Vernon Lowndes Jr., who played in 29 games with six starts for the University of Maine men’s basketball team last winter, is transferring to Texas A&M Commerce, an NCAA Division II school, for the 2018-2019 season.
Lowndes, who in March announced his intention to transfer, becomes the third player from the 2017-2018 UMaine team to transfer after Black Bears’ head coach Bob Walsh was replaced by former UM women’s basketball head coach Richard Barron on March 5.
Third-team All-America East point guard Aaron Calixte will attend the University of Oklahoma as a graduate transfer, while guard Danny Evans has announced his plans to attend Division II Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Lowndes announced his decision on Twitter.
“First, I want to start off by thanking God. I also want to thank the University of Maine. I’ve met a lot of different people and made relationships that will last a lifetime. I want to thank Coach Walsh and his staff for pushing me to become a better player and person,” he wrote.
“I want to thank my teammates also. This decision was tough because they became my brothers and I’ll forever be thankful for them. But with that being said I will be leaving the University of Maine and finishing my senior year of academics and college basketball at Texas A&M Commerce!”
Lowndes Jr. averaged 6.5 points and 3.3 rebounds during his only season at UMaine after spending two years in the junior college ranks at the University of South Carolina-Salkehatchie.
His UMaine career best was 20 points in a victory over Quinnipiac when he set a program record for 3-point field-goal percentage by going 5-for-5 from beyond the arc.
The 6-foot-5 guard from Charleston, South Carolina, led the Black Bears with a .479 field-goal percentage last season.
Texas A&M-Commerce went 22-9 last year under Jaret von Rosenberg, a former assistant at the University of Hartford, and advanced to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional semifinals.
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