The blows keep coming for the Arizona men’s basketball program. After losing Allonzo Trier to suspension due to the steroid Ostarine being found in his system, and the jaw-dropping revelation that head coach Sean Miller was in the know regarding the payment plan in place for DeAndre Ayton, the future of the program took another hit on Saturday. Shareef O’Neal, a five-star forward in the 2018 class, announced his decommitment from the program. O'Neal was one of two senior pledges for the Wildcats.
Arizana was among the national title favorites entering the season and seemed to be on track to take Sean Miller to his first ever Final Four, but the complexion of the program has been given an entire facelift within a matter of days. Arizona has dominated the recruiting rankings in recent years, and the Pac-12 program has made three Elite Eight appearances during the Miller era, but things look rather blurry for the immediate future of the program.
For the short-term, no one knows where things might lead. The fate of Miller and Ayton, in light of ESPN’s report on Friday evening that the FBI had the head coach on wire tap discussing a $100,000 payment for the services of the star big man, remain in flux. The Wildcats will play their first game tonight against Oregon, with questions swirling regarding the instant future of both Miller and Ayton.
In the meantime, the Wildcats have now lost their top 2018 prospect in Shareef O’Neal, the son of Shaquille O’Neal. One of the top forward prospects in his class, O’Neal did not sign a letter of intent, but rather financial aid papers, and that should allow him to immediately jump into a newfound recruitment without any restrictions. O'Neal originally entertained such others as Kentucky and LSU before his original commitment last April.
Brandon Williams remains the lone 2018 pledge for the Wildcats. But just like O’Neal, the four-star guard could easily decommit and jump into a wide-open recruitment, as he too signed financial aid papers as an ongoing cloud remained over the program following the initial FBI sting that saw former assistant coach Emmanuel Richardson arrested and relieved of his duties.
