Aari McDonald’s Associated Press second-team All-American honor today gives her the highest honor on an AP team in Arizona history.
The highest previous AP honor was her coach Adia Barnes earning third-team honors as a senior in 1997-98.
McDonald earned an honorable mention selection by the AP last season, matching the honors by Barnes in 1996-97, Shawntinice Polk in 2002-03, Dee-Dee Wheeler in 2004-05, Ify Ibekwe in 2008-09 and 2010-11, and Davellyn White in 2011-12.
Arizona Women's Basketball All-Americans
| Season | Player | Agency | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991-92 | Margo Clark | Basketball Times | Honorable mention |
| 1996-97 | Adia Barnes | Associated Press | Honorable mention |
| 1996-97 | Adia Barnes | Kodak/WBCA | Honorable mention |
| 1997-98 | Adia Barnes | Associated Press | Third team |
| 1997-98 | Adia Barnes | WBCA/Kodak | Honorable mention |
| 1997-98 | Adia Barnes | USBWA | First team |
| 1997-98 | Adia Barnes | Women’s Basketball Journal | Second team |
| 1997-98 | Adia Barnes | The Sporting News | Honorable mention |
| 2002-03 | Shawntinice Polk | Associated Press | Honorable mention |
| 2002-03 | Shawntinice Polk | WBCA/Kodak | Honorable mention |
| 2003-04 | Shawntinice Polk | WBCA/Kodak | Honorable mention |
| 2004-05 | Dee-Dee Wheeler | Associated Press | Honorable mention |
| 2004-05 | Dee-Dee Wheeler | WBCA/Kodak | Honorable mention |
| 2004-05 | Shawntinice Polk | WBCA/Kodak | Honorable mention |
| 2008-09 | Ify Ibekwe | Associated Press | Honorable mention |
| 2010-11 | Ify Ibekwe | Associated Press | Honorable mention |
| 2011-12 | Davellyn Whyte | Associated Press | Honorable mention |
| 2018-19 | Aari McDonald | Associated Press | Honorable mention |
| 2018-19 | Aari McDonald | WBCA | Honorable mention |
| 2019-20 | Aari McDonald | Associated Press | Second team |
| 2019-20 | Aari McDonald | USBWA | Second team |
| 2019-20 | Aari McDonald | WBCA | First team |
Barnes has the only first-team All-American selection in program history, by the USBWA in 1997-98. She was also a second-team choice that season by the Women’s Basketball Journal.
McDonald, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, is a Wooden Award Finalist and Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Finalist. She led the Pac-12 in both scoring (20.6) and steals (2.3) per game this season.
McDonald finished the season 10th in the country in scoring and has scored in double-figures in 66 straight games, the longest active streak in the nation which is also her entire Arizona career. She helped lead Arizona to 24 wins this season, which is tied for the second-most wins in school history while also leading the Wildcats to a fourth-place finish in the Pac-12, Arizona’s best finish since 2011.
No one is more deserving than @AariMcdonald!! The best is yet to come from this woman! 🐻⬇️#MadeForIt pic.twitter.com/l5HbhHaN1E
— ADIA BARNES 🐻⬇️🌵🌞 (@AdiaBarnes) March 19, 2020
She finished the season with a 34-point performance against Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, which is the most points any player scored at this year’s tournament. It is also the second time in her career she scored 34 against the Ducks in the Pac-12 tournament and is the school record for most points in a conference tournament game.
She set the single-game school record with 44 points at Texas in November, which is the fifth-most any player in the country scored in one game this season.
[table “57” not found /]McDonald is sixth in Arizona history with 1,486 points in just two seasons after transferring from Washington after her freshman season.
Her 596 points is the fourth-most points any player has scored in one season in Arizona history. She holds the record of 890 points last year, the most by any Arizona player, men’s or women’s.
In her two years at Arizona, she has averaged 22.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.5 steals per game and shot 45 percent from the field.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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