Arizona sophomore forward Ira Lee will face internal discipline after being arrested for super-extreme DUI, coach Sean Miller said Monday, though the school has been looking first toward his well-being.
“Right now our focus is to make sure that he’s in a healthy environment and academically he’s doing great,” Miller said. “He’s a part of everything that we’re doing on the court. Between our university and athletic department, when that time comes, there will be certainly some disciplinary action.”
During preseason player interviews on Monday, the first time Miller and Lee have been available for comment since UA police arrested the player in the early morning hours of Aug. 19, Lee expressed gratitude toward Miller’s approach.
“It’s fair,” Lee said. “Everybody knows what I did, so I’m accepting all responsibility. But at the same time, I’m just focusing on school and basketball right now. Whenever the consequences come, they come.”
UA basketball players, from left, Devonaire Doutrive, Jake Desjardins and Matt Weyand have a laugh during impromptu player interviews during the team’s Media Day on Monday at McKale Center. The Wildcats’ annual Red-Blue Game is less than two weeks away.
On top of whatever the school decides, Lee will face a minimum of three days in jail if convicted of super-extreme DUI (having a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 or more) and two days if convicted instead of extreme (0.15-0.20) DUI charges.
Lee is scheduled for an Oct. 19 case management hearing in Pima County Justice Court. Unless his case comes to a quick settlement or is delayed significantly, it is likely to play out at least in part during the season.
However, Lee said the timing hasn’t been a consideration.
“To be honest I haven’t even thought about that,” he said. “I’ve been so locked into practice and my guys I haven’t really thought about that at all.”
Arizona forward Ira Lee on what he’s learned in the past month after getting cited for DUI: “The whole experience made me stronger mentally. ... It made the team closer. They all rallied for me.” pic.twitter.com/z8oge2x6ZQ
— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) October 1, 2018
When posting an apology on Twitter on Aug. 23, Lee said his grandmother committed suicide a day before his arrest and that he was “already emotionally unstable and dealing with different personal issues.”
Lee declined to offer further detail on what he has been going through, but Miller said Lee has “been hit with more in the last three or four months than a lot of people are going to be hit with in their entire lifetime.”
Miller said he’s found that even young people he loves and trusts can make one bad decision at some point in their lives.
“In Ira’s case, he had a lot going on and he still does in his life,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of young people that wouldn’t be able to persevere and handle everything that he’s experienced over the last three or four months.
“It’s so much about helping him get through this and supporting him. He’s learned how hard it is to make a bad decision, and my hope is we can get him through this very difficult time.”
Lee said he’s become closer to Miller as a result of the experience and that “honestly, I think it’s helped the whole team become closer in general.”
Heeke says UA ‘stands ready’
Although Miller, former UA star Deandre Ayton and the school itself were named Monday as possible subjects that could come up in the first of three trials resulting from the FBI’s investigation into college basketball Monday, athletic director Dave Heeke said he’s received no contact from anyone involved with the case.
“Absolutely nothing,” Heeke said. “We stand ready. We continue to investigate internally. We go through every aspect of this program that we can, and I feel as good today as I think anyone could feel.”
In the course of trying to determine if there were potential conflicts with jurors, many others names and programs around college basketball were mentioned.
But when asked his reaction to being named, as well as whether off-court issues still hung over his program as a result of the investigation, Miller declined to comment.
Miller answered every question by referring back to his statement of a year ago, when he said he realized it was his responsibility to establish a culture of success on the court, in the classroom and in compliance — and that he would continue to do so.
Jeter, Coleman named team captains
Miller hasn’t normally named season-long captains publicly, but he said Monday that junior transfer Chase Jeter and grad transfer Justin Coleman would be captains.
The move is also unusual because neither Jeter nor Coleman has played a game for the Wildcats. But Jeter is a junior transfer from Duke who learned UA’s system while sitting out last season, while Coleman is a fifth-year grad transfer who will also have the ball in his hands as a point guard when he’s on the floor.
It was “voted on by team and staff,” Miller said. “They’ve earned it and that’s something we’re looking forward to — their experience.”
Arizona grad transfer PG Justin Coleman on his previous coaches and Sean Miller: “He’s just real.” pic.twitter.com/U3FLsDGsp8
— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) October 2, 2018
Coleman began his career at Alabama but transferred to Samford in 2016. He said he transferred from Alabama to be closer to his home in Birmingham, where his younger brother was battling cancer.
Luther breaks record
Miller also said grad forward Ryan Luther will bring leadership and experience, with the Pitt transfer already proving himself in the weight room by setting a new Miller-era bench-press record: Luther lifted 185 pounds 25 times.
“He’s been through a lot,” Miller said. “He’s older, he’s stronger. We’re welcoming in a new player who can bring some things to the table, strength and experience.”
Sean Miller on adding graduate transfers Ryan Luther and Justin Coleman: pic.twitter.com/4Ee1IfPVSw
— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) October 1, 2018
Miller said he was also impressed with Emmanuel Akot’s 18 lifts of 185 pounds. A sophomore, Akot skipped his senior season of high school and played all of his freshman season at age 18.
Bench press “is an exercise that favors the short-armed guy, so for him to have long arms and be as young as he is, shows you he’s worked hard in the weight room,” Miller said. “That will serve him well.”
Sophomore Brandon Randolph posted video last month of his 46.5-inch vertical leap, just a half-inch short of Nick Johnson’s Miller-era record.
Nnaji lists UA in top 5
Minnesota four-star forward Zeke Nnaji put Arizona among his top five finalists, along with Baylor, Purdue, UCLA and Kansas. He is scheduled to visit Arizona for its Oct. 14 Red-Blue Game, according to PrepHoops.
