san francisco: After an unprecedented regular season, arizona claimed five of the top six pac-12 men’s basketball awards in a vote of all 12 conference coaches, led by bennedict mathurin as the 2021-22 pac-12 men’s basketball player of the year. the wildcats also saw christian koloko booked as the pac-12 defensive player of the year and most improved player, pelle larsson the pac-12 sixth man of the year, and strong >tommy lloyd the john r. pac-12 wooden trainer of the year. harrison ingram from stanford was voted league freshman of the year.
the 2022 pac-12 men’s basketball tournament will take place march 9-12 in las vegas at t-mobile arena. fans can follow coverage of the event throughout the week at pac-12.com/menstourney.
pac-12 player of the year, presented by nextiva bennedict mathurin, arizona (fr., g, montreal, canada)
National Player of the Year candidate becomes the ninth player from Arizona to earn the conference player of the year honor (10th overall award) after leading the Wildcats to a league-record 18 wins and to the show’s 17th regular season title.
p>
The 6-6 point guard is second in the pac-12 in scoring (17.3 ppg) and top-15 in triples made (5th, 66 3fgm), triple percentage (12th, 37.9%) , rebounding (15th, 5.7 rpg), field goal percentage (15, 46.8%) and free throw percentage (15, 75.2%) – the only player in the conference to rank in the top 15 first in each category.
mathurin is the fourth foreign-born player of the year in the last seven seasons, the fifth in the last 11 and the seventh all-time in league history.
pac-12 defensive player of the year & Most Improved Player, Presented by Nextiva Christian Koloko, Arizona (Jr., C, Douala, Cameroon)
Koloko, who is among the 10 national semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy Defensive Player of the Year award, is the first Arizona player to receive the PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player awards.
His 86 total blocks easily leads the pac-12 so far in 2021-22 and is the second-most in a season in arizona history (loren woods, 102, 1999-00).
Despite playing just six more minutes per game compared to his sophomore season (17.6 in 2020-21 to 24.0 in 2021-22), Koloko has more than doubled his scoring average (5.3 to 11.8).
pac-12 freshman of the year, presented by nextiva harrison ingram, stanford (f, dallas, texas)
ingram is the fifth all-time winner of the stanford freshman of the year award, the first since casey jacobsen in 1999-00.
currently leads all pac-12 rookies in scoring (10.5 ppg), rebounding (6.6 ppg), assists (3.0 ppg), and steals (0.9 ppg per match).
The six-time pac-12 freshman of the week is 1 of 2 true freshmen nationally averaging at least 10 points, six rebounds and two assists (paolo banchero, duke).
pac-12 sixth man of the year, presented by nextiva pelle larsson, arizona (so., g, nacka, sweden)
larsson came off the bench 18 times in 20 league games, giving regular season champion arizona a boost of 7.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in just under 22 minutes per game.
He is the second player from Arizona to claim the award in as many seasons after selecting Jordan Brown in 2020-21.
To be eligible, players must not exceed more than a third of starts in league play.
juan r. pac-12 wooden coach of the year tommy lloyd, arizona
Lloyd’s selection marks the 11th time an Arizona coach has won the conference coach of the year honor, joining seven-time winner Lute Olson and three-time winner Sean Miller.
Naismith Trophy National Coach of the Year candidate has led the Wildcats to an overall record of 28-3 and the first team in conference history to reach 18 league wins. Lloyd’s 28 overall wins are tied for second by a first-year Pac-12 coach, two short of John Warren’s record of 30 set in Oregon in 1944-45, and in the top 10 for debuting head coaches. in division i of the ncaa. story.
lloyd becomes the eighth conference coach to win the honor in his first year with a program, joining stanford’s dick dibiaso (1976), ucla’s gary cunningham (1978), oregon state’s jim anderson ( 1990), ben braun of california (1997), tony bennett of washington state (2007), mike hopkins of washington (2018), and mick cronin of ucla (2020).
The Vote: The Coach of the Year, All Conference, First-Year and All-Defensive teams, Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year are voted on by the coaches. coaches cannot vote for themselves or their own players for honors.
full teams from all conferences:
player of the year, presented by nextiva
bennedict mathurin, so., g, arizona
defensive player of the year, presented by nextiva
christian koloko, son, c, arizona
Freshman of the Year, presented by nextiva
harrison ingram, f, stanford
Most Improved Player of the Year, presented by nextiva
christian koloko, son, c, arizona
sixth man of the year, presented by nextiva
pelle larsson, so., g, arizona
juan r. wooden car of the year
tommy lloyd, arizona
first team
second team
honorable mention (receiving at least three votes): boogie ellis, usc; Harrison Ingram, Stan; Spencer Jones, Stan; Andre Kelly, Lime; Jordanian shepherd, lime; dalen terry, arizona.
** Twice All-Pac-12 First Team Honoree
honorable mention (receiving at least three votes): sam alajiki, cal; peyton watson, ucla.
honorable mention (receiving at least three votes): efe abogidi, wsu; Evan Battey, Colour; Marreon Jackson, Asu; Spencer Jones, Stan; frank kepnang, ore; Isaiah Mobley, USC.
** twice honored as a defensive team