Deandre Ayton chooses Arizona, but will he ever play for the Wildcats?

In a surprising announcement aired live on SportsCenter on Tuesday night, the Class of 2017’s No. 1 prospect held up a “Bear Down” T-shirt and chose Arizona over fellow national powers Kansas and Kentucky.

Now the big question is whether Deandre Ayton will ever play a game for the Wildcats.

Ayton has insisted for months that he desires to play college basketball in 2017, but many schools were hesitant to fully invest in his recruitment. They feared that he’d fail to qualify academically, that he’d run afoul of the NCAA or that he’d choose to play professionally right after high school rather than attend college.

At one point last April, the supremely talented 7-footer told the Louisville Courier-Journal that only Kansas was aggressively pursuing him. Normally the line of suitors would be a few dozen long for such a heralded prospect late in his junior year of high school.

After all, this is a kid who tallied 17 points and 18 rebounds against North Carolina in a 2014 exhibition game; who was widely hailed as the best prospect in all of high school basketball after dominating older big men as a sophomore; And who has drawn comparisons to Kevin Garnett because of his length, athleticism and mobility.

The questions about Ayton stemmed from the Bahamas native’s circuitous path from little-known project to No. 1 prospect.

Already 6-foot-6 by age 12 yet fast enough to run the floor like a guard, Ayton flashed unpolished but undeniable potential competing against older players at the Jeff Rodgers basketball camp in Nassau. Word of his ability reached an AAU coach named Shaun Manning, who invited Ayton to live with him and eventually play for the fledgling San Diego prep school program he and fellow coach Zack Jones were organizing.

At about the same time as Ayton began blossoming into an NBA prospect under the tutelage of Manning and Jones, the two men had a falling out and their relationship became irreparable. Manning left Balboa City Prep with the intention of remaining Ayton’s coach and legal guardian. Ayton instead stayed at Balboa City, severed ties with Manning and moved in with Jones.

Ayton remained at Balboa City for two years before transferring to Hillcrest Prep in Arizona despite its shaky status with the NCAA clearinghouse. He had hoped to play alongside fellow phenom Marvin Bagley, but the Class of 2018’s top recruit eventually transferred to Sierra Canyon High in Southern California and sat out all of last season.

Whether the NCAA will accept Ayton’s coursework from Hillcrest was a major concern for many of the schools that pursued him. Coaches feared he would not be eligible and would instead either play overseas for a year or petition for eligibility for the 2017 NBA draft the same way that Thon Maker did earlier this year.

For months, Ayton has insisted that he intends to go to college and that he is doing everything in his power to avoid eligibility issues. Asked whether there’s a chance he might never make it to campus at Arizona on SportsCenter on Tuesday, he reiterated, “None at all. My family says college is a must.”

If Ayton stays true to his word and plays at least a year at Arizona, it will be a huge coup for a Wildcats program that has been on cusp of a Final Four under Sean Miller but has not yet been able to break through.

Ayton is a threat to score in a myriad of ways, whether via his soft touch in the paint, a smooth mid-range jump shot or by beating lumbering big men down the floor for transition dunks. He’s also a multifaceted weapon on defense, quick enough to switch onto speedy opposing guards after a perimeter ball screen yet also effective in the paint altering shots and protecting the rim.

At Arizona, Ayton would likely be the centerpiece of a team that could be among the best in the nation if the Wildcats aren’t beset by defections to the NBA next spring. Sophomore guard Allonzo Trier is a candidate to turn pro after strongly considering entering the 2016 draft, but former McDonald’s All-Americans Ray Smith, Kobi Simmons and Rawle Atkins could all be back, as could heralded Finnish freshman Lauri Markkanen.

Kansas had been thought to be the favorite to land Ayton since it had recruited him the longest and the hardest, but Miller and Arizona assistant Joe Pasternack have made up ground the past few months. Ayton said on SportsCenter that he trusts the Arizona staff and that he’s eager to play in college close to his new Arizona home.

Of course, Arizona is no stranger to having an elite recruit commit only to lose him to the professional ranks.

In 2008, Brandon Jennings backed out of a commitment to play overseas in Italy. Earlier this year, heralded wing Terrance Ferguson made a similar decision amid eligibility concerns.

Could Ayton be next? By next spring, the answer should be clearer.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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