Luke Murray and BC?

[CL82]

I actually want there to be a lot of confirmation that Murray is their candidate and then have him turn it down so they have to go back to square one.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Read what I wrote. IF he gets NIL commitments, you don't think Luke Murray could turn BC into a top 4-5 program in the ACC? Outside of Duke and Carolina, that league is wide open. Let's give Luke some credit here.

Nobody can turn BC into a top 4-5 program in the ACC.

 

[The Viking]

Its gonna suck when i have to root against Luke. I can never pull for that school. F BC.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

2.) BC is an ACC job, if he can 2-3x his salary and get commitments on NIL, why not? He could fairly easily transform BC into a top 4-5 program in the league and a national ranking. He'd also be a friendly on potential conference realignment if the ACC comes knocking for UConn.

Easily?! There’s nothing easy about bringing that program back. The haven’t finished above .500 in the ACC since 2010-2011 and haven’t been ranked or made the NCAAT since 2008-2009.

 

[CL82]

Here is a take on Luke Murray taking the BCU job.

Everyone knows this is a tough place to win. It is as close to a coach's graveyard as you can get. If Luke succeeds he puts himself in position for a very good job. If he has a tough time, well this is a very tough place to win, he took off more than he (or maybe anyone) could chew. It is a no lose scenario even if he loses. Plus, he learns a little sitting in the big chair. Picks up some decent dough. No lose.

Not so sure about it being a no lose scenario. The stank of failure can hang onto someone for a long time.

That said, for all its shortcomings, and they are numerous, it is a visible head coaching gig in a P4 conference. It makes sense that Luke would give it a long, hard look. I can see him pulling the trigger if he gets the commitments from the university that he believes that he needs to make the program successful.

 

[bendm]

Its gonna suck when i have to root against Luke. I can never pull for that school. F BC.

I don’t want to fight with Luke over recruits either he’s gonna be all over the next Karaban. this sucks.

 

[dennismenace]

I think you have to take a P5 job when it is offered, but Al Skinner is the only BC coach I can name since O’Brien without looking it up. That place is a coach graveyard.

Dr Tom Davis before that I think from the old big east.

 

[uconndogs]

How was their return on that $22M? At some point, the people funding these teams are going to want to see a better ROI than a second round flameout.

Sure, but the market is being set and I would expect payrolls for top programs to go north of that number in the coming years.

 

[husky429]

Why do people think that Kimani or Luke would take over for Hurley? No shot.

 

[dennismenace]

Hurley is the third highest paid coach in Div 1. He may not be that far from burnout at his age and pace. He wouldn't be worrying where his next steak is coming from. Kimani is very well compensated for an asst. He (Luke) could be being groomed for HC and with his fathers wealth he is already all set.

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[CTFAN4LIFE]

If I'm Luke (with a nice lifestyle/young children and presumably a future inheritance) and I want to become a head coach, I would look at places not named BC. With no head coach/CEO experience, he'd be better off taking a really good situation at a mid major, learn and excel as a first time head coach, and then make the Power 5 move. Way safer, less job stress, less booster pressure to get canned if you are at or below .500, better family life, etc. That's my two cents.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Looks like I'll have to come up with a new avatar.

 

[Excalibur]

Read what I wrote. IF he gets NIL commitments, you don't think Luke Murray could turn BC into a top 4-5 program in the ACC? Outside of Duke and Carolina, that league is wide open. Let's give Luke some credit here.

It’s more that I wouldn’t trust BC to follow through on the commitments. Can’t imagine why that might be . . .

 

[businesslawyer]

If he gets the guarantees he needs regarding NIL then I agree that he could turn BC into a top 4–5 program in the ACC because after Duke, UNC and maybe Virginia/Louisville, it is wide open. Again, assuming he gets the money to put a solid roster in place, he gets to beat up on the likes of Syracuse, Pitt, GTech, FL State & Stanford. And he should be right in the mix to compete with NC State and Clemson for the fifth spot in the ACC. Lots of low-hanging fruit in that conference.

For goodness sakes. BC will not compete over the long term with NC State. NC State is a statewide university in a fairly large and growing state that loves basketball, plays in a pro team arena and has won 2 NCAA ‘ships since UCLA fell. Nor should it compete with Syracuse over the long term. Syracuse basketball is the only game in town in a small metropolitan area, plays in a 32k or whatever arena and was over a 40 year period as consistently good a program as there was in the Northeast. I’m not saying a good coach can’t get lucky and compete with those programs in really good years, but year in and year out? It should not be expected.

 

[businesslawyer]

Read what I wrote. IF he gets NIL commitments, you don't think Luke Murray could turn BC into a top 4-5 program in the ACC? Outside of Duke and Carolina, that league is wide open. Let's give Luke some credit here.

Yeah, but I could sleep with Sydney Sweeney IF she knew me and wanted to sleep with me. (Well, to be fair, and if I didn’t have panic driven anxiety which I would almost certainly have in that circumstance.)

So what? Football is 100% more important to BC than hoops is, because what’s important in Boston in the winter is BC hockey. If BC is able to get a whole lot more dough into its athletic department, it’s not going to hoops until BC becomes competitive again in football. And don’t hold your breath on that.

 

[Hoophound]

Luke has no shot of getting the UConn job without proving himself somewhere else first. BC is the perfect proving ground. If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

It’s more that I wouldn’t trust BC to follow through on the commitments. Can’t imagine why that might be . . .

I work with a guy who's a BC booster and pretty involved in their alumni network and their NIL and he paints a pretty bleak picture of the athletic department there. Granted, he's more focused on football and the non-revenue sport that he played but the picture he paints is not a rosy one. And this guy is about as loyal a BC guy as there is. BC hoop just seems like a complete afterthought.

 

[Hoophound]

I work with a guy who's a BC booster and pretty involved in their alumni network and their NIL and he paints a pretty bleak picture of the athletic department there. Granted, he's more focused on football and the non-revenue sport that he played but the picture he paints is not a rosy one. And this guy is about as loyal a BC guy as there is. BC hoop just seems like a complete afterthought.

It just occurred to me that you are probably Bill Murray's favorite poster by a long way.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I think many of you are underestimating the new BC President Jack Butler. The prior President Leahy had no interest in sports. Butler does at least according to my family members who are BC grads. He was Chaplain to the Football team so there's that. BC knows full well the impact sports can make on academics. They still talk about the growth of BC/AD (after Doug). Hockey is king at least with my family members but I hope that the interest spreads to football and eventually basketball. It would be great for New England.

 

[Ports21]

You forgot Louisville and Syracuse which are in the upper tier of the ACC.

I did not forget Syracuse. 😅

 

[navery12]

The most shocking takeaway in this thread is the number of people who not only want to have Luke Murray take over for Dan Hurley, but to have him do it with zero prior head coaching experience and not leave UConn.

When Hurley decides to move on, hopefully a long time from now, we'll have our pick of all but about 4-5 coaches. We won't need to shoot for unproven upside.

 

[bdbdbdbd]

Word in the very, very small world of BC Twittersphere is that Luke was seen in Chestnut Hill yesterday. Seems like it’s a done deal if he gets the NIL commitment required to be competitive. I’d hate to lose him, but remember…

View attachment 118626

It just doesn’t matter.

Does "seen in Chestnut Hill" mean that a person with knowledge knows Luke had a meeting at BC, or that a random BC fan saw someone resembling Luke Murray on Commonwealth Avenue? Is it likely that he would travel to Boston 3 days before a sweet sixteen game?

 

[Deepster]

The most shocking takeaway in this thread is the number of people who not only want to have Luke Murray take over for Dan Hurley, but to have him do it with zero prior head coaching experience and not leave UConn.

When Hurley decides to move on, hopefully a long time from now, we'll have our pick of all but about 4-5 coaches. We won't need to shoot for unproven upside.

Not sure if you've been taking notes but the Boneyard wants every single above average transfer in the portal and every single former player, coach or the choice of every single top tier coach in the country whenever something opens up.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm wondering if there is any way we can wish Luke well in his new position (if he does take the job) and keep Bill.

 

[UConntLose]

Guys, this is the price we pay for being successful. The only way to ensure our coaches don't get poached is us stinking up the place like we did those last few years in the AAC. Remember Raphael Chillious?

It does stink to lose a coach as good as Murray, but if he wasn't attracting HC interest, then it would have meant the Hurley era was a disaster.

 

[auror]

The problem with BC is that success there probably looks like avoiding the play-in round of the ACC Tournament (maybe start by making it in the first place, eek) and maybe the occasional 10 seed in the Tournament. Is that going to translate to getting a better offer down the road? Almost certainly not.

And, worse, if he fails there, he's not going to get a chance elsewhere.

I disagree on both points, to be honest.

Coaching matters. Really good coaches can win almost anywhere with acceptable talent. The ceiling is higher than you suspect. The ACC still sucks, the door is open. Look at Ben McCollum at Iowa. That roster is Stirtz and nothing. They're in the Sweet 16.

He's also absolutely going to get a job elsewhere if he fails. "Hot" coaches that don't work out with their first job at a high major regularly get second chances at lower levels. If he fails at BC, you don't think he could get Fairfield or UMass or something.

 

[superjohn]

The most shocking takeaway in this thread is the number of people who not only want to have Luke Murray take over for Dan Hurley, but to have him do it with zero prior head coaching experience and not leave UConn.

When Hurley decides to move on, hopefully a long time from now, we'll have our pick of all but about 4-5 coaches. We won't need to shoot for unproven upside.

Luke or Kimani would need to do what Shea Ralph has done in the women's game. Leave and have major success at your own program I just think the risk/reward is really bad at BC.

I don't find it shocking some UConn fans want Luke to take over down the road without having head coaching experience. There were UNC fans who wanted Hubert to take over with no prior experience, same with Ollie, Autry. Some Kansas fans currently want Vaughn to take over for Self with no college head coaching experience and a horrible NBA record.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Honestly, I think it's a great spot for Luke Murray.

Obviously, it will be a tough assignment: BC hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 2009 and they haven't had a winning ACC conference record since 2011. The men's basketball program does not receive the same attention as their hockey team.

On the plus, things can only go up for the program under Luke Murray.

It's not like he's going to make the program any worse? Also, imagine if they make the NCAA Tournament by Year 3: he'd immediately leapfrog up the totem pole and be one of the more desirable HCs for even better jobs.

Earl Grant was making 2 million+ as the HC, so Murray can earn a contract like that in a great city to live in a basketball-focused conference. It's not a big jump geographically for him and his family to relocate either.

My personal bias: I like being an underdog. If I were in Luke's shoes, I've love the opportunity for my HC job to be at a place where I can breathe, get my feet under myself before working my butt off to get the program to a high standard.

If it doesn't work out, will that hinder his long-term future? Doubtful. Earl Grant is only 49 years old and I'm sure he'll land on his feet with some good offers and he's got potential to eventually work his way back to a high-major HC position, if all goes well.

Luke Murray is only only to be 42 next season. Even if BC continues to play like crap with him at the helm for 3-4 seasons, he can jump shit and still be in his mid-40s.

The reward vastly outweighs the risk.

 

[JB75]

BC is brutal. Don’t do it Luke.

 

[UConnJim]

I think many of you are underestimating the new BC President Jack Butler. The prior President Leahy had no interest in sports. Butler does at least according to my family members who are BC grads. He was Chaplain to the Football team so there's that. BC knows full well the impact sports can make on academics. They still talk about the growth of BC/AD (after Doug). Hockey is king at least with my family members but I hope that the interest spreads to football and eventually basketball. It would be great for New England.

I heard Fr. Butler met with BC alums in NYC and the takeaway about financial commitment to sports was underwhelming. Still, he cares about athletics more than Fr. Leahy has.