Deandre Ayton, Rawle Alkins and Allonzo Trier will leave Arizona early and declare for the NBA draft, according to Daniel Rapaport of Sports Illustrated. Coach Sean Miller informed reporters of their intentions Saturday, and all three players participated in the Wildcats’ senior night ceremonies.
The turmoil surrounding the Arizona program may have figured into their decisions, although Ayton was a lock to leave as an expected top five pick and Alkins and Trier are both potential first-rounders. Miller’s future as Wildcats coach is in jeopardy in the wake of reports that the FBI has recordings of him discussing a $100K payment to bring Ayton to Arizona. Miller strongly denied any wrongdoing in a press conference this week.
Ayton is projected second overall in the latest mock draft compiled by Jonathan Givony of ESPN. A seven-footer with game-changing abilities on both ends of the court, the freshman is averaging 19.9 points and 11.4 rebounds per night.
Alkins, a sophomore swingman, is slotted as the 41st pick by Givony. He missed the first nine games of the season with a broken right foot, but appears fully recovered, averaging 13.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19 contests.
Trier, a junior shooting guard, is comes in at pick 45 on Givony’s list. He was recently reinstated by the NCAA after being declared ineligible for testing positive for a banned substance. Trier is the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer at 18.9 points per game.
“The turmoil surrounding the Arizona program may have figured into their decisions”
Who are we kidding? That decision was made before they even made their college choice, let alone any issues that arose there.
Givony ranked them for a reason, but a mid-40s ranking doesn’t seem like a good reason to skip a senior year. The coach leaving does! Some newbie coach showing off his big-man act does.
That commenter has no idea that Alkins and Tier aren’t freshmen. To your point, Nick Johnson skipped his senior year with a similar ranking and no coaching change.
I had to look that name up! A cautionary tale I think, about skipping a sr. year, though I guess he made marginally more dollars sooner.
Perhaps going to a program like Arizona’s encourages that, since they attract top prospects.