College basketball notebook. …
Former Xavier University point guard Mark Lyons, who recently said he will transfer to Kansas University, Arizona or Kentucky, is concentrating on final exams this week as he completes work on his undergraduate degree.
If the 6-foot-1 junior graduates, he’ll be free to play at any college next season. If not, he’ll have to sit out a season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules.
Lyons told zagsblog.com he’s in the process of setting up campus visits.
“I’m going into this with open eyes and see what the programs provide and see what they’ve got,” Lyons said.
Lyons, who averaged 15.1 points and 2.8 assists per game last season, was initially recruited to Xavier by current Arizona coach Sean Miller. He said that did not make U of A the leader.
“I’m gonna do whatever my team (needs) me to do,” Lyons told Zagsblog. “Provide energy, get everybody involved and play defense.”
Lyons was suspended two games last season for his role in a brawl in a game against Cincinnati.
“Xavier coach Chris Mack won’t say anything more about Mark Lyons,” ESPN’s Andy Katz wrote Thursday. “But the Musketeers did need to move on from this crew. They excelled to get to the Sweet 16 in Atlanta. But the time was now to sever the relationships from last season’s team. Xavier is too proud, too strong a program to be tainted by that one incident; having a fresh start with the main combatants gone allows for a new era.”
Turner to SMU?: New SMU coach Larry Brown is about to land high-profile transfer Josiah Turner, Zagsblog reports.
“Josiah will land at SMU as long as the recent arrest (suspicion of DUI) doesn’t turn coach Brown and others off at the University,” a source told SNY.tv. Turner, who chose Arizona over KU and others, was suspended two times last season for violations of team rules.
He did not make his visit to St. John’s last weekend as originally planned. CBSsports.com’s Jeff Goodman says Turner will visit SMU on Wednesday.
Harris to visit KU, Florida: Damontre Harris, a 6-9, 215-pound sophomore who has said he will transfer from South Carolina to KU, Florida, VCU or Marquette, told the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer he plans to visit KU and Florida in coming weeks.
However, according to Carey Rich of 560theteam.com, Harris may be reconsidering his decision to leave SC and may play for former Kansas State coach Frank Martin after all. Harris averaged 6.8 points and 5.5 boards per game a year ago.
Barnstorming: KU basketball’s annual Barnstorming Tour continues, with exhibition games at Humboldt High on Friday (6 p.m. autographs, game to follow), Pratt High (5 p.m., autographs) on Saturday and Colby High (3 p.m., autographs) on Sunday.
There will be a final Barnstorming game held on May 12 at a yet-to-be-determined time and place — somewhere in the Kansas City area. KU senior Tyshawn Taylor will join seniors Jordan Juenemann and Conner Teahan in that final game. He’s preparing for the NBA Draft and will not be playing this weekend.
