The NCAA Clearinghouse has given Kansas freshman guard Milton Doyle the go ahead to start his college career.
The 6-foot-4 guard who originally signed with NBA legend Isiah Thomas at Florida International had his high school grades in question. He transferred from Tilden High to Marshall High in Chicago after his sophomore year. Turned out that his academic credits met the requirements.
“It’s truly a blessing,” Doyle’s mother Lisa Green said. “To come from where he was to now, it’s really big. It’s really big. I can’t even describe it.”
Doyle, who averaged 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists in high school, was allowed out of his letter of intent when Thomas was fired as the school’s coach at Florida International. But Thomas was so impressed with Doyle that he contacted Kansas about his availability.
“I knew coach (Kansas coach Bill) Self when he was at Illinois,” Thomas, a Chicago native, said. “I always helped with a couple players there. I’ve also had a good relationship with members of his coaching staff. I felt with Milton’s style, and they’ve had experience with Chicago kids before and they’ve done well by them. I thought it would be a good fit for him.
“I did for Milton what I always try to do for players from Chicago. I’ve helped everyone from Chicago. I’ve done that since I got to the NBA. He also happened to be from my neighborhood and went to the high school my brother went to.”
Thomas said he was eager to coach Doyle at Florida International.
“Very rarely do you see a player in high school that has so many skills in terms of stuffing the stat sheet,” Thomas said of Doyle. “He rebounds the ball well. He can score in a multitude of ways. He can score from the perimeter. He can score off the bounce. He can at the foul line, and he can score off rebounds. He’s a guy who will always find a way to leave his mark on the game.
“For us at FIU, he would have been our first true impact player. He would have been to FIU what Johnny Dawkins was to Coach K (Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski). He would have put us on the map.”
