Good Move/Questionable Move

Good Move: Will Bynum's decision to transfer from the University of Arizona. Bynum, a Chicago-area native, left Tuscon in early January of 2003 after becoming increasingly disillusioned with his reduced playing time on the Wildcats' stocked roster. Today he finds himself in the Final Four as a member of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. With B.J. Elder slowed by an ankle sprain, Bynum, regularly an invaluable contributor off the bench, will be asked to step up on Saturday. I, for one, expect Bynum's play to strongly influence the game's outcome.

Bad Move? Good Move? Jury's out: Dennis Lattimore's decision to transfer from the University of Arizona. Lattimore, a prized recruit of Lute Olson's out of the Midwest, wasn't happy as a bench player for the Wildcats. In February of 2003, with high school phenom Ndubi Ebi expected to matriculate at Arizona in the fall, Lattimore quit the team. Whatever Dennis' rationale, his timing was off. Several games into the second half of the season, he had lost the semester's eligibility. Why not hang around for Arizona's potential title run and benefit from team workouts and Olson's coaching for another couple months?

Lattimore, however, had seen enough. He quit the team. Ebi then declared for the NBA Draft, Chris Dunn, a forward who redshirted in 2002-2003, failed to qualify, and Isiah Fox suffered a season ending knee-injury. Suddenly, Arizona was short on frontcourt players. Had Lattimore stayed, he would have started most of this season's games...Today, Lattimore finds himself at Notre Dame, a likely starter during the 2004-2005 season. Chris Thomas has announced he will return for his senior season, setting the Fighting Irish up for an NCAA Tournament run.

Bonus: Bynum left Arizona for Georgia Tech. His second choice? Oklahoma State. Say what you will about his game, but you can't knock his sixth sense about ballclubs.