Hanover — Evan Boudreaux, the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team’s star forward, publicly announced his departure from the Big Green today, a day before the season opener at Quinnipiac. The Illinois native indicated his intention to graduate early and have two years of NCAA eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer student.
The 6-foot-8 junior, who was the Ivy League’s rookie of the year as a freshman and a second-team all-league pick as a sophomore, broke the news to ESPN basketball reporter Jeff Goodman, who tweeted it out this morning. Goodman later sent out this statement from Boudreaux:
“I want to thank everyone at Dartmouth who has helped me the past two years. I wish the team and the program nothing but success moving forward. Having said that, I am looking forward to playing the next two seasons as a graduate transfer.”
The standout student led the Ivy League in rebounding at 9.5 boards per game and was second in scoring with 17.5 points per game last winter. Boudreaux averaged 18.8 points and 10 rebounds in conference play and was ranked as the 13th most-complete player in college basketball by Bleacher Report.
The Big Green, 7-20 overall and 4-10 in the Ivies last season, opens its current campaign at Quinnipiac at 2 p.m. Saturday. David McLaughlin, Dartmouth’s second-year coach, acknowledged Boudreaux’s departure in a statement today.
“We have 13 young men that are committed to working hard, working smart and working together as they have throughout the preseason,” McLaughlin said. “We wish Evan the best in all of his future endeavors and are happy that he is planning on graduating from Dartmouth, as this is such a special and unique college and community.”
Boudreaux is the son of former Dartmouth basketball star Gail Koziara-Boudreaux, a titan in the health-care business field. She was recognized as a member of Fortune magazine’s “50 Most Powerful Women in American Business” and Forbes magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women in the World” lists and is on the Dartmouth board of trustees.
Koziara-Boudreaux and her family gave Dartmouth $2 million in 2015 to endow the college’s women’s basketball head coaching position.
The Big Green men’s basketball team suffered a departure similar to Boudreaux’s in 2015, when All-Ivy point guard Alex Mitola graduated early and later played at George Washington, helping that team to the National Invitation Tournament.
Published Friday at 2:30 p.m. Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.