(San Francisco, CA) Following a record-setting regular season, ARIZONA claimed five of the six major Pac-12 Men’s Basketball awards in a vote of the 12 Conference coaches, headlined by Bennedict Mathurin as the 2021-22 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. The Wildcats also saw Christian Koloko tabbed the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player, Pelle Larsson the Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year, and Tommy Lloyd the John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year. STANFORD’s Harrison Ingram was chosen the league’s Freshman of the Year.
The 2022 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament is set to take place March 9-112 in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena. Fans can follow coverage of the event all week long at pac-12.com/menstourney.
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PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA
Bennedict Mathurin, ARIZONA (Fr., G, Montreal, Canada)
The National Player of the Year candidate becomes the ninth Arizona player to earn the Conference’s Player of the Year honor (10th total award) after leading the Wildcats to a record 18 league victories and the program’s 17th regular-season title.
The 6-6 guard is second in the Pac-12 in scoring (17.3 ppg) and top-15 in threes made (5th, 66 3FGM), three-point percentage (12th, 37.9%), rebounding (15th, 5.7 rpg), field goal percentage (15th, 46.8%) and free throw percentage (15th, 75.2%) – the only player in the Conference to rank top-15 in each category.
Mathurin is the fourth foreign-born Player of the Year in the past seven seasons, the fifth in the last 11, and seventh all-time in league history.
PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR & MOST IMPROVED PLAYER, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA
Christian Koloko, ARIZONA (Jr., C, Douala, Cameroon)
Koloko, who is among 10 national semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy Defensive Player of the Year, is the first Arizona player to receive both the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player awards.
His 86 total blocks easily lead the Pac-12 so far in 2021-22 and are the second-most in a season in Arizona history (Loren Woods, 102, 1999-00).
Despite playing just six more minutes per game compared to his sophomore season (17.6 in 2020-21 to 24.0 in 2021-22), Koloko has more than doubled his scoring average (5.3 to 11.8).
PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA
Harrison Ingram, STANFORD (F, Dallas, Texas)
Ingram is Stanford’s fifth all-time recipient of the Freshman of the Year award, the first since Casey Jacobsen in 1999-00.
He currently leads all Pac-12 rookies in scoring (10.5 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg), assists (3.0 apg) and steals (0.9 spg).
The six-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week is 1-of-2 true freshmen nationally averaging at least 10 points, six rebounds and two assists (Paolo Banchero, Duke).
PAC-12 SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA
Pelle Larsson, ARIZONA (So., G, Nacka, Sweden)
Larsson came off the bench 18 times in 20 league games, giving regular-season champion Arizona a boost of 7.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in just under 22 minutes per game.
He is the second Arizona player to claim the award in as many seasons following Jordan Brown’s selection in 2020-21.
To be eligible, players must not exceed more than one-third starts in league games.
JOHN R. WOODEN PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR
Tommy Lloyd, ARIZONA
Lloyd’s selection marks the 11th time an Arizona coach has earned the Conference’s Coach of the Year honor, joining seven-time recipient Lute Olson and three-time winner Sean Miller.
The Naismith Trophy National Coach of the Year candidate has led the Wildcats to a 28-3 overall record and the first team in Conference history to reach 18 league wins. Lloyd’s 28 overall wins are tied for the second-most by a first-year Pac-12 coach – two shy of John Warren’s record 30 set at Oregon in 1944-45 – and in the top-10 for debut head coaches in NCAA Division I history.
Lloyd becomes the eighth Conference coach to win the honor in his first year with a program, joining Stanford’s Dick DiBiaso (1976), UCLA’s Gary Cunningham (1978), Oregon State’s Jim Anderson (1990), California’s Ben Braun (1997), Washington State’s Tony Bennett (2007), Washington’s Mike Hopkins (2018) and UCLA’s Mick Cronin (2020).
THE VOTE: Coach of the Year, All-Conference, All-Freshman and All-Defensive Teams, and Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year are voted on by the coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for themselves or their own players for the honors.
The complete All-Conference Teams:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Bennedict Mathurin, So., G, ARIZONA
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Christian Koloko, Jr., C, ARIZONA
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Harrison Ingram, F, STANFORD
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Christian Koloko, Jr., C, ARIZONA
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA: Pelle Larsson, So., G, ARIZONA
JOHN R. WOODEN COACH OF THE YEAR: Tommy Lloyd, ARIZONA
Press Release courtesy of the PAC-12 Conference – Jesse Hooker
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