After another productive season at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, which came with national honors and accolades, UA guard Aari McDonald is once again expected to be one of the top players in women's college basketball next season.Â
In ESPN's "Ranking the 10 best women's college players for 2020-21," ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥'s All-American guard checked in at No. 2.Â
This past season, McDonald averaged 20.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 steals as a junior, earned All-America honors and won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award that's given to the top women's college basketball shooting guard. McDonald was also named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and received Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors.Â
McDonald proved to be one of the top basketball players in the country after leading ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to a 24-7 record, two wins away from a program best. McDonald contemplated turning pro and entering her name in the WNBA Draft, or return to UA for one last hurrah. She chose the latter.Â
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“It was really hard to narrow down my decision,†McDonald told the Star earlier this month. “It was a hard decision. My heart was really set to leave — to declare. I had to sit back and be real to myself and just be like, ‘Hey, you know, you don’t know what can happen — everything’s all in the air with the pandemic going on.’ I was just telling myself and telling my parents, this is probably the most real situation.
“It wouldn’t hurt to go back polish my game and most importantly get a master’s (degree). Going back seemed like a smart decision."
For next season, McDonald is expected to be a leader on an ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ team expected to be one of the top teams in women's college basketball next season, considering the return of All-Pac-12 forward Cate Reese, All-Pac-12 defender Sam Thomas and Oklahoma transfer Shaina Pellington.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ also signed a 2020 recruiting class with ESPN100 post player Lauren Ware, Indiana transfer Bendu Yeaney and ACC Sixth Player of the Year Trinity Baptiste, who is a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech. Since Yeaney's not a graduate transfer, her eligibility is unclear, but could receive a waiver by the NCAA considering she missed most of last season with an Achilles injury.Â
Contact sports content producer Justin Spears at 573-4312 or jspears@tucson.com. On Twitter @justinesports