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Iowa loses at least two
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Father says Iowa releases Jake Kelly
Posted 3/27/2009 2:05 AM
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) ? Jake Kelly has been released from the Iowa men's basketball team, his father says.

Terre Haute resident Bob Kelly told the Tribune-Star on Thursday that the sophomore had asked to be released so he could be closer to home following the death of his mother.

Bob Kelly says his son is interested in playing at Indiana State but had not been in contact with the coach.

Jake Kelly was the Hawkeyes' leading scorer this past season at 11.6 points per game. He also averaged 3.1 assists while starting 24 of Iowa's 32 games.

Julia Kelly died in a plane crash in Florida in June 2008. Jake Kelly had attended high school in Marshall, Ill., and Carmel, Ind., while living with her following his parents' divorce.

Kelly was thrust into the starting lineup last season when freshman Anthony Tucker was injured. He was decent for much of the year,
sprinkling in a few stellar outings with a bunch of average ones. But when point guard Jeff Peterson went out with a hamstring injury, coach Todd Lickliter put the ball in Kelly's hands and Kelly turned into one of the best players in the Big Ten.

In the final three weeks of the season, Kelly won the league's player of the week honor twice and scored at least 19 points in six straight games.
The announcement comes just a day after junior Jermain Davis announced that he will leave the program to transfer to Minnesota State, a Division II school in Mankato, Minn.

Davis averaged 4.5 points and 3 rebounds in 30 games for Iowa last season.

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