Kerr Kriisa to play for Estonia as he awaits NCAA clearance at Arizona

As Kerr Kriisa waits to hear when he’ll be eligible to play for the Arizona Wildcats, he is returning home to Estonia to play for the Senior National Team, the UA announced Monday.

Estonia is set to face Russia on Nov. 28 and North Macedonia on Nov. 30 in a pair of FIBA Eurobasket 2022 qualifying games this weekend, meaning at minimum Kriisa will miss Arizona’s games vs. Grambling State and UTEP (assuming they are played as scheduled).

The freshman guard is expected to return to Arizona once those qualifying games are over, but the UA said the NCAA Eligibility Center has not cleared him to play for the Wildcats. Arizona is working to resolve the matter.

“Given the situation, this is a great opportunity for Kerr,” UA head coach Sean Miller said in a statement. “We wish him the best of luck in the competition and look forward to his safe return to Arizona.”

Kriisa was/is expected to add shooting, playmaking and swagger to Arizona’s backcourt.

The Wildcats are also without freshman center Daniel Batcho (knee) and senior forward Ira Lee (concussion) right now due to injuries. They also saw Wednesday’s season opener vs. NAU get cancelled due to a COVID-19 case in the Lumberjacks’ program.

Safe to say the 2020-21 season is off to a rocky start.