Arizona signee Terry Armstrong will bypass college to play professionally, according to his guardian and mentor, Tim Jones.
247 Sports and Stockrisers first reported Armstrong's move, which clears a much-needed roster spot for Arizona, while Jones told the Star that Armstrong will play in the G League or overseas next season.
"Options on the table but we haven't chosen one yet," Jones told the Star via text message, adding that "it's nothing to do with academics. He just decided that he'd rather go pro over going to school."
The G League announced last fall the addition of "Select Contracts" that would pay $125,000. for elite prospects out of high school. In addition, high school stars R.J. Hampton and LaMelo Ball have both recently made plans to play in the Australian league.
MORE:Â Options 'on the table' for Terry Armstrong, who will turn pro instead of joining Wildcats
The move could wind up paying off for both Armstrong and Arizona. The Wildcats have been over its scholarship limit of 13 for most of the spring and there was speculation that Armstrong would decommit. But he indicated on Twitter on May 23 (he appears to have deleted that tweet at about 11 a.m. on Wednesday) that he remained committed to playing for the Wildcats.
However, Arizona was still one player over the limit after Nevada transfer Jordan Brown committed to the Wildcats, so Armstrong's reported departure will solve that problem.
As did the since-transferred Devonaire Doutrive last season, Armstrong may have faced a hard time carving out minutes on the perimeter next season, since the Wildcats also have senior Dylan Smith, five-star freshman Josh Green, sophomore Brandon Williams and junior Alex Barcello all capable of playing off the ball.
However, Armstrongâs departure means UA will have only 11 scholarship players available next season, since Brown and Jemarl Baker will have to redshirt. If Williams has to sit out any portion of the season again because of his ongoing knee issue, the Wildcats would be down to 10.
Armstrong's departure off UA's tentative 2019-20 roster joins him with Brandon Jennings (Italy) and Ndudi Ebi (NBA) as UA signees who never played for the Wildcats. (Terrance Ferguson committed to UA but never signed a letter of intent before signing instead with an Australian club.)
Here's how Arizona's (maybe, maybe not final) 2019-20 roster now looks:
Name/Position/Year/Height/Weight
Jemarl Baker/G/So./6-4/192*
Alex Barcello/G/Jr./6-2/180
Jordan Brown/F/So./6-11/210*
Josh Green/G/Fr./6-6/190
Stone Gettings/F/Sr./6-9/234
Max Hazzard/G/Sr./6-0/170
Chase Jeter/C/Sr./6-10/230
Ira Lee/F/Jr./6-7/235
Christian Koloko/C/Fr./7-0/195
Zeke Nnaji/F/Fr./6-11/220
Nico Mannion/G/Fr./6-3/180
Dylan Smith/G/Sr./6-5/175
Brandon Williams/G/So./6-2/190
*Will sit out 2019-20 as a redshirt transfer
