Barton Leaving, Jackson Staying

It's no longer rumor, conjecture or speculation: Joe Jackson is staying at Memphis, and Antonio Barton is leaving.

Lamar Chance, Media Relations for Men's Basketball, issued the following release just moments ago:

"University of Memphis' Joe Jackson will return for the 2013-14 basketball campaign, head coach Josh Pastner announced Monday. The Tigers head coach also announced Monday that Antonio Barton will transfer and explore other opportunities.

The 2012-13 Conference USA Player of the Year, Jackson led the Tigers in scoring (13.6 ppg), three-point field goal percentage (.447), assists (173) and steals (60) last season. The 6-foot-1 guard ranked among the league's leaders in scoring (16th), field goal percentage (7th), assists (5th), three-point field goal percentage (3rd), steals (7th) and assist-turnover ratio (5th).

The Memphis, Tenn., native finished his junior season with 1,209 career points and enters his senior campaign in 2013-14 in the No. 24 spot on the Tigers all-time scoring chart.

Barton is on track to graduate this summer from the University of Memphis. The Baltimore, Md., native missed most of the final two months of the 2012-13 season as the result of a hairline fracture in his right foot. He finished the year averaging 5.6 points and 1.3 rebounds, while shooting 40 percent from the three-point line.

"I want to thank the city and University of Memphis for giving me a great three years here," said Barton. "I also want to thank Coach Pastner and the entire Tigers staff.""

It has been widely speculated that Barton would transfer after his junior year to be closer to his daughter back home in Baltimore. And rumors have spread like wildfire that Jackson would leave, too, though head coach Josh Pastner said from the beginning that Jackson was merely checking his NBA Draft stock.