Arizona Basketball: Xavier Transfer Mark Lyons Chooses UA Over Kentucky

Sean Miller may have his answer at 1, and it comes from a familiar source. Mark Lyons tweeted his choice of Arizona on Sunday, choosing the saguaros of Tucson over the bluegrass of Lexington. Lyons visited defending national champion Kentucky last week. Because he received his degree, Lyons will be immediately eligible.

Josiah Turner's myriad troubles landed him on the bench during March's Pac-12 Tournament, rushing Jordin Mayes' rehabilitation and forcing Nick Johnson to play out of position. Turner transferred to SMU last week after being dismissed from the team, leaving an ironic void at Point Guard U.

The tumultuous point guard situation hindered UA's bid for the NCAA tournament, most notably in the final possession of the Pac-12 championship game vs. Colorado.

Mayes came on strong in the stretch run of the 2010-'11 season, but a foot injury slowed his progress last campaign. Lyons' addition gives Miller two point guards for 2012-'13, while allowing Johnson to fulfill his natural shooting guard role.

Lyons is a scorer in the mold of past UA point guards lke Nic Wise and Jason Gardner, but with more size at 6-foot-1. He averaged better than 15 points per game for last season's NCAA tournament Musketeer bunch, and shot over 39 percent from behind the 3-point arc. That could come in handy with UA losing two of its better long range shooters to graduation, Kyle Fogg and Brendon Lavender.