Impact Analysis: Connar Tava Transfers to Boston College

Boston College picked up a much needed power forward via 5^th year transfer Connar Tava, a 6’7", 250 pound forward from Western Michigan. Tava was the 3^rd leading scorer on the Western Michigan team that went to the NCAA Tournament in 2013-2014 and was the leading scoring and rebounder on the 2014-2015 team.

THE COMMITMENT

Tava committed to BC shortly after visiting the Heights.  DePaul and Michigan were two other schools that were heavily recruiting him.

The recruitment of Tava came from a few different angles. Tava announced on Twitter on March 19^th that he was transferring for his final season. For whatever reason, the announcement wasn’t picked up by many of the college hoops media members like Jeff Goodman who keep a published transfer list of all players that have announced their intentions to transfer. Coach Christian and his staff jumped at the opportunity to land the power forward.

There were primarily three players involved in securing the commitment of Tava. One was coach Jim Christian who had a lot of familiarity with Tava from when he coached at Ohio. Christian thinks that Tava’s game can translate to the ACC. Assistant coach Stan Heath also recruited Tava and was effective thanks to his many ties in the state of Michigan. Lastly, A.J. Turner previously played with Tava in high school and helped recruit Tava once he made his intentions  to transfer.

IMPACT ON THE CLASS

Tava is a 5^th year senior and is eligible to play immediately for the Eagles after redshirting last season because of a broken foot. The BC staff is still trying to land a 5^th year big man to join him, although there is nothing imminent as the staff does not have any official visits scheduled for transfers.

The commitment will have no impact on BC adding any true freshmen to the 2016 class. One source told me that the Eagles are much closer to adding a new freshman than they are a 5^th year center.

IMPACT ON THE ROSTER

Tava adds a much needed four man onto the roster. BC struggled on both ends of the court at the four position last year rotating between Garland Owens and Ervins Meznieks. Tava will in all likelihood jump right in and become the team’s starting four man. The staff thinks a reasonable expectation for Tava is around 12 points and 6-7 rebounds per game.

SKILL SET

More than one person tells me that Tava’s game is a little bit like Patrick Heckmann’s was. Tava is a good driver to the hoop and is a good passer as well. Tava also is a tough nosed defender and doesn’t take plays off on defense.

The two major differences between the players are that Heckmann was a better outside shooter than Tava. On the flip side, Tava has Heckmann beat by 2 inches and 40-50 pounds so he will be a more effective post defender than Heckmann.

The bottom line is that BC got absolutely smoked by opposing fours in the post last season and that shouldn’t happen with Tava around.