Notre Dame, Marquette in hunt for transfer Austin Nichols, sources say

Memphis has released junior forward Austin Nichols, Tigers coach Josh Pastner told ESPN.

Nichols asked for his release in late June, according to Pastner. Initially, university administration refused to allow him to transfer elsewhere.

Nichols averaged 13.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season and was considered one of the leading candidates for American Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2015-16.

Memphis put conditions on the release, sources said, saying he couldn't accept a transfer scholarship to any American Athletic Conference school, any nonconference opponent on the 2015-16 schedule (which includes Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and South Carolina) and any scheduled 2016-17 nonconference opponent (Virginia, Iowa and Providence). Memphis rival Tennessee is also on the list of schools to which he can't transfer.

Nichols still can transfer to the above mentioned schools but would have to pay his own way for his redshirt season in 2015-16.

A source told ESPN that Notre Dame is one of the schools in hot pursuit of Nichols. So, too, is Marquette, whose coach, Steve Wojciechowski, recruited him for Duke when Nichols was coming out of high school.

Information from ESPN's Andy Katz was used in this report.