Credit for the news goes to Luke Fischer himself, as he announced it on Twitter this morning, and it first came to my feed via ESPN's Jeff Goodman:
I am excited to say I will be transferring to Marquette University to play for Coach Williams and the Golden Eagles
— Luke Fischer (@Bigfishy44) January 5, 2014
Fischer is a 6'11", 230 lb. center from Germantown, Wisconsin. He was named the best high school player in the state after his senior year. Fischer will sit out the spring semester and next year's fall semester per NCAA transfer restrictions. While he won't play in a game until mid-December, Fischer will undoubtedly be called upon for big minutes immediately, due to the departures of Chris Otule and Davante Gardner following this season.
Fischer injured his shoulder as a part of preseason training in September, but played in all 13 of Indiana's games this season before announcing his intention to transfer. He averaged three points and two rebounds in 10 minutes of action, but played double digit minutes in each of Indiana's last four games.
A quick consultation of the MU Scoop scholarship table shows Marquette with 12 scholarship players right now after the departure of Jameel McKay, one short of the NCAA limit of 13. However, because Section 15.5.1 of the NCAA Handbook says that the NCAA counts "players that you provided with benefits," not "players currently at your school," Marquette currently does not have a scholarship available for Fischer. That's what makes this decision slightly surprising, as I would have expected him to end up at a school where he did not have to pay his own way for a semester.
As for next year, that's where things get interesting. With every underclassman returning and the four recruits - Ahmed Hill, Sandy Cohen, Satchel Pierce, and Marial Shayok - that have signed letters of intent, that brings Marquette to 12 players for next year. Fischer will take the 13th and final scholarship. That brings the status of Malek Harris into question. The Illinois native was kicked off of the Sandburg High School basketball team for an undisclosed disciplinary reason, and even though he was the first recruit to commit to Marquette's class of 2014, he did not sign a letter of intent during the fall signing period.
Is Harris still in the fold? Are there other parts moving around that we don't know about right now? As Buzz Williams likes to say, these things have a way of working themselves out, so we'll have to wait and see.