Our Pac-12 Friday miniseries for college basketball in the Conference of (real NCAA) Champions and its Midwest partners, the B1G, goes back yet another season into the past to look at a fun year—and the rise of the Arizona Wildcats, among other things. They captured the nation’s attention and made it all the way to the Final Four, and since this season, the school has fielded one of the best programs in the country.

1988 Pac-10 PoY: Sean Elliott, F, Arizona (original, confirmed)

The Wildcats won the conference by 5 games during the regular season, and then they won the league tournament, too, by an average of 17 points per game. Our PoY pick has to come from this team, and Arizona forward Sean Elliott was the vote winner. His stats? They don’t blow us off the page, as the team was very well off in terms of talent. But he was the standout. How do we know this? Read on and learn!

Elliott led the conference in field goals (263) and free throws (176), while also finishing third in effective field goal percentage (.615) and true shooting percentage (.656). That’s pretty impressive, in terms of quantity and quality. Yes, he had good teammates who also finished high in the conference’s Top 10 lists for all the major statistical categories, but Elliott was the one that made it all go ’round, in the end.

1988 B1G PoY: Gary Grant, G, Michigan (original, confirmed)

The Purdue Boilermakers won the league by 3 games over the Michigan Wolverines, although Wolverines guard Gary Grant was named the PoY. Do we agree with that? We do, as he finished second in scoring (21.1), first in assists (6.9), and first in steals (2.4). The Boilermakers may have had a better team, but they lacked an individual star who dominated opponents. Without Grant, Michigan would have been buried in the league.