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UPDATED: Pitt’s Trey Zeigler popped for DUI

NIT Season Tip-Off

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 23: Trey Zeigler #23 of the Pittsburgh Panthers drives to the net against Carl Baptiste #33 of the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens at Madison Square Garden on November 23, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

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Trey Zeigler was already struggling as he adjusted to life in a major conference. The last thing he needed was to get pulled over so a DUI, but, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that’s precisely what happened on Sunday morning.

Zeigler “will be charged by mail summons with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence”, according to the report, although the details of the arrest and of the punishment he’ll be given by Pitt are not yet known.

(UPDATE: Both Jamie Dixon and Zeigler have released statements:

Dixon: “The incident involving Trey Zeigler is not only surprising, but incredibly disappointing. Although I believe it was out of character for Trey, he has been immediately suspended until further notice. Trey has expressed his deep regret to me and understands and respects the importance of accountability for one’s actions.”

Zeigler:"I want to apologize to my family, the University of Pittsburgh, my teammates and coaches and the entire Pittsburgh community. This is not indicative of the kind of person I am, nor the kind of person I want to be.”

Zeigler has been suspended indefinitely by the school.)

The 6-foot-5 junior transferred into Pitt with much fanfare, as he was a former top 30 recruit that averaged 16.0 points and 6.1 boards last season at Central Michigan. But Zeigler’s father was fired as the head coach at CMU during the offseason, so he left the program and was allowed to enroll at Pitt and play immediately without having to sit out a season.

The early returns haven’t been promising, however Zeigler is coming off the bench and averaging just 6.2 points and he’s yet to hit a three-pointer this season. That shooting prowess is why JJ Moore has played over him in the early going, and Lamar Patterson’s ability to create shots for teammates are why he’s seeing minutes in front of Zeigler. His slashing-style doesn’t exactly fit with this Pitt group, and an arrest is unlikely to help his playing time situation.

Pitt looked good at the Preseason NIT in New York last week, giving Michigan all they could handle before running Delaware off the floor.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.