Oct 17, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Players and coaches pose at media day at Pac-12 Network Studios. From left: J.T. Terrell and Andy Enfield (Southern California), Mike Montgomery (California), Johnathan Loyd and Dana Altman (Oregon), Roberto Nelson and Craig Robinson (Oregon State), C.J. Wilcox and Lorenzo Romar (Washington), Kyle Anderson and Steve Alford (UCLA), Dwight Powell and Johnny Dawkins (Stanford), Jordan Loveridge and Larry Krystkowiak (Utah), Spencer Dinwiddle and Tad Boyle (Colorado), DaVonte Lacy and Ken Bone (Washington State), Nick Johnson and Sean Miller (Arizona) and Jahil Carson and Herb Sendek (Arizona State). Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Other items to mention:
Pac-12 John R. Wooden Coach of the year honor – Oregon Coach Dana Altman This honor did not go to our 28-3 overall and 16-2 conference winning Coach Sean Miller, no, it went to Oregon Coach Dana Altman. Probably because Oregon lost two key players last year which was unforeseen, and took the new team past Utah to end up the second seed in the Pac-12 tournament. Still think Coach Miller deserved it.
Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year – Oregon State junior guard Gary Payton II And there you have it, all in all, seven honors, and one honorable mention were given to Arizona who had arguably the most fantastic season. They Coach Miller is on a roll with 38 consecutive wins!
We asked Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) who operates AllSportsTucson.com to give us his perspective on the awards Arizona wasn’t awarded:
On Player of the Year Honor:
“The most surprising part of today’s Pac-12 honors is Joseph Young earning the player of the year selection over T.J. McConnell or Delon Wright. Young for the most part was not part of the discussion for the potential player of the year when I polled some of the national media during the season. It was mostly Wright, McConnell or Stanford’s Chasson Randle.”
Mar 15, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller instructs in a huddle against the UCLA Bruins during the second half in the championship game of the Pac-12 Conference college basketball tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Bruins defeated the Wildcats 75-71. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
“Young’s scoring and shooting ability are impressive but my thought is the most important player of the best team should trump everybody. McConnell was as deserving of the player of the year honor as anybody who has won the honor for Arizona because of his impressive assist-to-turnover ratio and ability to be the glue for Arizona in pressure situations.”
On Defensive Player of the Year Honor:
“Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is the best defensive player in the conference. Coaches were enamored with Gary Payton II”s ability to steal the ball. Hollis-Jefferson did more than steals. He denied the ball from the top offensive player of the other team. He has also defended four positions.”
On Coach of the Year:
“The coach of the year was also a shame. Although Altman did a great job of keeping the program on solid ground, he was part of the problem that could have wrecked his operation. He recruited the players who were involved in the alleged rape case.
“You have to wonder about Altman’s discipline and character development and assessment. Sean Miller’s team won the conference title by three games after losing the player of the year and freshman of the year from last year. That’s a very difficult task inasmuch as he needed to build chemistry with an influx of new talent and roles along with that.”
Arizona Alumni Kevin Parrom had this to say:
The @pac12 didn't want to give U of A all the awards but its cool we will take the big trophy in the end #BearDown !
— Kevin Parrom (@KevinParrom3) March 9, 2015
And we will end on a nice note from T.J. McConnell to all of you…
I know it's not over but I just want to thank everyone at Arizona especially the fans for everything This place will always be home #family
— TJ McConnell (@TJMcConnell) March 8, 2015