Arizona guard Allonzo Trier to return to school for junior season
Apr 13, 2017, 9:43 AM | Updated: 11:29 am
Arizona guard Allonzo Trier (35) smiles as he shoots during practice Wednesday, March 22, 2017, in San Jose, Calif., as the team prepares for an NCAA men's college basketball tournament West Regional semifinal against Xavier on Thursday. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Arizona Wildcats received some good news Thursday, as guard Allonzo Trier has informed people he will return to school for his junior season.
Arizona's Allonzo Trier will return to school for his junior season, per a source. Huge news for the Wildcats.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 13, 2017
Trier’s announcement comes on the heels of Arizona having lost Lauri Markkanen and Kobi Simmons to the NBA Draft. Two other Wildcats — Chance Comanche and Rawle Alkins — have entered their names into the draft, but have not hired agents and could return to school.
Trier’s return is big news for Arizona. Last season, he averaged a team-high 17.2 points per game, while adding 5.3 rebounds 2.7 assists per outing.
It was not always smooth sailing for Trier, however.
He missed the first 19 games of the season, and though rumors circulated it was not until mid-January when it was learned he had failed a performance enhancing drug test. He had appealed the ruling, and it was deemed that when the drug was completely out of his system, Trier could return to game action.
His first game was on Jan. 21, in UCLA against the No. 3 Bruins. He scored 12 points off the bench, and went on to lead the team in scoring for the season.
In his last game of the year, Trier scored 19 points against Xavier in the Sweet 16, catching fire in the second half. Over an eight-minute span, Trier scored the Wildcats’ next 15 points, with his last three-point shot giving the team a 64-61 lead. After that run, though, Trier missed his last three shots and turned the ball over once, contributing to Arizona’s failure to score in the last 2:51 of the loss to the Musketeers.
Though Trier coming back to school may be a shock to some, his draft stock did not appear to be all that high right now. DraftExpress has Trier not being selected in its most recent 2017 NBA Mock Draft, and ranks him No. 62 in the list of the top 100 prospects.
