Editor’s note: This article is part of the Star’s 2017-18 basketball guide, which runs in Sunday’s paper.
The first time Deandre Ayton wore an Wildcats uniform at McKale Center, he crammed 15 points and five rebounds into nine second-half minutes during Arizona’s Red-Blue Game.
That wasn’t really a surprise. Not to anyone who has seen or heard about the skilled Bahamian big man since the Wildcats began recruiting him over four years ago. He can score from anywhere on the floor, create his own shots or convert an assist, and block shots with ferocity on the other end.
“He’s as strong and as gifted running for somebody that size that I’ve worked with,” UA coach Sean Miller says, “and he loves the game.”
So maybe the surprise, if anything, was that Ayton was actually wearing an Arizona Wildcats uniform at all.
Six years ago, as a relatively unfocused 13-year-old in Nassau who liked band a lot and soccer a little and basketball not all that much, it could hardly have been expected Ayton would play college basketball anywhere, much less Arizona.
Three years ago, after Ayton discovered the game and it discovered him, Arizona’s early recruiting efforts with Ayton, then a prep school standout in San Diego, appeared to dwindle.
Even two years ago, after Ayton moved from San Diego to Phoenix and began playing for Hillcrest Prep, an Arizona career didn’t seem all that likely, either.
Actually, at that point, it wasn’t certain if Ayton would be wearing any sort of college basketball uniform. Ayton attended two schools that had NCAA certification issues: He said Balboa Prep in San Diego, where he played as a freshman and sophomore, initially had not sought NCAA certification because it didn’t have a basketball program until he arrived.
Then there was Hillcrest Prep, which had players enrolled during 2015-16 at Starshine Academy, which had core courses that were not certified by the NCAA.
Ayton and his coach at Hillcrest last season, Kyle Weaver, said Ayton never took Sunshine courses. Instead, he took only NCAA-certified online courses of Arizona Connections.
But Ayton still had some work to do to become NCAA-eligible. He had to retake some of his Balboa classes, including one he worked on while playing summer ball before his senior season.
“I had to catch up, that was the main thing,” Ayton said in September 2016. “The NCAA said some classes I took at Balboa were not creditable, but all that’s done.”
But he really didn’t have to, in one sense. Ayton was a surefire NBA prospect who could make a six-figure salary and/or endorsement deal by playing professionally in 2017-18, so why would he feel compelled to attend college for a year?
And why Arizona?
Especially after five-star Dallas guard Terrance Ferguson signed with Arizona and then opted instead to turn pro in Australia over the summer of 2016 when his freshman-year eligibility status appeared uncertain, the Wildcats had reason to be nervous.
Not in his case, said Ayton.
Although he has not been available for comment since arriving at Arizona, Ayton told the Star in September 2016 that he wanted to play in college for a year and do so in Tucson. He went on ESPN on Sept. 6 and told everyone else, too.
“One of the reasons I did it on TV, and especially on ESPN, was to let everybody know I’m going to college,” Ayton said. “I wanted to say something about it earlier, about that overseas rumor, or whatever: No.
“My mom doesn’t go that way. She doesn’t take the easy way out. She wants me to really work hard to get to the next level. God forbid, there’s injuries or whatever, but she wants me to get that experience and move on. Take baby steps.”
So Ayton showed up in Tucson and did so without bringing a one-and-done attitude to accompany his one-and-done talent.
That might impress Miller as much as anything.
“Deandre has a lot to do with it,” Miller said. “When you’re that guy, and when you walk in the gym with that much talent you’re sort of are the compass of the team’s mental attitude. He has a good head on his shoulders and a lot of confidence, but I love the way he works and his competitive spirit.
“But really what I love and appreciate about him is we don’t have to chase him around this campus. He’s where he’s supposed to be. He does what he’s supposed to do. He’s got a really bright future and it’s exciting to have him.”
On the court, Miller raves about Ayton’s athleticism and strength for his size, about how he bench-pressed 185 pounds 19 times – “which for somebody of his size is quite a testament to how strong he is,” Miller says — and about how he posted a 43.5-inch vertical leap, almost getting him to the top of the backboard.
Ayton’s teammates like all that, too. But they also see the attitude behind all that talent, and that’s what gets them excited.
Allonzo Trier said it’s rare to have big men “who can run and jump and move the way he does,” and guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright figures it won’t be easy for anyone to battle him inside.
“I think just physically he’s just way more far ahead,” Jackson-Cartwright said. “On top of that he’s just so smart, and unselfish. When you have a great talent like that who’s unselfish, that’s really special.”
