Arizona wing Bennedict Mathurin named AP Second-Team All-American

Arizona wing Bennedict Mathurin is officially an All-American.

The Associated Press released its All-America teams Tuesday, and Mathurin was named to the second team, joining Gonzaga’s Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren, Purdue’s Jaden Ivey and Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr.

Mathurin missed out on AP’s first team, which consists of Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis, Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji, Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn and Iowa’s Keegan Murray.

Former Arizona point guard James Akinjo, now at Baylor, was named to AP’s third team.

Mathurin is Arizona’s first All-American since Deandre Ayton in 2018. Mathurin could become a consensus All-American if he is named to the United States Basketball Writers Association and the National Association of Basketball Coaches teams. This century, Arizona has had only five consensus All-Americans: Ayton, Jason Gardner (2003), Salim Stoudamire (2005), Derrick Williams (2011) and Nick Johnson (2014).

Mathurin was also named one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award, given to the nation’s top shooting guard. He joins Agbaji, Davis, Ivey and UCLA’s Johnny Juzang on the list.

Arizona center Christian Koloko was not named a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.

If the Wildcats needed extra motivation, they got it today.