Jim Rosborough enjoys regular hours now.

Other articles by Bruce Pascoe:

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Jim Rosborough paid for four Arizona basketball season tickets this year, yet did not attend a game until Dec. 2.

When he finally did go to see the Wildcats, he opted not to sit in his two lower-level seats.

Instead, Rosborough carried a heavy heart to a pair of worse seats, farther from the floor he worked on for 18 years, watching with mixed emotions as the Wildcats came back to beat Texas A&M.

UA fans left McKale Center happy. Rosborough left happy. But there was a feeling that tugged at him the entire game, one that only worsened when he reported to his cramped McKale Center office the next day.

He knew more than ever that he was no longer the Wildcats' associate head coach, having been replaced by Kevin O'Neill last spring.

"It did affect me," said Rosborough, who now works as an assistant to AD Jim Livengood in a developmental role. "It really affected me the next day. I know all those kids. It was just very, very difficult to be there."

Rosborough says this is not bitterness speaking. Although he said it was a "huge disappointment" that he lost his job in April, he expressed no anger toward UA coach Lute Olson, with whom he worked for 28 years.

Just puzzlement.

"If I had been 50, I would have been devastated," said Rosborough, 63. "But I'm older. You only have X number of years. I never envisioned coaching past 64 or 65. I just sort of envisioned that Lute and I would walk out together."

Instead, Olson ushered Rosborough out in April, following two disappointing seasons. The two have spoken only once since then, shaking hands briefly at a party for former players in August.

Since then, though, Rosborough has become impressed with O'Neill, now in an interim head coaching role, whom he cited for getting the Wildcats to play consistently hard. He's also been appreciative of the support he received after the move, and grateful toward Livengood for another opportunity.

Livengood was unavailable for comment Tuesday but Rosborough said he loves his new job. He spends much of his time calling and meeting with former UA players and managers, often in an attempt to build a stronger community and, eventually, a utility "legacy fund" to help the program remain at a high level.

The only problem: There are two basketballs sitting on Rosborough's office floor, and he's not holding either of them.

"I don't sit here with any animosity," Rosborough said. "It's just that, after 35 years of coaching and, having played basketball since I was 3, this is the first time since I was 3 that I haven't had a ball in my hands."

O'Neill can relate, having been forced off the Indiana Pacers' bench after the 2005-06 season.

"It's hard," O'Neill said. "Really hard."

Fortunately for Rosborough, there isn't much time to dwell on the change. Every day, Rosborough contacts members of the extended UA basketball family, and offers to consult for coaches and staffers when needed.

The job has had Rosborough fly out to see players he helped coach, such as Jason Terry, Damon Stoudamire, Channing Frye and Luke Walton, and he's also met with 70s era players such as Herman Harris, Joe Nehls, and Bob Elliott. He traveled to Phoenix to meet with about eight former players, and went to Seal Beach, Calif., where former UA player Rick Anderson helped organize another small group.

In his office Tuesday sat Harvey Thompson, who played for Fred Snowden, Ben Lindsey and Olson.

"The idea is to get my arms around every former player or manager," Rosborough said. "The whole deal is to reach out and expand it beyond just the Lute Olson era. There's the Fred Snowden era, the Bruce Larson era, all those guys."

The interactions are a part of the job the personable Rosborough enjoys, and, the regular hours don't hurt, either.

Rosborough said he thought briefly about seeking a coaching job elsewhere last season, either in Tucson or somewhere else, but the thought didn't last long. Rosborough said he realized two days after leaving Olson's staff that a new role might work out well.

For once, he could actually have a social life during basketball season. He suddenly had plenty of time for his other passion, tennis, as well as golf and other hobbies, too.

Without nudging him either way, his wife, Kim, drove the message home.

"She said, 'I've got my husband back,' " Rosborough said.

● The Wildcats will take today off after putting together strong practices Monday and Tuesday, O'Neill said, partly because they have finals this week. They faced a 5 a.m. workout today if they did not practice well, said O'Neill, who is leaving town at midday to recruit.

● O'Neill held out guard Jawann McClellan and Jamelle Horne for precautionary reasons but said neither is hurt.

● UA fans can see highly touted incoming point guard Brandon Jennings twice in the next 10 days: Thursday on ESPN, when Jennings and Oak Hill Academy face St. Benedict's of New Jersey at 7 p.m., and Dec. 22 at McKale Center, when Oak Hill will play Dudley High School at 5 p.m., after the Wildcats play San Diego State at 1 p.m.