By ERIC BAILEY Sports Writer on Apr 20, 2012, at 9:22 PM Updated on 4/20 at 9:22 PM
TU SPORTS
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Tulsa guard Jordan Clarkson met with athletic director Ross Parmley on Friday afternoon.
The hour-long meeting, scheduled earlier this week, focused on the player’s future.
The Tulsa World learned that Clarkson has been given permission to contact additional schools. The new schools had contacted TU and requested permission to speak with the all-conference player. The total number of schools is unknown.
On Tuesday, when TU announced it had granted the San Antonio native permission to speak to programs about a transfer, the allowed list included Colorado, Vanderbilt and TCU out of the eight submitted by his family.
TU continues to maintain its stance of not allowing Clarkson permission to contact five schools — identified by the Clarkson family as Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Missouri and Arizona.
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Would Tulsa allow Clarkson to speak to more schools? It’s likely, as evident by Friday’s action.
In theory, a source said, Clarkson could be allowed to talk to 330-plus schools. The five that the Clarksons have identified would be off-limits.
While Tulsa has chosen publicly to not speak about Jordan Clarkson’s situation, his father Mike Clarkson has made the media rounds this week.
In a Thursday interview with Orangebloods.com, a Rivals website affiliated with Texas, the elder Clarkson said he’s anxious for an appeals hearing next Thursday on TU’s campus. “I’ve got my attorney and my wife and we’re ready to fly up for this committee hearing. They didn’t expect we’d have the ammo we have.”
The issue at hand still appears to be the speculation that the Clarkson family was looking to transfer during the season, which is probably the reason for the blocked schools. Mike Clarkson continues to deny that anyone affiliated with the family prematurely talked to schools.
Clarkson can attend any school he wishes next season. He must sit out one season regardless of what school he transfers to. If he goes to a school that Tulsa has released him to, he can immediately receive an athletic scholarship. If Clarkson attends a school not on Tulsa’s list, he must attend school at his own cost.
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A big question: Would Jordan Clarkson have transferred if Doug Wojcik remained coach?
According to the Clarksons, a main reason for the departure was Wojcik’s firing. One day later, on March 12, Clarkson’s parents released a statement stating they were going to explore all of its options.
A source close to the situation told me that Mike Clarkson and Wojcik often didn’t see eye to eye, dating back to the player’s freshman year. When Bryson Pope was starting at point guard, Mike Clarkson was upset that his son was coming off the bench. The source said Mike Clarkson truly believed that Clarkson could have been Conference USA’s freshman of the year if he’d started.
Is Wojcik’s firing being used as a crutch for this transfer? Or would it have happened if Wojcik returned?
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In other Tulsa news, the top-seeded men’s and women’s tennis teams continue their marches for a Conference USA title.
The men survived a scare, posting a 4-3 win over UCF. The Hurricane will face either UAB or Tulane in a semifinal in Orlando, Fla.
The women shut out East Carolina and will face fourth-seed and host Memphis at noon Saturday.
Tulsa’s men have won five of the past six conference titles. The women have won four of the past five C-USA crowns.
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Junior Chris Worrell was named to the C-USA men’s golf academic team for a second consecutive year.
Worrell, who is from Enid, maintained a 3.84 grade point average in business management. He is one of three repeat performers named to this year’s golf academic team.
The men open the Conference USA Men’s Golf Championships beginning this weekend, April 22-24, at the Texarkana Country Club in Texarkana, Ark.
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First-place Tulsa will face Houston in an important C-USA softball series this weekend.
A Saturday doubleheader starts with a 3:30 p.m. contest and will be televised by Fox Sports Network. The series finale is at noon Sunday.
TU (30-10, 12-3) is one game ahead of Houston (26-16, 11-4), which is tied with UAB for second place.
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The sixth annual Lawless Cup will take place on the Verdigris River beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Tulsa will compete against SMU in its only home regatta of the season.
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An art show by Tulsa senior defensive tackle Derrick Jackson began Friday at the campus’ Hurricane Hut II. Jackson is a talented artist who will have much of his work showcased. The event runs through next week.
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