Douglas Returns to Team at Arizona

Ruben Douglas said Wednesday he has ironed out his concerns with Coach Lute Olson and has resumed his fight for the starting shooting guard position with ninth-ranked Arizona.

The sophomore’s absence from the Wildcats’ exhibition game against a Lithuanian team Sunday night set off speculation that Douglas might transfer.

Douglas, from Bell-Jeff High, said Wednesday he never considered transferring but felt he needed to straighten things out with Olson.

“There were some personal things I had to bring to the table,” Douglas said. “We all get along, but to a certain extent you have to look out for what you feel, and what you think is right. There were some things on my mind that I needed to get a response, and that is what happened.”

Douglas, who started 14 games and averaged eight points per game last season, was back on the court Monday. He said he had two meetings with Olson, one Sunday that led to his absence from the game, and another Monday that led to his returning to the team.

“The first time I could say there were a lot of things going through my mind,” Douglas said. “There was not a lot of clear thoughts. The second time we met, I started thinking about it, and made a decision I was going to be back on the team, and be ready to play.”

Douglas has been battling freshman Gilbert Arenas, from Grant, for a starting spot. Arenas had a some spectacular moments in the teams’ Red-Blue scrimmage and scored 16 points in the Wildcats’ 96-44 victory over Alytus Alita on Sunday.

Olson refused to talk about Douglas’ absence after the game Sunday. He said Wednesday he felt after the Sunday meeting both he and Douglas should wait before they made any public comments.

“If you are in a game situation and somebody pops you in the mouth you control yourself, you take a little time to think about what your response is going to be,” Olson said.

“In this case, I told Ruben I thought it would be good for both of us to evaluate what had been said and we would meet the next day. For me to have made a statement that night would have been very unfair.”