Omar Thielemans to leave Arizona, per reports

The freshman’s UA career is over before it started

Omar Thielemans’ Arizona Wildcats career is over before it started.

The freshman forward told Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star that he is leaving the program, though he did not provide a reason. Verbal Commits also reported Thielemans’ departure.

The writing was on the wall Sunday after Thielemans was not in attendance for the Red-Blue Game and Sean Miller said afterward that his absence was a “longer-term thing.”

The Belgian, an obscure prospect who was not on the radar of most recruiting services, was not expected to have a prominent role in 2018-19 and Miller called him a “developmental player” at local media day, still dealing with the transition from FIBA to the college game.

Thielemans played for BC Ostend before enrolling at the UA, and it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.

His departure opens up a scholarship the Wildcats can use in the 2019 recruiting cycle. Miller said at media day that he expects Arizona to sign five or six players in this class.

The Wildcats currently have three commits, meaning they should be adding at least two more to the mix, though perhaps Thielemans’ exit will change the calculus a bit.

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