Gaddy, who lists Arizona as his top team and would like to verbally commit to a school by the end of August. "I think if you're ready, you might as well go. Some players need the money and all that stuff."

Greg Smith, a top 40 forward who will play his senior season at Bethel High School in Vallejo, Calif., gave a non-binding verbal commitment to the Wildcats in late June. He agrees with Olson's opinion.

"I think it's a good thing for him to do, to recruit people to stick around and help the team more," he said. "I know he's a good coach. I wasn't really thinking about going one-and-done.

"I'm loving that he's recruiting me to play more than one year. If players are going to be there more than one year, then I'll have better chemistry with them."

Portland (Ore.) Grant High School small forward Mike Moser, the UA's other verbally-committed player for 2009-10, said he has "too much to learn to be one-and-done" once he comes to the UA.

"I kinda respect that, in a sense," he said. "It's hard to build a team around a bunch of one-and-done guys. Personally, you can't really do anything but respect a man that's trying to build a team rather than a bunch of guys that are going to end up going to The League."

Both Olson and UA athletic director Jim Livengood favor a rule that would allow high schoolers to either declare for the NBA draft or commit to college for a minimum of two years.

Currently, players who will be 19 or older at the end of the calendar year and who are one year removed from high school can enter the NBA draft.

Whether Olson's statement marks a change in philosophy or was spoken out of frustration — he lost guard Jerryd Bayless to the draft and recruit Brandon Jennings to Europe within the past month — remains to be seen.

Olson told the Times that Bayless — who was drafted last month after playing one season at the UA — "said all along he wanted to stay here two years, but then you get the agents working on the kids and parents all year."

Justin Bayless, Jerryd's older brother and business manager, said Friday he did not "have any comment on Coach Olson or what he said."

● Jawann McClellan was cut by the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, just four days after beginning camp in the NBA summer league in Las Vegas. The former UA guard experienced back spasms in his first day of practice Monday and did not practice the rest of the week.

"He's going to have to go overseas for a year," said his Philadelphia-based agent, Stephen Pina. "You can't really make a team if you're not able to get out there and compete."

McClellan, who went undrafted, was invited to the 76ers' summer-league team last month after training in Philadelphia in the spring.

His back will heal with rest, said Pina, who would like to find McClellan a European team by mid-August.

● Las Vegas is filled with former UA players. Guard Mustafa Shakur is playing for the Charlotte Bobcats, swingman Marcus Williams is with the Los Angeles Clippers, and center Loren Woods is a Houston Rocket.

Guard Hassan Adams is playing for the Toronto Raptors, with whom he signed a two-year deal Tuesday. Ndudi Ebi, who committed to the UA but chose to enter the 2003 NBA draft instead, is playing for New Orleans.