Video: Arizona's Sean Miller credits NBA departees for 'fun ride,' looks to next season

Arizona and the Pac-12 lost two huge names Tuesday when Pac-12 Player of the Year Nick Johnson and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Aaron Gordon announced their decision to leave for the NBA.

Both players were major pieces of the team that sat at No. 1 in the AP top 25 for eight straight weeks and finished with a 33-5 record, a Pac-12 regular-season title and an Elite Eight appearance.

[Related: Gordon, Johnson declare for NBA draft (ArizonaWildcats.com)]

Johnson, a junior guard who did it all for the Wildcats, led his team in scoring with 16.3 points per game and ranked second on the squad in assists and steals. The Arizona native was recently named a first-team All-American by the John R. Wooden Award, the NABC, the USBWA and Sporting News.

Gordon, the freshman phenom who was expected to be one-and-done before even stepping on campus, trailed only Nick Johnson in scoring with 12.4 points per game. He also pulled down a team-leading 8.0 rebounds per contest.

When asked to reflect on losing Johnson and Gordon, Sean Miller gave them credit for the "fun ride" that was the 2013-14 season:

But it's not all bad news for Wildcat fans. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Kaleb Tarczewski and Brandon Ashley, three major contributors this past season, all have confirmed they will stay with the program for another year, and Miller is clearly very excited about that: