Arizona women’s basketball adds Dionna Gray to roster

In mid-July, former Kent State point guard Dionna Gray was announced as a graduate assistant for the Golden Flashes. Three months later, she has officially been added to the Arizona women’s basketball roster as a fifth year player.

Gray has been at Arizona for “about a week” according to head coach Becky Burke, but she was not added to the online roster until Friday, Oct. 23. The first mention of her by anyone in the program came on Oct. 22 when she appeared in the Wildcats’ first scrimmage against Embry-Riddle (Ariz.).

“She was coached by Coach [Todd] Starkey at Kent State,” Burke said. “When she got her year of eligibility and said she had some interest in coming to Arizona and just kind of giving us some depth, I knew exactly what she brings to the table. She’s a little jitterbug. She’s got a defensive mindset. She’s a veteran.”

Gray received the fifth year as part of the patchwork of legal cases across the country. She was involved in a case in Monroe Country, Indiana where Monroe County Circuit Court judge Kara E. Krothe granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Indiana football defensive linemen Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt, among others. Those others included a handful of women’s basketball players.

The question is how long Gray will be eligible. The NCAA is currently appealing. The organization filed for an expedited briefing this week, according to Hoosiers football beat reporter Michael Niziolek.

Burke is prepared for the possibility that Gray will not remain eligible as happened with three Arizona football players this season. Ismail Mahdi, Max Harris, and Sullivan Moon were originally granted a temporary restraining order to regain eligibility this season. That was overturned by the same judge the next month after Mahdi and Harris had appeared in games for the team.

“Adding her is just a perk, a benefit,” Burke said. “Obviously, we were comfortable without her, but when she became available and it was the right fit, we decided to jump on it. I’m not going to overthink it. I’m going to use her while she’s available, as long as that continues, and then if all of a sudden she’s not, we’re also prepared for that.”

The one open question in these cases is on the academic side of the equation. While courts are currently ruling on sports eligibility, the enrollment criteria at universities aren’t affected by those rulings and most institutions are well into their first session of the academic year.

As of July, Gray had apparently been planning on attending grad school at Kent State. Her sports eligibility was not established until late September, but Arizona started classes in late August. Arizona was asked when she enrolled at the university but had not responded before the end of the day on Friday.