Former Purdue C Matt Haarms Transfers to BYU over Kentucky, Texas Tech, More | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Former Purdue center Matt Haarms is transferring to BYU, he announced on Thursday, via 247 Sports' Evan Daniels.
As a graduate transfer, the 7'3" big man will be eligible to play for the Cougars in 2020-21.
Haarms spent his first three years at Purdue, making 102 appearances for the Boilermakers. He averaged 8.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks as a junior in 2019-20.
He told ESPN's Jeff Borzello his decision to leave West Lafayette, Indiana, was made with an eye toward a possible pro career: "Just believe I needed a change of scenery to take my game to the next level; [I] don't have anything but positive things to say about Purdue, but I just felt like it was time to move on."
Between his imposing height and NCAA tournament experience (one Sweet 16 appearance and a trip to the Elite Eight), Haarms will have had plenty of options as he weighed his next step.
Evan Daniels of 247Sports reported he had narrowed his list of finalists to three programs: BYU, Kentucky and Texas Tech.
The Athletic's Dustin Dopirak explained some of what Haarms would bring to a new team:
"His shot-blocking can play at any level, and he could be especially valuable to a team that is just missing that piece. And wherever he goes, his new team will be able to trust that he’ll bring energy. In his early years at Purdue, he sometimes got overly excited and wore himself out early in games, but he found a rhythm and has mostly stuck to it since the latter half of his sophomore season, including during the Boilermakers' Elite Eight run. He won't expect to join a team and be its captain, but he'll most likely be a good locker room presence with the experience of two Sweet 16 runs."
The COVID-19 pandemic hit particularly hard for the Cougars because they were having their most successful season in years.
ESPN's Seth Walder ran a simulation that combined Joe Lunardi's projected bracket with the Basketball Power Index. In the exercise, BYU advanced to the national title game, where it lost to Wisconsin.
There's no guarantee the team will even get to the tournament in 2021. Seven players from this year's roster, including the top three scorers, were seniors.
Jeff Call of Deseret News wrote Wednesday that head coach Mark Pope and his assistants "have been aggressively pursuing graduate transfers" to ensure the team is once again a contender in the West Coast Conference.
Landing Haarms gives Pope a big piece in the paint.
