Arizona basketball: Sean Miller surprised by Chance Comanche’s decision to leave the Wildcats

He was not caught off guard by Kobi Simmons’ departure, though

When Chance Comanche decided to test the NBA Draft waters, most believed he was just doing his due diligence before ultimately returning to the Arizona Wildcats for his junior season.

Instead, Comanche eventually announced that he was hiring an agent and forgoing his final two years of eligibility, which caught a lot of people off guard.

Sean Miller included.

The UA head coach admitted Monday that he was surprised to see Comanche leave the Wildcats.

“I was surprised that Chance went but along the lines of Rawle (Alkins), that’s his family’s decision, that’s Chance’s decision,” Miller said. “I’m not sitting here every day hoping that things don’t go well. I want him to do well and if there’s any way that we can help him as a basketball program we want to help him.”

Comanche is expected to go undrafted and is not listed among DraftExpress.com’s top 100 prospects.

The 6-foot-10 big man didn’t receive an invite to the NBA Combine either, though he has worked out for a few NBA teams, including his hometown Los Angeles Lakers.

While Miller was shocked by Comanche’s choice, he wasn’t surprised by Kobi Simmons’ decision to leave Arizona after one season.

“Kobi and his family are very transparent and I think they wanted to get it (his professional career) started,” Miller said. “He’s one of the most athletically talented, gifted kids we’ve had. If you look at where he is now physically, it’s scary to think where he’ll be three or four years from now.

“He’s continuing to make that transition from high school point guard to pro point guard. So there’s a development process he’s going to go through whether he was here or whether he’s in the NBA game or wherever he’s at.”

DraftExpress projects Simmons will be selected 59th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round.

The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 8.7 points per game with the Wildcats, and saw his playing time dwindle at the end of the season.

Comanche posted 6.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game as a reserve.

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You can follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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