Freshman at the University of Arizona, Deandre Ayton, has been labeled an All-American consensus and is the third to be given that award in the time that Sean Miller has been a coach. He is the first in 20 years to be picked for consensus, after Mike Bibby (1997-98); he is also the first in 19 years to be picked for the AP team on the Wildcats, after Jason Terry (1998-99).  Also referred to the “Bahamian big man”, Ayton was noted to be “like few others around” by his coach, Sean Miller, and some other peers. He was named to the AP All-America team along with Marvin Bagley III from Duke and Trae Young from Oklahoma. However, Ayton’s jersey will not be recognized unless he wins a major player of the year award, which is likely to occur at the rate he is going.

In the history of Wildcats and the AP team, Salim Stoudamire, Jason Gardner, Miles Simon, Mike Bibby, Damon Stoudamire, Khalid Reeves, Sean Elliott and Bob Elliott were also chosen in the past. If you include honorable mentions, Arizona now has 31 all-American players in the books, with consensus players Ayton, Bibby, Stoudamire, and Sean Elliot. The AP honorable mention, from Arizona, is Allonzo Trier.