MEMPHIS - Ex-Duke basketball player Elliot Williams says he'll transfer to the University of Memphis.
Williams, a sophomore guard, was granted his release Wednesday from Duke because his mom is sick.
He told The Commercial-Appeal on Saturday that he's planning to transfer to Memphis, in his hometown, because being closer to his family is the most important thing. It was one of the four schools he'd been considering, along with Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Tennessee.
He's declined to be more specific about his mother's illness. But he says he's playing for a great coach in Memphis head coach Josh Pastner.
Williams said that he's seeking a waiver of the NCAA rule forcing student-athletes to sit out a year after transferring.
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Comments » 33
BasketVols writes:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/...
That wowhire guy in the comments section of this article is really, sublimely funny! Stupid troll...
CatScratchFever writes:
No big surprise here....and no big loss for Tennessee. He is a good player, but not quiet the player everyone thought he would be coming out of high school. With the talent Tennessee has coming in next year at guard, he probably ruled them (and Kentucky) out rather quickly.
tapeworm writes:
Frankly, should he really play anywhere else considering the circumstances? No one questioned Tyler Smith when he came to UT because of his father. And, the same applies here. All you can do is wish the young man well, and hope he is able to concentrate on his studies and his sport in the face of some incredible adversity.
kamikawa#225370 writes:
May help TN with Joe Jackson now that Memphis has another guard.
TigerVet writes:
I dont think so,Elliot is a shooting guard who can play some point, not a point guard(which JJ happens to be).
EarthBoundMisfit writes:
I am not trolling or anything...I don't hate the Vols...I just root for Memphis (that is where I am from after all)
But Coach Pastner all but has Jackson sewed up.
He and Jackson are pretty close.
It should be telling that he turned down UT's elite basketball camp to attend Pastner's..and Paz hasn't coached a single Div1 game yet.
Again, not a put down....just something I know to be true.
I think the most unfortunate part of having Calipari move to Kentucky...is that for the most part...the Memphis/UT series won't be quite as heated.
John is a master manipulater...and he can work you up into a frenzy something quick...
chrisw2967 writes:
I think they were more to the story than just those kids turning down the UTs elite camp.There was an article a couple weeks back about that situation.So I dont think it was because the kids decided to skip it.It was more like pressured to not attend and the article wasnt fron KNS it was from commercial appeal I think.
bluevol writes:
i don't see anything even close to funny about wowhire's posts BasketVols. where is the wit? i guess you are easily entertained. it looks like you are wowhire and advertising yourself. the only one that could find in humor or wit in those lame posts would be the one that typed them. well, the vols lose another one. this is getting old.
bluetiger writes:
bluevol, I think you hit the nail on the head. I thought the same thing. This person is most likely wowhire from the CA posts. I mean, funny that he's the first one to comment on this story and includes a link to the CA story. He's the same person who has posted under about five screen names on the CA, all of which eventually were banned. Sad really.
I'm excited about getting Elliott Williams back in Memphis but feel very bad about his mother's illness. That has to be tough on the entire family. They'll get nothing but tremendous support from the Tiger Nation.
beachvol1 writes:
Great choice for Elliott....needs to be near his mother...Pastner may make the angry Tiger fans forget about conman Cal, the clean way....
RichRollinz2 writes:
Good to see this kid do the right thing. Also good to see Pastner get a key recruit after landing in the mess Calamari left him.
bluetiger writes:
Joe Jackson is leaning toward Memphis at this point. As a born-and-bred Memphian, why would he come to Knoxville where the majority of people disparage anything to do with Memphis? Oh I forgot. You like to diss Memphians -- except for the ones with exceptional football or basketball talent.
golfballs03 writes:
You're crazy. He's a great player. Tennessee didn't have anymore scholarships. Wasn't there something a while back about Tabb leaving the team... dang
tennrich1 writes:
I STILL dont understand why anyone who HATES UT so much would want to be so quick to post here...it just doesnt add up...I have more important things in my life than to go to other fans websites.....UH
tennrich1 writes:
WE NEVER WERE IN THE RUNNING FOR WILLIAMS...WE HAVE NO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE...AND MEMPHIS OR OLE MISS WERE THE ONLY SCHOOLS HE WOULD BE GRANTED A RELEASE TO IN THE FIRST PLACE..YOU ARE RIGHT GOLFBALLS03
awwfitness#370281 writes:
Take care of mom young man
ballewville6 writes:
i posted the day that it came out he was transferring that he would go to memphis since he was a memphis native and said that i hoped tennessee wouldnt take him since when they were recruiting him as their one of their top to prospects recruits but he didnt really give us a look before he bolted to duke .if his mom is as bad off as tyler smith dad was which we all know that tyler,s dad passed before he could see his son play for the big orange then i hope that he gets the waiver and mamby his mom can see him play but i hope he has to sit
dvols writes:
good for coach pastner and memphis..
anybody want to hate on kentucky?
gbeejr#1354500 writes:
You ask why would he come to Knoxville? Well, one reason is to get out of Memphis and find a better life. A second reason would be to get out of Memphis and find a better life. And a third reason would be to get out of Memphis and find a better life. There are many more reasons but these three are hard to beat.
bluevol writes:
To find a better life like Duke Crews and Ramar Smith found in Knoxville not to mention countless UT football players that have been arrested?
EarthBoundMisfit writes:
nice try genius... but I lived in Knoxville for three years and attended school there. I've seen firsthand what you think is 'better'....and although I enjoyed my time at Pellissippi, the only things cool about East Tennessee are Dollywood, Gatlinburgh, and Oak Ridge (for history's sake)
bluetiger writes:
A better life? You make me laugh. I lived in Ktown for five years and ran back to Memphis screaming and thank God every day that I was able to come back. I still have to travel to Knox for my job, but the good thing is that I don't have to call it home anymore.
Oh yeah, and I think UT has more athletes involved in crimes than any other college in the state. Nice life.
bluetiger writes:
You are so right. And that's exactly why I couldn't stand living in Knoxville.
brownsvillevol writes:
i don't think his mother is terminally ill as one memphis fan has suggested. imho i don't see him getting his release from the ncaa.
bluevol writes:
Hey I found the funny post by that wowhire guy on the Commercial Appeal board, this one.
Posted by wowhire on June 27, 2009 at 7:04 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
tnboystuckinkentucky writes:
Yeah, there have never been any Memphis players in trouble for domestic abuse or drug charges?!? Get real man, it happens everywhere. The difference at UT is that CBP has kicked those players off the team, and in turn that killed our APR causing us to lose 1 scholarship (Ramar Smith and Duke Crews). Every school has to deal with troublemakers/criminals, but what separates UT from Memphis is how CBP deals with those individuals appropriately compared to the way that Calamari dealt with his troublemakers (ignore the problem and hope it goes away).
brownsvillevol writes:
they let tyler have a release because his father was dying from cancer and in tylers case his father passed before the season started. as i said williams mother is most likley not terminal so he will not get the release he is looking for.nothing illogical about it, spock.
brownsvillevol writes:
r dozier
a. allen
j dorsey
d wagner
d rose
j hunt
now name all of our basketball players that have had trouble with the law as a vol, spock. remember just basketball.
tnboystuckinkentucky writes:
Alright, here's the rapsheet:
1) Tyreke Evans - admittedly in the drivers' seat during a drive-by shooting that killed a teenager (February 2008).
2) Robert Dozier - beat his girlfriend after leaving a nightclub. He was suspended one meaningless game against SMU.
3) Shawn Taggert/Jeff Robinson- started a riot outside the Plush Club and were never suspended.
4) Jeremy Hunt - battered his girlfriend and was initially kicked off the team. He was let back on the team after 2 UM players went to the NBA and Cal was desperate for help.
5) Andre Allen (probably the most memorable of all the gems that Cal recruited) - allegedly solicited a prostitute. He was suspended prior to the Final Four game against UCLA. Allen also failed a drug test given by the NCAA. Usually, a random drug test is 1st given by the school then the NCAA, but not in this case.
6) Marcus Banks - burned a 15 year old girl's legs with a cigarette as part of a gang ritual.
7) Pierre Niles - slapped UAB fan following a post game melee.
As you can see TigerNash, the evidence speaks for itself. I won't disagree with you that Fulmer lost control of some of his players, but I will say that we should be comparing Cal to Bruce Pearl. Pearl has never tolerated any bs from his players which has almost always been failed drug tests. The last two players: Ramar Smith and Duke Crews were rightfully kicked off the team. The difference between our schools is exactly what you try to deny. Memphis has a long history of tolerating players' criminal records, whereas Bruce Pearl nips them in the bud immediately. I don't have anything bad to say about John Pastner, but he just became your new coach a few months ago. If he is a better person and role model than Cal, you should be able to shake this bad image off in four or five years. Let's be honest, too much happened under Cal's watch that was essentially disregarded with little or no consequence to be ignored by the rest of the country.
Colliervol writes:
Glad that Williams is getting to be closer to home. That is as it should be. Now he just has to worry if the Boy Wonder can coach or if he just talks a good game. That is yet to be determined.
On another front, for a UT fan, could there possibly be anything less interesting or pertinent to an SEC school than what "Tiger Nation" thinks? The concept of "Tiger Nation" is somewhere close to laughable. (If the definition of "Nation" is Shelby County then maybe I'll buy it.) Why do they even bother with the delusion that anybody outside of Shelby County is even remotely interested?
bluevol writes:
To answer your question Colliervol, apparently many UT fans are interested as they are all over the Memphis boards, including yourself. Most of them don't last too long before they get banned. It seems UT fans can't post on rivals boards without getting foul-mouthed.
tnboystuckinkentucky writes:
Yeah, so the kids were busted for smoking marijuana, which nearly one in four Americans have admittedly tried?!? I'm not trying to justify that at all, but I think it's a far cry from beating women (and opposing team's fans) and soliciting prostitutes on top of the failed drug tests that has plagued Memphis for the past decade. Let's compare apples to apples here, meaning UT basketball to Memphis basketball. The rapsheet in W TN speaks for itself. Bruce Pearl has dealt with every failed drug test appropriately and hasn't tried to hide any of it.
Are you still bitter about the wake that Cal has left in Memphis, since he came to coach UK?
tnboystuckinkentucky writes:
The reason the UT athletes rapsheet leads the state, you buffoon, is because of the football players, not the basketball players. If you look at my earlier post, you will see that the basketball players at Mempiss more than dbls the number of UT basketball players that have been in trouble for smoking pot. Last I checked Mempiss is still equal to UT in the one category that truly matters in college basketball...National Championships!
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