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Arizona forward Zach Peters ends basketball career due to medical issues

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Arizona lost a reserve forward on Friday as the university announced in a release that sophomore forward Zach Peters would end his basketball career due to medical issues. Peters will remain on scholarship as a student because to a medical exemption and ends his basketball career due to issues stemming from concussions.

A former Kansas transfer and native of Plano, Texas, the 6-foot-10 Peters appeared in 11 games for Arizona during the 2013-14 season, tallying 31 total minutes and scoring zero points while grabbing four rebounds. Peters was a grassroots and high school teammate of former Kentucky forward Julius Randle and was regarded as the No. 137 prospect in Rivals.com‘s 2012 national rankings.

“You never want to see anyone’s athletic career cut short by injury, especially a person of Zach’s character,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said in the release. “That being said, this is a decision made with an eye toward Zach’s bright and productive future. He has nothing but our full support as he begins his next chapter.”

“I want to thank everyone who has supported me throughout my basketball career,” Peters said in the release. “I especially want to thank my family, as well as the medical staff, coaching staff and my teammates at the University of Arizona for their support over the course of a trying year.

“As advised by many medical professionals, this is the best course of action to ensure myself a safe and healthy future. I’m excited to remain a student and pursue a degree at the University of Arizona.”

The loss of Peters opens up a scholarship for Arizona, which was previously filled to the brim. The Wildcats are expected to host Boston College transfer Ryan Anderson on an official visit on May 8th and Anderson could be targeted to fill Peters’ previous spot on the roster.

If Anderson chooses another school, Arizona could go a number of different routes for that final scholarship as they can look at transfer options, JuCo players or bank the scholarship for the next recruiting class.

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