Where Will Boston College Transfer Matt Humphrey Land? And The Big Finish

Brian: Interesting article in the Heights giving us some insight into Matt Humphrey's recent decision to transfer out of the program. The Heights Assoc. Sports Editor Austin Tedesco believes that the BC hoops program and Matt Humphrey were never a good match.

"BC and Humphrey weren't a good match, and they were just never going to make it work. He didn't fit in with the huge crowd of freshmen on the squad, but he also didn't fit in with the older group of John Cahill, Peter Rehnquist, Salah Abdo, and Deirunas Visockas. When talking about the older players bonding over the age difference between them and the rest of the team, Cahill and Rehnquist both left Humphrey's name out. During water breaks at practice Humphrey could be found in his own corner with his own water bottle away from the rest of the group."

What do you think of Humphrey's decision to leave the program? What will be the impact on the program's short-term prospects starting next season? Your thoughts?

Jeff: I was shocked that Humphrey is leaving. He didn't like Oregon so he left and came to BC. If you are watched BC basketball this season, you were probably a little disappointed early on and thought expectations for him coming in must have been a little high. But even though I thought Humphrey would have added some leadership and consistency to a young team which in the end he did not add at all, given that he had already transferred once I did not think he would transfer again.

Even though Humphrey did not bring to the team what I thought he would this season, BC would have been better next season with him than they will be without him.

Brian: Heights Sports also got a great quote from Coach Steve Donahue on Matt Humphrey's decision to leave the program. When The Heights asked him to confirm the news of Humphrey's departure, here is what Donahue had to say:

"I think the most important thing he did was he wanted to come here and get a degree and he's done a terrific job and he got his degree. I think he and his family looked at this situation and thought-he wants to be a professional basketball player and he wants that to really be his focus now after he had his degree. He thinks that there may be a better spot to go produce and find out a place that can help him reach that goal.

[snip]

As I said, I think it's important that he did everything right when he was here for two years and he got his degree and now he's excited about being a professional basketball player and wants to see if there is a better place, and I think he thinks there is and I'm not going to argue with that."

While Donahue mentioned that he is 100 percent behind him, I read a little tension into this particular quote. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but the line at the end -- "I think he thinks there is and I'm not going to argue with that" -- to me confirms what Austin Tedesco's report above.

Regardless of the reasoning behind the transfer, the question I have is where can Humphrey go to improve his pro prospects? Does he even have any pro prospects? EagleAction! is reporting that Humphrey is hearing from DePaul, but is DePaul a better spot than BC next year?

Jeff: I think Donahue is not happy about the transfer. He is either not happy he is leaving or not happy things didn't work out better for Humphrey at the Heights. I'm sure Donahue feels he did everything he needed to do to help Humphrey be successful and he probably did. But, transfers are not something that any player or coach deals with very often so expectations from the player of the coach and from the coach of the player are much more likely to not be met than with just a standard recruited player. When a player hits a rut he can go to other guys on the team and ask about their experiences. Humphrey, just like most transfers, didn't have anyone to compare notes with.

Humphrey is not an NBA pro prospect. Can he play somewhere on the planet and get paid? Probably. And no, DePaul won't be significantly better than BC next season. Humphrey is either a little misguided on his professional prospects or hated his last season at BC. This is not something fans should lose a lot of sleep over though as he only had one season remaining.

Brian: Local product Nerlens Noel committed to Kentucky. You losing sleep over the fact he had no interest in BC, where his older brother plays football?

Jeff: We are a long long long time away from top 50 recruits considering BC, so no.

Jeff: Starting DE Aaron Lynch is leaving Notre Dame and headed possibly headed to USF. Do you feel a littl better about BC's chances this fall now?

Brian: Not really, no. Still maintain BC will be a 5-7 / 6-6 team next season. Notre Dame isn't one of those wins.

Brian: Say what you will about the state of BC football recruiting, but at least the Eagles have a few recruits for next season. Not so much down in Raleigh. Time for concern for TOB and the Wolfpack faithful?

Jeff: They've been concerned since TOB's third season!

Jeff: Unfortunately Spaz won't be competing for the $520,000 Chick-Fil-A scholarship for BC. Should golf ability be a requirement for BC's next football coach whenever Spaz moves on?

Brian: I don't understand this at all. Why wouldn't you compete in this event? BC and Duke are the only ACC programs not represented. This isn't an opportunity to sell the program or anything ...

Brian: For a guy who doesn't get to watch a whole lot of college hockey down in SC, what'd you think of the Eagles performance in the Frozen Four? Any player stand out in your mind?

Jeff: Parker Milner was awesome. It was nice to be able to talk to some general sports fans about BC hockey over the weekend down here.

Jeff: BC baseball dropped a close one to Florida State on Friday. Any chance the Eagles steal a game in one of the next two?

Brian: I don't think so, but the Eagles were close to stealing a game yesterday, taking a 5-4 lead into the ninth and stranding two runners in the bottom of the ninth.

Brian: Last one. Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons will likely be featured on this season's Hard Knocks. Good for the franchise?

Jeff: Not good at all. I was hoping they'd take the next step and maybe win some playoff games this season, but the Hard Knocks teams always underperform.