Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd and standout wing Bennedict Mathurin wonβt be on the floor at the Final Four this weekend, but they keep making appearances during the stretch run of college basketball awards season.
Lloyd was named national coach of the year for the second time in two days Wednesday, when the United States Basketball Writers Association gave him its Henry Iba Award, while Mathurin was named to the 10-player Wooden Award all-American team.
On Tuesday, Lloyd became the first coach in Arizona history to pick up a major coach of the year award, from the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The other two major coach of the year awards, from the Associated Press and Naismith Award, have yet to announce a winner.
Legendary former UA coach Lute Olson picked up a number of national awards while he and eventual predecessor Sean Miller were named Pac-12/10 coach of the year multiple times.
A member of the 2002 class in the Basketball Hall of Fame, Olson was given the CNNSI.com coach of the year and the John R. Wooden “Legends of Coaching” award in 2001. According to Sports Reference, Olson was also given the now-defunct CBS-TV Coach of the Year award in 1989.
Mathurin, meanwhile, has become a consensus second-team all-America pick. He was given second-team honors last week by the AP, NABC and USBWA, while the Wooden Award grouped him among its second five players.
Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin has become a consensus second-team all-America pick.
The Wooden Award named five finalists for its national player of the year award: Ochai Agbaji of Kansas, Johnny Davis of Wisconsin, Keegan Murray of Iowa, Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky and Drew Timme of Gonzaga.
The second five, or rest of the Wooden all-American team, included Mathurin, Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Jabari Smith (Auburn), Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga) and Jaden Ivey (Purdue)
Arizonaβs leading scorer (17.4 points) during its 33-4 season, Mathurin has already qualified for Arizonaβs Ring of Honor by being named the Pac-12 Player of the Year.
Lloydβs son transferring to NAU
Lloydβs son, Liam, announced he will transfer from GCU to NAU, meaning his first regular-season game in a Lumberjacks uniform will be against his dadβs team.
The Wildcats and Lumberjacks are scheduled to play on Nov. 8 at McKale Center, as part of a long-term arrangement to have NAU open at UA most seasons.
Liam Lloyd played in 17 of 31 games as a sophomore for the Antelopes last season, averaging 3.8 minutes per game.
Tucsonβs Beskind
enters transfer portal
Former Catalina Foothills standout Sam Beskind has entered the transfer portal after moving up from a walk-on to scholarship role player over four seasons at Stanford.
Beskind said via text message he is considering Division I, Division II and Division III opportunities but doesnβt have a set timetable. The Pac-12βs Scholar-Athlete of the Year this season, Beskind earned a 3.9 grade-point average as an undergraduate and is on track to receive a masters degree in management science and engineering in June.
ASUβs Graham among Pac-12 transfers
Overall, 25 Pac-12 players entered the portal as of late Wednesday afternoon, according to Verbal Commits.
Former Utah forward Riley Battin already announced he is transferring from Utah to Cal Baptist, while other notable Pac-12 players in the portal include Jalen Graham (ASU), Jerod Lucas (OSU), Keeshawn Barthelemy (Colorado), Eli Parquet (Colorado), Max Agbonkpolo (USC), Ethan Anderson (USC), Jaiden Delaire (Stanford), Gianni Hunt (OSU) and Lahat Thione (Utah).
Koloko, Terry in updated mock drafts
Updated two-round mock NBA drafts from ESPN and USA Today this week both listed Mathurin, center Christian Koloko and guard Dalen Terry.
ESPN had Mathurin going No. 11 overall, with Koloko at 37 and Terry at 45. USA Today projected Mathurin would go No. 5, with Koloko at 30 and Terry at 43.
Boswell, AZ Compass Prep on TV
UA commit Kylan Boswell and his sixth-seeded AZ Compass Prep teammates will open play in the GEICO Nationals on Thursday against third-seeded Montverde Academy of Florida.
The game will be televised at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.
Boswell is a five-star class of 2023 point guard who is considering reclassifying to 2022.
