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It’s official, folks.
7-foot-3 Purdue big man Matt Haarms announced on his Instagram that he will transfer to BYU for his final season of eligibility. Haarms had a host of high profile schools after him and picked BYU over other finalists Texas Tech and Kentucky.
Haarms is considered one of the top transfers this transfer cycle; Jeff Goodman has Haarms has the number two ranked immediately eligible transfer. Haarms averaged 8.6 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 52% from the field this past season as junior after averaging 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 63% from the floor as a sophomore. He averaged 2 blocks per game in each of his three seasons and is one of the top rim protectors in the nation.
I would venture Matt Haarms is the best grad transfer on the market. His rim protection numbers are even more insane than you think they are. When he’s on the floor, opposing teams shoot just 49.1 percent at the basket, per @Pivot_Analysis. When he’s off, teams shoot 58.1% at rim
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) April 6, 2020
BYU appeared to be set in the front court heading into next season with 6-foot-11 Richard Harward, 6-10 Wyatt Lowell, 6-9 Gavin Baxter, and 6-9 Kolby Lee. Haarms presence gives BYU one of the nation’s biggest frontcourts and the size to go blow for blow with Gonzaga.
Haarms is a big addition to the team and should be very successful in the WCC. My take, however, is that it’s a bigger deal that Mark Pope and BYU’s staff out-recruited Kentucky, Texas Tech and a host of other high profile programs to land Haarms. Make no mistake, Kentucky really wanted Haarms. BYU’s signing of Haarms indicates that a Mark Pope led BYU team is a destination program and a place that can land high level transfers.
Haarms has expressed a desire to further develop his perimeter game, which is something that BYU coaches surely pitched him on after making BYU the number one three point shooting team in the nation. Haarms has range out to the three point line and could be a huge weapon with BYU’s other bigs as an inside-outside duo.
Below are some highlights from Haarms after his sophomore season in 2018-2019.