Marquette Freshman Interested in SDSU

John Jimmerson, a freshman who played basketball at Marquette, has expressed an interest in transferring to San Diego State. Jimmerson quit Marquette’s team earlier this month, and he would be eligible to play next December at SDSU if he transferred before next semester.

“He’s a 6-6 kid, and we don’t have those kind of kids in our program,” Coach Smokey Gaines said.

Jimmerson was a teammate of Aztec center Kevin Brown last year at Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids, Mich. Jimmerson, a four-year varsity starter, averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds a game in earning all-state honors.

According to a Marquette spokesman, Jimmerson quit the team this year for two reasons: he only played in one of the first five games, and he experienced difficulties in recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery because of cold weather.

“John speaks very highly of Smokey Gaines,” said Melvin Atkins, athletic director for the Grand Rapids City School District. “He announced he was going to San Diego State last year. For some reason, he changed his mind. He’s doing quite well at Marquette academically. He has about a 2.5 grade-point average.”

Gaines expressed concern over whether Jimmerson would meet SDSU’s new stringent academic requirements.