Boston College hires a former national champion as its next head coach

Recent basketball history hasn’t been kind to Boston College but the Eagles are hoping that they can turn things around in this new era. After connections and interviews with several candidates in recent weeks, Boston College surprised some people with the announcement of Luke Murray as their next head coach.

Murray comes to Chestnut Hill without any previous head coaching experience, though he has had extensive work in the college game. He’s aided at several schools in New England and rose to prominence in recent years. He spent six years with Chris Mack split between Xavier and Louisville and has been at Dan Hurley’s side even longer, including the last five seasons on the UConn bench.

In these recent years with the Huskies, Murray coordinated UConn’s offense and was a major piece in recruiting as well. He possesses nearly twenty years of coaching experience and this represents his first big shot at a head coaching gig. Murray finally gets to run his own program and takes over an ACC team that desperately needs a breath of fresh air.

The Eagles fired Earl Grant after five uninspiring seasons, but the struggles for this program date further back than that. Boston College has not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2009 and hasn’t been above .500 in the ACC in fifteen years. Al Skinner led the Eagles to seven NCAA Tournaments in his final ten seasons, but his departure and a lack of success in the ACC has spiraled this program.

The program has gone in different directions to try to get back on track and even had a 20-win season under Grant a few years ago. Instead of plucking another mid-major coach on the rise, they’re trusting their program to a bona fide recruiter and offensive coach who might not have experience but is ready to prove himself. Murray has been training for this moment for many years, but is he really ready for this type of challenge as a first-timer?