Arizona's women's basketball team continues to check many boxes this year when it comes to accolades. The latest is a significant one and another indication that Adia Barnes' program is in as good of a position as it has ever been. Thursday the Associated Press announced its five-player 2020-21 preseason All-America team and the Wildcats were represented for the first time in program history as senior guard Aari McDonald was one of the five players selected.
"It means a lot," McDonald said Thursday. "It's a humbling honor. I'm blessed to be named an All-American. I'll just continue to do my thing. This will go out the window probably tomorrow at practice, but I just gotta keep getting better."
Although McDonald is not planning to make a big deal about her preseason accolade, it is a significant step in the development for the program. The news comes just a couple days after the Wildcats were included in the top 10 of the AP's preseason Top 25 poll for the first time in program history.
UA will enter the season as the No. 7-rated team in the country, and the program has never been ranked higher in the poll at any point in any season.
Things are continuing to trend upward for the Wildcats coming off an impressive 24-7 season that was cut short because of COVID-19. Not being able to take part in the NCAA Tournament certainly left a sting, but McDonald's decision to return for her final season generated buzz of the Final Four potential of the squad.
The Fresno, California is the key on-floor component for the resurgence of the program under Barnes, and McDonald is coming off a decorated season ended with her winning numerous awards including Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award that goes to the top shooting guard in college basketball.
McDonald finished the season averaging 20.6 points and 2.3 steals per game, which were both Pac-12 season highs. It was the second consecutive year she led the conference in both categories. A first for any women's basketball player in the Pac-12.
She also currently has the longest active double-digit scoring streak in the NCAA that spans 66 games.
The awards and accolades are nice, but McDonald remains focused on the top prize. Arizona has a chance to go deep in the NCAA Tournament this season as one of the top teams in the country, and that is what the star Arizona guard has her sights set on most at this stage in her career.
“We don’t worry about the accolades we get," she said. "Yeah, it’s a good thing to have, but we just gotta work on ourselves and getting better because at the end if you look around the country everybody has the same common goal, which is winning a national championship. It’s all up for grabs, so we just have to just focus on ourself and just get better and stay in the moment.”
Arizona will play 22 conference games this season with Pac-12 play beginning in December, but the team will open the season Nov. 25 though an official schedule has not yet been released.
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