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On the eve to Providence's big matchup with Villanova outside of Philadelphia, their once-stud freshman, Brandon Austin, has elected transfer from the Rhode Island college.
A few days before Christmas, Providence announced that both Austin and Rodney Bullock would be suspended for the remainder of the season due to a violation of the school's conduct policy and for "not upholding their responsibilities as student-athletes." The freshmen tandem were originally suspended on November 6th before being declared gone for the season.
Austin, a highly regarded prospect from Philadelphia's Imhotep Charter, took his high school team to the city's Public League title and was the MVP of the team's third-straight Class AAA title. The guard was expected to make an immediate impact in Coach Ed Cooley's rotation after Kris Dunn went down with an early injury and the loss of a senior guard.
"We wish Brandon success with his basketball career and with his academic future," Cooley said in a school press release regarding Austin's decision to leave.
But as far as landing spots for the talented guard, the Providence Journal's Kevin McNamarra sees Oregon as a landing spot.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Hearing Oregon looking like safe landing spot for Brandon Austin. <a href="http://t.co/BmkMPucXLx">http://t.co/BmkMPucXLx</a></p>— Kevin McNamara (@KevinMcNamara33) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinMcNamara33/statuses/419602722413764609">January 4, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Austin originally committed to Penn State in February 2012, only to change several months later. Providence hasn't announced if Bullock has any plans of transferring. Austin's scholarship has been pulled as well.
More from McNamarra:
"Word from several Philadelphia basketball sources is that Austin's advisors were calling other schools early last month as PC's administration weighed its decision. Penn State, Oregon and Temple are a few of the schools being mentioned as potential landing spots."