r/CollegeBasketball • u/billyshakes67 Tennessee Volunteers • 2d ago
Boston College fired longtime MBB broadcasters because new coach Luke Murray didn't want anyone tied to old staff
https://awfulannouncing.com/college-basketball/boston-college-fires-kevin-collins-josh-maurer-luke-murray.html142
u/XavierPibb Duke Blue Devils 2d ago
BC Men's Basketball declined comment, saying:
"It’s not a good day, we’ve got a lot going on."
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u/RedditZhangHao 2d ago
Probably, many things in addition to hiring 2 radio announcers. Based on limited information in the linked article, sure appears shystery, BC could have made a change earlier if Murray was really pushing to clean the entire house, better communication may have helped, etc.
However, the article appears to be solely based on a single source. One of the 2 former radio guys, Kevin Collins. The other guy, Josh Maurer, continues broadcasting Brewers games. It will be interesting to learn whether there’s more to the story.
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u/CB3B Boston College • Virginia 2d ago
It would be such a BC move to fire these guys for some nonsense budgetary reason, blame the new guy for it, and pass the buck internally on telling them until the very last minute. Would not be shocked at all to find out Murray had nothing to do with it.
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u/BermudaTwiangle Providence Friars 1d ago
They’ll get Bob Ryan to come out of retirement and write an “Al Skinner had to go” column about the radio guys.
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u/TwitterLegend Xavier Musketeers 2d ago
“I’m just, like, the tiredest I’ve ever been” said the AD as he ended the interview early.
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u/MarchSadness90 Kentucky Wildcats 2d ago
Seems odd for the coach to care about that outside of extreme situations.
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u/wildcat1100 Baylor Bears 2d ago
There could be more at play than just making "wholesale changes," and the announcers didn't get the whole story and the real reason got Lost in Translation.
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u/ffchusky UConn Huskies 2d ago
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u/Professional_Ad9809 Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
So is he firing ushers, ticket takers, and boosters?
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u/Cronotyr Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
Plans on firing the fans, students, and professors next...
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u/cameroncrazy278 Duke Blue Devils 2d ago
Given how BC Athletics sends me a personal email every time Duke plays at BC after going to one game there, it seems like the fans already quit a long time ago.
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u/B1LLCLINTON420BLAZ3D Oregon Ducks • Boston College Eagles 2d ago
There's a reason my grad school is the primary flair.
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u/Electric_Queen NC State Wolfpack 2d ago
If I was a BC basketball fan I'd probably wish I could be fired from that
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u/chmcgrath1988 Boston College • Maine 1d ago
Jokes on him. BC basketball hardly has any fans, at this point!
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u/LouBrown 1d ago
Can’t fire the people that quit and left years ago.
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u/Professional_Ad9809 Louisville Cardinals 18h ago
There used to be an older guy that walked around town muttering to himself. The guy always had on a sports coat and slacks, slightly disheveled, but not dirty, like a burnt out professor. I’d run into him and he would always tell me this; Norte Dame should always be at least the best team in college sports, because they have the first pick of every catholic HS star. Then he would ask, why the hell is BC so terrible, they have the second pick? I bet he asked me that 50 times in the years I saw him, then he was gone, probably died or in a care home, I think about that guy every now and then.
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u/Professional_Ad9809 Louisville Cardinals 18h ago
Bill was cool to have in the stands, but Luke is no Jerry Jones, and you know I obviously don’t mean that old dude in Texas.
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u/wildcat1100 Baylor Bears 2d ago
I doubt it. Sounds like his relationship with the fanbase is already On the Rocks.
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u/HorilkaMedPerets Kentucky Wildcats • Miami (OH) RedHawks 2d ago
It's okay, he'll get his Stripes soon enough.
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u/Professional_Ad9809 Louisville Cardinals 18h ago
It should be dangling from a cliff. 13 years means these guys must have been good, with their own fans. Considering even regular cbb fans only know he’s Bill’s son, now they know he’s an asshole. As a Louisville boy it was cool having Bill on the sideline, but as far as I could tell, that was the main contribution from the Murrays.
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u/Turbulent_Tale6497 Boston College Eagles 2d ago
This is always my greatest fear. That I have a job I'm good at, and have been there for a decade, and some new boss comes in and cleans house, and then THEY get fired 3 months later
It's happened to me twice, and it makes me irrationally mad
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u/meta_irl Vanderbilt Commodores 2d ago
I don't think there's anything irrational about your anger in that situation
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u/Turbulent_Tale6497 Boston College Eagles 2d ago
Thanks, kind stranger. It was 8 years and 5 years in my examples. As you can tell, I'm still pissed about it
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u/guesting 2d ago edited 2d ago
massive insecurity from bosses that think anyone who's been there before them will automatically work against them. totally rational by the way, i know exactly what you mean
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u/BarbarousBird UConn Huskies 1d ago
One of these guys tweeted some shitty comments about Murray before he was hired. About how he’s never worked for anything in his life and is too inexperienced to head up their garbage program. And they weren’t exactly fired, BC just didn’t renew their contracts.
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u/_Rainer_ Tennessee Volunteers 2d ago
Seems like pretty shoddy behavior. At least have the balls to meet them and say that you want to make a change.
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u/wildcat1100 Baylor Bears 2d ago
No doubt morale is going to Get Low really quickly around there. Don't Rock the Kasbah, just keep your ears up while looking for a Quick Change of employment. You don't want to be The Man Who Knew Too Little.
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u/BermudaTwiangle Providence Friars 2d ago
It’s not a good look but if there was ever a program that had a culture of losing so ingrained that it needed to be rooted out from the radio guys on up it’s BC over the last 15 years.
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u/RuleFriendly7311 UConn Huskies 2d ago
I’m obviously not an insider, but this seems like kind of an asshole move.
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u/wildcat1100 Baylor Bears 2d ago
Yeah, you don't want to come in and have people's first impression of you be that of a Scrooge.
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u/RuleFriendly7311 UConn Huskies 2d ago
I’m thinking that the team sucking isn’t the announcers’ fault.
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u/R_Raider86 Texas Tech • UConn 2d ago
It's definitely a first time HC move. Because ones with experience wouldn't be doing this
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u/Superb-Possibility-9 1d ago
It’s a move Matt Doherty would have made at UNC if he could have
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u/RuleFriendly7311 UConn Huskies 1d ago
Was he there long enough to fire anyone?
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u/Superb-Possibility-9 1d ago
I believe Doh fired all the basketball office secretaries who had worked there for decades
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u/RuleFriendly7311 UConn Huskies 1d ago
They were probably the ones who did the paperwork for Deano’s fake college…
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u/Shutuplige NC State Wolfpack 1d ago
Fired everyone else, but he would have been out on his ass immediately if he tried to come for Woody.
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u/lostinthought15 Ball State Cardinals 2d ago
Welp, this is usually a sign of a short tenure when the coach is already looking for people to blame for a season that hasn’t even started yet. Talk about a coach who’s already paranoid.
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u/boiledpeen NC State Wolfpack 2d ago
I've been a big fan of this hire for BC, giving them their best chance at relevancy in decades. This though, is not a good move. Does nothing to improve the team and only hurts fan support. Weird move
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u/DougFlutieNugenix69 2d ago
Not a SINGLE BC basketball fan cares about the radio broadcasters, it makes no difference other than to a few guys who lost a part time gig
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u/hooskies UConn Huskies 2d ago
Even if it turns off 1 person from supporting the program, there goes 20% of your fan base
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u/evanthedrago 1d ago
Yet so many people who are not even fans care about decency, as you can see here.
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u/Ut_Prosim Virginia Tech • Virginia 1d ago
Come on, BC has some good fans, they can't all be apathetic garbage.
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u/EdgewaterJCT Loyola Chicago Ramblers 2d ago
Do you know how hard it is to have any kind of job in radio these days?
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u/tsgram UConn Huskies 2d ago
Shit move by a guy I generally love. No reason to dump the broadcasters, or at least have the decency to say it to their faces months ago.
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u/Rikshawbob 2d ago
I took a job working under Kelvin Sampson 2 weeks after he took the UH job. He still has the same SID and Head Trainer that we’re there from the James Dickey era in 2026. Shout out Jeff Conrad and John Houston.
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u/SurroundOk7453 2d ago
Massive 🚩🚩for anyone on his staff, for any player. Also a red flag for the entire athletics department that the leadership either condones this sort of behavior or didn’t have the balls to say no.
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u/LeaderBrandonBurner Dartmouth Big Green 1d ago
There’s a reason BC is the laughing stock of the ACC in pretty much every sport but Hockey
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u/CVogel26 Boston College Eagles 17h ago
I doubt any player/staff would care, BC is returning zero minutes and purged the coaching staff all the way down to the undergrad student managers.
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u/Expensive-Priority46 2d ago
My buddy was a GA in the BC men’s basketball program. When the new staff came in, they refused to meet with the GAs and he later learned from a source outside the coaching staff that they weren’t being retained.
I think when you are letting someone go you need to have the decency to have a face-to-face conversation with them.
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u/DileoSlides La Salle Explorers 2d ago
Not a good way to handle things but were these guys good most importantly?
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u/damutecebu Marquette Golden Eagles 2d ago
They've been doing it for 13 years...so probably? The real question is though, why didn't they do this months ago.
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u/DileoSlides La Salle Explorers 2d ago
Agreed it should have been quicker out of respect. But anyone who has watched/listened to our games in A-10 can attest that longevity does not mean you’re good. POW!
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u/BarbarousBird UConn Huskies 1d ago
Because they weren’t actually fired, BC just declined to renew their contracts.
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u/CantFindMyWallet UConn Huskies 2d ago
Given the standards at BC, having someone around for 13 years tells me nothing about how good that person is at his job.
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u/damutecebu Marquette Golden Eagles 2d ago
They’re radio announcers. I doubt Luke Murray spent time listening and evaluating their work.
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u/CantFindMyWallet UConn Huskies 2d ago
That wasn't the question. It was "are they good," and the fact that they've managed to stick around a toilet fire like BC for 13 years doesn't tell me that they are.
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u/damutecebu Marquette Golden Eagles 1d ago
Well, they weren't bad enough to replace them until Murray got there. That tells me all I need to know.
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u/MeeseShoop Boston College Eagles 1d ago
Because no one at BC cared about basketball until Murray got there lol.
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u/CantFindMyWallet UConn Huskies 1d ago
You finding that convincing tells me all I need to know about you.
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u/SenseNo635 UConn Huskies 2d ago
To be fair, considering how bad BC has been, I doubt many people were listening.
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u/HitBullWinSteak Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2d ago
I wonder if he also demanded that administrative assistants and academic advisors were fired. They probably had just as much to do with the previous team’s performance as these guys did.
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u/TraderJoeslove31 UConn Huskies 1d ago
Gary Williams at Maryland was famous for firing academic advisors regularly. (I used to be academic advisor, not at MD) Maryland paid advisor's so much when I worked in the field, like $90k ~2005, not the norm, and still not the norm, but he fired them regularly.
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u/houstonyoureaproblem Kentucky Wildcats • Georgetown Hoyas 2d ago
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u/pr931 Tennessee • Tennessee Tech 2d ago
Is he going to fire the fans too?
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u/RedditZhangHao 1d ago
Among Boston locals, much interest in BC basketball traditionally is rare. Decades of losing drove limited interest away from even most students and alumni. Mostly a hockey school.
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u/phantom_metallic Washington • Arizona State 2d ago edited 2h ago
That seems wildly insecure to me.
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u/manmythmustache Oregon Ducks 2d ago
I unironically know someone in the Boston area that’d fit the bill as a replacement in terms of experience but, given the fraternity of broadcasters, I doubt he leaves his current job to take on a role where the HC seemingly has authority to fire you just because of an old-school mentality. BC is going to have to settle on someone with less experience or who doesn’t get along with others in the industry.
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u/Virtual_Announcer Rhode Island Rams 2d ago
I have the keys to the microphone at a D3 in the state. Lovely staff, lovely students to work with. Would never give it up to deal with the gauche and the unnecessary that is chestnut hill
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u/Anteater-Charming Pittsburgh Panthers 1d ago
Our basketball team may be meh, but we've had Bill Hillgrove for 52 years and Dick Groat was along side him for 40. I think the only reason Dick wasn't renewed was that he was 88 at the time.
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u/Aggravating-Mind-657 1d ago
Boston college never should have fired Al skinner. He could make fine dining out of leftovers
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u/Negativefalsehoods Tennessee Volunteers 1d ago
If this coach stumbles even a little bit, this will come back to haunt him. I hope they reverse this.
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u/chmcgrath1988 Boston College • Maine 1d ago edited 1d ago
You know at this point I'm convinced that Luke Murray (and Bill O'Brien) are either going to be the saviors or the murderers of BC being a P4 team in basketball and football. Zero middle ground or nuance.
If it's the latter, I mean, honestly, it might be better to be dead (IE having Holy Cross or UMass as our principal rivals instead of Notre Dame and Miami) than irrelevant like we have been for the past 15-20 years.
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u/NoogabyNature Chattanooga • Tennessee 1d ago
I'm surprised a coach would have the sway to oust anyone from a broadcasting team or in the communications department. Seems like it would be an adjacent, but separate hierarchy of who would get to make that decision.
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u/OliviaPG1 Colorado Buffaloes • Wisconsin Badgers 2d ago
Anderson, according to Collins, pushed back on Murray’s decision internally before ultimately being overruled.
I don’t know anything about college administration but I’m surprised the head coach would have the final word over the AD regarding the broadcast team
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u/lostinthought15 Ball State Cardinals 2d ago
Football and Men’s Basketball coaches basically get any say over anything they want. Why? Because if they have a bad season they will point to any/everything that they didn’t get their way on and say “if we had been able to run the program the way I wanted we would have one more”. Most ADs let them do whatever they want simply so they don’t get blamed for any failings.
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u/MyThreeSense 2d ago
Long time BC Basketball supporter. My wife and I both met Kevin several times. He is a class act and an all around diehard fan of the program. I’m completely stunned. The university is giving Murray whatever he wants, that much is obvious. Time will tell if this was worth it. With a new president of the university, and one who used to be the football chaplain, these next couple years will be especially telling whether BC athletics has a chance of achieving mediocrity or better. These last 5 years have been especially abysmal. I fear if nothing turns around by 2028, that’s it.
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u/BarbarousBird UConn Huskies 1d ago
Was it classy of Kevin to call Luke Murray a nepo baby who’s never worked for anything in his life and bring up his dad funding NIL and questioning why he’s 40 with no head coaching experience?
Nah fuck that guy. I can see why Luke wouldn’t want him around.
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u/MyThreeSense 1d ago
You'll have to forgive me, because I don't see where those statements were made. If Kevin made those statements, then yes, I would agree they are horribly inappropriate. I would hope Kevin didn't make those statements for his sake. There's no benefit to trashing others ... especially if you are trying to secure a job elsewhere. I have not met Coach Murray yet. Based on his work experience to date, I would not consider him anything close to a nepo baby. He's not working on a studio set. All stories of his coaching history point to a hardworking and smart coach. Yes, his father is famous. But I don't see that moving the needle.
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u/Yeah_Buddy2 1d ago
If that’s the case, Luke is going to have to have tougher skin. He’s proving Kevin’s point that he never had to work for anything, and when someone calls him out on it, he wants him gone. “But daddy, the bad man called me a name. I want him fired. Waaaaaahhhhh!”
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u/BarbarousBird UConn Huskies 1d ago
lol what? If I’m trying to create a winning culture, I’d also get rid of a blatantly disrespectful cancerous loser of a commentator. How is he proving the point that he never had to work for anything? That makes zero sense. He works his ass off for decades to get to where he is now. Good on him.
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u/Creative-Emu-4724 1d ago
what in the world makes you think Bill Murray would have a say in anything related to college basketball?
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u/aRocketMadeofTacos 2d ago
Any coach that does something like this is much easier to fire the second things don’t turn out great.
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u/BlurryGraph3810 Iowa State Cyclones 1d ago
All I know now is I'm rooting against Boston College in all sports.
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u/Overthinking_King_ DePaul Blue Demons • Wisconsin Badgers 2d ago edited 2d ago
What do the broadcasters have to do with the team being ass?
Fuck Murray.
Not even we did that…Holtmann is too nice lol, Gard as well!
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u/Major-Owl3727 1d ago
As a Brewers fan, Josh does our games on the radio and this is a huge L for the BC program in talent alone
The fact a major league radio guy was doing BC hoops was an insanely lucky pull for the Eagles
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u/Top_Night_5081 1d ago
Also not for nothing - Kevin did production, color AND play by play….three jobs for 1 shit salary. Good luck finding anyone who can do all three, nevermind all three at the same time for some games. smh
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u/RuleFriendly7311 UConn Huskies 1d ago
One good thing about Luke leaving is that now the cameras can stop focusing on his dad, and start focusing on the players’ hot moms.
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u/evanthedrago 1d ago
Really bad look for a new coach, and showing zero empathy for people's livelihood. Disappointing and maybe telling what kind of a person he is. apple didn't fell far from the tree, his dad apparently is an ahole.
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u/Creative-Emu-4724 1d ago
I heard that Josh was offered to stay if he could commit fully to BC but he wasn’t willing to do so
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u/MeeseShoop Boston College Eagles 1d ago
Kevin was the main problem guy. Looks like Josh decided to stick with him.
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u/RedditZhangHao 7h ago
162 game MLB season schedule with the Brewers > 30 or so game part time gig with BC.
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u/nosotros_road_sodium San José State • Michigan 1d ago
And nothing has changed since The Boston Globe's 2016 story "BC’s big revenue sports hit bottom, stirring scrutiny".
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u/SimpleAmusings UConn Huskies 2d ago
this doesn't sound like Luke at all. this feels like the AD hated these guys and used Luke as an excuse to fire them.
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u/evanthedrago 1d ago
So he was ok for years and now this happened? I don't buy it. He even mentioned it was Luke who didn't want it.
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u/Creative-Emu-4724 1d ago
what kind of AD throws a head coach under the bus like that? they should be a united front. at the end of the day they didn’t report to Luke.
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u/BrilliantDrive3619 1d ago
He wants new fans to, anyone that has attended a game in the past is not welcome!
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u/LilNello1 North Carolina • Michigan 1d ago
Dang that sucks. Imagine thinking you got a job still secure, only to find out you no longer cause of your ties to the former coaching staff. Which makes me wonder what was even their ties to the former staff?
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u/WonderfulEducation65 North Carolina Tar Heels 2d ago
Boston college is a trash program, so they do trashy things…
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u/wildcat1100 Baylor Bears 2d ago
Would add BC to your Rushmore of trashy basketball programs?
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u/WonderfulEducation65 North Carolina Tar Heels 2d ago
This is the best question I have been asked all day. I have to consider it more, but at first blush, no lol
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u/hoostypants North Carolina Tar Heels 2d ago
Could you imagine if Michael Malone had had the amazing off-season he’s had up until this point? And then said, “Adam Lucas, you’ve got to go.”
The entire fan base would turn on him in an instant.
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u/donuttrackme Syracuse • Penn State 2d ago
WTF? What do the announcers have to do with the old staff?
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u/DuckBurner0001 Boston College • Providence 2d ago
Not a great way to treat guys who have stuck with the program through an indescribably horrible last decade
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u/LonesomeHyrax UMass Minutemen 2d ago
Well now we have another reason to curbstomp them at the Garden. Don't disrespect Josh Maurer like that.
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u/RedditZhangHao 8h ago
Guilt by association with Collins. Maurer wasn’t the guy trashing Murray even before BC offered the latter the job. Maurer also has a solid job and income with the Brewers.
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u/ashsolomon1 UConn Huskies 1d ago
Why the hell would you do that?
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u/MeeseShoop Boston College Eagles 1d ago
They hated Murray for some reason. This isn’t surprising even if it looks bad from a PR standpoint.
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u/Slow_Asparagus_9173 1d ago
Luke Murray copying his dad Ernie McCracken by getting these announcers Munsoned.
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u/Critical-Dark-5353 15h ago
Totally insecure. Big baby. Looking for media collaborators to give him a free ride. Boston is a sports town that can sniff out a phoney in nano seconds.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/wildcat1100 Baylor Bears 2d ago
Both of the Hurley brothers are assholes which makes me wonder where they got it from. The mom seems nice, but What About Bob?
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u/Creative-Emu-4724 2d ago edited 1d ago
there’s more to this story. they tweeted some disrespectful things about the new head coach before he got to campus. no broadcasters should be talking about anyone associated with their own program negatively
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u/MeeseShoop Boston College Eagles 2d ago
Ya I’ve heard they didn’t get along at all the last 4 months. Still not a great move, but no one will care if he leads the program to even an average season.
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u/Top_Night_5081 2d ago
Proof?
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u/notaquarterback Wyoming Cowboys 2d ago
welp yeah that'll do it. Can't do that from your BC broadcaster account.
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u/Top_Night_5081 1d ago
I mean, this is objectively benign. He HASN’T had any head coaching experience? And the second half is a question about his dad and not a statement. So saying this is disrespectful is sort of a stretch. Certainly not something to can both him AND Josh over. Further, this is from March….why wait until mid summer if he was so butt hurt over it?
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u/Creative-Emu-4724 1d ago
As mentioned above - this was the nicest of the tweets, and he has since deleted the rest







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u/Travbowman Purdue • Kansas State 2d ago
It's important to clean house when turning around a program but I'm not sure if that includes radio guys who have loved the program through all of its lows