Luke Murray

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Boston College fired longtime MBB broadcasters because new coach Luke Murray didn’t want anyone tied to old staff

Boston College fired its longtime men’s basketball radio broadcasters, telling both that the decision came directly from new head coach Luke Murray, who didn’t want anyone in his program’s orbit who’d been associated with the previous coaching staff.

Kevin Collins and Josh Maurer had called Boston College basketball together for nine years, with Collins in the booth for 13 seasons total across three head coaches and five athletic directors, and both learned just days before Aug. 1 that they weren’t being retained

“He’s a young head coach, no experience, and he’s being given the power to take two guys’ careers away from them who have done nothing but try to serve the program and promote the program,”

Both broadcasters had spent the spring and summer trying to introduce themselves to Murray or arrange even a brief call after he was hired in late March, and were kept at arm’s length each time. Neither broadcaster ever got that meeting.

“I was always told either Coach Murray is off recruiting, or we have an official visit today, and it’s not a good day, we’ve got a lot going on,” Collins said.

When that didn’t work, Collins said he tried again through his boss at Van Wagner, offering to have a catered lunch delivered to the coaching staff in exchange for 15 minutes to break the ice.

The reasoning delivered to the pair, relayed through the Deputy Athletic Director, was that Murray didn’t want anyone in the travel party who’d been part of what was described as the program’s “losing mentality” under the previous staff, despite neither broadcaster having any real relationship with the coaching staff itself beyond showing up to call games. When pressed on why the decision took months to reach them given how long Murray had already been on the job, the answer was that the administration had only recently had the actual conversation with him about it.