Star News Online: This isn’t really surprising or breaking news, but forward Dominique Lacy will not return to the UNCW men’s basketball team for his senior season, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

Lacy, a 6-foot-7 210-pound forward, started 46 games in three seasons. His best year was probably his sophomore season when he scored at least 20 points in five games, including a career-high 23 in the season-opening win against Appalachian State.

Lacy’s departure leaves sophomores Matt Wilson and Keith Rendleman as the Seahawks’ only frontcourt options.

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Star News Online: UNC-Wilmington coach Buzz Peterson has the cornerstone ballhandler for the up-tempo style he prefers. And he didn’t have to travel far to find him.

Freddie Jackson, a senior at New Hanover, gave UNCW a verbal commitment earlier Monday.

He said he felt comfortable with Peterson and assistant coach Matt McMahon and reached his decision late last week.

“I like the style of play. They said they’re going to get up and down the floor and that’s best for me,” Jackson said. “It’s a great school, I can get a good education there. I was going to wait until during the season, but I had a lot of time to think about it, so I decided, why wait?”

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Richmond Times-Dispatch: Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Shaka Smart has picked up his second commitment for the 2011 season, landing 6-2, 170-pound guard Briante Weber from Great Bridge High in Chesapeake.

Weber was a senior this past season and averaged 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. He will take a postgraduate year at Fork Union Military Academy before joining VCU.

Weber has qualified academically for freshman eligibility but was young for his class. He doesn't turn 18 until December. He said he decided to go to Fork Union to mature and get stronger.

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Chattanooga Times Free Press: The University of Tennessee men's basketball team seems to have found much-needed frontcourt depth.

Former UNC Wilmington player John Fields said Thursday night that he would transfer to UT for his final season of eligibility. He averaged 10.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game last season at UNCW, and he set a single-season program record with 59 blocked shots.

The 6-foot-9 forward will be eligible immediately because he's already graduated from UNCW.

Fields said he plans to enroll for the second session of UT's summer school, which starts July 8.

"I'm so excited," said Fields, who also considered Xavier, Miami (Fla.) and Rutgers. "Nobody on the list could compete with the magnitude of Tennessee. As soon as Coach (Bruce) Pearl offered, I said yes.

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