Former Purdue guard lands in Chicago

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After years of struggles off of the court with Purdue, Kelsey Barlow has been given a reprieve in the form of the University of Illinois-Chicago.

The former Purdue men's basketball player will transfer to UIC beginning this fall and be eligible to compete during the 2013-14 season. He will have one season of eligibility.

"We're excited to bring a player of Kelsey's caliber into our program," Flames coach Howard Moore said in a release. "I coached against Kelsey during his great freshman season when I was at Wisconsin, and have always been impressed with his skill-set.

The 6-foot-5 guard was suspended by Purdue coach Matt Painter just before the 2011 NCAA tournament for conduct detrimental to the team. He was then kicked off of the squad in February of this past season when he and then-junior guard D.J. Byrd were involved in a disturbance at a bar in West Lafayette, in which Byrd was arrested.

Barlow played in 93 games for the Boilermakers and started 29 of those. His versatility was valuable in that he was skilled enough to play the point guard position on occasions, yet physically big enough to spend time at the shooting guard or even small forward slots. As a junior, the Indianapolis Cathedral High School graduate played in 26 games and averaged 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per contest.

“He will be a great asset to our younger players every day in practice during his transfer year,” Moore said. “As a senior, I expect him to be one of the better players in the Horizon League."

As a sophomore, Barlow scored 5.1 points, pulled down 2.9 rebounds and dished out 1.6 assists per game. He started seven games and was the first option off of the bench in 20 other games.

He was named to the Big Ten Conference All-Freshman Team after seeing action in all 35 games, tying for the second-most by a freshman in program history.

"Kelsey's transfer to UIC will be very beneficial for both him and our program," Moore added. "He is excited and humbled about this next phase of his college basketball career, and to be a teammate again. Kelsey is a kid with great character, and my discussions and interactions with him have proven that. We're excited for him to join our team."

Tdavis@news-sentinel.com