HANOVER — David McLaughlin has become rather familiar with the NCAA transfer portal process.
For the second time in a year, the Dartmouth College men’s basketball coach is adjusting his plans as a result of a Big Green player entering the portal. Rising senior forward Chris Knight recently entered his name to test the waters in the wake of a season-ending injury.
Knight announced on Twitter last week that he ruptured his left Achilles tendon during a routine basketball workout in late July. As teammate Brendan Barry did after preseason hip surgery last year, Knight entered the portal to assess options should he choose to use his final season of NCAA eligibility elsewhere.
In a Tuesday phone interview, McLaughlin said Knight will complete his studies toward a government degree at Dartmouth. The question is whether he’ll suit up in a Big Green basketball game again.
“It’s more of what we can do to help him,” McLaughlin said. “I’m not even concentrating on the season. I’m thinking about what he needs from me now, how I can help someone who loves basketball who’s dropped this horrific news. What can I do to ease his pain? It’s hard to do over a phone.”
Speaking from his Queens, N.Y., home on Wednesday, Knight said the injury occurred while playing ball with other New York City-based athletes. It took some time to get over the knowledge the coming season was lost.
“I didn’t want to watch basketball for a week; it was like, ‘Man, I wish I could do that,’ ” Knight said. “I was staring at guys’ legs and Achilles tendons. Over time I became more optimistic, especially with the people I’ve seen in recovery. Most are 100% recovered. I’m making progress; it’s already feeling better.”
A two-time all-Ivy League selection, Knight has two choices with the portal. If he wishes to play his final season at Dartmouth, he’ll have to spread out his remaining year of classes; the Ivies don’t allow postgraduates to play sports. If Knight graduates on time, he’d have to join another hoops program as a grad transfer to use his last season of eligibility. He’ll be on the Dartmouth campus when fall term starts in two weeks.
Barry missed all of last winter while recuperating from his hip repair.
He fielded calls from more than 50 schools, winnowing the finalists down to Temple and Wake Forest before reaffirming his commitment to Dartmouth on March 30.
Knight has sought Barry’s counsel on the matter, a chat made easier with his teammate living about 90 minutes away in coastal New Jersey.
“Especially with the amount of work that Brendan’s put in and rest of the team has put in, they’ll come back and be a very competitive team again,” Knight predicted.
Dartmouth was 12-17 last season, 5-9 in the Ivy League, with those five conference wins coming in a three-week, late-season surge.
Knight’s absence will force a change in how McLaughlin strategizes. The coach prefers an inside-out offensive game plan, with the ball going through Knight wherever he’s stationed before either attacking the basket or kicking a pass out to an open shooter. Sophomores Demi Adelekun and Nate Ogbu stand to best benefit by Knight’s absence, although they played a combined 63 minutes last season.
Knight is at least the fourth player under McLaughlin’s watch to go the portal route. Evan Boudreaux, the Ivy League rookie of the year in 2016, left the following year — McLaughlin’s first at Dartmouth — with a degree in hand and transferred to Purdue for his final two campaigns of eligibility. Guilien Smith, a 2019 Dartmouth graduate, competed for Northeastern as a grad transfer last winter.
Knight said he’ll make a decision on his future by the start of Dartmouth’s spring term.
“He’s definitely not playing with the surgery; the rehab time (six to nine months) would not allow for it,” McLaughlin said. “We have to make plans that he will not be part of what we’re doing.”
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.