I introduced myself to Arizona freshman Lauri Markkanen at last week’s media session, speaking slowly and loudly, naively presuming the 7-footer from Finland might have difficulty with the language.
He gave me a half-smirk. Bring it.
“He gets it, he understands everything,” said redshirt freshman teammate Ray Smith. “I think he speaks four languages fluently.”
Markkanen speaks Finnish, Swedish, German and even Estonian. He is street smart and then some.
Exactly a year ago, Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak arranged for Markkanen to make an official recruiting visit to Salt Lake City on the weekend Markkanen’s Helsinki Academy coach, Hanno Möttölä, was inducted into the Utes’ Hall of Fame. Coach K assigned Utah’s All-America center, Austrian Jakob Poeltl, to be Markkanen’s host for the weekend.
So why didn’t Markkanen succumb to Utah’s offer?
“I didn’t think Jakob would be returning” this season, said Markkanen. “I wanted to go where I would have the best chance of winning.”
Markkanen appreciated the aggressive recruiting of Arizona coach Sean Miller, who visited Helsinki, and the never-give-up attitude of UA assistant coach Joe Pasternack.
Pasternack “was always with me,” he said. “It seemed like I heard from him every day.”
Beyond that, Markkanen entered his international recruiting chase ahead of the game. His father, Pekka Markkanen, started 33 games for Kansas’ 30-5 team of 1989-90. He averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds a game for the Jayhawks and got a full introduction to college basketball in America: He started for a KU team that beat Shaquille O’Neal’s LSU Tigers and rocked Kentucky 150-95.
Recruiting in Finland is no longer a novel idea. Oklahoma last week got a commitment from 6-8 Hannes Polla, about the time Utah Valley reached agreement with 6-7 Joonas Tahvanainen to play for that WAC team. A year ago, the 6-7 Samuli Nieminen signed with midmajor power Stephen F. Austin.
Miller’s media day assessment of Markkanen confirmed what European scouting services have said about Markkanen for two years. He is a rare talent.
“He’s probably the best pick-and-pop player on the team,” said Smith.
Said center Chance Comanche: “He’s a great ballhandler; it’s almost insane for someone his size.”
I asked Markkanen how to properly pronounce his first name.
“Lowry,” he said. “Not Lorrie.”
Tucsonans will be on a first-name basis with Mr. Markkanen soon.
