Arizona Basketball: Benn Mathurin on Wooden Award watchlist

Nearly 20 games through the season and Arizona Basketball star Benn Mathurin has been added to the late-season Wooden Award Watchlist. 

The Wildcats have been rolling under first-year head coach Tommy Lloyd. And as good as Arizona Basketball has been, at the forefront of that has been the play of sophomore wing, Benn Mathurin.

A budding college basketball star that is a native of Canada, Mathurin came to Tucson a bit underrated but has quickly made a name for himself.

Finishing an impressive freshman campaign in which he averaged 10.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, potentially big things were on the horizon for him in 2021-22.

So far this season, he hasn’t disappointed, averaging 17.2 points and 6.1 rebounds in 19 games played. His shooting numbers are similar to last year as well, only seeing a slight drop in his three-point percentage.

With the Wildcats being 17-2 (7-1), Mathurin has been a big part of Arizona’s success, and naturally, the sophomore wing is getting all the accolades.

As we are nearly 20 games into the season, Arizona Basketball star Benn Mathurin has landed on the Wooden Award Watchlist.

Making news on Monday afternoon, the updated late-season Wooden Award Watchlist was released, and on the list was Mathurin.

A prestigious award that is given to the “best player in college basketball”, it is no easy feat to be on the elite list. And should Mathurin continue his strong campaign and somehow win the award, he would only be the second Wildcat to do so.

As we are all aware, Sean Elliot is the only Wildcat to win the award, being named College Basketball’s National Player of the Year in 1989.

With the Wildcats’ schedule heating up over the next couple of weeks, Arizona is going to have to continue to rely on the play of Mathurin if they are going to go deep in the Tournament this year, which could be a great opportunity for Benn to showcase himself further.