BC Hoops Loses Recruiting Connection

There has been a shakeup in the New England Prep School hoops landscape as New Hampton coach Pete Hutchins announced on Twitter this morning that he has taken a position as an assistant coach at Dartmouth. Why should BC fans take note of this change and keep an eye on who becomes the next coach? Because New Hampton has been the best prep school recruiting pipeline for BC over the last decade and has sent players to BC across multiple coaching staffs. Brady Heslip, Olivier Hanlan and most recently A.J. Turner are examples of very talented players that came to BC from New Hampton. That’s not even mentioning Jeremy Miller who was committed to BC until Steve Donahue got fired.

With that said, I'm thrilled to be joining Coach McLaughlin's vision for the future of #Dartmouth basketball & can't wait to get to work!

— Pete Hutchins (@CoachPeteHutch) May 17, 2016

While AAU coaches typically have more pull in which school a recruit chooses, most New England Prep coaches have a little more say than they do compared to a high school coach or prep school coaches at less established programs. Hutchins was an advocate for BC when Steve Donahue was the coach and continued to have at least a decent relationship with Jim Christian and his staff.

No rumors have come out as to who might take over this powerful hoops program. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on though. A best case scenario for BC fans would be for someone with a great relationship with BC assistant Scott Spinelli to get the job. Spinelli has all sorts of ties across New England so it isn’t even a long shot that he would already have a pre-existing relationship with whoever becomes the coach.