Allonzo Trier will join the Arizona Wildcats after his senior season of high school basketball, the school announced earlier this week. Trier, one of the top high school talents in the country, will spend his senior year at Findlay Prep in Las Vegas before making his way to Tucson.
"My relationship with Coach [Sean] Miller and the way they recruited me was the difference," Trier told ESPN.com during a recent campus visit. "It's a family program, a players program. I just fell in love with everything."
Trier, a 6-4 guard, is a talented scorer who averaged 30.8 points per game in the recently completed Nike Peach Jam in South Carolina. He also scored 29.4 a contest in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. He can score in an array of moves and is adept at scoring from behind the three point line.
“He is one of the few kids I have seen over the last year or so who can make contested shots,” ESPN college basketball recruiting analyst Reggie Rankin said of Trier. “He has on offensive package that allows him to have an answer for whatever the defense does to him.”
Trier also played for Team USA in the U-18 FIBA Americas Tournament, where he scored 12.6 points per game while shooting 62% from the field.
Arizona will be looking for Trier to contribute immediately as the Wildcats stand to lose most of their guard rotation after the 2014-15 season, including Stanley Johnson, T.J. McConnell, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Johnson and Hollis-Jefferson are both underclassmen who are expected to declare for the NBA Draft. McConnell will graduate after the season.
"I think the fit is perfect," Trier said about his future with the Wildcats. "They expect me to come in and do a lot. I want to get the team to the Final Four and win a national championship."
Miller adds Trier to a recruiting class that includes guard Justin Simon and forward Ray Smith. The Arizona coach will continue to pursue other top talent to fill the potential void left by Brandon Ashley and Kaleb Tarczewski, who are both expected to enter the NBA Draft in 2015.