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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Allonzo Trier is looking forward to his first NCAA Tournament.
Heck, he’s happy to be playing at all at this stage of the season.
The 6-foot-6 freshman guard from Arizona missed about a month — eight games from mid-January to early February — earlier this year with a broken right hand.
“That was really tough and frustrating, especially to have the game taken away from you for that long especially when you love the game,” Trier told me Wednesday afternoon in the Arizona locker room at Dunkin’ Donuts Center. “So it was definitely a hard thing to endure but it’s something that I just had to get through, fight through, and be sure I was at my best for when I came back to playing.”
Trier has played 10 games since returning from injury on Feb. 6. For the season, he’s averaging 15.0 points and 3.3 rebounds. He’s the third-leading scorer for No. 6 Arizona (25-8) which faces No. 11 Wichita State (25-8) here Thursday night in a first-round game in the South Region.
“I feel great,” Trier said.
Wichita State is a veteran team that is coming off 70-50 rout of Vanderbilt on Tuesday night in Dayton and will have the advantage of having already played an NCAA Tournament game.
“They’re definitely a veteran team that’s been there before,” Trier said. “They have a lot of experience. They’re lead by [Fred] Van Vleet and Ron Baker and they have a really good coach [Gregg Marshall]. And they’ve been in the position of winning in the tournament before so they know how to react and handle situations. They’re a very well-coached team.”
This is certainly not an easy first-round game for Arizona.
But win or lose, this could be Trier’s lone appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
He’s currently projected as the No. 35 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, but one NBA executive told SNY.tv, “He is a possible first-rounder if he comes out.”
“Born to score,” a second NBA scout said.
Trier, of course, says he’s only focused on the task at hand beginning Thursday.
“That’s something that’s put on the back burner right now,” Trier said. “That’s not something that’s a big focus of mine right now. My focus is playing the best that I can and playing at a high level so I can be there to continue to help my teammates and help this program win.”
Arizona has another loaded recruiting class coming in next year highlighted by guards Kobi Simmons and Rawle Alkins. They also remain in the mix for Josh Jackson, who’s down to Arizona, Kansas and Michigan State, and Terrance Ferguson, who recently decommitted from Alabama, and is considering the Wildcats along with Kansas, Maryland, Baylor, St. John’s and others.
“I’m very happy for Rawle and his decision to come here,” Trier said. “I think he made a great choice and that’s great.”
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