Matt Humphrey decided to transfer from Boston College. Because he is set to graduate, Humphrey will be able to play for his next (third) school immediately. While it is a loss all around, Humphrey's decision is a bigger deal off the court than on. Humphrey proved to be BC's most consistent defender. He's was a streaky scorer, but seemed to improve his decision making as the season went on. The problem with Humphrey leaving is that it reinforces some of the negative rumors about Donahue. Donahue's reputation is that he is a tough critic and very candid with players regarding what they need to do and where their future is with the team. If a guy like Humphrey has one year of college basketball left and his coach is telling him he might not start and his minutes will probably go down, then you can't be surprised when those same players leave. What might be more effective for Donahue is to say (paraphrasing): "Matt these are the things to work on, this is how I see our roster next year, but I have all the confidence in the world that you will be a valuable player and critical leader for this team." Donahue needs Humphrey even at reduced minutes. I do think Donahue is one of the best coaches in basketball. He's smart and engaged and intense. He seems like a good teacher and I do think he is a very, very good game manager. He's also smart enough to know that he will need great players to succeed. To get those players to buy in, he needs to tweak his approach. If he doesn't other coaches will use it against BC in recruiting. Coaches will say that Donahue cannot relate to players and his current guys are bailing. Donahue is a smart guy. Let's hope he is smart enough to work on his people skills, so that player want to play for him instead of leaving.
Spaz signed Georgia WR Nigel Matthews to be part of the 2012 class. Nigel has decent potential. Previously he committed to Air Force. My bigger issue is with Spaz and his roster management. If things were well organized we wouldn't have all these open slots months after Signing Day.
Details are emerging about Jo-Lonn Dunbar's free agent deal with the Rams.
The Rangers are waiting for Chris Kreider's season to end.
Softball loss to UMass on Wednesday.
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17 comments:
Humphrey's a bad sign - maybe I'm influenced by Spazball, but this seems a lot like Spaz driving away players he could use. This kid wasn't Skinner's, this was a kid Donahue brought in.
If given a few min to think I'll name at least 15 guys Skinner drove out.
The team has a glut of guards with the 2 recruits coming in and with Heckman scheduled to play the entire year.
Heckman and Humphrey have the exact same game. I doubt Donahue told Humphrey to leave. Donahue most likely told Humphrey something similar to what ATL wrote. Humphrey decided to leave so that he can play.
Where is he transferring?
I would rather have a coach that is candid with the players. Donahue could have BS'd him, knowing his minutes would be down. A lot of speculation about what happened, but if it played out like ATL said, that is better than a coach that lies to kids just to keep them as a safety net.
I don't believe that Donahue encouraged Humphrey to leave in any way -- not by criticizing his game or suggesting that his minutes would diminish next year. Why would he do that? Humphrey was inconsistent offensively but far and away BC's best defender -- a roll model in that regard.
So, I wonder if this is just pure speculation on ATL's part or if there's any basis for it.
humphrey played a ton of minutes at the small forward last year, and we really don't have much depth at the wing. humphrey has to be 6'5 or 6'6 - neither jackson nor either of the recruits is over 6'3. yes, heckmann coming back will be nice, but losing humphrey really hurts. he was hands down our best perimeter defender.
it will be telling where humphrey transfers to. i figure he assumed he needed to raise his profile to have a shot at getting drafted, and playing for a team that may not even make the tourny next year isn't the best way to do that. if he transfers to a team that will be in the top 25 and on TV a lot, then i think that's the conclusion. if he doesn't, then it's a real head scratcher.
I'd be more upset if we were losing one of the young guys. I can understand perfectly if a guy with only one year left wants to make the most of it. We should be improved next year, but we're still rebuilding. This means more playing time for the younger guys.
Donahue has 4 winning records in 11 years of coaching.
He has run off all of Al's guys and now Humphery.
His practice players are Rubin, Moton, Cain Carney, Odio and Killcullen. His subs are Rahon, a 5 foot 8 point guard who turns the ball over and Caudill.
My intramural team at the Plex was as good as these guys.
Wow. We are relying on 6-7 fresh , sophs to get good playing against each other.
And by the way Heckmann and Lo jack can't hold the stench coming from Hump's jockstrap. Please
WOW
Heckman was the best player on the team until he got the Mono.
Heckman and Humphfrey are both 6 5, athletic, hustle on defense, and go to the basket. If you extrapolate out Heckmans numbers against Humphfreys they are basically the same.
Humphrey carries himself like he is something special but his output and numbers do not match how he carries himself.
I hope plays 40 minutes a game at UMASS or Cincinnati. He is perfect for those types of programs .
Unless ATL has sources he's not divulging, nobody knows anything about this situation and, like the Heslip thing, we probably never will know the full truth. That said, I like El Miz's theory, that Humphrey feels he needs to be someplace else to have any chance of a pro opportunity. That sounds more plausible than Donahue encouraging him to take a hike.
I don't think ATL's argument makes much sense. Who exactly was going to be stealing his minutes next year? Heckmann? Odio? Lojak? Hanlan?
A bunch of guys who are to small to play the 3 and a guy who appears to be a complete head case. Humphrey was in a really good spot here and his transfer is really surprising. His defense and intensity will be missed, his tendency to hog the ball and his on court demeanor will not. The young guys will need to step up even more.
Unfortunately for Matt I doubt he is considered much of a commodity these days and is unlikely to get much playing time at any top programs. His best bet is a Rakim Sanders – like move to a bubble mid major program that might have a shot at winning their conference and getting a moment in the spotlight. And we know how that worked out for Sanders (almost but not quite). I don’t get why that would be preferred over a leadership role in what will be an emerging ACC program next year. But hey, I am not a once-hyped hoop start looking for that last chance...
Happy Easter. Thank you ATL. for your great site. 1. The 1st 5 goals scored by BC in last nights great win were by Whitney of Reading MA, Hayes of Dot. MA, Kreider of Boxford MA, and 2 by Carey of Weymouth MA. The 6th one was by Doumilal of Maine. It pays to have the best local talent attend BC. 2. All praise to Gladchuk for making the best hire in college sports history. Good luck to the team Saturday.
West-Coaster: nobody outside of BC thinks that we're an up-and-coming program in the ACC. NC State is up and coming. Maybe Virginia. Definitely not BC.
Hump was a top 100 recruit. Everybody was excited that Coach D could turn him around and tap his potential, esp. after seeing Jackson's and Paris's 3pt% go way up in their final year. Hump was a terrible from 3. Still he brought a lot to the table.
If he's such a bad egg, what does it say about D's ability to assess a player? He would have been a senior, and I think the team wins 2-3 games less in 2013 without him around.
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