Michigan’s Dawkins transferring to play for father at UCF

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – Michigan sophomore Aubrey Dawkins is transferring to Central Florida to play for his father.

Johnny Dawkins was hired as UCF’s coach last month after being fired by Stanford, and now the 6-foot-6 Aubrey is set to join him. Aubrey Dawkins started 22 games in two seasons at Michigan. He averaged 6.5 points a game this season.

“This was not an easy decision, however, the chance to play for my father is a special opportunity for me and my family,” Dawkins said in a statement. “Coach (John) Beilein and Michigan took a chance on me and that is something I will never forget.”

The news of Dawkins’ departure was announced shortly before Beilein met with reporters for his season wrapup news conference. There were plenty of questions about Dawkins – and the issue of transfers in general.

“With Aubrey deciding to transfer, we understand it,” Beilein said. “I coached my own son. It’s a great opportunity for him.”

Ricky Doyle and Spike Albrecht have also been released to transfer from Michigan. Albrecht was injured this season and would be playing a fifth year in 2016-17, although Dawkins’ departure now raises the question of whether Albrecht could return to the Wolverines instead of going elsewhere.

“I think anything’s possible right now. We’re going to look at all the options that we have,” Beilein said. “What does the team need, number one? What do we have to do to plug some of the gaps that we really have? So we have some interesting questions we have to answer.”

Beilein announced last week that he would no longer restrict where Doyle and Albrecht could transfer. The issue of whether players should be able to transfer within the same conference had become a big topic, and the Michigan coach was receiving some criticism.

Max Bielfeldt played for Indiana this past season after transferring from Michigan, and the Wolverines were on the other end of such a move in football, when quarterback Jake Rudock came to Michigan from Iowa.

“People would have to sit in every recruiting meeting, in every scouting report, in every practice, in every postseason coaches meeting, to understand why we think the way we do about intraconference transfers – because I’m not the only one in this,” Beilein said. “If I’ve got to take a few bullets, so it opens it up and we find a really good solution – whatever it is – it’s OK.”

Beilein also said there’s been some interest from other schools in his assistants, but he did not go into specifics.