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Indiana's James Blackmon: Transfer reports and rumors have 'no validity'

On Selection Sunday, a grey cloud hangs over the future of Indiana's program -- and the guard set to take center stage after Yogi Ferrell's departure next year.

By Kyle Robbins
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Indiana's heir-apparent to Yogi Ferrell as the Hoosiers' primary backcourt scorer might be gone after the season.

Or he might not be.

Last night, a report surfaced on Twitter from a reporter that James Blackmon is set to transfer from Indiana at the end of the 2016 season.

There's a ton of reasons why, on the surface, such a report would make sense. Blackmon's had to watch from the outside as his team went on to win a Big Ten Championship without him -- and his removal from the lineup due to injury has often been cast as the moment that changed this Indiana team for the better. Brooke states in his bio that he recently left Bleacher Report for FanDuel's new in-house content team, so he's got a bit more clout than any old random twitter user. When a writer for a semi-reputable outlet breaks news, we're going to pass it along to you. Thus, we posted the tweet here.

Of course, there were plenty of reasons why it wouldn't make sense. Blackmon, who reportedly had his eye to the NBA last offseason, would be forced to sit another season before transferring. Seemingly, it'd make much more sense for him to go ahead and cash checks professionally -- whether in the NBA or otherwise -- rather than transferring.

And, shortly after the first report, a TV station in Blackmon's hometown of Fort Wayne refuted the initial story.

Now this morning, regular Indiana beat writer Justin Albers citing several sources calls the report emphatically "false."

The timing of the initial report is rather curious. Selection Sunday, what should be somewhat of a time to celebrate for an Indiana team that won an outright conference championship and has its eyes on a bigger prize, is today. Blackmon's father won a regional title at Marion last night.

Do with all this what you well -- but we'd just suggest enjoying the NCAA Tournament and worrying about next season afterward.

UPDATE 3:30 pm: Blackmon releases statement

Blackmon's now put out a statement of his own on the report -- indicating that there's no truth to any such rumors.

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