Former major-league baseball All-Star Kenny Lofton has slid into the Arizona men's basketball Ring of Honor, joining Bennedict Mathurin and Christian Koloko inΒ this season's induction class.
Mathurin is scheduled to be inducted Saturday when UA hosts UCLA, while Koloko will be honored on Feb. 17 during the UA-ASU game and Lofton will be inducted on March 2 for UA's home regular-season finale against Oregon.
Mathurin and Koloko both qualified immediately by winning major Pac-12 awards in 2021-22, with Mathurin becoming the league's Player of the Year and Koloko its Defensive Player of the Year. Lofton picked up the honor 17 years after qualifying based on his major league baseball career.
One criterion for the UA's Ring of Honor is playing at least 10 seasons in a major professional league (NFL, NBA, WNBA or MLB) or being selected as an All-Star/All Pro by one of those leagues -- but it does not specify that the athlete must be in the Ring of Honor for the same sport played as a professional.
Arizona's Kenny Lofton dribbles during a Final Four game against Oklahoma in 1988.Β
A native of East Chicago, Indiana, Lofton played 128 basketball games for the Wildcats between 1986-89 and finished as the program's career leaders in steals (200). He averaged 4.8 points and 2.6 assists while shooting 37% from 3-point range.
Lofton was taken in the 17th round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft by the Houston Astros in 1988 after having played briefly for UA's baseball team that spring. He played minor-league baseball in the summer of 1988 before finishing his UA basketball career in 1988-89.
Lofton then rose through the minors, returning to Tucson in 1991 to help the Triple-A Toros capture the Pacific Coast League title, and was promoted to the Astros late in 1991. He went on to play 17 seasons in the majors, becoming an All-Star for six straight seasons stating in 1994 and stealing a total of 622 bases.Β
While Lofton is scheduled to be on hand for UA's regular-season finale against Oregon, Mathurin is expected to be present Saturday because his Indiana Pacers will be between games at Portland on Friday and at Phoenix on Sunday.
Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin slams home a fast-break dunk as teammate guard Dalen Terry watches during the Wildcatsβ March 3, 2022 win over Stanford.
A day before Indiana faced Utah early last season, Mathurin and Pacers teammates T.J. McConnell and Andrew Nembhard showed up to watch Arizona face Utah. McConnell was a standout guard for the Wildcats during the Sean Miller era while Nembhard played for Gonzaga when UA coach Tommy Lloyd was an assistant coach there β and all three are still with the Pacers.
McConnell is close himself to meeting the criteria for his name to make the McKale Ring of Honor. Next season (2024-25) would be his 10th NBA season. Aaron Gordon, currently with the Denver Nuggets, is in his 10th season, meaning he'd most likely be next on the list after Koloko.
Koloko, meanwhile, is scheduled to appear for his induction during the NBA all-Star break. He has missed all 40 games so far this season for the Toronto Raptors because of respiratory issues.
Lofton retired from baseball in 2007 and was technically eligible for the UA Ring of Honor afterward. UA formed a Heritage Committee in 2017, made up of current and former athletic department employees, that reviews and makes recommendations.
While theΒ Ring of Honor criteriaΒ are straightforward (and different for those forΒ jersey recognitions), the Heritage Committee recommended adding former Wildcat standouts Al Fleming and Ernie McCray in 2021 after discovering eachΒ ended their college careers leading in three major statistical categories, which is one of the criteria to make the Ring of Honor.
The Ring of Honor criteria include:
β’ First-team All-America recognition by one or more of the major national organizations or media
β’ Major national "player of distinction", e.g. Wooden Award, etc.; and/or national championship Most Valuable or Outstanding Player distinction
β’ Pac-10/12 Player of the Year or Pac-10/12 Freshman of the Year
β’ Arizona career leader in three or more major positive categories at the conclusion of their collegiate career, and must hold the career record for a minimum of five years.
β’ Ten or more years in the NFL, NBA, WNBA or MLB -- or becoming an all-Star/all-pro in one of those leagues.
β’ Olympic Medalist
