Post player Achol Magot returning to Tucson to play for Arizona

By Javier Morales

Posted on April 23, 2025

South Sudan native Achol Magot, a 6-foot-7 post player raised in Tucson, is returning to play for Arizona under first-year coach Becky Burke.

She announced her commitment to Arizona on social media Wednesday after attending Texas Tech the last two seasons.

I’m coming home pic.twitter.com/PATgA9Kr0u

— Achol Magot (@AcholMagot) April 23, 2025

Magot is a member of a family that came from South Sudan in 2006 as part of a refugee program. The family includes older brothers who played at Cholla, including Ajak (who played at Idaho State), Awou (Pima College) and Lual (McPherson College after attending Cochise College).

Lual is the boys basketball coach at Desert View.

“We’re really excited for her return,” Lual mentioned. “Getting the opportunity to play in front of family, friends, and the teammates who’ve supported her from day one is going to have McKale (Center) rocking.

“And honestly, this community in Tucson — it’s something special. Coach Burke is going to build a great culture here, and we’re excited to be part of that journey.”

After attending Salpointe her freshman and sophomore seasons, Achol went to school at Sunnyside and graduated from there as part of the Class of 2023. Instead of playing with the Blue Devils, she participated with the Southern Arizona Volunteers prep team.

In 16 career appearances for the Volunteers, she averaged 13.8 points, 12.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 3.9 blocks per game. She had 10 double-doubles with the team.

Achol did not play with Texas Tech her freshman season of 2023-24 because of a knee injury and saw minutes in nine games this season with the Red Raiders. She totaled 38 minutes overall with her longest appearance being 10 minutes against Iowa State on Jan. 14.

Achol is the seventh newcomer to join Burke’s first roster at Arizona. Montaya Dew is the lone holdover from Adia Barnes’ time as head coach. The roster to this point is comprised of three guards, a wing, two forwards and two centers.