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Stephan Van Treese reportedly not transferring, will remain with Louisville

StephanVanTreese

Just when it looked like Stephan Van Treese was one of three Louisville players to be transferring, the news has changed.

Van Treese will not be leaving the Cardinals’ program, despite the fact that he was granted a release earlier this month, multiple outlets are reporting.

“I said, ‘Stephen, that’s not what this whole thing was about, you need to play,’” coach Rick Pitino told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “If you’re going to sit out, stay at Louisville. It’s silly to sit out again that’s three years without playing. So he agreed and that’s exactly what happened.”

His scholarship had freed up room for Top 100 recruit Montrezl Harrell, who committed to Louisville after decommitting from Virginia Tech, but now it appears Van Treese will be back.

Since the announcement of his intention to transfer, the school announced that forward Rakeem Buckles would be transferring to Florida International to play for former U of L assistant Richard Pitino.

It will now be Buckles’ scholarship opening that gives Harrell a spot on the team in 2012-13.

Van Treese missed all but three games this past season with a left knee injury, but averaged 2.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game for the Cardinals during his sophomore season in 2010-11.

The Cardinals are coming off a season in which they finished 30-10, including 10-8 in the Big East, and made a run to the Final Four in New Orleans.

Three key pieces of the team are returning in the fall. Peyton Siva, Chane Behanan, and Gorgui Dieng, to go along with the 2012 recruits Harrell and guard Terry Rozier.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_