Basketball standout Craig Coupe leaves Tufts for Trinity

For the past two seasons, Tufts junior Craig Coupe has wreaked havoc on NESCAC basketball courts, using his size to overwhelm opponents on offense and frustrate them on defense. This year, Coupe was set to be a huge part of what was shaping up to be one of the most dominant front courts in the league, along with sophomore Blaine Lay and junior Reggie Stovell.

This plan was not meant to be, however, as Coupe's desire to pursue a major in business -a program Tufts lacks - forced him to transfer from Tufts to NESCAC rival Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

"Coupe applied to a lot of DI schools, mainly for basketball and for their business programs, but he started to submit applications after the basketball season was over," former co-captain Jim Wilson said. "He was also applying to really high caliber schools like Harvard and Brown, and that combination worked against him."

Coupe's final decision came down to Trinity and Babson College.

"The student body worked out better for Craig at Trinity, as did the basketball situation, which is a big part of Craig's college experience," Wilson said.

Aside from his desire to major in business, there may have been other factors involved in Coupe's decision to transfer.

"In terms of basketball, I don't know if he was unhappy, but the type of style we played didn't really tailor to his game. Over the last three years, we've been shooting a lot of threes with lots of people on the wings," Wilson said. "Even though we graduated three starters after last season, all wingmen, he made a decision based on what other coaches told him his role would be. Also, Coupe was best friends with Nick Thul, who played on the team freshman year but didn't make it last year, so Coupe didn't feel as connected."

Although the Jumbos will still have four returning big men to play power forwards and centers, Coupe's presence will surely be missed. He was named to the All-NESCAC second team this past season, after averaging 13.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game. Two seasons ago, Coupe was the NESCAC Freshman of the Year after averaging 11.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game.

"Nobody can guard Craig," Stovell said. "His loss is going to be big even though we have horses coming back next year. Craig was an all-league performer; he was key to the team. He's a pretty lax and hardworking dude. He's going to be missed."

The Jumbos will be forced to make some big changes this upcoming season with the loss of Coupe, along with the graduation of point guard Jim Wilson, and sharpshooters Mike McGlynn and Brian Shapiro.

The offense will not work through just one man, as it would have had Coupe not transferred. Rather, the team hopes to involve all five men on the court and work the ball inside and out to get open shots for swingmen like Stovell, co-captains Deyvehn East and Eric Mack, and junior Andrew Kaklamanos.

"I feel that with Coupe's loss, we're not going to be as focused on one player, it's going to be more of a team oriented offense," East said. "This year, we have so many good players on the floor that we're going to have good ball movement which leads to a cohesive flow on offense."

Sophomore big-men Lay, Dan Martin, and Scott Armstrong who are all 6' 5" or taller, will step into the power forward and center positions to fill the void left by Coupe.

"We certainly are a bit quicker defensively," East said. "We've got Blaine [Lay] to step in at center, and he'll be a good anchor of a solid defense."

In addition to basketball, Coupe's presence will be greatly missed off the court.

"Craig was a good friend of mine, and I'm really sad to see him go. We're definitely missing him, but we're moving on to bigger and better things," Lay said. "It's a little shocking, but at the same time, he had to do what he had to do, for the long term. It might not be in our best interests, but we're gonna move on. I'm very optimistic about this year and really excited."