Quinnipiac’s leading scorer Rich Kelly to transfer to Boston College
Photo Courtesy: Liz Flynn
March 29, 2020
Less than 24 hours after Kevin Marfo made his transfer decision, Quinnipiac guard Rich Kelly announced his new destination, Boston College.
“I went into this process knowing that returning to Quinnipiac was an option and only a really good situation would take me away from that,” Kelly said. “When BC presented itself and Coach Christian called me, it just had a great combination of things that appeal to me.”
Kelly made his decision on Twitter with All Facts Media.
Why Boston College?
“Being a great school, I’m a New England guy so it’s in Boston, the ACC has always been my favorite conference,” Kelly said. “Just the opportunity to come in, help contribute and try to go to the NCAA tournament.”
The point guard had narrowed his choices to Ohio State, Wake Forest, Boston College, BYU, George Washington, Tulane and Santa Clara, according to Aaron and Andrew Robinson.
He announced he was entering the NCAA’s transfer portal Mar. 17, but did not rule out returning to Quinnipiac.
After careful consideration, I have decided to enter the transfer portal and evaluate all my options for next year. I have not ruled out returning to Quinnipiac.
— Rich Kelly (@richkelly2222) March 17, 2020
Kelly burst on to the scene right away in his freshman season. A part of Tom Moore’s final recruiting class before he was fired, Baker Dunleavy honored the scholarship and made Kelly a main cog in the Bobcats’ offense.
The Shelton, CT-native is a two time all-MAAC second team player and was named to the all-MAAC rookie team his freshman season. Kelly averaged a career-high 16.7 points per game in the 2019-2020 season. He dished out 4.5 assists per contest, as well. Kelly scored a career-best 40 points, including seven three pointers Feb. 17, 2018 against Fairfield.
As far as replacing Kelly goes, Dunleavy and the Bobcats do have a contingency plan. Savion Lewis, health-permitting, will get the first string nod after being out for the majority of the 2019-2020 season with an injury. Lewis, a red-shirt freshman, played in 8 games, showing an explosiveness from the point guard position. Quinnipiac also has sophomore Tyrese Williams who can contribute as a combo guard. Sophomore Tyree Pickron and red-shirt freshman Matt Balanc can also play guard, but play more off-ball.
The Bobcats should be a player in the transfer market now with multiple roster spots open and guard Tymu Chenery the only recruit for the next class.
