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Hey, so remember when CBSSports.com's Jeff Goodman reported that Marquette junior guard Jake Thomas had received his release and would be transferring at the end of the semester? Well, things change.
#mubb junior guard Jake Thomas to return to MU on scholarship in 13-14. He had requested release after the end of the season.
— MarquetteMBB (@MarquetteMBB) April 18, 2013
Goodman didn't accidentally find out about the original story, right? He had to either hear it straight from head coach Buzz Williams or, at the very least, got it from someone in the athletic department after Buzz signed off on letting Goodman know. So if Buzz is welcoming Thomas back now that there's two open scholarships, which of the departures - Jamal Ferguson, Juan Anderson, or Vander Blue - took Buzz by surprise?
You'd like to think that Buzz is in tune enough with his players that if Jake Thomas tells him he'd like his release to go somewhere else for his final year of eligibility that Buzz could tell him, "Hey, wait two weeks and then let me know if you still want to go," thereby avoiding the entire ridiculous parade of "Jake's leaving! NO WAIT J/K!" But that doesn't seem to be the case, does it?
Thomas returning as a scholarship athlete puts the team at 12 scholarship players for the 2013-14 season, one below the NCAA allowed limit of 13. Buzz believes in a philosophy of "never stop recruiting," so it's 50/50 as to whether he ends up using that last scholarship. Remember, not only is the school year not over yet, but Trent Lockett didn't announce his intention to transfer to Marquette until May 5th of last year, so it might be a while before we can officially put a bow on roster changes.