Lavar Harewood recently spoke with University of Maine men’s basketball head coach Bob Walsh about the possibility of transferring. After further consideration, the freshman has decided to make a move.
Walsh on Monday confirmed that Harewood has asked for and received permission to pursue other opportunities.
“He wants to explore a place where he knows he can find some more playing time and is a little closer to home,” Walsh said.
“He and I had a lot of discussions on it to make sure he was in the right place and making the right decision, and we wish him the best,” he added.
Harewood, a 6-foot-3 guard from Brooklyn, New York, was among the regular contributors this season for the 8-22 Black Bears. He averaged 5.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game.
Harewood’s motivation in transferring was to find “a situation closer to home,” he said via Twitter.
The news about Harewood comes 11 days after America East All-Rookie Team pick Issac Vann was granted his release to pursue a transfer with the goal of playing at a higher level.
Vann has reportedly received considerable interest and has visits scheduled at the University of Connecticut and at St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia, according to Jon Alba of ABC 7/Fox 22 in Bangor.
Walsh also confirmed a report by Alba that freshman walk-on Walter King will transfer to the New York Institute of Technology. King, a 6-foot guard who played at Lee Academy, left UMaine at the end of the first semester.
“At the time he had personal issues that were really important that he had to deal with,” Walsh said.
“We talked, and he was hopeful when he left that he was going to be able to come back, but that wasn’t going to be the case,” he added.
King appeared in six games, averaging 1.7 points and 1.5 rebounds.
NCAA athletes seeking to transfer to another NCAA school for competition must obtain written permission from the current school’s athletic director in order to contact coaches or staff members at other schools. Athletes may write to those people to express interest in transferring, but the coach cannot discuss a transfer until receiving the permission-to-contact letter.
“It’s part of the deal,” Walsh said of transfers. “You’re always balancing the best interests of the program with the best interests of the individual.”
Harewood played in 28 games with eight starts last season and shot only 33 percent from the field and from the 3-point arc. He was a 71 percent free-throw shooter.
His performance declined during the conference schedule, when he averaged 3.4 points and 2.1 rebounds in 12.4 mpg and shot only 27 percent from the field, including 13 percent from long range.
Harewood was an All-New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Class B second-team pick in 2015 at the Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts.
Last year, UMaine lost two players, Christian Ejiga and Erik Nissen, via the transfer route.