COLLEGE BASKETBALL : OLSON SURPRISED, BUT NOT ARIZONA PLAYERS.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

The only thing Lute Olson promised Arizona fans this year was an exciting team that was going to be fun to watch. Beyond that, he made no guarantees.

With a freshman point guard and no seniors in the starting lineup, Olson wasn't sure what the Wildcats would do. He certainly didn't expect them to be playing North Carolina on Saturday in the Final Four.

``Some years, you expect to have a shot and others you don't,'' he said Thursday after the team arrived in Indianapolis. ``This was such a young team, it's really come as a surprise.''

His players, however, had a little more faith.

``We definitely thought we could be here with the talent that we have,'' junior guard Miles Simon said.

Talent was never the problem. Experience was a different story. Arizona (23-9) lost four starters and Simon, the lone returning one, was academically ineligible for the first 11 games.

That meant a completely new starting lineup - a junior, three sophomores and a freshman. Another player who got significant minutes, Bennett Davison, was a junior college transfer.

Coaching moves: Lefty Driesell, the 10th-winningest coach in NCAA Division I history, was hired at Georgia State, and Illinois State basketball coach Kevin Stallings said he has turned down ``a very significant amount of money'' to become head basketball coach at the University of Tennessee.

Georgia State has an overall record of 252-626, a puny .287 winning percentage.

``I've gone to a lot of basketball games and had great hopes for our team,'' Georgia State president Carl Patton said. ``But frankly, I've been getting tired of watching our students put out a good effort and lose.''

Stallings, 36, looked around the Tennessee campus in Knoxville on Thursday, then returned to Normal, Ill., and met with his players.

``I decided to turn down the offer from Tennessee and I did so for a number of reasons. ... I just didn't feel it was the right situation for me and I didn't feel like it was the right situation for my family,'' Stallings told Bloomington radio station WJBC.

In other coaching moves, Tic Price was named Memphis' head coach and American University hired Art Perry.

Shaq ad pulled: Pepsi has been forced by the NCAA to pull a commercial starring Shaquille O'Neal from the Final Four.

A Pepsi source, who asked not to be identified, said the NCAA felt ``for various reasons'' the commercial - to be broadcast on CBS for the first time Saturday - was inappropriate for its national championship.

For the spot, O'Neal co-starred with Rob Reiner, Michael J. Fox and Dennis Miller in a spoof-style remake of the 1970s movie ``Shaft.''

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Box: NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

Associated Press