UA coach Sean Miller was named the Associated Press' Pac-12 coach of the year, while Lauri Markkanen was awarded a spot on its first all league team, as awards week continued today.
Markkanen also made the 10-man United States Basketball Writers Association all-district nine team (Arizona plus all states that border the Pacific).
The AP team, which includes only five players (unlike the coach-picked 10-man team), also had Washington's Markelle Fultz, Oregon's Dillon Brooks, UCLA's Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf.
Fultz, Brooks and Ball were unanimous picks. Ball was named the AP's Pac-12 player of the year, though coaches had voted for Brooks, while Ball was also named the Sporting News player of the year.
FWIW, my picks for the top five were the ones who won, while I voted for Brooks over Ball for player of the year.Β
While there's no question Ball transformed the Bruins, Brooks has been clutch and indispensable for the Ducks (not to mention a complete matchup nightmare.) I had Ball as newcomer of the year and Miller as coach of the year.
