The No. 12 Arizona men’s basketball team honored Bennedict Mathurin by inducting him into the Arizona Ring of Honor during halftime of the Arizona-UCLA game on Saturday, Jan. 20. Mathurin spent two seasons with the Wildcats before being drafted sixth overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 2022 NBA Draft.

“Man, it feels great,” Mathurin said. “Just being one of the few guys to be inducted makes this a great award.”

During Mathurin’s sophomore season at Arizona, the Wildcats went 33-4, 18-2 in Pac-12 play and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, the Wildcats fell short of their ultimate goal of a deep NCAA Tournament run, bowing out in the Sweet 16 at the hands of the University of Houston.

However, Mathurin’s season was one to remember for Wildcat fans. During his sophomore season with Arizona (2021-22), Mautherin earned several honors, including Pac-12 Player of the Year, Second Team All-American, Wooden Award All-American, Most Outstanding Player of the Pac-12 Tournament and was a finalist for the Wooden Award.

Following his first season in the NBA, Mathurin was named to the NBA All-Rookie team, averaging 16.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Mathurin, in his second season with the Indiana Pacers, has the full support of all of his teammates. The Pacers, who are set to face the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, Jan. 21, flew into Tucson Saturday morning to support Mathurin. 

Tyrese Haliburton, former Wildcat T.J. McConnell and Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle were among those who joined.

“We had to wake up pretty early this morning,” Mathurin said. “Seeing how my teammates care about me, pretty much says a lot.”

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