Arizona Basketball: Lauri Markkanen, The Finnish Savage, is Ready for Prime Time

Arizona Basketball forward Lauri Markkanen, The Finnish Savage, is Ready for Prime Time in the NBA.

Arizona Head Coach Sean Miller faced much adversity from day one of this season. Losing highly talented commit Terrence Ferguson to a year overseas was just the beginning. Former 5 star recruit Ray Smith retired from basketball after tearing his ACL for the 3rd time in 4 years and star player Allonzo Trier being suspended the first 19 games of the season.

With all of this chaos, the Wildcats had to lean on a freshman. Lauri Markkanen, being the “savage” that he is, put this team on his back and never looked back, he continues to move this team one step closer to a national championship.

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Markkanen was not much talked about in the recruiting circuit because he played most of his life overseas. But Sean Miller has proven to the rest of the country that he is at the top regarding recruiting. The former 5-star recruit was only considering Utah and Arizona. Clearly, he made the right decision.

Miller brings in top talent from any part of the world now. He gets east and west coast top talent, adding Markkanen, Miller has now successfully recruited overseas, adding to his recruiting prowess.

Before stepping foot in Tucson, Markkanen played for the FIBA U18 Finland National team and averaged 18.2 points and 6.3 rebounds. Before verbally committing to the University of Arizona, Markkanen took one visit to Utah. Looking at what Markkanen has done this year, most coaches in the country wish they could go back in time and pursue the “The Finnish Savage,” after seeing what he has done in such a short time.

“When the going gets tough, in big, big games, does he cower away from the moment? Or does he embrace it? He embraces it. In terms of toughness, I would say he is as tough of a freshman, mentally, physically, (as we’ve had).” -Sean Miller

Early on, the Wildcats were forced to make Lauri Markkanen a main contributor on offense. With the uncertainty of Allonzo Trier, Markkanen had to produce each night, and the other freshman, Kobi Simmons and Rawle Alkins followed his lead by maturing well ahead of schedule.

By playing for the Finnish national team, Markkanen was ready to take that quiet leadership role for the Wildcats. He was no stranger to big games and the spotlight. Lauri was a primary reason this Wildcats team was 17-2 without Trier and a main piece to a National Title run. Markkanen doesn’t do a lot of talking on the court but he is loved in the locker room, and he lets his play on the court do the talking.

Sean Miller has never had a player like Lauri. His unique size, shooting touch, and quickness off the dribble make him a mismatch nightmare. Markkanen is also had very good vision and unselfish finding the open man.

There are very few “holes”  in Lauri’s game. He is still very young and has so much more ahead of him in his basketball career. We are witnessing one of the best young men in college basketball. Lauri has the “team first” mindset and wants to be the best to ever play the game. Right now he is a kid becoming a “savage” on the court and has so much left to do.

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The first step in his career is helping the Wildcats win their first national championship in 20 years and are 3 games closer to achieving that feat. Josh Pasternick says it perfectly when he says “Our record is what it is because of our entire team, but to me he’s a once-in-a-generation player.”