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The Wildcats now have five potential rotation players for three perimeter spots even if sophomore Dalen Terry returns from the NBA Draft pool. Nowell did not gain traction in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s pecking order as a freshman. He played just 67 total minutes over 19 games, while fellow freshman Adama Bal moved over him into a spot-minute role late in the season.

Nowell also sat out three games late in the season as a result of an apparent suspension for reasons UA coach Tommy Lloyd declined to detail.

“Shane, we noticed, just had some things we wanted to address behind the scenes,� Lloyd said after Nowell dressed in street clothes for UA’s win over Stanford at McKale Center on March 3.

Until Nowell left for the portal, , the Wildcats didn’t have a single player who went through the 2021-22 season put his name in the transfer portal. Stadium reported earlier this week that only 18 of out of 358 Division I programs not had any players enter the portal.

When asked at his postseason news conference April 14 about the unusual lack of transfers and whether Nowell was expected to be back, Lloyd said he didn’t want to talk about anybody specifically in that manner.

“Everybody’s having conversations about all that stuff right now,� Lloyd said. “I just told our guys, ‘Hey, we don’t need to rush to any decisions. Let’s just make sure that we’re all making decisions were comfortable with.’�

Nowell did not respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday and his high school coach, Brent Merritt, said via email Tuesday that he was just checking to see what options Nowell might have.

A native of the Seattle area, Nowell is the brother of Jaylen Nowell, who won the 2018-19 Pac-12 Player of the Year award while playing for Washington. Shane Nowell was the only one of three players in the class of 2021 who committed to former UA coach Sean Miller and stuck with the Wildcats, while guard K.J. Simpson headed to Colorado and Shane Dezonie went to Vanderbilt. Dezonie is transferring this spring to St. Joseph’s.

Nowell, who was also offered scholarships by Washington, Washington State, Montana, Montana State and Oklahoma out of Eastside Catholic High School, told the Star last May that he took two weeks to talk with Lloyd and decide whether to stay with the Wildcats. Lloyd replaced Miller in April 2021.

“It definitely took some time because I wasn’t too sure,� Nowell said. “It was pretty much a matter of what’s the best situation for me, as well as my family, because I didn’t want to go too far away from home.

“But then also once I got to know Coach Lloyd, got to see his coaching style, to see how he plans to really incorporate me, I really liked what he had to say. So it just felt like it was the best scenario.�

Nowell wound up averaging 0.8 points and 0.8 rebounds while playing only spot minutes toward the end of games the Wildcats were decisively winning. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ went with a tight eight-player rotation most of the season, with Bal playing spot minutes in several key games late in the season, most notably when ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ needed help coping with an ankle injury to point guard Kerr Kriisa for three postseason games.

Nowell wasn’t made available for media interviews all season, but said during UA’s preseason media day that he was struck by the competition and ability of players at his guard position.

“We’ve got a lot of really good guards,� Nowell said. “Definitely the first day I got here, just the physicality level, the speed of the game, was definitely elevated. But it’s just about a matter of adjusting to it each and every single day and just keep growing.�

With Nowell gone, the Wildcats’ perimeter competition will include starters Kerr Kriisa and Terry, if he returns from testing the NBA Draft, along with rising junior Pelle Larsson, Bal, incoming Serbian freshman Filip Borovicanin and the lightly used Tautvilas Tubelis.

Larsson played a key role at multiple positions last season and is expected to compete for a starting role in 2022-23 with Bennedict Mathurin off to the NBA.

Five-star 2023 combo guard Kylan Boswell of AZ Compass Prep has been considering a reclassification that would allow him to skip his senior season and join the Wildcats in 2022-23.

Meanwhile, five-star 2023 forward Kwame Evans added ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to his list of five finalists, according to On3, while ESPN reported that South Dakota State transfer Baylor Scheierman narrowed down to a list of 10 schools that did not include ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.