Arizona Basketball: Six great Wildcats leave behind memorable careers

Deandre Ayton

The GREATEST! Deandre Ayton will go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, to have put on a Wildcat uniform. What he was able to do for his size was just unfair. There are times in our generation in which we are lucky enough to witness those who have god given abilities. One of those being Ayton.

I would be shocked if he didn’t get drafted as No.1 in the NBA Draft. If he does, Ayton would be the first Wildcat player ever to be picked as the No.1 pick. Ayton will be an immediate impact player for which ever lucky team gets to pick him.

In his first and only year as a Wildcat, his stat sheet was ridiculous! Ayton averaged 20.1 points a game, 11.6 rebounds per game, 1.6 assists per game and 1.9 blocks per game. He shot 61% from the field, 34.3% from beyond the arc and 73.3% from the free throw line.

What cannot be found in those stats is his is ability, as a 7-footer, to defend inside and out. There would be many times Ayton would find himself matching up against the other team’s guards with no problem. Say what?! What made him that much harder to guard was his precision passing out of double teams and triple teams.

Ayton received multiple honors and records this past year:

• Pac-12 player of the week twice
• Finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year
• Finalist for the Karl Malone Award (best power forward in college basketball)
• Pac-12 Player and Freshman of the Year
• Pac-12 All-Conference First team
• Pac-12 All-Defensive team
• Pac-12 All-Freshman team
• Pac-12 Conference Tournament MVP
• Set the single-season Wildcat record for the most double-doubles in a season with 24