Four Buffaloes Earn Pac-12 Postseason Honors

BOULDER – Four University of Colorado Buffaloes picked up Pac-12 Conference men's basketball postseason honors, voted on by coaches, the league office announced on Tuesday.

Senior point guard McKinley Wright IV was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team while junior forward Evan Battey earned honorable mention to the all-conference squad. Junior guard Eli Parquet was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team and Jabari Walker earned a spot on the All-Freshman squad.

Wright becomes the first Buffalo in the Pac-12 era to garner three all-conference first team honors. He earned honorable mention as a freshman in 2017-18 and has been a first team pick the last three seasons. He joins Cliff Meely (1968-71) and Wilky Gilmore (1958-60, '61-62) as the only three Buffaloes to earn three first-team all-conference honors.

Parquet is Colorado's sixth player to make the Pac-12 All-Defensive team and the seventh overall award – Andre Roberson was a two-time member (2011-13). Walker is Colorado's fourth Pac-12 All-Freshman team honoree and first since Wright in 2017-18.

Wright leads Colorado at 15.3 points, 5.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He led the Pac-12 in assists and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8), fifth in free throw percentage (.848), 10^th in scoring and 15^th in field goal shooting (.490).

Wright was a four-time Pac-12 Player of the Week in 2020-21 and one of only seven players in conference history with six or more conference weekly honors in a career. He is the only Pac-12 player in conference history with 1,700 points, 600 assists and 600 rebounds.

In addition to his all-conference honor, Wright earned honorable mention to the All-Defensive Team.

Parquet leads Colorado in blocked shots with 25 and is second in steals with 29 while drawing the assignment of guarding the opposition's best perimeter player night after night. He owns the team season high in both categories with four steals at Washington on Jan. 20 and four blocks at Washington State on Jan. 23. During conference games, Parquet ranked 12^th in steals (1.2 spg) and 13^th in blocks (0.8 bpg) on the Pac-12 leaderboard.  

Walker is averaging 7.7 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 54 percent from the field in just under 14 minutes per game. He was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Jan. 18 after averaging 16.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and one block in wins over Utah, California and Stanford.

Battey is averaging 9.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 48 percent from the field. He is seventh in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting at 84.4 percent and ranks 14^th in overall rebounding.

Colorado, 20-7 overall, finished third in the Pac-12 at 14-6 and is the No. 3 seed at the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament, Mar. 10-13, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

2020-21 Pac-12 Men's Basketball All-Conference Honors and Annual Performance
Awards, presented by Nextiva
 
Player of the Year, presented by Nextiva: Evan Mobley, USC
Freshman of the Year, presented by Nextiva: Evan Mobley, USC
Defensive Player of the Year, presented by Nextiva: Evan Mobley, USC
Sixth Man of the Year, presented by Nextiva: Jordan Brown, ARIZONA
Most Improved Player of the Year, presented by Nextiva: Jaiden Delaire, STANFORD
John R. Wooden Coach of the Year: Andy Enfield, USC
 
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
First Team
James Akinjo, ARIZ
Timmy Allen, UTAH
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Oscar da Silva, STAN
Chris Duarte, ORE
Remy Martin, ASU
Evan Mobley, USC
Eugene Omoruyi, ORE
Ethan Thompson, OSU
McKinley Wright IV, COLO
 
Second Team
Isaac Bonton, WSU
Matt Bradley, CAL
Tahj Eaddy, USC
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Johnny Juzang, UCLA
Honorable Mention (at least three votes): Evan Battey, COLO; Jaiden Delaire, STAN;
Quade Green, WASH; Azuolas Tubelis, ARIZ; Noah Williams, WSU.
 
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Oscar da Silva, STAN
Chris Duarte, ORE
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Evan Mobley, USC
Eli Parquet, COLO
Honorable Mention (at least three votes): Warith Alatishe, OSU; Bryce Wills, STAN;
McKinley Wright IV, COLO
 
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Efe Abogidi, WSU
Bennedict Mathurin, ARIZ
Evan Mobley, USC
Azuolas Tubelis, ARIZ
Jabari Walker, COLO
Honorable Mention (at least three votes): Marcus Bagley, ASU; Josh Christopher, ASU;
Dishon Jackson, WSU; Ziaire Williams, STAN