Arizona Wildcats basketball: On Ayton's future at UA, Pasternack's potential move, Markkanen's honor
- Updated
Arizona signee DeAndre Ayton shooting for Final Four next season.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
CHICAGO – Like a lot of folks might have when they saw this year’s NCAA Tournament brackets, DeAndre Ayton figured the Arizona Wildcats had a pretty good road to the Phoenix Final Four.
“I thought they had this tournament,” Ayton said. “I think this was the year to really get to the Final Four.”
Arizona was stopped two games shy of making it, in a 73-71 loss to 11th-seeded Xavier in the Sweet 16.
Asked his thoughts on that game, Ayton said:
“I don’t think Lauri (Markkanen) took a lot of shots. He didn’t take all his shots,” Ayton said of the Finnish big man, who was 3 for 9 against the Musketeers. “That’s their shooter. (Allonzo) Trier, I think he took a lot of bad shots but a lot of stuff wasn’t falling for him. Xavier did a good job of shutting (UA’s scorers) down.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Ayton, the highest-rated of UA’s four 2017 recruits so far, said he expects to play with Trier next season and is hoping he returns. But he said he didn’t know what Rawle Alkins would do and has heard Kobi Simmons is leaving.
Whatever they decide, Ayton says he’s trying to pull along some of his fellow McDonald’s All-Americans with him next season to make the Wildcats even better.
That point was clear when Ayton was asked which players he might be looking forward to playing with next season.
“Hopefully, I’ll be playing with Trevon Duval, if he commits to U of A,” Ayton said of the five-star Delaware point guard.
In any case, Ayton said he’s hoping he can get the Wildcats over the hump next season. No guarantees, he said, except for the effort in trying to get them there.
“I’m intending to hopefully get them to a Final Four,” he said.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Another common thought entering the tournament was that Oregon might not get far without injured forward Chris Boucher.
Troy Brown subscribed to that one. And he’s an Oregon signee.
“I believed in them but at the same time, he’s such a big factor that I didn’t know how their bigs would adjust,” said Brown, a McDonald’s All-American forward from Las Vegas. “But their guards have been stepping it up. Tyler (Dorsey) has been doing great, Kavell (Bigby-Williams) is coming off (the bench) really good and Jordan Bell is really stepping it up.”
Brown said he's been happy to see it play out.
“It’s been a great year seeing them having the success they’re having after I committed,” Brown said. “Seeing coach (Dana) Altman have everything going his way this year is just really good for the program.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
UA associate head coach Joe Pasternack is a frontrunner for the vacant UNC Wilmington job along with North Carolina assistant coach C.B. McGrath and Florida Gulf Coast head coach Joe Dooley, according to the Seahawk, the school’s student newspaper.
According to WECT in Wilmington, Pasternack interviewed for the job on Monday.
Pasternack's name has already surfaced twice for jobs at Cal (in 2014 and 2017), while he also attracted interest from UNLV last year. Pasternack has head coaching experience at the University of New Orleans and is a well-respected recruiter with strong ties in California and Europe.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Markkanen was named a third-team all-American by the Associated Press on Tuesday, one of a record four Pac-12 players who made one of the AP’s three five-man teams.
UCLA guard Lonzo Ball was named to the first team along with Kansas’ Frank Mason, Villanova’s Josh Hart, Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan and North Carolina’s Justin Jackson.
Oregon’s Dillon Brooks made the second team, along with Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Goss, Baylor’s Johnathan Motley, Duke’s Luke Kennard and Kentucky’s Malik Monk of Kentucky.
Joining Markkanen and Washington’s Markelle Fultz on the third team were Kansas’ Josh Jackson, Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson and Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ.
CHICAGO – Like a lot of folks might have when they saw this year’s NCAA Tournament brackets, DeAndre Ayton figured the Arizona Wildcats had a pretty good road to the Phoenix Final Four.
“I thought they had this tournament,” Ayton said. “I think this was the year to really get to the Final Four.”
Arizona was stopped two games shy of making it, in a 73-71 loss to 11th-seeded Xavier in the Sweet 16.
Asked his thoughts on that game, Ayton said:
“I don’t think Lauri (Markkanen) took a lot of shots. He didn’t take all his shots,” Ayton said of the Finnish big man, who was 3 for 9 against the Musketeers. “That’s their shooter. (Allonzo) Trier, I think he took a lot of bad shots but a lot of stuff wasn’t falling for him. Xavier did a good job of shutting (UA’s scorers) down.”
Ayton, the highest-rated of UA’s four 2017 recruits so far, said he expects to play with Trier next season and is hoping he returns. But he said he didn’t know what Rawle Alkins would do and has heard Kobi Simmons is leaving.
Whatever they decide, Ayton says he’s trying to pull along some of his fellow McDonald’s All-Americans with him next season to make the Wildcats even better.
That point was clear when Ayton was asked which players he might be looking forward to playing with next season.
“Hopefully, I’ll be playing with Trevon Duval, if he commits to U of A,” Ayton said of the five-star Delaware point guard.
In any case, Ayton said he’s hoping he can get the Wildcats over the hump next season. No guarantees, he said, except for the effort in trying to get them there.
“I’m intending to hopefully get them to a Final Four,” he said.
Another common thought entering the tournament was that Oregon might not get far without injured forward Chris Boucher.
Troy Brown subscribed to that one. And he’s an Oregon signee.
“I believed in them but at the same time, he’s such a big factor that I didn’t know how their bigs would adjust,” said Brown, a McDonald’s All-American forward from Las Vegas. “But their guards have been stepping it up. Tyler (Dorsey) has been doing great, Kavell (Bigby-Williams) is coming off (the bench) really good and Jordan Bell is really stepping it up.”
Brown said he's been happy to see it play out.
“It’s been a great year seeing them having the success they’re having after I committed,” Brown said. “Seeing coach (Dana) Altman have everything going his way this year is just really good for the program.”
UA associate head coach Joe Pasternack is a frontrunner for the vacant UNC Wilmington job along with North Carolina assistant coach C.B. McGrath and Florida Gulf Coast head coach Joe Dooley, according to the Seahawk, the school’s student newspaper.
According to WECT in Wilmington, Pasternack interviewed for the job on Monday.
Pasternack's name has already surfaced twice for jobs at Cal (in 2014 and 2017), while he also attracted interest from UNLV last year. Pasternack has head coaching experience at the University of New Orleans and is a well-respected recruiter with strong ties in California and Europe.
Markkanen was named a third-team all-American by the Associated Press on Tuesday, one of a record four Pac-12 players who made one of the AP’s three five-man teams.
UCLA guard Lonzo Ball was named to the first team along with Kansas’ Frank Mason, Villanova’s Josh Hart, Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan and North Carolina’s Justin Jackson.
Oregon’s Dillon Brooks made the second team, along with Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Goss, Baylor’s Johnathan Motley, Duke’s Luke Kennard and Kentucky’s Malik Monk of Kentucky.
Joining Markkanen and Washington’s Markelle Fultz on the third team were Kansas’ Josh Jackson, Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson and Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ.
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