Arizona forward Deandre Ayton was named the Pac-12's Player of the Year after a dominant freshman season that led the Wildcats to the conference's regular-season championship.
Ayton became only the third freshman to win the award since it began in 1975-76, joining Cal's Shareef Abdur-Rahim (1995-96) and UCLA's Kevin Love (2007-08).
"Itβs a blessing to be honored," Ayton said on the Pac-12 Networks show. "I worked really hard on my game. I try to be a great person off the court and put God first."
Ayton led the conference in rebounding during Pac-12 games (11.4) and was the second-leading scorer (20.2) in conference games behind only UCLA guard Aaron Holiday.
Ayton finished the season on an especially emphatic note. He had 26 points and 20 rebounds against Cal on Saturday, a week after he had 28 points on 11-for-15 shooting and 18 rebounds at Oregon.
In that game at Eugene, played a day after ESPN reported UA coach Sean Miller allegedly discussed paying him $100,000, fans booed him every time he touched the ball and waved cardboard checks at him.
"I try to be a professional about it and I didnβt even engage into any foolishness that was going on," Ayton said. "I just did what I had to do. As Allonzo (Trier) said itβs our team against the world."
The other finalists (top five vote-getter) for Player of the Year were Holiday, Utah's Justin Bibbins, USC's Jordan McLaughlin and Stanford's Reid Travis.
Earlier Monday, Ayton and teammate Allonzo Trier were named to the Pac-12's 10-player all conference team, while UA center Dusan Ristic made the five-player second team and forward Rawle Alkins earned honorable mention honors.
The Pac-12 also announced that Washington's Matisse Thybulle was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year and Huskies coach Mike Hopkins was Coach of the Year.
Thybulle led the Pac-12 in steals by averaging 2.7 steals a game in conference play, while Hopkins led the Huskies to a 20-11 record (10-8 in conference) after Washington was just 9-22 and 2-16 last season.
Washington State's Robert Franks was named the Pac-12's Most Improved Player award after becoming the sixth-leading scorer (16.9 points) in conference games. Franks averaged just 6.4 points last season but lost 25 pounds in the offseason.
The newly reinstated Pac-12 Sixth Man Award was a tie between ASU's Remy Martin and Colorado's Dom Collier, while Stanford's Dorian Pickens was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The Pac-12 announced its awards on the Pac-12 Networks Monday evening after the league's 12 coaches voted on Sunday. They were not allowed to vote for their own players.
