Arizona basketball: Allonzo Trier, DeAndre Ayton named best shooting guard, center in college basketball by CBS

The Arizona Wildcats have not one, but two of the top players at their respective positions in college basketball, according to CBS Sports.

Gary Parrish of CBS named Allonzo Trier and DeAndre Ayton as college basketball’s best shooting guard and center, respectively.

Trier was selected over the likes of Duke’s Grayson Allen and West Virginia’s Jevon Carter among others.

Here is Parrish’s full list:

via CBS

And here is the justification for Trier being at the top:

It's probably reasonable to go with Trier or Allen in the top spot here. But I went with Trier simply because he was significantly better than Allen last season. He shot it better from the field and from 3-point range. He scored more and rebounded more. So Trier's the pick.

Ayton was the top center on Parrish’s list, beating out Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado and Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ. Saint Mary’s Jock Landale was in consideration, too.

via CBS

Here is what Parrish wrote about Ayton:

Everything I've heard out of Arizona is that Ayton has been tremendous in offseason workouts. So he should be the Wildcats' next one-and-done star and, possibly, the key to Sean Miller's first Final Four. Delgado averaged 15.2 points and a national-best 13.1 rebounds last season. He's a no-brainer pick for this list.

Trier being named college basketball’s best shooting guard is hardly a surprise, seeing that he is entering his third year of college basketball and has already had two stellar seasons in Tucson — albeit he has missed several games due to injuries and suspension.

In Arizona’s Spain exhibition tour this August, Trier averaged 19 points per game on 16-24 shooting in two games, including a 21-point, 8-assist effort against the Mataro All-Stars.

Ayton receiving the same recognition is mildly surprising, but only because he is a freshman and nobody has seen him play at the collegiate level yet.

But you don’t find many, if any, players in college basketball who have the size — 7’1, 250 pounds with a 7’5 wingspan — and athleticism that Ayton does, along with a diverse inside-out skill set (he was a top-three recruit after all).

The scary part is Arizona’s talent doesn’t end there. The Wildcats will be starting two seniors in Dusan Ristic and Parker Jackson-Cartwright, plus sophomore standout Rawle Alkins.

On top of that, the Wildcats will have four other highly-touted freshmen and UNC Asheville transfer Dylan Smith coming off the bench.

Arizona is loaded, and there’s a reason why college basketball’s coaches voted the Wildcats as the best team in the country heading into the 2017-18 season.

It should be an exciting season in Tucson.

Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire