Chase Budinger Is Fun To Watch

If you've followed college basketball in the early going this season, you've probably heard of Chase Budinger, the budding superstar at Arizona who is making a run at national freshman of the year honors. Now, as a staunch UCLA fan, it pains me in a variety of ways to pimp for a guy like Budinger. First off, he plays for Arizona, a school that aside from USC, I hold in about as high regard as a dirty politician. So many things to hate: Lute (or is it Loot?), obnoxious fans, their crappy "Wildcat" sound effect whenever something good happens ... the list goes on and on. But I can't help but appreciate Budinger and his style, which belies his youth. A 40-inch vertical doesn't hurt either. The kid looks like a man out there, oozing confidence and exuding the potential to make a great play every time down the court, which makes it so fun to watch him (what will he do next?) and also makes me weep a bit knowing how close he was to becoming a Bruin. And did we mention that he was the national high school volleyball player of the year in 2005-06? Yup, the kid hasn't even devoted his complete attention to basketball until now. Basically, he went to Arizona because that was the first school to recognize and want him for his basketball talents first, according to Budinger. He also considered attending UCLA and USC because he could've played both sports there, but he felt a loyalty to the Wildcats for being No. 1 at his doorstep. Arizona does not have a men's volleyball team by the way. So Budinger has put his volleyball career on hold -- he surely is destined to be an Olympian in the sport should he chose that path -- and the fun part now will be to see how far and high he can soar in basketball. It's actually a big year for freshman, in general, but especially in the Pac-10. Oregon has Tajuan Porter, a 5-6 point guard who already has made 10 three-pointers in a game this season and leads the conference in scoring at 20.6 points a game. Washington has Spencer Hawes, nephew of former NBA player Steve Hawes. California has Ryan Anderson, a 6-10 freshman who leads the team in scoring at 16.5 points a game. USC has Taj Gibson, who leads the Pac-10 in rebounding at 10.6 a game. Stanford has the 7-foot Lopez twins, Robin and Brook, while not the quite the Collins twins from a few years back still make for an imposing presence. Arizona State has Josh Shipp's little brother, Jerren, averaging double figures. So you see that Budinger certainly has plenty of company. It's ironic that the conference's best team, top-ranked UCLA, not only doesn't have a freshman of real influence but also doesn't even have a senior on its roster. But getting back to Budinger ... take a few moments to watch this guy and you won't be disappointed. He's the best player to come out of the San Diego area since Bill Walton, they say.