Arizona Wildcats guard Allonzo Trier has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA after a drug test revealed a small amount of a banned substance in Trier's body, The University of Arizona confirmed Thursday.
According to UA, the banned substance is the same substance found in Trier's body in 2016, which caused him to miss the first half of the 2016-17 college basketball season. UA says it is appealing the NCAA's decision.
"In late January 2018, Allonzo participated in an NCAA student-athlete drug screening. The results of that test, confirmed today, revealed the reappearance of a trace amount of a banned substance," UA said in a statement. "The amount detected was miniscule by scientific standards and appears to be a remnant of a substance, which the NCAA agreed, Allonzo had unknowingly ingested in 2016.
"The University is appealing the decision and is hopeful that Allonzo will regain his eligibility soon."
The banned substance in question is Ostarine, which his attorney Steve Thompson said Trier inadvertently consumed in 2016.
“The NCAA’s intransigence on this issue is mind-boggling,” Thompson said, per Yahoo Sports. “Allonzo has never been a drug-cheat, and the NCAA found in 2016 that he never took Ostarine intentionally. The experts tell us Ostarine can be stored in fatty tissues for a long time, and tests can be negative but then later be positive as the substance comes out. The medical evidence also shows that the reappearance of a trace amount in his system now creates absolutely zero competitive advantage.
"We’ve asked the NCAA’s medical panel to review the case -- as the rules provide -- and the NCAA has refused. This is so frustrating and unnecessary, especially at this time of the season and Allonzo’s career.”
Marcie Trier's statement to ESPN on her son, Allonzo's, suspension by the NCAA: pic.twitter.com/IyNUdZdq93
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) February 23, 2018
In a statement in January of 2017, Trier said he was "shocked" to learn he tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug, for which he was ruled ineligible for UA's first 19 games of the 2016-17 season.
"I have never knowingly taken a banned substance," Trier said in his statement at the time. "After finding out that I was given a banned substance by a well-intentioned, but misguided person not associated with the University after an injury, I presented this information to the NCAA."
Trier eventually cleared a drug test and was ruled eligible to play beginning with UA's Jan. 21 game at UCLA.
Trier, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound junior from Seattle, is averaging 19.6 points per game this season, the second-highest mark in the Pac-12 behind his teammate, freshman center Deandre Ayton. Trier is also among the Pac-12's leaders in field-goal, free-throw and 3-point percentage.
Without Trier, the No. 14 Wildcats defeated Oregon State in overtime Thursday night to improve to 22-6 this season.
