There aren’t a lot of men’s college basketball teams that have achieved as much over the years as Arizona has, with five Sweet 16 appearances and two Elite Eight berths since 2014.
Throw in six Pac-12 regular season titles and five conference tournament championships during that stretch, and you have a decent picture of the success Arizona’s had.
The Wildcats have produced nine first-round draft picks between 2014 and 2023, including 2018 No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton, and four selections in the second round, so that should give you an idea about how hard it is to select an all-decade team for the ‘Cats.
Utilizing SportsReference.com, BetArizona.com veered slightly from our Arizona sports betting coverage and selected the Arizona men’s basketball team of the decade (2014-15 to 2023-24). The players included had to have played for the Wildcats during this time period, and it is based on a combination of Player Efficiency Rating and Win Shares during those years with the team.
Arizona Men’s Basketball Team of Last Decade: 2014-2024
Arizona betting apps list Kansas and Duke as the favorites for next year’s national championship at +1100 odds.
Which Wildcats Made All-Decade Team?
The five Wildcats with the highest combined PER and WS totals at their respective positions were all esteemed players during their tenures in Tucson, including Ayton (the 2018 Pac-12 Player of the Year and Karl Malone Award winner) and Pac-12 Player of the Year Bennedict Mathurin (2022).
Throw in 2017 Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player Allonzo Trier (33.3 PER + WS) and 2017 third-team All-American Lauri Markkanen (31.7 PER + WS) and venerable post player Oumar Ballo (38.7 PER + WS) and you have the full starting five for the Wildcats’ All-Decade team.
With Ballo entering the transfer portal — check out Ballo next team odds here — there’s no one left from the five still enrolled in Tucson, as Tommy Lloyd’s squad looks to snap the program’s 24-year Final Four drought next April.
Luckily for Wildcats fans, Arizona currently has the third-ranked recruiting class in the nation (per 247 Sports), behind Duke and Kentucky and ahead of Rutgers. BetMGM Arizona has Arizona tied for the sixth best national title odds at +2000.
USA Today photo by Jerome Miron.
