Not long after Miami coach Jim Larrañaga said he wouldn’t be surprised if his roster changed in some way, shape or form ahead of next season, it did.
Sophomore guard Manu Lecomte is transferring from the Hurricanes program, a source confirmed to the Sun Sentinel on Wednesday afternoon. The school formally announced Lecomte’s transfer–as well as that of redshirt freshman guard Deandre Burnett–later in the day.
Lecomte, a sophomore from Belgium, averaged 7.9 points per game this season during Miami’s run to the NIT championship game. He also had 67 assists to go along with 52 rebounds while averaging 22.4 minutes per game.
A solid perimeter player, Lecomte saw an increase in minutes during the Hurricanes’ postseason run while starting point guard Angel Rodriguez missed time with a wrist injury.
Burnett, meanwhile, is a Miami Carol City product who played in 28 games for the Hurricanes this year, averaging 7.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. He redshirted in 2014 after injuring his wrist in the pre-season.
The Hurricanes, who went 25-13 this season, have already been mentioned as a potential preseason Top 25 team by several college basketball experts. They’ll now have to fulfill those expectations without two solid guards. But Larrañaga said earlier Wednesday he wouldn’t have been shocked if one of his players sought to play somewhere else and that Miami would adjust accordingly.
“History, especially recent history, has shown that 650 kids have transferred, for all sorts of reasons. We’re probably no different than any other program in the fact that we had 12 guys on scholarship, 11 guys are supposed to return, but it wouldn’t be surprising if somebody decided to transfer,” Larrañaga said in his end-of-the-year press conference. “And if they did, our thoughts would be why, and then try to help them find the best situation for them. We want a team and want our players to want to be here. We want them to be happy while they’re here. If they think the grass is greener somewhere else, that’s their choice.”
