Two-Time Transfer Lyton Plans to Play Basketball at Irvine

Daniel Lyton, a Riverside City College basketball player who signed with Missouri out of high school but never played for the Tigers, said Thursday he plans to sign with UC Irvine in November.

Lyton, a two-time transfer, will have one year of eligibility left.

Lyton was a highly prized recruit from Detroit’s Cooley High, but left Missouri in 1989 during the fall of his freshman year and transferred to the University of Detroit. Later, in exchange for his testimony in an NCAA investigation into Missouri recruiting, the NCAA granted Lyton and another player limited immunity from punishment for any involvement in rules violations.

The NCAA was investigating assistant coach Rich Daly’s use of talent brokers or agents in the recruiting of high school players from the Detroit area. Missouri eventually was given two years’ probation.

Lyton said he later left Detroit because “things didn’t work out with the coach.”

Lyton’s oral commitment to Irvine is not binding until he signs a letter of intent, which NCAA rules do not allow until the November signing period.

A 6-foot-7, 255-pound power forward, Lyton averaged 15 points and six rebounds last season. He said he chose Irvine because he wants to stay in California and because he likes the school’s academic program and Coach Rod Baker’s basketball program.

Lyton, Irvine’s first recruit for next year, said he committed early to avoid recruiting distractions.

“I’ve been through that before,” he said.

He also considered Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, New Mexico State and Oklahoma.