The Arizona Wildcats may have received an extra shot of motivation Tuesday, when wing Bennedict Mathurin was named to the second team of the Associated Press all-Americans and center Christian Koloko was not among the four finalists for theΒ Naismith's Defensive Player of the Year award.
Mathurin landed on the second team below first-team honorees Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky, Ochai Agbaji of Kansas and three Big Ten players: Keegan Murray of Iowa, Kofi Cockburn of Illinois and Johnny Davis of Wisconsin.
Despite leading Gonzaga to the No. 1 overall NCAA tournament seed, standout big men Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren joined Mathurin on the second team, along with Jaden Ivey of Purdue and Jabari Smith of Auburn.
Former Wildcat guard James Akinjo tied with JD Notae of Arkansas for the final spot on the third team, giving it six total players. Also named to the third team: Paolo Banchero of Duke, Collin Gillespie of Villanova, E.J. Liddell of Ohio State, Walker Kessler of Auburn.
However, Mathurin was named among the five finalists for the Naismith's Jerry West Award for top shooting guard, along with UCLA's Johnny Juzang,Β Agbaji,Β Davis andΒ Ivey.
The Naismith's Defensive Player of the Year list dropped Koloko while cutting from 10 to down to four players: Holmgren,Β Tshiebwe,Β Kessler and Duke's Mark Williams.
Mathurin was a first-team all "District 19" pick by the NABC, while Koloko and Tubelis were named to the second team. The NABC's districts are not geographically aligned: Players from California are listed in District 19 (Pac-12), District 17 (Mountain West) and District 9 (West Coast and Big West conferences).
Former UA associate head coach James Whitford was fired after nine seasons as Ball State's head coach.
Whitford joined Sean Miller's first Arizona staff in 2009-10 and was promoted to associate head coach after the 2010-11 season when Archie Miller left for Dayton. Whitford then left for Ball State after the 2012-13 season.
