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Closer to home: Oklahoma's Lavender transfers to Xavier





June 9, 2005
By Jeff Goodman
Special to CBS SportsLine.com
Tell Jeff your opinion!




Drew Lavender is basically headed home.
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The diminutive point guard, who started 59 games over his two seasons at Oklahoma, will transfer to Xavier.

"They have a great program and it's closer to home for me," said the 5-foot-7 Lavender. "It's a family atmosphere and they are close-knit. I also like it academically."

Lavender, who attended Brookhaven High in Columbus, Ohio, averaged 9.7 points and 3.2 assists last season for Kelvin Sampson's program. He started all 31 games as a freshman.

"It just wasn't a good fit," Lavender said of the Sooners. "Maybe if I'd have stuck it out, it might have worked. But I decided to transfer because it was a little too far from home."

The drive from Columbus to Xavier is about 90 minutes.

Lavender, who will sit out next season, also considered Michigan, Seton Hall and West Virginia -- but his visit to Xavier on Thursday was the only one he took after deciding to leave Oklahoma.

Lavender is a former McDonald's All-American

Excellent. If this keeps up, Mizzou might, dare to dream, make it to 4th place in the conference for the first time.

Believe the Heupel wrote:
There's trouble in Sooner land.

Between Giddens's and Lavunder, Tiger fan doesn't feel so bad nowadays.

Adelpiero wrote: "They have a great program and it's closer to home for me," said the 5-foot-7 Lavender. "It's a family atmosphere and they are close-knit. I also like it academically."

What do academics matter to a kid who can never make it to class?

I'd think the A10 would have harder parameters than the Big12.


is Xavier A10?

War Wagon wrote: Between Giddens's and Lavunder, Tiger fan doesn't feel so bad nowadays.

Too bad your team is primed to pull a Baylor.

JHawkBCD wrote:

War Wagon wrote: Between Giddens's and Lavunder, Tiger fan doesn't feel so bad nowadays.

Too bad your team is primed to pull a Baylor.

If that is so, I hope Jeffrey Ferguson is the one who dies.