Other articles by Greg Hansen:

Opinion by Greg Hansen : Livengood knows the math: 1 win = 4,000 tickets sold Opinion by Greg Hansen : Wildcats in for wild stretch in volleyball Opinion by Greg Hansen : White Sox must really think we're suckers Opinion by Greg Hansen : Stadium redesign a matter of time Opinion by Greg Hansen : Sunday notebook Opinion by Greg Hansen : 4-1 looks good, but reality is season starts now for UA Opinion by Greg Hansen : Try to hold back your tears when UW sacks Willingham Opinion by Greg Hansen : Hunley, legacy to be hailed at luncheon today Opinion by Greg Hansen : Ex-Cat coach LaRue all about dignity, character Opinion by Greg Hansen : Youth leagues for Sox? Got to be kidding

Health Care
RN - FT Health Care
PAINTED HILLS PEDIATRICS
LPN, RN, MA Administrative & Professional
AVIVA, Inc
Executive Director Health Care
ALLIANCE IMAGING
PRN MRI TECH Health Care
CD Therapist
CD Therapist Computer
Flowing Wells Schools
Computer Technician Driver/Transportation
DRIVERS

Los Angeles attorney Jeffrey Valle has represented, among others, Kevin Costner, Eric Clapton and Darren Star, the man who created "Melrose Place" and "Sex in the City."

Valle's newest client is amateur basketball whiz Brandon Jennings, a teenager perceived to be a most essential piece to the Arizona Wildcats' $16 million a year basketball enterprise.

"The kid, really, just wants to play basketball and make money," Valle told the Los Angeles Times.

What's so wrong with that?

The UA, really, just wants Jennings to play college basketball so it can continue to make more money than all but three or four of the industry's elite programs. It works both ways.

Valle once represented the Walt Disney empire and won a judgment that has been estimated at several hundred million dollars for, of all things, royalty rights to Winnie the Pooh.

By comparison, getting Mr. Jennings to the NBA with as little difficulty as possible should be a layup for Valle. Getting him into the UA seems to be considerably more tricky.

Jennings is a prospect of such magnitude — a point guard with sizzle and talent that goes beyond the youthful skills of ex-Wildcat superstars Mike Bibby, Damon Stoudamire and Gilbert Arenas — that he already commands attention from the nation's leading media outlets.

He told USA Today "college is like, OK, we'll do it this one year, but our real mind-set is that we're trying to get to the league."

We know all about that. Jerryd Bayless played in a scant 18 winning games for Arizona before activating his get-to-the-league mind-set. Bayless was a "college student" so briefly, and in such a different way, that he surely missed the freshman mixer.

His impact on Arizona's basketball program was so inconsequential that he left campus 89 victories shy of Jason Gardner's career total of 107.

Oh, what the Wildcats would do for another four years of old reliable, Jason Gardner, at the point.

Instead, they are forced to anxiously await a decision from Jennings — college or no college — that is likely to make or break Lute Olson's 2008-09 squad.

A Jennings-led Arizona team would likely finish somewhere between 20 to 25 victories and a top 4 to 6 seed in the NCAA tournament.

A Jennings-less Arizona club, with the thinnest bench in more than 20 UA seasons, is apt to win 16 or 18 games and fear it is doomed to the, gulp, NIT.

Unmistakably, Jennings would be The Man at Arizona in 2008-09; the team would take on his personality, and it wouldn't be a shock if he became the first Wildcat to score 700 points and dish out 200 assists in a season.

On paper, he would be the best freshman point guard to enter the Pac-10 since Jason Kidd in 1993, a year in which Kidd transformed the Cal Bears from a 10-18 team to one that went 21-9.

What's the value on that?

If all goes according to Jennings' plan, if his time in college is brief, or, in fact, if he never attends a single class, he should some day soar past Stoudamire's estimated career earnings of $97 million. With that much green at stake, it's no wonder Jennings and Co., have hired Mr. Valle and trusted him with such a critical transition.

Meanwhile, the UA squirms.

Perhaps this anxiety could have been avoided. On May 22, 2007, Jennings was given a solo audience in Olson's McKale Center office. It was a day after Jennings appeared in the Cactus Classic; Olson's staff was split on the two best available point guards from the high school class of '08.

Some wanted Larry Drew, a top-20 dude from SoCal who seemed sure to be a multiple-year college player. Others wanted Jennings.

The intrigue didn't linger; Jennings committed to Olson that day. Drew left Tucson without an offer.

The son of an NBA assistant coach, an honor student who intends to major in psychology, Drew took 24 hours to tell North Carolina he wanted to play for the Tar Heels. He has been projected to replace standout Ty Lawson at UNC's point guard in 2008-09.

Sometimes these grand recruiting plans go awry. Lawson was injured for much of the '07-08 season and now plans to return to UNC for a bonus junior season. In addition, the Tar Heels will return former starting point guard Bobby Frasor, who missed this season with an injury.

Drew, with no eligibility concerns, thus begins his college career deep on the Carolina bench, a testament to the sweet life of UNC coach Roy Williams.

Meanwhile, uncomfortably, Lute Olson waits, a hostage to the business of college basketball.