Reger Dowell had committed and "was excited."

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Arizona Wildcats basketball coach Lute Olson has removed a committed high school senior from his 2009 recruiting class, the player's father said Monday.

Dale Dowell, father of Texas point guard Reger Dowell, said Olson pulled a scholarship offer despite initial indication that Olson's offer would be honored even after the Wildcats reeled in top-10 point guard Abdul Gaddy.

"Reger was excited about the prospects of playing at the University of Arizona," Dale Dowell said. "It's just crazy. I'm just kind of in a daze right now the way it all went down."

Reger Dowell declined to comment other than to confirm he is no longer receiving a scholarship to Arizona, but his father said both of them were shaken up after Olson and assistant coach Russ Pennell assured them during a recent home visit that they wanted Gaddy and Dowell on the roster together.

That changed, Dale Dowell said, when Olson realized his recruiting class needed more big men. The Wildcats have two other 2009 commitments besides Gaddy, forwards Solomon Hill and Mike Moser, but neither is a true post player, and the Wildcats are likely to lose Jordan Hill to the NBA draft next summer.

"We had a couple of conversations where they assured us it was solid," Dale Dowell said. "They made a home visit (to us), and we broke bread, had a good productive meeting and a week later, I get a call and was told that Lute Olson, not Russ Pennell … wanted to go in a different direction. He felt he had too many guards and not enough bigs."

Olson is not known for pulling scholarship offers to committed recruits over his 25 years at Arizona. However, in 1998, he and Seattle recruit Jimmie Haywood parted ways — Haywood said UA dropped him, but UA coaches said that Haywood began wavering and effectively dropped himself. Haywood went on to play for Oregon State.

Commitments are not binding for either party but are usually considered solid. Players cannot sign a binding letter of intent until early November of their senior year.

Neither Olson nor his assistant coaches speak to the Star outside of news conferences and cannot speak about recruits until their letters of intent are signed. But their move to cast off Dowell could indicate a rift within the coaching staff: Dale Dowell said Pennell was adamant about keeping Dowell but was overruled by Olson.

"Russ got blindsided," Dowell said. "Reger was his man. I believe Russ when he said he's embarrassed by all this. I believe that. It wasn't his call."

Dowell said he has called Olson multiple times for an explanation but that Olson has not returned his calls.

Reger Dowell accepted his scholarship offer Aug. 25 knowing that he was essentially insurance for Gaddy, who had decommitted in May and had yet to recommit by August.

When Gaddy recommitted on Sept. 15, Dowell became the second point guard in the class.

"It was one of those kind of deals where we were led to believe that they had grown impatient with Gaddy," Dale Dowell said. UA indicated in early August that "if he didn't commit in two weeks, they were going to offer us. They did, and we accepted. Then Gaddy accepted, but our position was fine."

Now, Dowell will have to open his recruitment for the third time after he decommitted from Alabama over the summer. His father said he was unsure what Reger would do and declined to specify potential leaders.

"I don't know. We've got a lot of options," Dale Dowell said. "We've got a lot of options, and we'll go from there. … But it's crazy. I'm learning it's a crazy business."