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DiMAURO: Luke Murray the best athletics hire at BC since Tom Coughlin

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5 months ago

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By MIKE DiMAURO

As someone who lives and works in Connecticut, my Boston College inclinations (OK, obsessions) are not appreciated by the masses. Example: The license plate on my car has a BC reference, making me the frequent target of one-digit salutes from UConn-leaning heathens driving by. 

And maybe that twist of delicious irony Tuesday added to an already landmark day in BC sports history. The Eagles poached Luke Murray from UConn to rescue the men’s basketball program from the morass, even prompting Murray to suggest he’d like to be “a conduit of peace” between the institutions whose fans often lob snowballs at each other.

I’m not into making predictions, mostly because nobody remembers when you’re right, but they never forget when you’re wrong. But here goes anyway: Luke Murray is the best hire for BC athletics since Tom Coughlin. (And all Coughlin ever did in his short stint was win a New Year’s Day bowl game and ruin Notre Dame’s chance at the 1993 national championship, bless his soul.)

I say that because I’ve covered 16 Final Fours (men’s and women’s) in my time here. It’s led me to one conclusion: When you are here, you see championship programs from the inside. And there is no way – none – Murray would have taken this job if he had even an inkling the administration would not support it financially. At long last, my BC peeps, we’ve joined the party.

“We have plans in place to continue to become more competitive — as it pertains to NIL, rev(enue) share, and all the inner workings of the current landscape of college basketball,“ Murray said. “Fr. Leahy and Fr. Jack (incoming president Fr. Jack Butler) gave a pretty clear message about the direction of Boston College athletics and our place in the current climate we operate in, and I’m excited about the direction we’re headed in.”

It’s only the very best news possible. And let’s face it: Those of us who live and die in our Eagledom probably share the affliction of OTSD (Ongoing Traumatic Stress Disorder). We can’t have nice things. 

Until now.

We should have been comforted by a few subtleties at Tuesday’s presser. First, both Murray and athletic director Blake James mentioned Father Jack frequently, even though he’s not in The Big Chair yet. This tells me Fr. Jack, who has a sports background at BC, is navigating the waters. Cue Beethoven’s “Ode To Joy.”

James was asked some specifics about BC’s revenue share numbers as they’ll pertain to basketball. He said, “We don’t discuss that publicly for a variety of reasons.” For context, neither does UConn, even though it’s a state school, all of whose numbers are public. 

At UConn’s request, the state legislature and governor Ned Lamont enacted an exemption to Connecticut’s freedom-of-information law for the payments made by the university to varsity athletes as part of revenue sharing and NIL. The university said it would disclose the total of these payments and the number of student-athletes receiving them but not individual payments.

“This exemption,” UConn athletic director David Benedict told the legislature, “will allow student-athletes to maintain their privacy, increase compensation opportunities, and avoid the competitive disadvantages that would occur if Connecticut universities were required to share contract details.”

I see this as BC being prudent. But again: Murray would not be here without significant assurances the financial support will be sufficient.

Murray also pledged to do things that Steve Donahue, Jim Christian and Earl Grant never did: get involved with the students and the community, to resuscitate Conte Forum. He mentioned Tyrese Rice, Jared Dudley, Troy Bell and Jay Murphy, extending a metaphorical hand to welcome basketball alumni back to the program. He said BC basketball would be “aesthetically pleasing” with a “healthy shot diet.” A “healthy shot diet” at BC used to be what we drank at Mary Ann’s.

All of the above reinforces what many of us have known. BC is not some basketball desert. The program has won more than 20 NCAA tournament games, the Big East tournament twice, made three Elite Eights and has employed Bob Cousy, Chuck Daly, Dr. Tom Davis, Gary Williams, Jim O’Brien and Al Skinner. Bagley, Adams, Barros, Curley, Eisley, Bell, Smith and Dudley didn’t exactly suck either.

But after 17 years of no NCAA tournament, ugly narratives tend to fester into fact. The new sheriff, Sheriff Murray, is here to change that.

Luke Murray personifies The New Boston College under Father Jack’s leadership. Younger, smarter and willing to adapt to the new rules of college sports, odious as they may be. Heaven knows we’ve suffered long enough. Happy days are here again.

Mike DiMauro, a columnist in Connecticut, is a contributor to Eagles Daily and a member of BC’s Class of 1990. He may be reached at m.dimauro@theday.com or on X @BCGenius. 

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Basketball

Boston College lands one of nation’s top rebounders in Brandon Benjamin, along with former Charleston forward Colby Duggan

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5 months ago

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April 19, 2026

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Boston College received two more transfer commitments this weekend in Brandon Benjamin and Colby Duggan. Benjamin and Duggan join Money Williams, Ernest Shelton and JB Frankel as the fourth and fifth transfers to commit to Luke Murray and BC this offseason. The Eagles now have seven players on their roster, including international signing Zak Smrekar and Jack Bailey, the only BC player from last year not to enter the portal.

Benjamin, a 6-foot-8 forward from Newark, N.J., played his only collegiate season last year at Fairfield University. The rising sophomore was named to the 2025-26 MAAC All-Rookie Team and All-MAAC Second Team after averaging 14.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting 56.5% from the field. Benjamin ranked first in the MAAC and eighth in the country in rebounds per game and second in the country in offensive rebounds per game (4.25).

“What made me pick BC first was the coaching staff,” Benjamin told ZAGSBLOG on Sunday. “It really felt like family. I will bring my high motor, plus rebounding, finishing around the rim and taking guys off the dribble. [I also bring] my catch-and-shooting, pick-and-pop, my winning impact and my versatility with guarding 1-5 with the ability to block shots.”

Duggan, a 6-foot-7 forward from Monson, Mass., averaged 9.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 19 games for Charleston last season after missing the first part of the year with an injury. He spent the previous two seasons at Campbell University and averaged 15.7 points and 3.3 rebounds on 34% shooting from 3-point range during the 2024-25 season.

“He competes on both ends of the court at all times,” former Charleston head coach and current USF head coach Chris Mack said. “He’s a warrior. He’s a winner. Defensively, Colby doesn’t back down. He guards well in the post and on the perimeter. Offensively, he led the conference in scoring and is just scratching the surface of what he can be as a mismatch.”

Benjamin should slot into the starting lineup as the power forward or a small-ball big thanks to his impressive rebounding ability, while Duggan comes to BC as a depth piece off the bench.

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Former Merrimack sharpshooter Ernest Shelton commits to Boston College

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April 17, 2026

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Guard Ernest Shelton announced his commitment to Boston College early Thursday night. The former Merrimack Warrior became the fourth transfer to commit to head coach Luke Murray and the Eagles, joining Zak Smrekar, Money Williams and JB Frankel. Shelton was named to the 2025-26 All-MAAC first team while helping lead the Warriors to a MAAC regular-season championship.

Shelton played two seasons at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, on the opposite side of the state from his hometown of Philadelphia, before transferring to Merrimack last offseason. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 15.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 34.6% from behind the 3-point line.

“[Shelton]’s a shooter,” Merrimack head coach Joe Gallo said. “Every time it comes out of his hand, you think it’s going in.”

Shelton knocked down 99 3-pointers for Merrimack last season and was among the top 40 in the country in 3-pointers made per game (2.9). He set a career high last season with nine 3-pointers in a game against Boston University and made five or more 3-pointers in six games.

The sharpshooter is a breath of fresh air for a Boston College program that finished last in the ACC in 3-point percentage last season.

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Boston College lands Zak Smrekar, Money Williams, and JB Frankel, first three transfer commitments of Luke Murray era

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April 16, 2026

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Boston College received its first three transfer commitments of the 2026 transfer portal cycle on Thursday in Zak Smrekar, Money Williams, and JB Frankel. Smrekar, Williams, and Frankel are the first three players to commit to BC since Luke Murray was named head coach on March 26 and join Jack Bailey as the only three players currently on the Eagles’ roster.

Smrekar is a 19-year-old, 6-foot-7 guard from Slovenia and was the first to commit to Murray. He played for the club Krka Novo Mesto in the Slovenian ABA for three seasons and averaged 9.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 15 games in the 2025-26 season. Smrekar also played for Slovenia in the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup and averaged 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in seven games.

Williams is a 20-year-old, 6-foot-4 guard who played the last three seasons for Montana. The Oakland, California, native was named to the 2025-26 All-Big Sky First Team after averaging 20.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game on 49.8% shooting from the field. Williams scored a career-high 40 points against Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Tournament, along with tallying six other 30-point games last season.

“I can’t come up with enough words to praise Money Williams properly,” Montana head coach Travis DeCuire said in October 2025. “When you talk about the young man that he is off the court, the young man he is when you bring him in the office, and you have real conversations with him and look him in the eye and talk about things that are hard to talk about.”

Frankel is a 21-year-old, 6-foot-3 guard who is not moving far, as he played the last three years at Northeastern. He started 13 of 30 games for the Huskies last season and averaged 5.9 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. The New York City native scored a season-high 13 points in a road win against Harvard.

Coach Murray will have to continue to build up the Eagles roster, but with three guards being picked up, look for the Eagles to hone in on finding their starting forwards and big men.

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