Reserve guard Proffitt leaving Notre Dame basketball

By TOM NOIE, Tribune Staff Writer

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Notre Dame's Luke Zeller, Tory Jackson, and Ryan Ayers

Notre Dame players (from left) Luke Zeller (40), Tory Jackson (2), and Ryan Ayers (42) look on as a teammate shoots free throws near the end of the college basketball game against San Francisco, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007. (AP Photo/The South Bend Tribune, Parker Michels-Boyce)

By Tiffany Griffin

Story Created: Aug 28, 2008 at 10:40 AM EST

Story Updated: Aug 28, 2008 at 10:57 AM EST

SOUTH BEND — A long walk across campus Wednesday ended the short stay at Notre Dame for men's basketball sophomore guard Ty Proffitt.

Proffitt, who played limited minutes last season and was expected to accept a reduced role again this year, has left school and will transfer to another university.

"When I talked to him Wednesday, Ty said the hardest thing he ever had to do was walk across campus to the basketball offices and ask for his release," said Steve Wright, who coached Proffitt at South Laurel (Ky.) High School. "It was a situation of doing something he didn't want to do, but doing something he felt he had to do."

Proffitt accompanied the Irish on their recently-completed 12-day foreign tour of Ireland. It was a trip, Wright said, that Proffitt wanted to use to gauge what his role would be this season on a team that returns seven of the top eight contributors off last year's 25-8 squad. When Proffitt realized he again would be the fourth guard in a three-guard rotation, he felt it was time to look elsewhere.

"I don't know how many times he's told me how much he loves the coaches, loves the players and loves that university," said Wright, who spent a week with Proffitt this summer while working coach Mike Brey's basketball camp. "But he really wants to play. It's disappointing in one respect that Ty won't be at Notre Dame, but it will work out the best for him in the long run."

Wright said he already has received calls from several Division I schools, including Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky and Morehead (Ky.) State, about Proffitt, a three-year starter at South Laurel.

Calls to Proffitt's home this morning were not answered.

The 6-foot-4 Proffitt played 22 minutes over eight games last season. He scored eight points with three rebounds and two assists.

"We fully support Ty's decision to transfer to another school," Brey said in a statement. "My staff and I, and most importantly, his teammates, wish Ty nothing but the best."

Proffitt's transfer opens another scholarship for the Irish to use this recruiting season. Notre Dame has three scholarships to offer and already has verbal commitments from high school seniors Joey Brooks (Houston) and Jack Cooley (Glenview, Ill.).

For more on this story, read Friday's edition of the South Bend Tribune.

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