Arizona Cleans Up Pac-12 Postseason Awards

Photo Credit: Arizona Athletics

 By: Francisco Romero

Conference champion Arizona was rewarded for its efforts with a total of 10 Pac-12 postseason honors on Monday in an announcement by the league office.

Junior guard Nick Johnson was named Pac-12 Player of the Year, forward Aaron Gordon was named Freshman of the Year and Sean Miller was named John Wooden Coach of the Year, marking the first time in program history that Arizona captured all three superlatives in the same season.

Johnson and Gordon were named first-team All-Pac-12, while junior T.J. McConnell earned second-team all-league honors. Johnson and McConnell were named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson joined Gordon on Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.

The Wildcats’ 10 honors were more than double the next-highest amount in the conference. UA now has nine first-team All-Pac-12 selections under Miller, including two in each of the last three seasons. With two All-Freshman Team selections, Arizona has now placed seven players on that squad since Miller took over in Tucson.

Johnson is the eighth Arizona player to earn Pac-12 Player of the Year accolades, and the second in Miller’s five-year tenure (also Derrick Williams in 2011). The selection to the All-Pac-12 first team was the first of his career.

Gordon is the seventh Arizona player to be named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and joins Williams (2010) as players to do so under Miller’s direction. He leads Arizona with an average of 7.8 rebounds and eight double-doubles this season, both tops among Pac-12 freshmen.

Hollis-Jefferson earned his All-Freshman Team nod after finishing the regular season ranked in the top eight among Pac-12 freshmen in seven different categories. He leads Arizona with an 11.2 offensive rebound percentage, and has averages of 8.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game this season.

Miller’s Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor is his second in the last four years, and the ninth overall for the Arizona program.