GOAZCATS.com is greatly appreciative of both Budinger and trainer Trent Suzuki for contributing the following diary.

I knew this past summer was going to be very busy for me. I had a bunch of camps and tournaments to play in, and most importantly, I knew I had to make a decision on where I wanted to go to college.

Once my junior year was over with on June 17th, I only had a few days to get ready for NBA Camp, which was in Virginia that started on June 21st. My mom, Mara, and I flew out to Virginia and we sat through a bunch of seminars that the NBA gave which talked about different issues that prospective NBA players have to be aware of. These issues included drugs, alcohol, women, and how to deal with the business end of professional basketball.

We were then split into teams and started practicing for the many games we were to play in. Unfortunately, on the first day during a practice scrimmage, I went up for a dunk and two guys undercut me and knocked me down. I landed awkwardly on my right wrist and fractured it. I wasn't real happy about this injury, as I knew had to get prepared for the University of Arizona Elite Camp that started on June 30th.

Right after I broke my wrist, I didn't think I wanted to go to Elite Camp because I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything. But, since U of A is where I had been strongly thinking about going to, my trainer Trent Suzuki and I thought I should go anyway. So Trent and I took off for Arizona wondering what I was going to do when we got there.

The Arizona coaches had asked Trent to come and be part of the staff and help the camp participants with warm up, stretching, and strength training. It turned out to be a great weekend of activities as we were busy the whole time. Even though I couldn't do anything with my right hand, I still tried to participate in as many drills as I could, taking this rare opportunity to ONLY use my left hand on everything from shooting to dribbling to passing.

It was great to work with both Coach (Lute) Olson and Miles Simon, who hadn't been named an assistant coach yet but still worked out the elite wings at the camp. The Arizona Sports Medicine staff was great as they used bone stimulation machines to do therapy on my wrist while I was there. When we weren't doing basketball related stuff, Trent worked me out in the new state of the art strength facility.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely when all the alumni showed up to play pickup with all the campers. Even though I couldn't play, I still was able to speak with Luke Walton, Andre Igoudala, and Richard Jefferson. It definitely helped my decision to be able to speak with players whom I admired.

In the dorms every night we were at camp, Trent and I would talk about how things were going and if I liked what we were doing and how I liked the coaching and the atmosphere. It was during this weekend that I decided I really wanted to come to Arizona to play basketball and go to college.

After we got home from Arizona, I had one day at home before my mom and I left for ABCD camp in New Jersey. I couldn't play but they still wanted me to come and take pictures and do interviews. After a few days in New Jersey, my mom and I took a flight directly to Louisville, Kentucky where I was to play in the Junior Olympic National Volleyball Championships from July 6-10th.

The rest of my family (dad, Duncan Sr., sister, Brittanie and brother, Duncan Jr.) flew in also. I decided I was going to try and play because my Seaside Club team would field its strongest team ever and we would have a legitimate chance to win it all.

Unfortunately, with my wrist taped up so much I was only about 80% and we took a disappointing 5th place. I was very upset because I knew this was probably the last major volleyball tournament I would be playing in because by this time I knew I was going to commit to playing basketball full time.

After we got home from Kentucky, I had two weeks to work out as well as rehab my wrist before the Big Time Basketball tournament in Las Vegas began on July 22nd. Trent and I went to work out every day the whole two weeks, trying to get ready for probably the most important basketball tournament of my life. I was also going up to Orange County every few days to get additional therapy done on my wrist.

I knew my club team, the Southern California All-Stars, would be very good and I thought with Kevin Love joining our team, we would have a great chance to win the whole thing. We played against some really tough teams such as the Speice Indy Heat with Greg Oden, Daequan Cook and Mike Conley, who are all going to Ohio State and Eric Gordon.

We also played the New York Panthers with Derrick Caracter and Edgar Sosa, both going to Louisville and my good friend and hopefully future teammate Lance Thomas.

We went up against the D1 Greyhounds with O.J Mayo, Billy Walker, Alex Tyus, and Keenen Ellis. We ended up doing very well at the tournament, taking 3rd overall, beating the Panthers and the Greyhounds, but losing to Speice twice. I was fortunate to play really well despite my wrist and ended up making first team all-tournament.

After getting home from Las Vegas, I had another tournament starting the next day, July 26th in Artesia, California near Los Angeles. I was extremely tired and worn out, but went to the tournament anyway. I probably should have listened to my body and not played because I ended up landing on someone's foot after getting a rebound and severely sprained my right ankle.

This pretty much ended my playing for the summer and I went home that night and began the healing process. I was also supposed to go to Michael Jordan Camp from August 1-6th and be a camp counselor, but I couldn't as I was on crutches and could barely walk, let alone stand up and coach the kids all day long.

Here it was, the first of August and now I really had my work cut out for me. I needed to make a decision on where I'm going to go to school. I had already trimmed my list of schools to just three, UCLA, USC and Arizona, so my family, Trent and I had several meetings to discuss the pros and cons of each school.

Even though I had pretty much already decided where I wanted to go, I still had to explain my decision and my thought-process to the rest of my family. Finally, we all agreed that the University of Arizona with all the success they've had with developing perimeter players would be the best place for me to play and improve. Obviously the main factor in my decision was the opportunity to be coached by Lute Olson, who in my opinion is the best and has been the best coach in the country for the last two decades.

With the decision now made, I needed to call all the coaches and inform them of my choice, as well as start planning the press conference to formally announce my decision to the public. On August 5th, Trent and I went to my house after working out and sat down to call the coaches. It was one of the most stressful things I've ever thought about doing - calling a coach who really wants me to play for him and telling him "no, I'd rather go somewhere else."

After several minutes of preparation with Trent coaching me, I made both calls to UCLA and USC. My dad also sent letters to the coaches regarding my decision as well, just to be completely professional. Obviously, I was very happy when I was done and now I only had to call Coach Olson.

Even though I had made it pretty clear to them already that I was coming, I still had to call Coach and let him know that I was indeed coming to Arizona. He was pretty excited when I told him and assured me that I was making the right choice and promised me he would give me his very best and help me get to the next level.

Now it was time to plan the press conference. We decided on August 17th and I put Trent in charge of coordinating the whole thing. He spoke with my high school coach, Dave Cassaw and got the room at the high school reserved. My dad was in charge of the local San Diego media and Trent was in charge of the national media and the Arizona media.

I started doing a lot of interviews that would not come out till the afternoon of the 17th. Trent made sure I was well prepared, making sure I was articulate and well informed on all the major questions I could be asked. My mom took both Trent and I to get new suits because I have never owned a suit and Trent needed a new one.

The day of the press conference was getting closer and I was getting a little bit nervous. I'd never even been to a press conference before, let alone been in one, so I didn't know if people would even show up. Trent helped me write my statement and I had been practicing it for a few days, making sure my delivery and posture were up to speed. I knew I would only have one chance to make a first impression media-wise and I wanted to take full advantage of it and be as professional as a 17-year-old kid could be.

Finally the 17th was here. I worked out with Trent in the morning and then we left the gym to get ready for the 2:00 pm conference. I was putting on my suit when I really got nervous about the whole thing. Trent went to the school early to set things up and my family and I arrived shortly thereafter. I was nervously pacing back and forth, practicing my statement, making sure I didn't talk too fast.

When I went into the room where the conference was to take place, I noticed that there were a lot of people, reporters, news crews, and many of my friends and family. I was surprised how many people were in that small room. Seated at the table with me were my parents, Trent, and Coach Cassaw.

The best part of the press conference was when I announced I was going to Arizona and put on the white hat with the A on it. The press conference went extremely well, and I was really proud that I didn't screw it up too much. We then did many more interviews both on the phone and in person. I'm happy that I'm beginning to get more and more comfortable with the media.

Since the press conference, I've been dedicating all of my time to healing my body from the long summer, and working super hard in the weight room as well as the gym. I'm in the weight room every day with Trent, who also trained Isaiah Fox, Luke Walton, Chris Walton and Richard Jefferson during the summer as well.

In my next diary entry, I'll talk about my training routine and what I'm doing to get ready for my senior year in high school.

- Chase Budinger

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