Star guard Garland transfers to La Salle

Tyrone Garland, the third all-time leading scorer in Philadelphia Public League history, has transferred to La Salle from Virginia Tech, La Salle head coach John Giannini announced Wednesday.

La Salle said Garland would sit out a year because of NCAA transfer rules and be eligible to play after the fall 2012 semester. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

"We recruited Tyrone extremely hard out of high school," Giannini said in a statement. "He is known as a scorer and can also be a very good passer and defender. He is the type of all-around guard, talent, and person that will make our team better. He gives us an experienced player to continue our growth over the next two years. With his addition we will have tremendous team quickness and depth."

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound graduate of Bartram High School ranks third behind Maureece Rice (2,681) and Wilt Chamberlain (2,206) with 2,198 career high school points. A two-time first-team Class AAAA all-state selection, he averaged 28.5 points per game as a junior and 25.1 as a senior.

Garland averaged 4.6 points per game this season for the Hokies, including a career-high 18 points against Monmouth. His previous career high was 16 points against Mount St. Mary's as a freshman.

Garland was also named to the ACC all-academic team at Virginia Tech.