Arizona Ring of Honorees Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell make the Wildcats one of six programs with at least two alums in the NBA Finals that begin on Thursday night in Oklahoma City. Mathurin and McConnell play for the Indiana Pacers.
Kentucky leads all programs nationally with three alums participating in the NBA Finals. Arkansas, Arizona, Baylor, Gonzaga and Texas A&M each have two alums in the NBA Finals. Mathurin and McConnell playing in the NBA Finals with Indiana is the 11th consecutive year an Arizona alum is playing for a championship.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace from Kentucky and Isaiah Jackson on Indiana are Kentucky alums. Arkansas has Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams on OKC. Ray J Dennis on Indiana and Adam Flagler with OKC are Baylor alums.
Andrew Nembhard on Indiana and Chet Holmgren on OKC went to Gonzaga. Alex Caruso on OKC and Quenten Jackson with Indiana played at Texas A&M. Arizona has frequently had multiple alums in the NBA Finals. Josh Green is the most recent Arizona alum to play in the NBA Finals with Dallas in 2024.
Kentucky on 🔝
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) June 5, 2025
The Wildcats lead all schools with 3️⃣ players in the NBA Finals 🔥 pic.twitter.com/zSZmPVJgCY
McConnell is averaging 8.4 points per game, 3.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 16 games for Indiana in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Mathurin is averaging 10.4 PPG and 2.5 RPG while playing 16.1 minutes per game for Indiana in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Mathurin's numbers are down after averaging 16.1 PPG in 29.9 MPG during the regular season. In the regular season, Mathuin missed 10 games with multiple injuries and he had to sit out game four versus the Milwaukee Bucks with an abdominal injury.
The NBA Finals start on Thursday night at 5:30 PM Mountain Standard Time. Game two is on Sunday night at 5 PM MST and will be played, if necessary, through June 22 if the series goes seven games. Aaron Gordon and Zeke Nnaji with the Denver Nuggets in 2023 are the last Arizona alums to win an NBA Championship.