Jay Duncan welcomes Markus Kennedy to Dallas
Sources close to former Villanovan, Markus Kennedy, have told Evan Daniels of Scout and Dave Telep of ESPN, that the big man will be transferring to SMU to play for Larry Brown.
SMU seemed to have an advantage in Markus Kennedy's final three transfer choices. He knew Larry Brown and his new video assistant Jay Duncan (a former Villanova graduate assistant), it was in a major market, had new facilities, plenty of playing time and by the time he'd play again, it would be a Big East program.
Kennedy will sit out the 2012-13 season, per NCAA rules, and will resume his basketball career when SMU enters the Big East conference in 2013-14. That season will include at least one match-up between the Mustangs and Wildcats, and with two schools in Philadelphia, it seems likely that Kennedy will get at least one trip home with his new team.
In his one year at 'Nova, he averaged 3 points & 4.4 boards per contest. He averaged just under 15 minutes in the 31 games he played.
What sort of effect will he have for Larry Brown's SMU? Will he be able to match up with Daniel Ochefu?
If Kennedy develops his body and his game in his year off and shows up ready to break out for SMU in 2013, things could be interesting for Villanova. The Mustangs are hoping to make a respectable Big East debut, and they are adding players through transfer and recruiting that they hope will lend them some instant credibility.
A move from Villanova to SMU would not have been allowed under Big East conference rules once the Mustangs officially became members of the Big East conference next summer. Their lame duck season in Conference USA, however, offers them a loophole to that rule -- Villanova, for their part, could have closed that loophole by declining to release him to play for SMU, but has apparently not blocked the move.