UCI Basketball Loses Two More Players

Guard Lamarr Parker and forward Juma Jackson said Tuesday that they will not return to the UC Irvine men’s basketball team next season.

Parker, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, will stay at Irvine and remain on scholarship, but won’t play basketball. He led the Anteaters in scoring (13.4) and assists (4.0) as a sophomore, but saw his role reduced last season. Parker played in 27 games and averaged 8.5 points.

Jackson, a 6-4 sophomore, has been granted a release from his scholarship and will transfer to another school. He was a power forward in high school, but never made the adjustment to the perimeter at Irvine. He played in 25 games and averaged 4.4 points last season. He averaged 9.8 points and was named to the Big West Conference’s all-freshman team in 1996-97.

Parker and Jackson are the second and third players to leave the Irvine program since the season ended. Sophomore center Andrew Carlson was released from his scholarship last month.

The three were the only remaining scholarship players from the Anteaters’ 1-25 season in 1996-97.