When Josh Green and Nico Mannion walked into Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium behind flags that weren’t American during Friday’s opening ceremony, it may have been a sign of things to come for Wildcat fans.
Considering how Arizona has stocked its men’s basketball rosters with talent from all over the globe, UA fans could have plenty of teams to root for in future Olympic games, too.
Not only did Mannion (Italy) and Green (Australia) jump from the 2019-20 Wildcats to the NBA and into the Tokyo Olympics this weekend, but the standout play of current Wildcat forwards Bennedict Mathurin (Canada) and Azuolas Tubelis (Lithuania) in the FIBA U19 World Cup suggest they could be part of their senior national teams in the future.
That’s in addition to the fact that UA sophomore Kerr Kriisa has already starred for the Estonia national team and Wildcats newcomer Pelle Larsson was one of 17 players invited to try out for Sweden’s senior World Cup prequalifying team.
Those two could be part of future national teams for qualifiers or championship tournaments, along with current Wildcats such as center Oumar Ballo (Mali), Christian Koloko (Cameroon) and, possibly in the long term, incoming freshman guard Adama Bal (France).
Mathurin helped lead Canada to the U19 World Cup bronze medal this month, scoring 31 points against Serbia in a 101-92 win in the third-place game. He finished seventh in scoring for the tournament with an average of 16.1 points. Tubelis finished fifth with an average of 16.6 points as Lithuania finished in fifth place.
Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin dunks in front of USA’s Chet Holmgren in a FIBA U19 World Cup game in July. Mathurin helped lead Canada to the U19 World Cup bronze, scoring 31 points against Serbia in a 101-92 win in the third-place game. He averaged 16.1 points per game in international competition.
Ballo, meanwhile, tied with Tubelis for the fourth spot in U19 rebounding (8.9) and finished second in blocked shots (2.9).
“I was proud of how they competed,” UA associate head coach Jack Murphy told 1290-AM, having traveled to Latvia for some of the event. “I think Wildcat fans should be excited about those three. … I think we have a lot of talented guys from a lot of different countries.”
The Wildcats might someday have a coach representing another country, too. Phoenix Suns player development coach Riccardo Fois, an Italian citizen who worked with UA coach Tommy Lloyd for five seasons at Gonzaga, is a candidate for UA’s open assistant coaching position.
Fois was an assistant coach for Italy’s national team in 2017 EuroBasket play, and was named to Italy’s pre-Olympic tournament staff last month, though he was unable to serve because of the Suns’ run to the NBA finals.
In addition, UA scouting director Ken Nakagawa worked with Japan’s U19 team earlier this month in Latvia.
Boswell impresses at Peach Jam
After leading Corona (Calif.) Centennial High School to the Section 7 Finals title last month, 2023 point guard Kylan Boswell is continuing on a roll with California-based Team Why Not in Peach Jam 16U play.
According to Twitter reports, Boswell — who has scholarship offers from Arizona and a load of other high-major teams — had 19 points, six rebounds and six assists on Saturday to lead Team Why Not into the Peach Jam Finals over 2023 five-star point guard Rob Dillingham and the CP3 U16 team. Earlier, Boswell had 21 points in a win over Houston Hoops 16U to help Team Why Not reach the quarterfinals, then put up 16 in the quarterfinals.
“Kylan Boswell was already in the conversation for top point guard in the 2023 class and he seriously helped his case today,” 247Sports.com analyst Travis Branham tweeted after Saturday’s U16 semifinal game. “Game moves slow for him, and he has outstanding instincts and feel.”
During regular-season EYBL play before the Peach Jam championships began, class of 2022 targets Jaden Bradley and Shaedon Sharpe drew attention.
Sharpe was named The Session’s Offensive player of the regular-season session after averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Sharpe also shot 46.2% from 3-point range.
Sharpe was the EYBL’s third leading scorer, while Bradley was tied for fifth at 20.2 points per game. Bradley led in both assists (6.5 per game) and turnovers (4.3 per game).
Terry may have options
Though he was recruiting for the Wildcats this month during the open evaluation periods, UA assistant coach Jason Terry remains a candidate to join the Dallas Mavericks as a member of new coach Jason Kidd’s staff.
The Mavericks’ official website posted a July 16 story that said Kidd was in talks with former Mavericks teammates Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea and Terry about possibly joining his staff as assistant coaches or scouts.
“Right now JET is with the University of Arizona, and so I’m understanding the process,” Kidd told Mavs.com. “I told him let’s go through the process. There’s kind of maybe a pecking order.”
On Saturday, Terry retweeted a post from his “Lady Jets” club program about its 2021 Adidas 3SSB 16U title.
“Proud of this group,” Terry said. “Hard work, dedication.”
Randolph drops 27 in TBT
Former UA wing Brandon Randolph scored 27 points, but it wasn’t enough for his Mental Toughness team to beat fellow former UA standout Derrrick Williams and the LA Cheaters early in The Basketball Tournament play.
Williams’ team was later eliminated by Florida TNT. The former UA standout averaged 11 points and 6.5 rebounds over two TBT games.
Former UA and Xavier guard Mark Lyons was scheduled to open TBT play on Saturday evening with Zip Em Up, a team comprised of former Xavier players.
Spaced out early season
After playing their Oct. 2 Red-Blue Game, the Wildcats are expected to hold a few more weeks of practice before taking part in a closed scrimmage later in the month.
The UA will host Eastern New Mexico for an exhibition game on Nov. 1, giving the Wildcats over a week to prepare for their Nov. 9 season opener against NAU.
They will play Tuesdays and Fridays in each of their first two weeks of the regular season: Arizona will host Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 12 and North Dakota State on Nov. 16 before traveling to Las Vegas for the first round of the MGM Main Event on Nov. 19. The UA’s first-round opponent is likely to be Wichita State.
