Head, a sophomore shooting guard, left Illinois after the school’s first semester in December. He did not enroll in junior college in the spring and will have to sit out all of next season wherever he transfers.
Head said his visit to SMU came about because of his relationship with former Illinois assistant Jerrance Howard, who was recently added to Larry Brown’s staff at SMU. Howard recruited Head at Illinois.
“Just talking to Jerrance, he’s telling me great things about the school, and I just want to see it for myself,” Head said. “We’ve been talking since I left school. He’s still like family to me. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s just a good person. I trust him and what he’s telling me about the school.”
Head said in January he planned to transfer to DePaul, but he’s since been contacted by other schools.
“DePaul is still an option,” Head said. “SMU just popped in. I’ve talked to a lot of schools, and I just want to check out my options and see what’s best for me.”
Head averaged 1.0 points, 0.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 9.2 minutes in nine games with Illinois last season.
He was a highly touted recruit for the Illini out of Rich South High School in Richton Park, Ill. He was ranked No. 79 in the Class of 2010 by ESPN Recruiting.
Head said he didn’t regret leaving Illinois, but he wishes he had stayed the entire year.
“I’m pretty happy with my decision with leaving,” Head said. “It probably wasn’t the time to leave in the middle of the school year. That’s probably my only regret.”
Head has continued to stay in touch with most of his former Illinois teammates, and he felt for Bruce Weber when he was fired from Illinois.
“I was little disappointed for him,” Head said of Weber. “It’s the way things work. They weren’t winning too many games.”
Scott Powers covers colleges for ESPNChicago.com.
Scott Powers | email
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Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.
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