Aaron Anderson, Darian Harris Announce Transfers to ORU

[Old Titan]

Former Fresno State, Creighton Players Headed To ORU

 

Thursday, May 8, 2014 10:06 am

By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer

Updated Thursday, May 8, 2014 3:14 pm

 

Aaron Anderson said he got his first scholarship offer from Oral Roberts while in high school. Darian Harris said ORU was the first school to recruit him.

 

Both are coming to ORU, but they took detours.

 

Anderson, who played his freshman season at Fresno State and his sophomore season at Central Oklahoma, is transferring to ORU. He will be required to sit out next season and will have two years of eligibility remaining.

 

Harris redshirted last season at Creighton. Citing family issues, he hopes to win an appeal for immediate eligibility at ORU.

 

Harris is a 6-foot-6 guard from Springdale, Ark., who scored more points than anyone in Shiloh Christian School history. His parents have since moved to Oklahoma City and he said he has grandparents, great grandparents and other relatives who live in Tulsa.

 

“As soon as I got my release, Oral Roberts called right away,†Harris said.

 

Transferring to ORU will allow Harris to be reunited with Dederick Lee, who redshirted as a freshman last season. Harris said he and Lee have been AAU teammates since the second grade and their fathers have, at times, been their coaches.

 

Anderson, a 6-foot-3 guard who played high school ball at Edmond Santa Fe, started 12 games at Fresno State two seasons ago, averaging 1.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 15 minutes of court time per game.

 

He returned to his hometown last season and averaged 14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.3 rebounds for UCO. A point guard who can play the off guard position, he started every game and led the Bronchos with a .598 field goal percentage.

 

Why leave home again? Anderson said it’s better for him to not be around home so he can be more focused. And he wants to return to Division I basketball.

 

“That’s no knock at UCO,†he said. “They have a great program and I loved playing with those guys and loved the coach there. But there’s a different level that I was missing out on and I need to get back to that level.â€

 

Anderson said ORU’s coaches have always shown him a lot of love. When he was at Fresno State, he said he had thoughts of “why didn’t I go to ORU†in the back of his head.

 

Now he’s going. And he’s got company.

 

© Tulsa World

[theeagleman5]

That's awesome news!....TheEagleman is pleased.....he still has to sit out a year even if he's coming from a small school???...so how many former Edmond players does ORU have now???....

[Old Titan]

(Anderson) still has to sit out a year even if he's coming from a small school???

 

Anyone transferring INTO a D-1 school from virtually anything other than a juco must sit a year, unless they get a hardship ruling of some kind.  Keeps the D-1 schools from raiding the non-D1 schools of their better talent every summer.

 

Harris may find some tough sledding on the immediate-play appeal process; the NCAA is reportedly planning to crack down on hardship rulings after getting pretty soft on them the past few years.

[ORUalum]

great news....hope Harris can win the appeal

[Old Titan]

Golden Eagles now have three transfers on the roster who initially passed on a scholarship offer from ORU out of high school:  Drew Wllson, Aaron Anderson, and Darian Harris.

 

And in hindsight, one transfer ORU admits they should have offered out of high school, but didn't (and who made them pay for it his freshman year):  Obi Emegano.

 

Bold Prediction - Next name to add to that "Second Bite At The Apple" list in a year or two:  Edmond Memorial's Shaq Morris, who redshirted at Wichita State this past year.

[SOLO_Gold]

Really great news today!