Finding His Touch : Arizona’s Dylan Rigdon Goes to Australia, Discovers Shot He Had at Mater Dei, UC Irvine

Amid the white-sand beaches and shapely waves of Australia, world-class skim-boarder, recreational surfer and college basketball player Dylan Rigdon found a long, lost friend last spring:

His jump shot.

That rainbow-like arc, picture-perfect release and soft touch had deserted Rigdon for two seasons. Rust began to accumulate on the shot during a redshirt year at Arizona, and the jumper spent most of Rigdon’s junior year on the shelf.

Rigdon logged as much playing time in 1992-93 as Morley Safer does every Sunday night--60 minutes. Injuries and on-court inadequacies limited Rigdon to 12 games, and when he’d make a rare appearance, Rigdon admits he usually played “like a chicken with its head cut off.”

Rigdon, a 6-foot-4 guard, made only four of 17 field goals (23%), one of nine three-pointers (11%) and scored 22 points. That’s what he’d score on a good night for Mater Dei High School or UC Irvine.

You could hear the snickering back in Orange County, where Rigdon’s 1991 transfer from Irvine, a lower-echelon Big West Conference team, to Arizona, a national power from the Pac-10, raised more than a few eyebrows.

Thought you were too good for Irvine, huh Dylan? What do you think now, Mr. Bigshot?

He thinks he made a good decision, that’s what. The big shot is back, and so is Rigdon.

A non-factor in 1992-93, Rigdon is now Arizona’s first guard off the bench, and his long-range shooting exploits have helped the sixth-ranked Wildcats to a 13-2 record entering Thursday night’s game against UCLA in Pauley Pavilion.

The senior is averaging 7.9 points and almost three assists. He has made 15 of 31 three-pointers (48%), 39 of 47 free throws (83%) and has had three 14-point games this season. “He’s been super for us,” Arizona assistant Jessie Evans said. “He’s kept a level head, sharpened his defensive skills, and has made some shots from beyond the NBA three-point line.”

Which brings us back to Australia. Arizona spent 26 days touring the country last spring, playing 10 exhibition games against Australian professional teams.

Arizona Coach Lute Olson used the trip to install his new three-guard offense and to get a good look at his returning players. Rigdon saw it as a chance to play a little basketball, see the sights and surf and skim-board some of the finest waves in the world.

Both came home happy.

The Wildcats went 9-1 on the tour, reaffirming Olson’s decision that, with post players such as Brian Williams, Sean Rooks and Ed Stokes no longer in the program and the 45-second clock reduced to 35 seconds, Arizona had to employ a smaller, more mobile, perimeter-oriented lineup.

Rigdon surfed a variety of beaches, from Sydney to Melbourne to the Gold Coast, and got enough playing time to find a groove. He averaged 8.6 points in the 10 games, shot 50% from the field, was 22 of 26 from the free-throw line and had 24 assists.

“I think the single biggest thing that helped Dylan was the Australia trip,” Olson said. “We played 48-minute games and each player played a minimum of 20 minutes. It gave Dylan a chance to get in the flow, gain some confidence, play for long periods of time without looking over his shoulder.

“Last year, whenever he played he tried to do too much too quickly. He had problems doing the right things, but in Australia, he got an opportunity to do his thing.”

Rigdon’s “thing” is to shoot from the outside, and when he’s on, it’s a sight to behold. As a freshman at UCI, Rigdon once made nine of nine field goals, seven of them three-pointers, in a 94-76 victory over Cal State Fullerton.

Rigdon averaged 7.7 points that season (1989-90) and was named to the Big West All-freshman team. He averaged 11.7 points as a sophomore but was so sporadic he was benched by the end of the season.

“You can have a shooting slump and do other things well, but his whole game was knocking them down from outside,” said Bill Mulligan, former UCI coach who is now at Irvine Valley College. “If they weren’t going in, Dylan thought nothing would go right.”

When Rigdon’s shooting went south, so did the rest of his game, and when you’re not a great defensive player to begin with, a lack of effort really shows.

Those slumps caused friction between Mulligan and Rigdon, and the two had several heated exchanges on the bench. But those arguments had nothing to do with his departure, Rigdon said. Irvine’s 16-42 record in his two seasons was the real reason he left.

“I wanted to play for a winner,” Rigdon said by telephone from Tucson. “Every spring I watched ‘March Madness’ on TV and I wanted to be a part of that, whether I was playing two minutes or 20. I wanted an opportunity to play for the best, compete for the Pac-10 title and go to the NCAA tournament.”

Even some of Rigdon’s friends questioned the decision. Why leave a team you can star on for a school where you might spend most of the time on the bench?

Rigdon got his answer in his first game in Arizona’s McKale Center.

“There were 13,000 fans, screaming and yelling, and here I was, used to playing in front of 2,000 in the Bren Center,” Rigdon said. “I was so nervous. I scored four points, but I was ecstatic. It’s amazing the support you get from the community, the fans and other students here. They treat the players like celebrities.”

It was a difficult adjustment going from Irvine, where defense was something the Anteaters did to catch their breath between fast breaks, to Arizona, a more regimented program where every aspect of the game was important.

“I remember playing Nevada Las Vegas my freshman year and they had Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt,” Rigdon said. “That was the most intense game I had ever played in, but here, every day in practice is like that. You have to have all your attention focused on what you have to do.”

Rigdon didn’t last season. He was struggling in school and was hampered by an ankle sprain and a shoulder injury. He worried that he wasn’t getting enough playing time, and when he got into games, “I just played terribly,” he said.

But the Australia trip boosted his confidence, and when he returned to Orange County last summer, he began working with a physical therapist and personal trainer, rehabilitating until his injuries were fully healed and increasing his strength and stamina.

Rigdon played in the L.A. Summer Pro League on a team with Cherokee Parks (Duke) and Scott McCorkle (Syracuse) and in pickup games with NBA players such as Scott Brooks, Adam Keefe, Tod Murphy and Byron Scott.

“I was as prepared as I’ve ever been when I got back to school,” Rigdon said.

Rigdon’s timing was perfect. He entered this season in peak mental and physical condition, and Arizona’s new offense, for which Rigdon’s skills seem perfectly suited, has helped him emerge as a key player for the Wildcats.

Rigdon usually spells former Mater Dei standout Reggie Geary on the wing, and with opponents focusing on guards Khalid Reeves and Damon Stoudamire, Rigdon has been able to spot up for many open three-pointers.

And if he misses a few shots, he doesn’t get discouraged. He’ll just dive for loose balls, bear down on defense, try to penetrate and pass or snag a few rebounds.

“The guards are our best players, and once they start penetrating it makes my job a lot easier,” Rigdon said. “I just stand in the corner and get a lot of kick outs. I’m open for most of my shots, and I have my confidence back.”

He had to go all the way to Australia to get it, but he’s glad he did.

“We were in Australia to have fun, surf and play basketball,” Rigdon said. “I stopped worrying about the crowds, the media, what people thought of me, and my game just went up.”