Tyler Dorsey’s split from Arizona was only a matter of time

Tyler Dorsey was the first player to commit to Sean Miller and Arizona’s 2015 recruiting class, one that is expected to be among the nation’s best as the Wildcats will likely lose their entire starting five after next season. On Saturday morning, Dorsey decommitted. It wasn’t a huge surprise.

The writing had been on the wall for weeks for the four-star guard, who recently fell from No. 10 to No. 25 nationally in Scout’s top-100 list.

The first sign of something brewing was when fellow 2015 guard Justin Simon committed to Arizona on May 6. Simon, a 6’5 point guard with a 6’11 wingspan, has shot up recruiting boards in recent months and plays a similar game to Dorsey.

With Simon and Dorsey already committed, Arizona should have been done recruiting guards for 2015. That hasn’t been the case. Miller and the coaching staff have continued to pursue Isaiah Briscoe and Allonzo Trier, two five-star talents in the backcourt who seem to improve every time they get evaluated. The Wildcats would happily accept a commitment from either player. Dorsey had to start feeling like he was the odd man out despite being the first to commit.

This past week at the Team USA U18 trials, where Sean Miller is an assistant coach, Dorsey was cut from the team. Briscoe and Trier both made it to the next round and are two of the 15 finalists to make the team. Arizona commit Stanley Johnson of the 2014 class was also named a finalist. Was this all a coincidence? That’s up for interpretation.

Dorsey released a statement on his split from UA. Here is part of it:

As much as I love the Arizona basketball program as well as the awesome Wildcat fans and highly respect Head Coach Sean Miller and the entire Arizona staff, I realize that, in hindsight, I rushed my college choice and did not provide myself with the greatest opportunity to explore and thoroughly investigate all my possible college options.

After very careful personal reflection and discussing this issue in depth with my parents, I feel I owe it to myself to open up my recruiting at this time and fully experience the recruiting process in order to allow myself to make the best possible choice for my future.

Dorsey will have no shortage of suitors now that he’s back on the market. Duke, Connecticut and UCLA showed a lot of interest early on in his recruitment, as did just about every relevant program on the west coast. His decision to commit next time around will likely be more deliberate.