Wildcats’ Mathurin, Perry High’s Williams make NBA All-Rookie team

Indiana Pacers shooting guard and Arizona Wildcats alum Ben Mathurin was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team on Monday, the league announced.

Also making the first team was an Arizona local: The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jalen Williams, who attended Perry High School in Gilbert before three years at Santa Clara propelled him to the NBA.

It was an impressive start to an NBA career for the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Mathurin in 2022-23.

In 78 games played (17 starts), Mathurin averaged 16.7 points on 43.4% shooting and 32.3% from long range to go along with 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He posted 27 games of at least 20 points.

Before making his mark in Indiana, Mathurin made a name for himself as a Wildcat.

In his second and final year in Tucson, Mathurin averaged 17.7 points and shot 45% from the field and 36.9% from deep.

He was named the 2021-22 Pac-12 Player of the Year and took home Pac-12 Tournament MVP honors that year in addition to helping the Wildcats to a conference championship.

For Oklahoma City, Williams averaged 14.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game, shooting 52% and 36% from three.

He started 62 of 75 games played for a young Thunder squad that finished with a 40-42 record.

A look at the full look of NBA All-Rookie squads:

2022-23 NBA All-Rookie Teams

First team

Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
Walker Kessler, Utah Jazz
Bennedict Mathurin, Indiana Pacers
Keegan Murray, Sacramento Kings
Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder

Second team

Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons
Tari Eason, Houston Rockets
Jaden Ivey, Detroit Pistons
Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets
Jeremy Sochan, San Antonio Spurs

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