Interesting Quinnipiac player story that involves Buzz Williams and maybe the only player in the COVID extra year portal to transfer back to his previous team.
Buzz is legendary?
https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/nhregister/article/Jeff-Jacobs-From-Hamden-to-Texas-and-back-16137279.php?_ga=2.261241540.875382935.1619717046-812962984.1594303534
Quinnipiac’s Marfo is on the reboundJEFF JACOBS
PHOTO
Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media
Quinnipiac’s Kevin Marfo hauls down a rebound during the first half against Fairfield in 2020.
When he left Quinnipiac last spring for Texas A&M, bachelor’s degree in hand, the nation’s leading rebounder figured he’d never pull on a Bobcats uniform again.
Who knew?
There are 1,400 stories in the world of the 2021 NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal. Kevin Marfo is one of the more compelling. Yes, #OneBadMarfo is back in town.
“I never expected myself to be back in Hamden, because I thought I only had one year left of college basketball,” Marfo said. “It’s going to be one of those weird, twilight things, where it’s like ‘Wow!’ I have to find a way to adjust back to find success on the court.”
It may be a little cheesy and more than a little cliché, but it’s true. Quinnipiac got Kevin Marfo on the rebound.
“This was an easy one for me,” Quinnipiac coach Baker Dunleavy said. “Kevin loves basketball. He loves to work. He loves to compete. That’s what makes him special. Those haven’t changed. I think he has a better appreciation that this place is pretty good, was pretty good to me, I have a better perspective on things.
“We do, too, especially me as coach, a better perspective on how much we appreciate what Kevin brought to the table. We can come back together on those terms, it’s a resounding positive.”
After pounding the glass harder than anyone in the nation, 13.3 rebounds a game in 2019-2020, Marfo wanted the challenge of a major conference. He picked Buzz Williams’ Aggies of the SEC. As a graduate transfer, Marfo didn’t perform as well as he wanted. In a COVID season, he missed the month of February with COVID.“I was sick,” Marfo said. “A lot of body aches.”
With the NCAA giving everyone an extra year of eligibility, COVID also would give Marfo one more chance. He decided to return to Quinnipiac, where he scored 441 points and pulled in 586 rebounds in two seasons, including 17 double-doubles in 2019-2020.
“It was more of a situation of how crazy this year was, especially with COVID, and not really having a chance at a full season at A&M,” Marfo said. “It wasn’t a great year for me personally. A lot of things took its toll, obviously just the journey itself.
“I’ve done this recruiting thing way too often. I kind of got to the point where I’m going to go back to something familiar and just go from there. I don’t want to take a risk of going to a new place. I was kind of over that idea.”
Raised in New Jersey, the son of Ghanaian immigrants developed his game at Worcester Academy. It was Donovan Mitchell, now with the NBA’s Utah Jazz, an AAU teammate, who encouraged him to go the prep route. Boston College, Rhode Island and Providence recruited him. He picked George Washington, which had won the 2016 NIT. Only Mike Lonergan was fired as coach before Marfo played a game and he sought a transfer after his freshman season. Dunleavy, who had met Marfo at Worcester Academy when he was an assistant at Villa-nova, landed him.
Marfo had to sit out a transfer season in 2017-2018 … GW, sit, Quinnipiac, Texas A&M, Quinnipiac, yeah, Kevin Marfo’s over this recruiting thing.
“Given the environment of what’s going on, there’s going to be a learning curve anytime there’s a drastic change,” Dunleavy said. “Whether it’s any business or environment. This year’s there’s going to be a huge reaction and a lot of people going into that portal. Lessons will be learned by coaches, players, administrators on how to handle these situations the best. Learn from people’s experiences.
“Kevin played incredible basketball for us. He had a lot of opportunity out there. I said it last year when we lost him: We support our guys being able to explore their options. It’s not the same as it used to be. The traditionalists that long for the days of kids staying at the same place for 4-5 years — their motivation through thick and thin — it’s different now. The mindset is different.”
Marfo took advantage of his chance to complete his degree at Quinnipiac and become immediately eligible.
“The opportunity to play at a high level, an opportunity to get coached by a legendary coach like Buzz Williams, to become a better player and hopefully propel my career — that was the goal,” Marfo said. “I learned a lot more. It was a great experience. Anyone who has played for Buzz Williams knows that Buzz grinds you out. He really tests your mental on another level, more than any coach I’ve ever played for.“It gave me a different perspective. It taught me a lot of things I’m going to be able to use at Quinnipiac. It helped propel my career in a good direction, just not in a direction that people who don’t know would understand.”
Marfo started eight of 17 games, averaging 12.8 minutes, 2.6 points and 3.7 rebounds. Modest numbers. Texas A&M, which lost all of February because of COVID, finished 8-10, including 2-8 in the SEC, and saw nine players enter the transfer portal.
“I didn’t play great,” said Marfo, who got on the floor 11 minutes in the two games after Jan. 31. “It was a lot of different things that didn’t go my way. I’m just going to take responsibility. I could have been better in some areas. At that level, you’ve got to win, and we weren’t winning a lot of games.”
Marfo, who is still hammering out his academic path for next year, said he wanted to finish his college career the right way. He hit reset.
Said Dunleavy, “If I only get one more year in this, where do I know I’ll be comfortable, happy, productive and fit? That was the mindset he took when we talked. The answer from Kevin is a resounding yes. Because that’s his motivation that has me excited, too.”
These days, coaches essentially are recruiting high school players, off other college rosters and their own players for the following season. It doesn’t pay for either side to burn bridges.
“There was never any animosity with Kevin,” Dunleavy said. “He was very professional and very respectful with the way he handled everything. There was never anything intended to be negative toward Quinnipiac. It was more exploring what was best for him. That’s how I chose to look at it. I understand every coach looks at it differently. I try to make a point to try not to take things personally in life. Sometimes it is personal. This was not. If it was this wouldn’t be happening.”
“There’s up and downs with any coach, but it was left in a respectful manner,” Marfo said. “It made the transition back easier. And I think it was a smooth process with the guys because of the relationship I had with all of them. I was in contact with almost every player on the team when I was at A&M. They all want the best for me. There’s a lot of hungry guys. They want to compete.”
Although Dunleavy has no committed freshmen for next year, he has added guard Dezi Jones from Moberly (Mo.) Area Community College. He returns all his major contributors, and everyone had the option to return. There are two open scholarships. It looks good that senior Jacob Rigoni, who led the Bobcats at 11.8 points and 6.3 rebounds, will return. Suddenly, there’s a lot of stability and promise on a team that finished 9-13.
Then again, when Marfo transferred to A&M and Rich Kelly to BC last spring, who would have guessed Kelly would now be at UMass and Marfo back at Quinnipiac. It’s a crazy college basketball world.
“My gosh, how much falls under that category?” Dunleavy said. “The pandemic, the pauses in the season, everybody getting another year. It’s a whirlwind. It’s testing everybody’s, players and coaches, ability to adapt.”
jeff.jacobs @hearstmediact.com; @jeffjacobs123