LSU’s Turner considers transfer

“I have encouraged him (Ralston Turner) to explore other options with the opportunity to return provided he is 100 percent an LSU Tiger.” Johnny Jones, LSU basketball coach

Ralston Turner has been given a release by LSU should he choose to transfer, but the sophomore forward from Muscle Shoals, Ala., appears open to the possibility of returning to help open the Johnny Jones era.

In a university news release, Turner said Wednesday he intends to visit another school.

“I am going to take a visit,” Turner said in the release. “When it’s over, I will weigh my options.”

Turner did not indicate which school he will visit, but Scout.com’s North Carolina State website, http://www.PackPride.com/, tweeted Wednesday that the Atlantic Coast Conference school coached by Mark Gottfried will be hosting him this weekend.

Gottfried previously coached at Alabama, the state where Turner starred in high school.

Jones said Turner had told Trent Johnson that he might want to transfer. Jones replaced Johnson as LSU’s coach after the latter left for TCU early last month.

“In my initial meeting with Ralston,” Jones said in the release, “he indicated that he had previously discussed with coach Trent Johnson that he might consider transferring from LSU. I told him that we would get together to discuss that at the end of the semester and that if he wished, he would be granted permission to explore other opportunities.”

The release restricts Turner from choosing another Southeastern Conference school.

“I have encouraged him to explore other options with the opportunity to return provided he is 100 percent an LSU Tiger,” Jones said.

LSU lost junior center Justin Hamilton when the 7-footer announced before Johnson’s departure that he planned to leave college and pursue a career in professional basketball. Turner would be the first Tiger to leave the program since Jones arrived.

As a sophomore last year, Turner averaged 9.1 points while starting 32 games. The year before, he led LSU at 12.3 points per game and earned a spot on the All-SEC Freshman team.