August 20, 2010

McMorrow granted waiver, eligible to play this season for Golden Eagles

Liam McMorrow, a 7-foot transfer from Marquette University, has been granted a waiver of the transfer requirement by the NCAA and will be eligible to begin playing for coach Mike Sutton’s Golden Eagles immediately.

McMorrow on his way to join team in Dominican Republic

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It’s good news for Tennessee Tech basketball fans, and potentially bad news for Golden Eagle opponents.

Liam McMorrow, a 7-foot transfer from Marquette University, has been granted a waiver of the transfer requirement (14.5.5.1) by the NCAA and will be eligible to begin playing for coach Mike Sutton’s Golden Eagles immediately.

McMorrow played the 2007-08 season at Durham College in Canada, then transferred to Marquette and sat out the 2008-09 season due to NCAA requirements. He sat out the entire 2009-10 season for medical reasons, so Tennessee Tech submitted a request to the NCAA for a waiver on the requirement that would have forced him to sit out an additional year.

He will be a junior this season with two years of eligibility remaining.

“We certainly appreciate the efforts of all parties involved including the Marquette staff and the NCAA staff,” said Sutton.

Sutton has watched McMorrow in practice for the past couple weeks, and is excited that he will be on the floor this season.

“We’re so excited for Liam to be able to play, he’s been working so hard in practices,” Sutton said. “We felt like he had a good chance for approval, but circumstances are different for every case and even though you’re hopeful, you just never know. We wanted to get him cleared as soon as possible, and I think it was a good decision by the NCAA.”

McMorrow will be one of six newcomers on Sutton’s roster this season.

“I know that he’s excited,” Sutton said. “It’s a fresh start for him because he hasn’t played competitively in two years, and he only has one year of experience at the collegiate level prior to that.

“We’re excited to have him in the Golden Eagle family officially, even though he’s been a part of our family unofficially for awhile now,” he added. “Liam is traveling to join the team in the Dominican Republic today.”