Postseason accolades come in for Arizona Basketball

With the 2020-21 Arizona Basketball season officially over, the postseason Pac-12 accolades have started to roll in for a few of our Wildcats. 

Well, we’re finally into March, which means it is once again time for the NCAA Tournament. While normally that would mean we would be preparing for the coming emotional and mental torment as fans of Arizona Basketball, however, this year is unlike others.

As we all are aware by now, it is that the Wildcats will not be playing in the postseason yet again, and it is quite an interesting feeling.

Arizona Wildcats

Even though these past couple of years have been a bit un-Arizona-like, we did still see a fairly successful 2020-21 season from the Wildcats to say the least, and it was a bit of a return to the norm of sorts.

With the season officially over, the Pac-12 awards and accolades have been released, and a few of our Wildcats have received postseason honors, and it bodes well for the programs’ future.

James Akinjo
*First-Team All-Pac-12

Completing his first official season in Tucson, James Akinjo quickly became the ‘heart and soul‘ of this program, appearing and starting in all 26 games for the Wildcats.

Following a very successful 2020-21 season, James was named to the Pac-12’s First-Team just as we expected. The Georgetown transfer finished the year by averaging 15.6 points, 5.4 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game.

He was a steady force for the Wildcats and was one of the best players in the conference this season.

Jordan Brown 
*Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year

Finally appearing with the Wildcats after having sat out in 2019-20, former Nevada transfer Jordan Brown was a solid contributor for Arizona this year. Despite starting the season at center, Brown quickly moved to the bench, becoming a solid contributor.

Sparking the Wildcats in a few of their wins this season, the Pac-12 has named Brown the Conference ‘Sixth Man of the Year’. Appearing in all 26 games for the Wildcats and starting in 11, Brown finished the year averaging 9.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

He should have an even bigger role next year too!

Azuolas Tubelis
*Second-Team Honorable Mention
*Pac-12 All-Freshman Team

Not a widely known recruit coming in, Azuolas quickly asserted himself as being arguably Arizona’s best freshman. He did a lot for the Wildcats, and he got better as the season progressed too.

Starting in 20 of the Wildcats’ 26 games, Azuoulas averaged an impressive 12.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He did a great job of stretching the floor, and also showed his dominance down low too.

Only being named an Honorable Mention for the Pac-12’s Second-Team, he did, however, make the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, and if it wasn’t for USC’s Evan Mobley, I think you could make the case he could have maybe even been the Conference’s best freshman.

Bennedict Mathurin
*Pac-12 All-Freshman Team

One of Arizona’s bigger surprises in 2020-21, Ben Mathurin is a star in the making. A former standout from the NBA Academy Latin America, the Canadian native asserted himself as one of Arizona’s better players this, and as we all saw, he has a bright future ahead of him.

Playing mostly in a reserve capacity, the true freshman appeared in 26 games for the Wildcats, starting in 12. The Wildcat win averaged an impressive 10.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.

Without surprise, because of his production and impact with the Wildcats, he was named to the Pac-12’s All-Freshman Team.

Although the year didn’t quite go the way we hoped as fans, we can say that the future is bright in Tucson!