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Lute Olson began shaking up his Arizona basketball coaching staff this week, and longtime aide Jim Rosborough fell out. Maybe for good.

The UA head coach asked Rosborough to accept a non-coaching position during a meeting Thursday.

The move may pave the way for former college and NBA head coach Kevin O'Neill to return to Arizona. Olson said Friday that O'Neill would be a great candidate. No other names have surfaced as potential assistants. The university must post the job for five business days.

Rosborough said Friday he declined the offer, even as Olson said there would be no departures, just the addition of a new on-court assistant. NCAA rules allow only three assistant coaches on the floor, and Rosborough, Miles Simon and Josh Pastner served the roles for UA last season.

"There will be an adjustment," Olson said. "But no one from the staff will not have a position and there will be no financial cutbacks for anybody."

Of Rosborough's stated intention to leave, Olson said: "I don't know what Roz said, but it doesn't make any difference with me because I'm in charge of the program and I'm going to do what's best for the program."

When told later of Olson's remarks, Rosborough reiterated that he would not accept a different role.

"I'm done," he said. "I'm a non-person right now."

Rosborough, 62, has coached under Olson for 27 years, including 18 at Arizona and nine at Iowa. As associate head coach this season — in charge of off-court affairs, scouting and wing players — Rosborough was paid $126,182, according to UA records.

Keeping Rosborough and adding another highly paid assistant would add at least another low six figures to the UA athletics budget, and athletic director Jim Livengood indicated it could be done.

"We have a budget to live with, we've always lived with it, and we've always met it," Livengood said, adding, "I think that part right there is putting the cart before the horse."

Rosborough first joined Olson at Iowa in 1974, as a 29-year-old graduate assistant earning $1,000 per year. He stayed with Olson until his departure for Arizona, and later had a three-year stint as head coach at Northern Illinois.

"If I have a strength in coaching, it's the ability to surround myself with good people, good coaches, and recognize players who have a good work ethic and are of good character," Olson said in 2002. Rosborough "is very organized, and very much a detail person, and he has the great work ethic."

Ironically, Olson hired Rosborough at Arizona in 1989 to replace O'Neill, who had been named the head coach at Marquette. Rosborough and O'Neill also spent the 1985-86 seasons together at Tulsa. O'Neill spent five largely successful years at Marquette, then moved to Tennessee and Northwestern before leaping to the NBA.

O'Neill, whose name is the only one so far to surface in connection with an addition to Olson's staff, served as an assistant with the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers before taking a head coaching job with the Toronto Raptors in 2003-04.

O'Neill, 50, coached the Raptors to a 33-49 record, but was fired a day after saying Raptors management needed drastic changes because "the focus is not on winning here."

O'Neill's outspoken, fast-paced style and on-court knowledge could be an answer to Arizona's defensive slippage. The Wildcats, who for years routinely held opponents' shooting to at or around the 40 percent mark, have let them shoot 43.4 percent or more for four straight seasons.

Last season, Arizona finished with a 20-11 record and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Cats finished seventh in the Pac-10 in field-goal percentage defense (44.1), eighth in three-point percentage defense (35.0) and ninth in scoring defense (72.5).

While Olson declined to say who would get the job — it must be posted until Thursday to meet hiring guidelines — he indicated O'Neill could fit in well.

"Kevin O'Neill would be a strong candidate but I can't say anything more than that," Olson said. "Obviously, he would be a great candidate because of his expertise in defense."

Although O'Neill has spent the past three seasons involved with the NBA, he has expressed an interest in returning to college coaching next season. He was a top candidate for the South Florida head coaching job that was given to former Arkansas coach Stan Heath.

O'Neill, who lives in his hometown of Chateaugay, N.Y., was unavailable for comment. His son, Sean, was born in Tucson and graduated from Salpointe Catholic High School in 2005. He is now a left-handed pitcher for Santa Clara University's baseball team.

On StarNet: Which Arizona coach would you get rid of? Cast your vote at wildcats.azstarnet.com

Star columnist Greg Hansen exclusively talks with Jim Rosborough. Plus, a look at Rosborough's career through the years. Page C1