Troy native Elijah Burns sat behind the Siena bench with his parents, uncle and cousin during the Saints' 84-79 loss to Colgate at Times Union Center on Saturday afternoon.

As the second half began, Burns took to his phone to announce his decision to transfer from Notre Dame to Siena.

"I thought it was kind of cool,'' Burns said in a phone interview this morning. "I was like, 'I'm at the game right now, so I'll just tweet it out.'"

Burns, a 6-foot-8, 238-pound senior forward, could be back at TU Center in a Siena uniform as soon as Dec. 18, when the Saints take on the College of Charleston.

Burns, who has 1 1/2 years of eligibility remaining, is applying for an NCAA waiver that would allow him to play this season. A source close to the situation was confident Burns, a graduate transfer, will be cleared to play at some point this season.

"I'm hoping so,'' Burns said. "If it doesn't get approved, that's OK. I'll be ready to work next year or whenever it gets approved. I hope I'll be able to play sooner rather than later."

Burns, who played at La Salle Institute, was enthusiastic about coming back to the Capital Region to finish his career.

"It feels great to be coming home and playing in front of my family and my friends every night,'' he said. "I'm super excited about it."

Notre Dame announced Monday that Burns would leave the program and graduate in December. He flew home Wednesday for Thanksgiving and spoke with his family before meeting with the Siena coaching staff that afternoon.

"I just wanted to see what they were about and get a feel for Coach (Jamion) Christian,'' Burns said. "It was always my feeling that I would like to come home, but I just had to get the right feel for the coaching staff and talk through some things, and now we're here."

Burns said his connection with the Albany City Rocks program helped his decision. Burns played for the Elite Youth Basketball League team and has known Siena assistant Carmen Maciariello, a former City Rocks coach, since he was 14 years old.

"It was a great fit for me at the right time,'' Burns said.

Burns will leave Notre Dame on Dec. 15, the last day of finals week. Though he's a psychology major, Burns said he plans to pursue a graduate degree in Siena's strategic management master's program.

He said it wasn't an easy call to leave the Fighting Irish. He was a team captain.

"It was definitely tough,'' he said. "I love all my teammates and coaching staff. It just happened to be the right decision for me. Obviously, it's tough to leave your brothers in the middle of the year, but it just happened to be the right decision for me, basketball-wise."

He disagreed with the notion he was leaving over playing time, even though he was averaging only 11.3 minutes per game and head coach Mike Brey said he was going with a youth movement.

"I wouldn't say it was about that,'' Burns said. "I'm not really going to comment on that too much, but it was the best decision for me, basketball-wise."

Burns said it shouldn't be as hard as some might think to join Siena and forge chemistry with players who have already been together for several months. Graduate guard Braedon Bayer was a City Rocks teammate, and Burns has played pickup ball during the summer with several other Saints.

"Most people ask, how are you going to fit in?" Burns said. "But with my prior relationship with most of the guys and having known them and played with them over the summer for a couple of days, I think it'll be a seamless transition."

Burns averaged 2.2 points and 2.1 rebounds over 44 career games with Notre Dame. He'll get a chance to have a bigger impact for Siena.

"At the end of the day, I'm just going to be myself, get on the floor and try to help this team win games,'' he said.

msingelais@timesunion.com ■ 518-454-5509 ■ @MarkSingelais