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Memphis announces transfer of shooting guard Damien Wilson

Christian Brothers v Memphis

MEMPHIS, TN - NOVEMBER 8: Michael Dixon Jr. #11, Damien Wilson #0 and Kuran Iverson #23 of the Memphis Tigers huddle up against the Christian Brothers Buccaneers on November 8, 2013 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis beat Christian Brothers 92-63. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)

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With the loss of four key seniors from their backcourt of a season ago, the Memphis Tigers have some questions to answer on the perimeter this summer. Fortunately for head coach Josh Pastner the program has a summer trip to Canada to help with the on-court chemistry of a group that doesn’t have a lot of experience at the Division I level.

One player who entered the summer hoping to compete for more minutes was rising junior shooting guard Damien Wilson, who played just under six minutes per game in his first two seasons as a Tiger. However on Friday it was announced by the school that Wilson has decided to transfer.

“Damien is in good academic standing at the University, but he shared with me that he’d like a fresh start,” Pastner said in the release. “We support Damien and wish him all the best.”

In two seasons at Memphis the Atlanta native played in 41 games, with 15 of those coming in his sophomore year. Last season Wilson played 19 minutes in the Tigers’ season-opening win over Austin Peay and 20 in a loss at Oklahoma State, a game in which he scored eight points. But he would play in just 13 games the remainder of the season, reaching double digits in minutes just once.

While Memphis may not have a lot of experience on the perimeter they don’t lack for bodies, with three junior college transfers and freshmen Pookie Powell (redshirted last season) and Dominic Magee joining returnees Markel Crawford (missed all of last season), Kuran Iverson and Nick King. That may have impacted Wilson’s thought process with regards to how much of an increase in minutes he could expect to see in 2014-15.

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