Arizona Basketball Greatest Player No. 2 – Sean Elliott
Position: Small Forward
Years at Arizona: 1985-1989
College Stats: 19.2 pts, 6.1 reb, 3.4 Ast, .8 stl, .3 blk
College Awards:
1988 Consensus All-America (1st Tm)
1988 NCAA All-Tournament
1988 NCAA Tournament All-Region
1988 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year
1989 AP Player of the Year
Consensus All-America (1st Tm) 1988, 1989
1989 NABC Player of the Year
1989 NCAA Tournament All-Region
Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year 1988, 1989
1989 Adolph Rupp Trophy
1989 Wooden Award
No. 32 Jersey Retired by the University of Arizona
2018 College Basketball Hall of Fame
NBA Draft: 1989 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Years in the NBA: 12
NBA Awards:
1999 NBA Champion (Spurs)
NBA All-Star 1993, 1996
1990 NBA All-Rookie Second Team
No. 32 Retired by San Antonio Spurs
NPBA First VP
FIBA Gold Medalist: 1986
Sean Elliott, born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, is one of the most recognized names in Arizona Basketball history. His jersey is retired in McKale Center by A Players Program as well as in San Antonio for the Spurs. Elliott is highly decorated and even earned a gold medal for Team USA in the 1986 FIBA World Championship.
Elliott played with Steve Kerr, Salim Stoudemire, and Khalid Reeves when they made it to the Final Four in 1988. He remains the University of Arizona’s all-time leading scorer with 2,555 total points in 133 games averaging 19.2 points per game. He broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time Pac-10 career record in scoring.
His college career was insane, just review his awards! He was awarded the John R. Wooden Award, the Adolph Rupp Trophy, an NABC and AP Player of the Year, and was a two-time All-American and PAC-10 Player of the Year.
Elliott’s success did not end in college, he was drafted No. 3 overall in the 1989 NBA Draft to the San Antonio Spurs where he played for four years and then returned later. While with the Spurs, teaming up with Kerr once more, he earned an NBA Championship along in 1999.
After winning the NBA Championship, Elliott was in need of a kidney transplant. After he recovered from getting a kidney from his brother Noah, Sean returned to the NBA. In March 2002, Elliott returned to play against the Atlanta Hawks becoming the first NBA Player to return after a kidney transplant. He retired in 2001 ending his career as the fifth highest franchise total three’s made (563) and averaged 14.2 pts, 4.3 reb, and 2.6 ast per game.