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Username Post: Boudreaux transferring
picknroll
Freshman
Posts 38
11-10-17 05:02 PM - Post#235837    

Ouch.

From the Valley News
http://www.vnews.com/Dartmouth-men-s-baske tball-st...
GoBigGreenBasketball
Masters Student
Posts 805
11-11-17 02:56 AM - Post#235893    

This is terrible news. We lose are best player.
"...no excuses - only results!”

rbg
Postdoc
Posts 3044
11-13-17 09:36 AM - Post#236081    

Some quotes from Coach McLaughlin after the Quinnipiac loss on Saturday.

http://www.vnews.com/Dartmouth-men-s-baske tball-at...

-- The Big Green, 7-20 overall and 4-10 in the Ivies last season, was picked to finish seventh in the Ancient Eight during a preseason poll of league media. That was for a team including Boudreaux, whose egression McLaughlin said he did not see coming.

“We had a brief discussion Wednesday, and I wished him luck,” said the second-year coach. “He didn’t want to be part of this process, and we don’t want people who don’t want to be here. I’m not going to try talk guys out of it.”

Any idea why Boudreaux, who denied to the Valley News midway through last winter that he was considering such an exit, would pull the ripcord so suddenly and days before the season opener?

“I’m not in his head,” McLaughlin said. “He made his own decision in his own best interests.”

What was your reaction to the news?

“All my effort immediately turned to the guys who want to be part of this team,” McLaughlin responded. “I coach everyone very hard and with a lot of passion. When someone doesn’t want to be part of that work process, it hurts and it’s surprising, because you pour your heart into what goes on.” --

McLaughlin was interviewed during halftime of the women's game against Boston College yesterday and was asked about the situation. Like the Friday Valley News article, the coach did not mention Boudreaux by name or his leaving the program. He emphasized playing with guys who want to be here, play together, compete together and be about each other.
penn nation
Professor
Posts 21081
11-13-17 05:12 PM - Post#236143    

"That was for a team including Boudreaux, whose egression McLaughlin said he did not see coming."

Wow. I've seen the word 'egress' before ("to the egress, ladies and gentlemen"), but never, ever in that form.

Didn't see that one coming, either.
flinder
Freshman
Posts 72
11-14-17 10:20 AM - Post#236257    

Didn't Boudreaux's family force Cormier out? Kind of a kick in the shins to get the coach changed and then leave the team just a season later, on the eve of their opener? I've heard that the final straw might have been that he wasn't elected captain this year; he wasn't hanging out with the team at all in the first place.
SomeDartmouthStudent
Freshman
Posts 68
11-14-17 03:01 PM - Post#236285    

Ouch indeed. As much as I don't like what this does to the program I cant blame the kid.

Anyway- Looks like an 8th place finish for us since Brown just managed to beat Quinnipiac.

@flinder-
Do you have inside information? Both of those would be shockers for me/ how do you know he wasn't hanging out with the team?

I've been on campus with these guys since the start of the fall semester and that doesnt seem to be the case.
flinder
Freshman
Posts 72
11-14-17 10:14 PM - Post#236346    

I have it from a source who knows people on the team but isn't necessarily privy to the day-to-day goings on of the team, so that person might just have an impression instead of a firm knowledge of everything going on. But the source has been an observer of Big Green basketball for years now, so I feel like their impressions aren't worth _nothing_. Obviously, it can't change the situation moving forward, and that's what Dartmouth's got to do. I wonder how it affects their recruiting.
SomeDartmouthStudent
Freshman
Posts 68
11-15-17 12:09 AM - Post#236358    

Got it!

I'm sure that there is a bunch of stuff floating around right now. I don't think too many people were in the know for this move. I certainly wasn't.

I'd have to imagine that this sets recruiting back a good amount.It reflects poorly on Mclaughlin to not be able to keep talent within the program. Especially a kid who was arguably a generational talent for Dartmouth.
Joe.Yemly
Freshman
Posts 27
11-15-17 05:51 PM - Post#236444    

I was quite certain he'd graduate in 3 years, a la Mitola. However, I didn't think he'd forego his junior season to do it. Especially that late into the preseason.

Did he play in the preseason scrimmages? If he did, that would rule him ineligible for a bit of his 3rd season, right?

SomeDartmouthStudent
Freshman
Posts 68
12-06-17 01:53 AM - Post#239190    

I think he played in a few scrimmages, but its irrelevant this year as the rule has been changed.
hoops123
Freshman
Posts 97
12-06-17 02:27 AM - Post#239193    

PS, just a wild guess from deep left field, but I imagine a kid smart enough to graduate from Dartmouth in 3 years is smart enough to check NCAA eligibility rules before he makes a major decision to leave a program.....
Joe.Yemly
Freshman
Posts 27
12-07-17 05:49 PM - Post#239564    

Ha, I certainly wasn't asserting that he hadn't looked into the rules. Just wonder if maybe he played in the scrimmages and realized this team was going nowhere with or without him. At the end of the day, I'm sure he'd be fine missing 1/3 of a season over playing a full season here. But if above Sad, but probably true.

Good luck to him, he'll help someone.
Joe.Yemly
Freshman
Posts 27
12-11-17 03:44 PM - Post#239976    

Headed to Xavier.

https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/94 029748963...
SRP
Postdoc
Posts 4894
12-11-17 08:17 PM - Post#239998    

Will Bluitt graduate this year? Seems like he's been at Xavier for a decade, but it would probably be cool for Boudreaux to play with him.
20Penn14
Senior
Posts 364
03-27-18 05:42 PM - Post#254419    

Decommitted from Xavier
Jeff Good man
@GoodmanESPN
Xavier commit Evan Boudreaux, who averaged 17.5 points and 9.5 boards last season, told ESPN he will re-open his recruitment. Grad transfer with two years remaining.
weinhauers_ghost
Postdoc
Posts 2125
03-27-18 08:02 PM - Post#254427    

  • 20Penn14 Said:
Decommitted from Xavier
Jeff Good man
@GoodmanESPN
Xavier commit Evan Boudreaux, who averaged 17.5 points and 9.5 boards last season, told ESPN he will re-open his recruitment. Grad transfer with two years remaining.



Probably because Xavier's coach just resigned to take the Louisville job.
somedartmouthstudent2
Freshman
Posts 19
03-27-18 09:53 PM - Post#254430    

Doubt there is much to see here, pretty standard practice with a head coach leaving. I'm guessing its more probable than not he stays at Xavier unless they go with a particularly uninspiring choice.
PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts 3578
03-28-18 11:17 AM - Post#254457    

It's standard for a recruit to have the option to open his recruitment, it's not as standard to stay at the university you committed to. EB presumably wants to play in the NCAA tournament and Mack was a big part of that with Xavier. It's tough to go through a coaching change (Which EB just did at Dartmouth). I think it highly likely he picks another school. I wouldn't be surprised to see him join Mack at Louisville.


GoBigGreenBasketball
Masters Student
Posts 805
03-29-18 12:02 AM - Post#254503    

Didn't Purdue want him?
"...no excuses - only results!”

rbg
Postdoc
Posts 3044
03-29-18 08:46 AM - Post#254507    

https://www.jconline.com/story/sports/blogs/na than...

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/colle...
20Penn14
Senior
Posts 364
03-29-18 03:17 PM - Post#254525    

Committed to Purdue

https://twitter.com/EBoudreaux12/status/9 794332251...
palestra38
Professor
Posts 32680
03-30-18 11:49 AM - Post#254574    

That's a good situation for him.
mbaprof
Senior
Posts 342
03-31-18 04:43 PM - Post#254627    

I was told by a family member that he intends to study for an MBA with his two years of eligibility, Purdue is a ranked program, X is nowhere

T.P.F.K.A.D.W.
PhD Student
Posts 1169
04-02-18 02:29 PM - Post#254663    

Does he have to sit out a year?
Silver Maple
Postdoc
Posts 3765
04-02-18 03:21 PM - Post#254664    

I doubt it. He already did that this past season at Dartmouth.

I wonder if he regrets his decision to go to Dartmouth in the first place?
SRP
Postdoc
Posts 4894
04-02-18 07:14 PM - Post#254672    

I know some folks on the Purdue management faculty. Maybe one of them will have the best scorer/rebounder in the MBA class in his or her section.
PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts 3578
04-02-18 07:47 PM - Post#254674    

He will not have to sit. Graduate transfers are eligible immediately. His mom is an AA from Dartmouth and is on the BOT I believe. I doubt he regrets the decision and he likely planned all along to graduate early.
Go Green
PhD Student
Posts 1124
04-02-18 08:21 PM - Post#254675    

  • PennFan10 Said:
and he likely planned all along to graduate early



If so, announcing his departure the day before the season opener was a pretty crappy move. Would have been better for all involved if he left the team after the previous season ended.
Silver Maple
Postdoc
Posts 3765
04-02-18 09:06 PM - Post#254677    

I find it farfetched that this was his evil plan all along. It seems far more likely that he expected the team to be much more competitive than it turned out to be. Once he finally (and probably reluctantly) accepted the fact that there was very little chance he would ever see the postseason as a Dartmouth player, he quickly decided to hang onto two years of eligibility and take his talents to West Lafayette.
PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts 3578
04-02-18 11:47 PM - Post#254680    

Oh I don’t think he planned on two years but he quite likely planned on one as a post grad. He was on track to graduate after 3 years. He couldn’t play as a graduate at Dartmouth so he clearly had intentions of a 4th yr elsewhere. I think not being voted captain by his teammates and then the coaches not over ruling that decision led him to go for the 2nd yr suddenly.
Go Green
PhD Student
Posts 1124
04-03-18 09:01 AM - Post#254698    

  • PennFan10 Said:
I think not being voted captain by his teammates and then the coaches not over ruling that decision led him to go for the 2nd yr suddenly.



You could very well be correct that such is the way things went down.

But in my opinion, that really doesn't make him look much better...
HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts 2685
04-03-18 09:21 AM - Post#254702    

Totality of Circumstances?
- not recognized by teammates (captaincy)
- not recognized by league (1st team all Ivy)
- coach who recruited you fired
- season prospects dim (although as it turns out Dartmouth really had a chance to finish 4th)

Certainly graduating in 3 years and transferring for a single graduate season would be completely justified and understandable (e.g., Mitola). Under the above listed circumstances, maybe the reason for the late decision was due to his loyalty to Dartmouth which could have made the decision tougher. Note that 9 Pitt players sought permission to transfer within days after Stallings was canned.

Boudreaux might deserve some credit here.


Go Green
PhD Student
Posts 1124
04-03-18 09:27 AM - Post#254704    

  • HARVARDDADGRAD Said:
Totality of Circumstances?
- not recognized by teammates (captaincy)
- not recognized by league (1st team all Ivy)
- coach who recruited you fired
- season prospects dim (although as it turns out Dartmouth really had a chance to finish 4th)






The last three either already happened or were foreseeable last April. The only "new" circumstance was the captaincy.

Maybe you think its fine to bail because you weren't elected captain. I don't.
HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts 2685
04-03-18 11:07 AM - Post#254713    

Maybe I didn't communicate well. I think we're on the same side. I see Evan disappointed at the coaching change and the team's and his prospects. He shows up, practices, and tries to work through his disappointment. Maybe his disappointment is validated by the practices/coaching, and the final insult is that he's rewarded for trying by not being voted captain - likely the straw that breaks the camels back. Maybe, like Tony Hicks of Penn, the new coach is at the same time attempting to redirect the team's approach in a way that doesn't suit him as well.

That's why I suggested a "totality of the circumstances' that snowballed. That would explain timing that appears to be 'disloyal' when in reality it could have been the result of Evan's bending over backwards to hang in there.
Go Green
PhD Student
Posts 1124
04-03-18 12:12 PM - Post#254724    


Gotcha. Seems like you gave a more detailed version of what PennFan10 said.

Again, my opinion is that once you show up for training camp, you're there. If you're thinking about walking away, then the decision whether or not to do so should be made prior to that time.

Even assuming he was genuinely undecided and the captain thing was the proverbial tipping point, he comes across as petulant.
somedartmouthstudent2
Freshman
Posts 19
04-03-18 08:42 PM - Post#254750    

I get providing context around his final destination, but why are we still discussing this. It makes OUR fanbase look childish. Let go, he fulfilled his end of the bargain Boudreaux is graduating from our school. IMO he doesn't owe us anything.
Go Green
PhD Student
Posts 1124
04-04-18 08:49 AM - Post#254759    

  • somedartmouthstudent2 Said:
It makes OUR fanbase look childish.



You'll have to forgive us for actually caring about the program. Not sure what type of fan bases would feel differently...

Look, if he announced his decision to leave immediately after last season, people would have been bummed, but would have been fine with it. It would have given McLaughlin and the coaches a fighting chance to find a replacement. Even if that didn't materialize, they could have planned for an Evan-less team over the summer. All those reps they ran with him being the focal point in training camp? Someone else would have gotten the work. Maybe Knight gets more time with the first-team and develops faster.

By going through training camp and announcing the day before the season opener, he really screwed the team. Short of actually trashing the program in public, I can't imagine a worse way to leave than what he did.

If there were exceptional circumstances, people would understand. If a family member became ill in the Fall and he wanted to transfer to a program nearer to home, then fine. If he just decided that his heart wasn't in it and he wanted to give up college basketball to focus on studies, then fine. But neither appear to be the case here.

In sum, not all decisions to leave the program are created equal. Some are better taken than others.
PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts 3578
04-04-18 11:15 AM - Post#254765    

I think he was planning on leaving after year 3, thus the graduation track for this May. He clearly had lingering frustrations (coaching change, all league snub, non competitive program, etc) and the captain decision resulted in a knee jerk reaction to sit out the year and then transfer.

while I agree with Go Green, you start practice and you are committed and don’t quit, situations like Tony Hicks happen, where he planned to play and was told he should consider transferring.
Joe.Yemly
Freshman
Posts 27
04-04-18 02:05 PM - Post#254786    

  • HARVARDDADGRAD Said:
I see Evan disappointed at the coaching change



If you don't think the Boudreaux's had at least a say in the firing of coach Cormier, then I'm a Nigerian prince and I'd like to wire you some money.
Silver Maple
Postdoc
Posts 3765
04-04-18 02:52 PM - Post#254789    

Perhaps he approved of the firing of Cormier but didn't appreciate his replacement?
somedartmouthstudent2
Freshman
Posts 19
04-05-18 12:17 AM - Post#254812    

I think judging the decision making process of a 19/20 year old without knowing any of the details is an exercise in futility. Condemning said player for acting in self interest is also fairly petty.

Call it what you may, but you can be a Dartmouth fan and still support what Boudreaux did. I know I'm excited to follow him as he plays in an infinitely better conference.

Its like beating a dead horse at this point. Move on.
PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts 3578
04-05-18 12:25 AM - Post#254813    

we actually know a lot of the details. But point taken, it’s time to move on.....
Go Green
PhD Student
Posts 1124
04-05-18 06:09 AM - Post#254814    

  • somedartmouthstudent2 Said:


Call it what you may, but you can be a Dartmouth fan and still support what Boudreaux did. I know I'm excited to follow him as he plays in an infinitely better conference.





No disrespect, but I think you may be in the minority here.

Imagine Tracey McSorley arriving in camp, taking all the first-team reps, and then announcing the day before the opener that he is going to sit out the season and take a graduate transfer. I can't imagine that going over well in Happy Valley...

That's pretty much what happened here.
somedartmouthstudent2
Freshman
Posts 19
04-05-18 10:18 AM - Post#254822    

Do you though? As far as I know neither Boudreaux or any of the coaches have come out and spoken about it. It is literally all conjecture. As someone who worked with the team it is mind blowing we are having this conversation a full year later.


I get your perspective, but I also think you greatly overestimate how many people care about Dartmouth hoops.
Go Green
PhD Student
Posts 1124
04-05-18 11:00 AM - Post#254824    

  • somedartmouthstudent2 Said:
As someone who worked with the team it is mind blowing we are having this conversation a full year later.



This is kind of my point.

If it was a full year later, we wouldn't be discussing it. Had Bourdreaux left in April 2017, people would have been bummed, but understanding.

But it hasn't been a full year, has it? He left the day before the 2017-18 season opener.

Big difference.
jadwinjungle
Freshman
Posts 45
04-05-18 11:17 AM - Post#254825    

Do we know for sure that he literally decided the day before the season started? It seems to me that the day before the opener has traditionally been the day Ivy teams wait to drop some of their big news. This year alone, along with Boudreaux's transfer news, Yale announced Bruner and Mason were out indefinitely the day before the season opener. In previous years things like Hans Brase's injury, and Siyani Chambers' injury weren't announced until very close to the season opener. I doubt they literally just found out the day before, but they probably waited to announce for some reason. Is it possible that Boudreaux and the coaching staff simply waited until the day before the opener to make the announcement, but the decision was made before that?
mrjames
Professor
Posts 6062
04-05-18 12:09 PM - Post#254829    

All of that news happened right before the season started. The Yale injuries were during the scrimmage timeframe, so the news was held a week or so before getting out there. The Evan stuff happened right before the season as well - though again, maybe there was a bit of a delay in the news getting out.

Neither happened, say, over the summer and was held until the fall or anything like that...
Go Green
PhD Student
Posts 1124
04-05-18 02:20 PM - Post#254846    

  • jadwinjungle Said:
Do we know for sure that he literally decided the day before the season started?



Fair enough.

That being said, he was in the team photo-which usually gets taken pretty close to the start of the season. They either re-took the photo or digitally edited him out of it.
PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts 3578
04-05-18 09:41 PM - Post#254856    

  • somedartmouthstudent2 Said:
Do you though? As far as I know neither Boudreaux or any of the coaches have come out and spoken about it. It is literally all conjecture. As someone who worked with the team it is mind blowing we are having this conversation a full year later.


I get your perspective, but I also think you greatly overestimate how many people care about Dartmouth hoops.



While I have never spoken to Evan personally, my posts on this are not conjecture but based on what I consider to be very reliable sources. I stand by my comments

somedartmouthstudent2
Freshman
Posts 19
04-05-18 11:30 PM - Post#254858    

Well, I'll just say consider the perspective of your sources. I've been around the team for almost 4 years now and almost all of it is conjecture.
rbg
Postdoc
Posts 3044
07-12-18 08:56 AM - Post#258728    

Here's a Chicago Tribune article on Boudreaux's start at Purdue:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune...
GoBigGreenBasketball
Masters Student
Posts 805
07-12-18 09:08 AM - Post#258734    

Great read. Thanks for posting.
"...no excuses - only results!”

GoBigGreenBasketball
Masters Student
Posts 805
10-18-18 08:41 AM - Post#262922    

Ivy League degree in hand Boudreaux is prepping for a new challenge at purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Evan Boudreaux speaks about Purdue the way a recently promoted minor-league lifer talks about the majors.

Boudreaux, a 6-foot-8 star at Dartmouth for two seasons, hasn’t even played a game with the Boilermakers, hasn’t been on a chartered flight for a road game, hasn’t seen Mackey Arena when it’s packed and rocking. But in the small details he has seen since he arrived on campus in June, he can sense the differences between life in the Big Ten and the Ivy League.

“You look at the commitment from the school, it’s just above and beyond,” Boudreaux says as he sits in a posh club room in Mackey. “A lot of it is little things. Stuff with food and schedules. They seem small to the average person, but to an athlete whose days are commanded by commitments, being able to go after practice and having training table food ready for you. We didn’t always have that at Dartmouth, and a lot of those little things add up. It trickles down. You see it when you step on the floor at practice. Even when it’s empty, it gives a different kind of vibe.”

However, Boudreaux also understands better than most that the Ivy League and the bush leagues are not the same. He knows he can count on the sociology degree he obtained in three years at Dartmouth to set him up for the sort of post-basketball career opportunities he could only dream of were he transferring up from another mid-major conference.

That’s because he’s a Dartmouth legacy. His mother, Gail, a 1982 graduate, was a three-time All-American and Ivy League Player of the Year in basketball and a four-time Ivy League shot put champion. She is now the president and CEO of Anthem, the Indianapolis-based insurance company that ranks No. 29 in total revenue on the Fortune 500 list, and she is on Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees. His brother, Chris, also graduated from Dartmouth, playing tight end on the football team for one season. He’s now an assistant business development manager for Castlight, a San Francisco-based internet company that helps people understand their health insurance options.

Evan wants to be a CEO himself, and he knows he’ll have a clearer path to that goal than most. “I had grown up around Dartmouth,” he says. “I knew the weight of a Dartmouth education. Our alumni network is unbelievable. There’s only three, four thousand people there, right? I would go to an airport wearing a Dartmouth T-shirt. I’d get stopped multiple times by someone saying, ‘Oh, are you a Dartmouth grad?’ Stuff like that. So many people who went to Dartmouth want to hire Dartmouth grads. They just try to keep everything in such a tight community. The connections you get are unbelievable. It’s hard to beat.”

When he made his college commitment, Boudreaux had to decide whether that education and those connections were worth passing on the opportunity to prove doubters wrong by playing in a power-5 conference. He concluded that Dartmouth was too good to pass up.

After two seasons, however, he had lost more than twice as many games (38) as he’d won (17). He saw the opportunity to have it all — the Ivy League degree and two years of big-league basketball — so he went for it. But first, he had to spend one very awkward season in Hanover, N.H., as a man without a team.

Dickey Simpkins first laid eyes on Boudreaux when the young forward was in the sixth grade. Simpkins, who starred as a big man at Providence and won three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls in the late ’90s, had started a grassroots program in the Chicago suburbs called Next Level Performance and was working as a consultant at Lake Forest Academy, where Chris was playing. Terry Boudreaux wanted Simpkins to work with his younger son.

After about a 15-minute workout, Simpkins was sold. Evan was tall for his age, but he didn’t seem as hampered by the typical early-adolescent awkwardness. He could handle the ball and shoot it, and he was a quick learner.

“He was a confident kid in the sixth grade and very skilled for his grade as a player as tall as he was,” Simpkins recalls. “His shooting mechanics and technique were very good for a sixth grader his size. I showed him some post-move shots, jump hooks, left-handed and right-handed, and some footwork that he picked up on the spot.”

Boudreaux was a ferocious, gritty competitor. He had a privileged upbringing as the son of two health-care executives, and he grew up in Lake Forest, one of the more affluent communities in the country. Terry and Gail, however, were college athletes (Terry played lacrosse at Georgia) from much more modest backgrounds. They knew what it took to achieve what they did, and they demanded the same from their sons.

“They came from really humble beginnings,” Evan says. “They paid their way through college. They paid off their student debts and they built an incredible life for my brother and I, and even though we’ve been really blessed with their success, from Day One if we weren’t giving effort and we weren’t showing that we were 100 percent invested in what we were doing, there was a very stern talking to. There’s no excuse for not giving effort. They always said, ‘You don’t have to play a sport if you don’t want to, but if you’re going to be doing something, you’re going to give 100 percent.'”

Evan usually did, and he built a reputation as a kid who could play through pain. He suffered a gruesome break in his nose while playing for Simpkins’ 16 and under NLP team in the semifinals of the 2012 AAU National Championships in Orlando. Boudreaux’s nose was sideways and plugs were needed to stop the bleeding, but he returned to the game and later played in nationals. He also played through his senior year with a fractured right wrist that fired pain through his arm every time he flicked a shot.

“Evan was one of the most intense practice guys we ever had,” says Phil LaScala, who coached Boudreaux at Lake Forest High School. “If you didn’t know that his family had money, you would never know. He’s a blue-collar guy when he plays basketball. Everything that he did, he showed a lot of determination and hard work.”

He used those qualities to develop into one of the best players in the Chicago area. As a senior, he was second in the state in scoring (24.8 points per game) and rebounding (13.6). He finished as Lake Forest’s all-time leading scorer, with 2,076 career points, and he had the seventh-most rebounds in state history, with 1,296. He could shoot from outside, take opponents to the hole off the dribble, finish on the pick and roll and score out of post-ups. He had a nose for rebounds, and he could defend on the perimeter and in the post.

Also, his teams won. He helped Simpkins’ NLP team — which included future college stars Jevon Carter (West Virginia) and Jalen Brunson (Villanova) — to a runner-up finish in that AAU national tournament. In his senior year in 2015, Lake Forest reached the sectional finals of the state tournament before losing to Brunson’s Lincolnshire Stevenson team, which would win the Class 4A state title.

But as impressed as college coaches were with Boudreaux’s skill set, there were still concerns. In front-court players, they wanted someone who was taller than the 6-foot-8 Boudreaux, had a wider body than the 220-pounder or had a higher vertical than his 34-inch leap.

“College coaches get paid to recruit players that can help them win and normally they’re looking at what you would consider the sexy players,” Simpkins says. “Evan and Jevon Carter were never the sexy players. They were the players that were grimy and got their work done.”

Says Boudreaux: “I was always asking, ‘What more do you want to see?’ I think some coaches wanted me to be 6-9, and I think they were waiting on that. They were like, ‘Well, if he was 6-9, we’d take him in an instant, but he’s not.’ I was like, ‘Well, there’s nothing I can do about that.’ At the same time, I’m putting up some of the best numbers in the state and playing against some of the best competition in the country and performing. That was frustrating for me knowing I was competing at a high level with those guys, some of the top players in the country, and coaches were still like, ‘Oh, yeah, but he’s only 6-7 or 6-8.'”

Boudreaux still got high-major scholarship offers, just not from powerhouse programs. Iowa, Iowa State, Penn State, Northwestern and Boston College all reportedly made offers, but several programs, Purdue among them, never pulled the trigger, staying in contact with him while hoping they could lure more highly regarded players.

The notion of playing in the Big Ten to make the point that he belonged was tempting, and Iowa was in Boudreaux’s top three when he trimmed his list, but Dartmouth provided the education he wanted, the immediate playing time he desired and a chance to make history. The Big Green played in the NCAA title game twice in the 1940s but hadn’t been in the tournament since 1959.

“I saw it as an opportunity because they hadn’t been successful,” Boudreaux says. “I saw it as, ‘Well, my class is going to be the class to take them back. My class, we’re going to bring them back to win the Ivy League for the first time in 50 years.’ Think about how special that would be for the town, the school, everything.”

After two rough seasons, however, Boudreaux came to accept that his class couldn’t save Dartmouth basketball, and he started to wonder if he could get an Ivy League degree and then play high-major basketball.

Boudreaux established himself as Dartmouth’s best player from his first game, scoring 25 points in the Big Green’s 2015-16 opener against Seton Hall. He finished second in the conference in scoring (17.7 points) and third in rebounding (9.4) to earn Ivy League Freshman of the Year honors. In league play, he averaged a double-double with 20.2 points and a conference-best 10.2 rebounds per game.

But even with all of that scoring and rebounding the Big Green won only 10 games, and that wasn’t enough for coach Paul Cormier to save his job. Dartmouth had posted double-digit victories in three straight seasons for the first time since 1994 to ’97, but Cormier was only 55-116 in his six seasons.


As a freshman at Dartmouth, Boudreaux was a double-double machine. (David Dennis/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images)
Dave McLaughlin, who had been the associate head coach at Northeastern, was hired, but things got worse. As a sophomore, Boudreaux finished second in the Ivy in scoring (17.5 points) and led the league in rebounding (9.5). Dartmouth finished 7-20.

Boudreaux didn’t start considering a transfer until he returned to campus for the 2017-18 school year, and he realized then that he had accumulated enough credits that if he accelerated his pace a little he could finish his degree by June.

The losing was apparently only part of the reason behind the decision to start over, but Boudreaux declined to go into further detail. “I didn’t even consider it until last fall,” he says. “Some things happened. I looked at my course load and realized I was ahead of the curve.”

Dartmouth didn’t want to get into it either. McLaughlin responded to an interview request from The Athletic with a statement. “We wish Evan the best of luck at Purdue,” McLaughlin said. “Dartmouth is a special place, and we are very happy that he was able to complete his undergraduate degree during his time here.”

Of course, for Boudreaux, getting his degree instead of transferring immediately meant staying on campus, unlike players who spend their transfer year working out with their new team. Once he declared his intention to transfer, he couldn’t work out with Dartmouth. He had to prepare for a higher level of basketball than he had ever played without a coach, teammates or a dedicated support staff.

“That was difficult at first,” Simpkins says. “But once we got on the phone — his dad, myself and Evan — and discussed the plan and put the plan in play, he got into a nice routine.”

Boudreaux hired a strength trainer to push him in the weight room, and without a season’s worth of running up and down the floor, he made more gains in that area than he ever had. He trained on the courts available to the student body. His fraternity brothers at Gamma Delta Chi, many of whom played on the football team, played pick-up games with him and participated in his workouts however he needed them

“It allowed me to not just shoot around but do full-speed stuff work on shooting over guys, playing with bigger guys, playing with 300-pound linemen,” Boudreaux says. “I didn’t have a team, so that was huge.”

The one issue Boudreaux couldn’t game-plan for was the effect of leaving a team without leaving a school. His decision frayed relationships with several of the players he had spent the previous two years with, and Dartmouth isn’t the sort of campus where it’s easy to get lost and avoid people.

“I’d be lying if I said there weren’t some hard feelings,” Boudreaux says. “It was tough. You see them everywhere. It’s a small school. It’s not like a place where there’s 40,000 kids. You see a lot of people often. I tried to explain that it wasn’t personal. I had had some differences, and I wanted to do what was best for me. At the end of the day, you hope they understand, but sometimes there’s not a ton you can do. I still talk to a couple (teammates). From their standpoint, it’s tough when you have one of the players you’re counting on leave. I get it. I don’t hold any resentment or animosity toward them. I’m still rooting for them. I hope they have a great year.”

Boudreax followed Dartmouth games but didn’t attend any because he was concerned about the effect his presence would have. Things didn’t get any better for the Big Green. They finished 7-20 again.

Not being a part of a team for the winter for the first time in more than a decade ate at him, but it ultimately allowed him both to drill down on his academic work to finish his degree and to improve himself physically.

“I felt so much more explosive,” Boudreaux says. “I felt so much more athletic. All of my weightlifting numbers went through the roof. Just having a whole five months to say, ‘We’re going to lift. We’re going to get better at this, this and this. Still working out hard, but not necessarily the grind of playing 40 minutes every couple of nights. That five or six months was really good for my body.”

And that gave him even more to sell to programs who had passed on him the first time.

Boudreaux’s recruitment as a grad transfer was essentially the opposite of his experience in high school. With 65 3-pointers in two seasons, he had proven he could shoot from the perimeter and also showed he could rebound while playing inside and outside. He also had two years of eligibility remaining, making him even more attractive on the transfer market.

“When Evan decided to transfer and it hit the wire, I got a call from every conference,” Simpkins says. “Big 12, Pac-12, ACC, Big East, every conference. My phone was blowing up.”

Xavier and Purdue jumped in immediately. Boudreaux committed to Xavier last December, only to see coach Chris Mack leave for the Louisville job in March.

Boudreaux believed Purdue had been honest with him all along, even when the Boilermakers chose not to offer him a scholarship as a high schooler, so he trusted them when they made it clear he would be a big part of their plans. “Purdue was one of those schools that was never going to lie to me,” Boudreaux says. “I knew that. They would always tell me exactly what they thought. This is what we think you need to get better at. This is what we’re doing and what our class is looking like right now. For me, I appreciate the honesty. They were trying to figure out scholarships for Caleb Swanigan and some of their other guys. They were like, ‘We don’t want to offer you because we might get a McDonald’s All-American.’ I was like, ‘Look, I get that. There’s no hard feelings there.’ When I got into the process the second time, they called me and they were like, ‘We really want you.’ They were honest with me again. They were like, ‘We’re looking at other fours, too, but we want you.'”

The Boilermakers have a lot of production they need to replace. They may have the nation’s best returning shooting guard in Carsen Edwards, but they lost their other four starters, including center Isaac Haas and wing Dakota Mathias. Matt Haarms, a 7-foot-3, 249-pound sophomore, gives them a replacement for Haas in the middle, but Boudreaux gives them versatility and experience they wouldn’t have otherwise. He can’t protect the rim like Haarms can, but he can defend all five positions, and he creates mismatch problems at both power forward and center.

“Evan puts in a lot of time,” Matt Painter says. “He’s very competitive, he’s rebounded well. He can make 3s, so he can stretch big guys out. He just has to keep learning, especially in different spots, especially defensively.”

Purdue will ask a lot of Boudreaux defensively. When Haarms is out of the game, Boudreaux will have to try to keep centers out of the paint. When he is playing with Haarms, he’ll have to spend more time on the perimeter and deal with more athletic players. That means cutting off angles, positioning himself properly and being as physical as possible. He doesn’t believe that will be a problem, though, and neither do his new teammates, who have already seen how he plays with an edge.

“Once he gets going and gets his mind into the game and someone gets him upset, there’s really no stopping him,” sophomore guard Nojel Eastern says. “When he gets frustrated he plays really hard. He’s not trying to hurt anybody, but he steps up his level of play.”

Adds senior swingman Ryan Cline: “He comes in with a chip on a shoulder, and he’s a guy who just competes every day. He’s stronger than I think he knows.”

Painter says Boudreaux could start at power forward, but he also might play more center simply because of what he can do there offensively. One way or another, Boudreaux will be an integral piece on a Big Ten team looking to return to the NCAA Tournament, which is all he was hoping for when he decided to leave Dartmouth.

“So far,” Boudreaux says, “it’s been everything I wanted.”

(Top photo: Evan Boudreaux by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
"...no excuses - only results!”

Go Green
PhD Student
Posts 1124
08-25-19 08:20 AM - Post#287197    


What the Indianapolis Colts fans are feeling now, Dartmouth basketball fans felt two years ago.

Could very well be the right decision for the player. But it just sucks for the fanbase.
GoBigGreenBasketball
Masters Student
Posts 805
08-26-19 04:40 PM - Post#287226    

Fans often forget that players are people not pawns. #fantasysports
"...no excuses - only results!”

GoBigGreenBasketball
Masters Student
Posts 805
10-24-19 11:28 PM - Post#289028    

Nice piece on an alum.
"...no excuses - only results!”

PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts 3578
12-05-19 03:30 PM - Post#293834    

I can't imagine the transfer to Purdue is working out the way EB hoped. He is averaging 12 min a game off the bench and after logging 19 min vs Fla State played just 4 last night vs UVA.

Stone Gettings also averaging 12 min and got Cornelled by AJ in their meeting over Thanksgiving. Stone has another year but EB is done after this year. On a good team but so far hasn't done much.
SomeGuy
Professor
Posts 6391
12-06-19 12:20 AM - Post#293889    

Stone doesn’t get another year. He played three full seasons at Cornell.

For some of the grad transfers, I think they are happy to go to a big time program and be a role player. Possible Gettings played a couple of years as a big fish in a small pond, and wanted to go somewhere where he could experience big time college basketball with bigger crowds, etc. For guys who choose true high majors, that may be the thinking. The Columbia bigs who transferred to Michigan and Columbia may have made that type of calculation too.

Boudreaux has been pretty public about his recruitment, etc., so you do get the sense he was expecting to have a bigger impact. But who knows.
palestra38
Professor
Posts 32680
12-06-19 09:29 AM - Post#293903    

Or maybe, free graduate school was the appeal.



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