Lyons Among Players Returning to Coaches Who Originally Recruited Them
May 7th, 2012 - 19:42
Despite regal recruiting hauls by Kentucky and UCLA, Arizona might have the top collection of additions for next season after guard Mark Lyons, a fifth-year senior, chose to align with the Wildcats. Lyons was originally signed by Xavier when Sean Miller was coach but never played for him in 2008-09 while sitting out as an academic partial qualifier.
A similar playmaker shift from the Midwest to the Pac-12 to rejoin a coach occurred in the late 1980s when Anthony Pendleton signed with Iowa but never played for the Hawkeyes because of scholastic shortcomings before hooking up again with coach George Raveling at USC.
Elsewhere, Jersey Shore high schooler Mike Aaman plans to join Dan Hurley at Rhode Island after getting released from his commitment with Wagner, guard Brent Arrington followed Sean Woods from Mississippi Valley State to Morehead State and playmaker Nic Moore is slated to tag along with SMU coach-in-waiting Tim Jankovich from Illinois State. Following is an alphabetical list of prominent players who transferred from one major college to another with the same head coach although he wasn't his father:
Player Pos. Head Coach First School Second School Mike Aaman F Dan Hurley Wagner Rhode Island 13 Brent Arrington G Sean Woods Mississippi Valley State 12 Morehead State 14 Pasha Bains G Larry Shyatt Wyoming 99 Clemson 2000 Bill Brigham F Mike Jarvis Boston University 89-90 George Washington 92-93 Anthony Buford G Bob Huggins Akron 88-90 Cincinnati 92 Joe Bunn F Jeff Capel Jr. North Carolina A&T 94 Old Dominion 96 Adrian Crawford G Steve Robinson Tulsa 97 Florida State 99-01 Greg Davis F Dave Bliss New Mexico 98-99 Baylor 01-02 *Nate Erdmann G Kelvin Sampson Washington State 94 Oklahoma 96-97 Josh Fisher G Lorenzo Romar Pepperdine Saint Louis 01-04 Prince Fowler G Billy Tubbs Oklahoma 95 Texas Christian 97-99 John David Gardner G Brad Brownell UNC Wilmington 05 Wright State 08-10 R.T. Guinn C Dave Bliss New Mexico 00 Baylor 02 Kevin Henry G Dave Bliss New Mexico 98-00 Baylor 02 Denard Holmes F Abe Lemons Texas 82 Oklahoma City 85 Gary Hooker F Ron Greene Mississippi State 76-78 Murray State 80 Shawn James C Ron Everhart Northeastern 05-06 Duquesne 08 LeDarion Jones F Larry Shyatt Clemson 96-97 Wyoming 99-00 Thomas Kilgore G Ben Braun Eastern Michigan California 98-99 Mark Lyons G Sean Miller Xavier 09 Arizona 13 Mike Mitchell F Boyd Grant Fresno State 86-88 Colorado State 90 Nic Moore G Tim Jankovich Illinois State 12 Southern Methodist 14 Anthony Pendleton G George Raveling Iowa Southern California 88-89 Scoonie Penn G Jim O'Brien Boston College 96-97 Ohio State 99-00 Merle Rousey G Hank Iba Colorado 34 Oklahoma A&M 36-37 Robert Vaden G-F Mike Davis Indiana 05-06 UAB 08 Ross Varner F Lorenzo Romar Pepperdine Saint Louis 02 Pax Whitehead G-F Jan van Breda Kolff Cornell 93 Vanderbilt 95-97 Sean Wightman F Bob Donewald Illinois State 89 Western Michigan 91-93 Jason Williams G Billy Donovan Marshall 95-96 Florida 98 Dedric Willoughby G Tim Floyd New Orleans 93-94 Iowa State 96-97 Jack Worthington G Abe Lemons Texas 82-83 Oklahoma City 85-86
*Erdmann played for a junior college between four-year school stints.
NOTES: Aaman committed to Wagner before choosing to enroll with Hurley at Rhode Island, Fisher signed with Pepperdine but never played there before choosing to follow Romar to SLU, Kilgore never played for EMU after transferring there from Central Michigan, Lyons was an academic partial qualifier in 2008-09 and Pendleton signed with Iowa but never played for the Hawkeyes because of scholastic shortcomings. . . . Mitchell played two seasons at Fresno State under Grant's successor (Ron Adams). . . . Varner went on an LDS Mormon mission for two years between stints at Pepperdine and Saint Louis.