TUCSON, Ariz. – The Pac-12 Conference announced the 2022-23 men's basketball preseason honors on Monday and Arizona had one player – Azuolas Tubelis – named to the first team while Kerr Kriisa and Pelle Larsson earn second team nods and Oumar Ballo was honorable mention.
 
The awards are voted on by media members that cover the conference. The complete
 
Tubelis, a native of Vilnius, Lithuania, earned first team all-conference honors following the 2021-22 season, after helping the Wildcats to the Pac-12 regular season and Pac-12 Tournament titles. He averaged 14.1 points per game in league play and scored 20+ points seven times, including a 32-point effort against Utah. He enters the 2022-23 season needing just 184 points to reach 1,000 for his career and become the 53^rd player in Arizona history to reach the milestone.
 
Kriisa, who hails from Tartu, Estonia, led the conference in assists last year and had a 2.15 assist-to-turnover ratio. He averaged 9.7 points and 2.5 rebounds while handing out 4.2 assists as a sophomore, propelling Arizona to a 33-4 overall record. He was named to the Bob Cousy Award Preseason Watch List as one of the top 20 point guards entering the 2022-23 season.
 
Larsson, the Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year in 2021-22, is a true two-way player that showcases athleticism at both ends of the court along with a deft shooting touch from long range. He averaged 7.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game last year while connecting at a 47.8% clip from the floor. The native of Nacka, Sweden, also scored in double figures eight times in conference play.
 
Ballo, who hails from Mali, is expected to anchor the paint for the Wildcats in 2022-23 after playing a key role off the bench last season. He appeared in all 37 games off the bench and averaged 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots, but his production increased to 8.0 points and 68.2% shooting in Pac-12 play.
 
Arizona will play its lone exhibition game on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7:00 p.m. against Western Oregon in the McKale Center. Then the regular season gets underway on Nov. 7 at home against Nicholls State. Both games will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network. Season tickets, mini-plan and holiday pack tickets are available online at arizonawildcats.com/mbk.
 
2022-23 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Preseason Media All-Conference Teams
(* - attending Pac-12 Media Day on Wednesday)

FIRST TEAM

Name	Yr.	Pos.	School
Tyger Campbell*	R-Sr.	G	UCLA
Branden Carlson*	Sr.	C	Utah
Boogie Ellis*	Sr.	G	USC
Mouhamed Gueye*	So.	F	Washington State
Harrison Ingram*	So.	F	Stanford
Jaime Jaquez Jr.*	Sr.	G/F	UCLA
Spencer Jones*	Sr.	F	Stanford
Drew Peterson*	5th	G	USC
Will Richardson	Sr.	G	Oregon
Ažuolas Tubelis*	Jr.	F	Arizona

 
SECOND TEAM

Name	Yr.	Pos.	School
Marcus Bagley*	So.	F	Arizona State
Tristan da Silva*	Jr.	F	Colorado
DJ Horne*	Jr.	G	Arizona State
Kerr Kriisa*	Jr.	G	Arizona
Pelle Larsson	Jr.	G	Arizona

HONORABLE MENTION (received votes from eight-or-more members of the media): Amari Bailey (Fr., UCLA), Oumar Ballo (R-Jr., ARIZ), Jaylen Clark (Jr., UCLA); Quincy Guerrier* (Sr., ORE), K.J. Simpson (So., COLO), Kel'el Ware (Fr., ORE).