Owens to transfer next year

Freshman guard Andre Owens announced Friday that he will not return to the men's basketball team next season. Owens has been granted a release from his scholarship at IU and will transfer to another school after finishing the academic year.\nOwens said he wants to play for a team with a more up-tempo offense.\nOwens, a former Perry Meridian High School standout, met with coach Mike Davis Friday to inform him of his decision to transfer.\n"I fully support Andre and the decision that he has made," Davis said Friday in a press release. "I know that such decisions are not easy ones to make. I met with Andre this afternoon and have indicated that everyone involved with the Indiana men's basketball program will do whatever we can to assist him in his future endeavors."\nThe 6-foot-2 Owens played in 30 games for the Hoosiers this season, averaging 4.7 points in 14.1 minutes per game. His career-high scoring game was a 22 point-effort Dec. 8 against Western Michigan.\nOwens has not declared where he will transfer to, stating that, "I have a lot of schools looking at me right now."\nBut he did leave open the possibility of rejoining former IU coach Bob Knight at Texas Tech. \n"(Texas Tech) may be one of my options," Owens said. "Coach Knight told us he'd have no problem with us transferring to play for him. I just want to go somewhere to play my style of basketball. But I'm not going to jump into a place that isn't right. I'm weighing my options."\nOwens' departure leaves the team's bench thin on scoring guards. Starters Dane Fife and Tom Coverdale play a substantial amount, and with Owens' transfer, sophomore Kyle Hornsby is the only significant threat remaining off the bench.\n"Coach (Davis) was bringing him along as fast as he could," Fife said. "I think Andre would have eventually been a really good player here. He just didn't have the patience. It's disappointing to see him go, but we'll find someone to fill his role. It's obvious we need help, especially at the (scoring) guard position."\nThe Hoosiers will be joined next season by 6-foot-1 point guard Donald Perry of McCall (La.) High School and 6-foot-7 forward Sean Kline of Huntington (Ind.) North High School.\nWith Owens' transfer, the Hoosiers will have an additional open scholarship and will likely bring in a third recruit for next year.\nOne player Davis will take a close look at is 6-foot-2 guard Marcus Hatten of Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College.\nHatten is the Panhandle Conference Player of the Year and averaged 24 points, 5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game this season. Hatten is also being recruited by Iowa State and DePaul.