Thursday, May 31, 2007

Former Iowa Forward heading to Tennessee

In a not very shocking move at all, former Iowa forward Tyler Smith will be heading to Tennessee to play for Bruce Pearl and the Volunteers.

Smith, who averaged 15 points and 5 boards a game as a freshman last year, decided to transfer from Iowa to be closer to his sick father. Since he's from Tennessee, his dad still lives in Tennesse, and he's a good player, I figured it would either be Tennessee or Memphis.

An interesting wrinkle here is that Smith plans to petition for a waiver from the NCAA due to his circumstances so he wouldn't have to sit out the usual transfer season and would play immediately next season for the Vols.

If that happens, Tennesse would be an instant title contender. The Vols took Ohio State down to the wire last season, and return almost that entire team, losing only one player who averaged 5 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds per game, and are projected as a #3 seed by Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com without Smith.

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