If you are aching to know why Allonzo Trier isnβt in uniform, hereβs the best available answer:
The UA athletic department no longer lists birthdates of players in its media guides. It no longer includes a brief bio about a playerβs parents and their occupations.
Thatβs now considered sensitive and potentially compromising information, and so schools like Arizona play it safe.
Why isnβt Trier allowed to play?
The UAβs only answer has been βno comment,β and thatβs because multiple agencies protect studentsβ privacy β including their birthdates β and those agencies are known by the initials FERPA, HIPAA, PPRA and HUSHUP.
OK, Iβm kidding about HUSHUP, but the others are legit agencies that make it mostly illegal for someone like Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller to divulge what keeps Trier on the bench.
Itβs a good thing, too, because what if Miller β or some other coach at another college β said that Joe Schmoe isnβt playing because he violated a rule.
That allegation would follow Joe Schmoe for years, even if he appealed the ruling and won. You canβt do that. If nothing else, itβs not fair.
Millerβs program motto is βhonor the process,β and itβs ironic that the legal process has become such a conspicuous part of Arizona basketball the last 11 months, starting with ex-Wildcat Elliott Pitts and rolling over to Trier.
As Arizona rolled to an 86-35 victory over College of Idaho in Tuesdayβs season-opening exhibition game, Trier sat in a position usually occupied by walk-ons, deep on the UA bench, past the baseline, almost in basketball oblivion.
He sat next to sophomore center Chance Comanche, also in civilian clothes.
The UA released a statement about Comancheβs availability on Tuesday, saying he is indefinitely suspended βdue to his own lack of academic responsibility.β
So why describe Comancheβs situation and not Trierβs? Although no oneβs willing to talk on the record, itβs probably because Comancheβs classroom work has been determined to be lacking, while there has been no final determination on Trierβs situation.
The most important thing is to protect Trierβs rights.
Arizonaβs basketball players are more visible in this community than the mayor and the chief of police, and even a fringe player like Pitts became the hottest topic of conversation in Tucson last winter.
This isnβt new at McKale Center.
In November 2000, a season Arizona would reach the national championship game, two key Wildcats were sitting next to Lute Olson in their civvies. It was as intensely observable, and quiet, as it is now with Trier.
Senior center Loren Woods was suspended for six season-opening games by the NCAA. His error? Accepting illegal benefits from his old high school coach. How much of an error was it? The NCAA said the benefits were between $300 and $499.
Arizona appealed, asking for a three-game sentence. The NCAA insisted on six. Only after the sentence was announced did Olson and the school comment publicly. The Tucson basketball community could finally breathe again.
At the same time, junior forward Richard Jefferson was suspended two games for accepting a plane ticket and an NBA Finals ticket from Bill Walton, the father of UA forward Luke Walton.
Jefferson faced a potentially longer suspension but was reinstated when Arizona agreed to have Jefferson repay the estimated $281 in benefits to a charity.
Arizona insisted on a βno commentβ policy until Jefferson had gone through the NCAAβs legal process. Trier is getting the same treatment that Woods and Jefferson did 15 years ago.
Some schools arenβt as strict with interpretations.
Last spring, Florida football coach Jim McElwain suspended two of the Gatorsβ leading players and, anticipating the publicβs thirst for information, disarmed the entire situation by saying: βWeβre without a couple of guys who havenβt been with our team since January. Theyβre still doing some schoolwork and that kind of stuff. You wonβt see those guys out there at practice. This will be the last that we talk about that.β
End of conversation. The Florida football community moved on.
Itβs not that easy in Tucson, where deep-dish worry accompanies all basketball things that donβt flow downstream.
Thirty minutes after Tuesdayβs game, Matt Ensor, Arizona basketball communications chief, said, βWe still canβt comment on Allonzo Trierβs status right now.β
Not that there isnβt enough news to fill your computer screen.
Millerβs rotation has been shot to smithereens before the first official game. Trier and Comanche are out, Ray Smith left the game with a leg injury, and suddenly junior Keanu Pinder, who once seemed like a recruiting afterthought, appears to be the sixth man.
βHeβs a powerful, powerful piece of this team,β said freshman guard Kobi Simmons.
Pinder has to be a powerful piece because, as Miller said 30 minutes after the game, βWe donβt have any depth.β
No team, not even Duke, can afford the loss of Trier, Comanche and Smith at any time in any season.
βItβs heartbreaking, it really is,β said Miller, referencing Smithβs injury. βI donβt have any words to couch it and make it better than it really is. Itβs awful.β
In a stunning turn of events, the Wildcats have been humbled, and it is only Nov. 2. This is one time βawfulβ might be an understatement.