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Report: Junior college transfer Waverly Austin won’t be a USF Bull

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With point guard Anthony Collins and wing Victor Rudd Jr. being two of the key players returning to Tampa, the USF Bulls are more than capable of returning to the NCAA tournament.

But unfortunately for head coach Stan Heath that goal became a little tougher to achieve with 6-11, 275-pound junior college center Waverly Austin being declared ineligible by the school.

As first reported by Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, the issue isn’t NCAA eligibility as the Fredricksburg, Virginia product was academically cleared by the NCAA.

The problem is that all of the credits Austin earned at Palm Beach State College, despite earning his associate’s degree, were not accepted by USF.

With the Bulls losing forwards Augustus Gilchrist and Ron Anderson Jr., Austin was expected not only to add depth inside but likely end up being the Bulls’ starter in the middle as well.

Austin helped lead Palm Beach State College to a 26-5 record last season, averaging 14.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocked shots per game.

Luckily for the Bulls they’ve got Toarlyn Fitzpatrick back this season, and there’s also 6-8 FAU transfer Kore White to consider.

It remains to be seen what 7-3 redshirt freshman Jordan Omogbehin can give them, but he may be more “project” than “key contributor” right now.

As for where Austin may be headed now it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was playing major college basketball somewhere this season.

The question of what credits from another school, be it a 2-year or 4-year institution, get accepted varies from institution to institution and that’s not something the NCAA has an impact on.

Photo credit: Palm Beach State College

Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.