CHICAGO – Three student-athletes will be allowed to compete for the Flames this upcoming basketball season, as Maurice Commander, Teyvion Kirk and Zion Griffin were all granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA.
 
All three individuals have two years of eligibility remaining entering the 2020-21 campaign. The three student-athletes join fellow newcomers Jalen Johnson, RayQuawndis Mitchell and Griffin Yaklich as being cleared to play this upcoming season.

"Our team and staff are extremely excited about Teyvion, Maurice and Zion having been declared eligible by the NCAA for competition in the 2020-21 season," head coach Luke Yaklich said. "They have all been patient throughout the NCAA waiver process the past couple of months."
 
A graduate of Curie High School in Chicago, Commander joins the Flames after spending his first two years at Chattanooga. Commander started all 32 games last season for the Mocs, averaging 6.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and a team-high 2.6 assists per game. The six-foot guard scored a career-high 22 points, all in the second half, in a conference win at Wofford. As a freshman, Commander appeared in 23 games with two starts. His first collegiate start came against Tennessee Tech where Commander finished with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
Griffin joins the Flames after spending his first two collegiate seasons at Iowa State. The native of Darien, Illinois played in 17 games as a freshman before appearing in 30 contests and averaging 10.8 minutes per game this past season. The 6-foot-6 forward scored a career-high 11 points and brought in a season high six rebounds in the Cyclones' season opener against Mississippi Valley State, connecting on 5-of-9 field goals. Griffin matched his six-rebound effort against Mississippi Valley State with six boards in a Big 12 contest against Texas while adding eight points on 3-for-4 shooting against Big 12 foe Kansas.
 
Kirk played his first two seasons at Ohio University before redshirting this past season as a junior at Colorado State due to NCAA transfer rules. In his two seasons at Ohio, Kirk started in all 62 games, averaging 14.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 31.3 minutes per game. The 6-foot-4 guard scored in double figures in 27-of-31 games as a sophomore, including three games of 20 or more points. As a freshman in 2017-18, Kirk was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team after leading the team and ranking 12th in the conference in scoring (15.3 ppg), scoring 10+ points 28 times.

UIC brings back seven returners from last year's team and welcomed first-year head coach Luke Yaklich to Chicago on March 26.