Markkanen played college basketball at the University of Arizona. He verbally committed to the Arizona Wildcats on October 17th, 2015, prior to the 2016-17 season. He signed a letter of intent to play for the Wildcats on November 11th. Markkanen was a highly-touted prospect coming out of high school, and ESPN.com regarded him as “a possible one-and-done candidate for the NBA draft”.

Markkanen had a stellar freshman season at Arizona, and he quickly established himself as one of the best players in college basketball. In January 2017, SB Nation regarded him as “the best shooting 7-footer college basketball has ever seen”. He was selected as Pac-12 Player of the Week, as well as the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week, during the same month.

Markkanen’s impressive performances earned him a spot on several watchlists, including the pre-season Karl Malone Award Watchlist, Naismith Award Watchlist, and Wooden Award Watchlist. He was also named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25, Wayman Tisdale Award Midseason watch list, Oscar Robertson Award Midseason watch list, Karl Malone Award Finalist, and Naismith Top 30 Finalist. Markkanen was among the 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award.

Markkanen’s outstanding performances during his freshman season earned him several awards and recognitions. He was selected to the third team All-American team by the Associated Press, NBC Sports, USA Today, and the Sporting News on March 6th, 2017. Markkanen was a first team All-Pac-12 selection, as well as first team All-Pac-12 Freshman team and first team All-Pac-12 team in Associated Press.

In conclusion, Lauri Markkanen played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats. He had an impressive freshman season, and he quickly established himself as one of the best players in college basketball. Markkanen’s performances earned him several awards and recognitions, and he ultimately decided to forgo his final three years of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2017 NBA draft.