Before the Arizona Wildcats even played a game this season, they were hit with a rather unfortunate sequence of events.
Let’s go down the list:
- Five-star recruit Terrance Ferguson decided to play overseas instead on enrolling at the UA.
- Former five-star recruit Ray Smith tore his ACL for the second time in as many years.
- Leading returning scorer Allonzo Trier was handed an indefinite suspension after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Just like that, Arizona lost four scholarship players.
Then, a few weeks after the season began, starting point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright suffered a high ankle sprain that would leave Arizona with just seven scholarship players for a month.