Arizona Wildcats notes: Trier, already 19, oldest member of U.S. Nike Hoop Summit team

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Allonzo Trier was featured earlier this season in AllSportsTucson.com. Click on the photo to access the story (Robert Scot/Virl Video photo)

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Random thoughts of Arizona Wildcats sports while thinking incoming high-profile recruit Allonzo Trier is 19 while departing junior Brandon Ashley is 20. …

— When the Nike Hoop Summit Game tips off at noon today at Portland, Trier will be on display with a couple of Arizona recruiting targets — forward Ivan Rabb and post player Stephen Zimmerman. The U.S. roster lists Trier, a 6’3″ and 185-pound shooting guard, as the oldest member of the team. He was born on Jan. 17, 1996, almost three months before the next-oldest player — guard Isaiah Briscoe, who was born on April 13, 1996. That means Trier is only 18 months younger than Ashley, who turns 21 on July 14. Trier is older than freshman Stanley Johnson, who was born on May 29, 1996. Trier had dyslexia diagnosed when he was in the sixth grade, which forced him to be held back a year. …

— Always amusing when reports and suggestions are made that a player is trying to recruit another prospect to join him at a certain university. That happened this week with reports of Trier trying to talk Rabb into joining him at Arizona. What about Trier talking to Zimmerman? That might be an indication that Arizona is no longer in Zimmerman’s plans. “We’ve been talking a lot,” Rabb was quoted as saying of his relationship with Trier by CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com. “Our relationship has gotten a lot stronger. He’s definitely trying to recruit me to Arizona.” Trier (Findlay Prep) and Zimmerman (Bishop Gorman) played in the Las Vegas area and competed against each other. A tense rivalry exists between the programs. That might be an explanation of Trier being closer to Rabb than he is to Zimmerman. …

— Add to the “package deal” of recruits: Caleb Swanigan shot down that theory of him joining Rabb at Cal with his commitment to Michigan State yesterday. Recruiting is such a spectacle that “package deals” no longer pertain to only NBA trades. …

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Site founder and award-winning sports journalist Javier Morales has published his first e-book, “The Highest Form of Living”, a fiction piece about a young man who overcomes a troubled upbringing without his lost father and wayward mother through basketball and hope. His hope is realized through the sport he loves. Basketball enables him to get past his fears. His experience on the court indirectly brings him closer to his parents in a unique, heartfelt way. Please order it at Amazon (for only $4.99) by clicking on the photo:

Love Allonzo Trier's game. He's exactly what Sean Miller needs: a bonafide scoring machine. Repping USA in @nikehoopsummit #.

— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) April 11, 2015

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— Remember the Rich Rodriguez from the Matt Scott and B.J. Denker days when he was fuming about the workouts of those quarterbacks and others? That Rodriguez is replaced by a more relaxed version knowing he has a second-year quarterback in Anu Solomon for the first time since he started coaching Arizona in 2012. Anthony Gimino reported last night that Rodriguez deemed Solomon as “pretty sharp” following the spring game. “There were a couple of times where he could have been a little more decisive in his throws, but Anu is a smart guy,” Rodriguez told Gimino and other reporters. “He’s gotten better. With a great summer, he’ll be even better this fall.” … “He’s really composed back there,” senior safety Will Parks told Gimino of going against Solomon. “I started to see that this spring. He’s just sitting back, relaxing, like he’s watching a movie, eating some popcorn.” …

— Since Pat White started for him three consecutive years at West Virginia, from 2005 to 2007, Rodriguez has endured eight consecutive seasons in which he had a different quarterback as his leading passer. The list includes at Michigan: Steven Threet (2008), Tate Forcier (2009) and Dernard Robinson (2010). At Arizona: Scott (2012), Denker (2013) and Solomon (2014). In Rodriguez’s 13-year coaching career he has used nine different quarterbacks as his leading passer. It’s no coincidence that his best years as a coach are when White was a second- and third-year quarterback under him in 2006 and 2007 at West Virginia. Rodriguez went 22-4 in those two seasons. …

— I posed a question on the Arizona Wildcats Basketball Facebook page yesterday giving Arizona fans three options when Bobby Hurley is announced as ASU’s coach next year when the Sun Devils play at McKale Center: A) Boo. B) Keep quiet. Or C) Golf clap. The informal poll netted these results: 19 for keep quiet, 13 for boo and nine for golf clap. I was expecting more seditious responses with Hurley’s Duke background and ASU being the in-state rival. A majority (62.8 percent) indicated they would either clap or stay quiet. Most of them had a reason for that choice. “Silence,” fan Veronica Marie wrote. “Coaches/players feed off the boos.”

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Bobby Hurley leaves Buffalo to become head coach at Arizona State. Hurley was 42-20 in two years with Bulls. pic.twitter.com/9pp6bZaY8Y

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 9, 2015

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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He has also written articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.