surratt granted release

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Oakland Tech's Armando Surratt Granted Release
By Fresno State From His NLI--(Mar. 23, 2002)

According to David Schoen, a staff writer for the Oakland Tribune, Fresno State-signee Armando Surratt (5'-11" Sr. PG) has been granted a release from his National Letter of Intent by Fresno State in the wake of last week's announcement that head coach Jerry Tarkanian will retire. Here's an excerpt from Schoen's article in today's Tribune:

Tech's Surratt free from Fresno State
By David Schoen
STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND -- First, Fresno State lost men's basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian. Now, the Bulldogs have lost recruit Armondo Surratt. Surratt, a 5-foot-11 senior point guard for Oakland Tech High, said Friday that he has been granted a release from the letter-of-intent he signed with Fresno State in November. "As of right now, I'm wide open," said Surratt, who was preparing for tonight's CIF Division I state title game against Westchester of Los Angeles. Letters-of-intent are binding and schools do not have to release student-athletes. "The reason Armondo was coming here was coach Tarkanian," said Fresno State sports information director Steve Weakland. "Because he's not going to coach another year, he wanted to (grant the release)." Surratt, one of the top point guards on the West Coast, said that he now favors Southern Cal, North Carolina and Miami. He said he is hearing from Rutgers and Louisville, whose team just dismissed freshman guard Carlos Hurt and is heavily recruiting Surratt's teammate Leon Powe.