Duke transfer Chase Jeter considering joining Arizona Wildcats, per report

The former five-star recruit had Arizona in his top four before signing with the Blue Devils

In 2015, then-five-star recruit Chase Jeter chose to sign with the Duke Blue Devils over the Arizona Wildcats and other West Coast teams, but now the Las Vegas-native is looking to move closer to home.

Duke announced Thursday that Jeter will be transferring from the program, and Josh Gershon of Scout.com reports the sophomore is considering joining the Arizona Wildcats, USC Trojans, Gonzaga Bulldogs, UCLA Bruins, and Arizona State Sun Devils.

“Chase has been an outstanding young man in our program for the last two years,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement. “He has been one of our top academic performers since he arrived on campus. Unfortunately, he was held back this season due to injury. We wish nothing but the absolute best for Chase and his family.”

The 6-foot-10 sophomore was the No. 15 player in the 2015 recruiting class, according to 247Sports. He signed with Duke over Arizona, UCLA, and UNLV.

Despite being a highly-touted recruit and a McDonald’s All-American, Jeter’s impact at Duke was minimal.

As a freshman last season, Jeter played in 32 games, averaging 1.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per game.

This season, as a sophomore, Jeter appeared in just 16 games as he dealt with a back injury. In those 16 games, the big man averaged 2.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 14.9 minutes.

Due to NCAA transfer rules, Jeter will have to sit out the 2017-18 season before having two years of eligibility at his new school.

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Does he fit with Arizona?

As mentioned earlier, Arizona is one of five schools Jeter is reportedly considering transferring to.

Jeter will be eligible to play in the 2018-19 season when Arizona will need to replace Dusan Ristic and Keanu Pinder (graduation) and DeAndre Ayton (most likely to the NBA) at minimum — maybe even Chance Comanche (who is widely considered to be an NBA prospect) too.

Obviously a lot can change between now and the 2018-19 season, but on the surface there does appear to be space for Jeter on Arizona’s roster. Of course, Jeter might prefer to go to a school like USC or ASU where he could have a larger role.

The Wildcats did recruit Jeter hard when he was coming out of Bishop Gorman High School in 2015, and Sean Miller has shown a penchant for bringing in transfers (Dylan Smith, Kadeem Allen, T.J. McConnell, Keanu Pinder, etc.), but it remains to be seen if UA has mutual interest in Jeter this time around.

Julian Applebome of DraftExpress broke down Jeter’s game in August if you want to read more about the Duke transfer.

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