Zeke Nnaji is named the Pac-12 Freshman of the year

Following a terrific season with the Wildcats this year, phenom freshman Zeke Nnaji is officially named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year!

At the start of the Arizona Basketball season, Zeke Nnaji was one of the least talked about players out of the talented group of freshmen who were coming on to campus this year! Of course dominating the attention was Nico Mannion and Josh Green.

However, by the end of it all, it was Nnaji who shined the brightest!

Arizona Wildcats

Hailing all the way from Hopkins, Minnesota and considered just a four-star recruit in the class, Zeke was a rather slim, 6-feet-11-inches and 215 pounds at that time. Fast forward to many months later, and we have witnessed incredible growth from this young man, especially as Nnaji has become a dominant post player in college basketball!

Originally considered as more of a project player who could potentially stay for a few years at Arizona, the college game has come very easy easy to Nnaji, where he showed high level post moves, dominating on the boards, and has become a very active and physical defender.

It shows how hard he worked in the summer leading up to his freshman season and during practices with his teammates and coaches.

However, we must note that the journey to Tucson to was never so certain!

Having numerous offers from some of College Basketball’s best suitors, those offers included; Baylor, Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA and Wisconsin among many others.

Luckily for us, Zeke came to Tucson with big talent and big aspirations, and it didn’t take us long to discover just what a special player he truly is.

Appearing in 31 games, the freshman has paced himself to one, spectacular season, averaging 16.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 57 percent from the floor!

As a result, Nnaji has been named the conferences’ Freshman of the Year!

But the accolades don’t stop there!

According to the Pac-12’s press release earlier today, ”A member of the Top-10 watch list for the Karl Malone Award given to the nation’s best power forward, Nnaji is the 10th Freshman of the Year recipient from Arizona, including the eighth freshman forward to win the honor for the Wildcats.” That says a lot about being a Top Ten player at his position throughout the entire country, considering he was just a freshman that wasn’t as highly touted before the season.

Zeke has 14 double-doubles this year, which is third among all freshman players in the country. He also ranks in the top three for freshman in the conference of champions with his points per game, shooting percentage, and rebounding!

Sean Miller’s offense this season fit Nnaji very well especially after Chase Jeter fell out of the rotation and he started playing mainly center. Being in a motion offense where they play with four guys usually on the perimeter, it opens up the paint and allows Zeke to be able to dominate around the basket!

Also in limited time when running pick and rolls with Nico, he has been great rolling to the basket and finishing with a dunk or exploiting the defender with a post move.

Zeke has been very efficient this year, having a true shooting percentage over 60 percent while also being in the Top 50 players in the countries best PER (Player Efficiency Rating). His biggest test yet starts on Wednesday when the Arizona Wildcats face off with the Washington Huskies in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament for the second time in five days, where Zeke will be matched up with star big man Isaiah Stewart.