Point Guard Might Transfer to Irvine : Basketball: Player who has started at Purdue and Marquette but was suspended could become an Anteater.

IRVINE —  UC Irvine might land a point guard who has started at Purdue and Marquette, but who was suspended from the Marquette team this season after being accused of falling asleep during a game-day film session.

Keith Stewart, a 5-foot-10 guard, is in the process of transferring, and has been on campus and at an Irvine practice. An announcement is expected if his admission to the university becomes official.

Stewart left Marquette this month after being suspended for the season after Coach Kevin O’Neill accused him of falling asleep during a film session Jan. 5, the day of a Warriors’ game against Dayton, a Marquette spokesman said.

The incident followed brief suspensions for a violation of a team academic rule and the possible misuse of complimentary tickets, of which he was cleared.

Stewart denied falling asleep, telling the Milwaukee Sentinel he only closed his eyes.

“I could see others in the room nod off, but I was not asleep,” Stewart said. “I can recite everything he said.”

O’Neill was quoted by the paper as saying, “Keith’s a really good guy. I feel bad that it didn’t work out. I wish him the best.”

After leaving Marquette, Stewart was thought to be transferring to St. Mary’s University in San Antonio to join some other former Milwaukee high school players. But a spokesman at St. Mary’s said, “He enrolled, but he withdrew.”

Stewart signed with Purdue out of Milwaukee’s Messmer High School and started for the Boilermakers in 14 of 31 games during the 1988-89 season, averaging three points and two assists. He transferred to Marquette when O’Neill, a former Arizona assistant who had recruited him in high school, was hired there.

After sitting out a season as required under NCAA transfer regulations, he started two games for the Warriors this season before his second suspension, after which his playing time was reduced.

Irvine’s starting point guard, Gerald McDonald, is a junior, but Coach Bill Mulligan said it was possible he would use two players at that position next season, and that a new player also could share time with sophomore Dylan Rigdon, who has started at shooting guard most of this season.

If Stewart’s transfer is completed, he would be a junior in eligibility and would miss only a small number of games early next season.