Arizonaβs locker room was a joyous place following Saturdayβs Pac-12 Tournament championship win over USC.
Players posed for photos with the Pac-12 championship trophy and what was left of the net that coach Sean Miller and players had just cut down. Deandre Ayton, fresh off arguably the best game of his brief college career, declared that his new name was Josh.
Why Josh? According to Ayton, he just felt like a Josh.
Amid the celebration, senior Dusan Ristic told Ira Lee, who hasnβt played since returning from a concussion, that his time will come.
βTake your time and wait. You will see it, itβll change,β Ristic said before taking a chug of Gatorade.
Leeβs response: βYeah, he tells me that everyday: βpatience.β All that good senior talk.β
The teamβs personality was on full display all week thanks to a conference rule that demands each team open its locker room to the media after games. The Wildcats were goofy, driven, confident.
Rawle Alkins couldnβt keep himself from laughing when talking about his thunderous dunk over USCβs Elijah Stewart in Saturdayβs title game. He then asked reporters if he thought that dunk was better than the reverse slam he had against Oregon State back in January.
Ayton seemed to be more exhilarated about the dunk than Alkins was.
βHe needs to go to jail for that. β¦ Iβve never seen a dunk like that,β Ayton said. βThat was some 2K animation stuff.β
Ayton may be 7-foot-1, 260 pounds and have the stature of a beast, but heβs still a kid at heart. While Ayton showed a bubbly personality during Arizonaβs run in Las Vegas, he also jumped into a variety of topics. He firmly believes that he will be the No. 1 pick in Juneβs NBA Draft, and that thereβs no player in the country nearly as competitive as him.
Ayton talked about about last monthβs game at Oregon, where he was taunted mercilessly by the Ducksβ students. Fans waved checks and 100 Grand candy bars at Ayton every time he touched the ball, a reference to ESPNβs report that coach Sean Miller had discussed paying him $100,000 to come to Arizona.
Ayton scored 28 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.
βAll eyes are on me, and Iβm gonna put on a show,β he said. βIβm an entertainer. I like to entertain.β
Heβs also not afraid to share his two cents about officiating.
βI just feel like the refs allow guys to guard me any type of way, but when I come down and protect myself, itβs an offensive foul. ... Itβs probably because theyβve never seen a guy my size before,β he said.
Josh β err, Deandre β Ayton is now the face and voice of a team with dreams of the Final Four. And wouldnβt that be something to talk about?
