Arizona forward Ira Lee (11) woks up a sweat while getting in some early shooting practice before the Wildcats go up against Western New Mexico at McKale Center, Tuesday, October 30, 2018, Tucson, Ariz.

Arizona center Chase Jeter will not play in Tuesday’s UA-Western New Mexico exhibition game because of an unspecified injury, while forward Ira Lee will be suspended for UA's Nov. 7 season opener with Houston Baptist after his DUI arrest in August, the school said Tuesday.

Jeter and Lee went through early shooting drills at McKale Center but UA declined to say what Jeter's injury is.

Lee, a 20-year-old sophomore, was arrested Aug. 19 in connection with being a minor with alcohol in his system and several DUI charges, ranging from impairment to the slightest degree to super extreme DUI, the arrest report said. In two breathalyzer tests, Lee had a 0.215 and a 0.198 blood-alcohol level, above the 0.08 legal limit.

At Arizona’s Oct. 1 media day, UA coach Sean Miller said Lee would eventually face “some disciplinary action” but that the school was first focused on making sure he was “in a healthy environment.”

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.”

During a media day interview, 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.”

During preseason player interviews on Monday, 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.”

If convicted of at least standard DUI (0.80 or above), Lee also faces a minimum of one day in jail. Super extreme DUI (0.020 or above) carries a minimum of three days in jail. Lee has a case management conference scheduled for Dec. 6 in Pima County Justice Court.

While Lee is expected to be a key reserve player for the Wildcats, Miller has already said Jeter will be the Wildcats’ starting center. The Wildcats have only four players for their two post positions, including combo forward Emmanuel Akot.

A McDonald's All-American out of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Jeter averaged 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds over 48 games in two seasons for Duke. He transferred to Arizona after the 2016-17 season and sat out last season as required of standard transfers between four-year schools.

In 21 minutes played during UA’s Oct. 14 Red-Blue Game, Jeter had nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds.


Former UA recruiting target Jeremiah Robinson-Earl committed to Villanova.



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Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at 573-4146 or bpascoe@tucson.com. On Twitter @brucepascoe