‘A lot of great kids can make bad decisions’: Devonaire Doutrive still suspended, won’t play in Arizona’s opener vs. NAU

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Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller announced Monday that Devonaire Doutrive remains suspended indefinitely and won’t play in Wednesday’s season-opener vs. Northern Arizona.

“I will certainly announce to you guys the moment that his status changes,” Miller said. “He’s obviously practicing with us and doing everything else other than participating in the game.”

Doutrive, who did not play in Friday’s exhibition vs. Chico State, was suspended for violating an undisclosed team rule. Miller said that “a lot of great kids and young people can make bad decisions.”

“That does not mean that they’re bad kids,” Miller said. “College is a time where sometimes the best lessons are learned in a negative sense. You rebound from it, you learn from it, you grow, you take a different approach. That’s for all students that come to the University of Arizona and our players are no different. Just like when they make really good decisions and do things the right way and they also learn the benefits of that. So we’re working with Devonaire everyday and looking forward to his return at some point.”

The news of a suspension puts a damper on what was otherwise a productive offseason for Doutrive, who was initially going to transfer from Arizona before opting to return.

At media day in September, Miller called Doutrive one of the team’s most improved players. Doutrive then followed that up by twice winning the gold jersey in practice, the award given to the most productive player.

“But part of that with Devonaire is he’s a late bloomer,” Miller said at the time. “When he came here, he weighed below 170 and yet he’s 6-foot-5. So he needed time, he needed a year’s worth of practices, he needed to get a sense of what it felt like on and off the court here. He needed more time in our weight room, and you’ll see just physically he’s more mature, he’s bigger, stronger. Even a year ago with as slight as he was, one knack he has is as an offensive rebounder. He could keep the ball alive and that’s a big skill. And I think with Devonaire this year when you talk about perimeter depth, he’s somebody that we’re counting on to really improve from year one to year two.”

They will just have to wait for that improvement to show.

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