Top 5 Most Under Appreciated Players of the Sean Miller Era
By Brad Malone
(2) Mark Lyons
Arizona had a problem preparing for the 2012-2013 season. They needed a point guard, before T.J. McConnell was eligible to play in 2013-14. Luckily a brash player from Xavier, senior Mark Lyons was available thanks to the NCAA’s cooky transfer rules.
Lyons was not a pure point guard. He came to Arizona to try to become one, in preparations for the next level.
In the end he was more of a shooting guard that played point guard but that didn’t matter. Arizona started off the season on fire with it’s best start in over a decade. Lyons was a big part of that fast start.
His biggest highlight of the year came when he scored the winning bucket against no. 5 Florida at home before the start of the Pac-12 season. Did you notice who came running out on the court in his jump suit to congratulate him? Signs of things to come.
Lyons averaged 15.6 points a game that year and led Arizona on a run to the Sweet Sixteen. It was Lyons fourth straight trip to the Sweet Sixteen as a player.
Instead of Arizona fans complaining about what Mark Lyons couldn’t do they should be happy that he got a team with no pure point guard an eyelash away from the Elite Eight.
Next: No. 1 Gabe York