Matt Carlino is Transferring from BYU

Mar 20, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard Matt Carlino (2) celebrates during the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament against the Oregon Ducks at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Amidst all of the fake April Fool’s Day “news,” some noteworthy things pop up in the sports realm. On a day where LeBron James announced the release of his mixtape and Creighton’s Grant Gibbs was allegedly awarded a seventh year of eligibility, the BYU men’s basketball program announced that Matt Carlino would be leaving the team.

Carlino will graduate with a degree in recreation management this spring at BYU, which means he will be eligible to transfer in search of a graduate program at another school. Where he will choose is unknown at this time, but he will be playing somewhere else, that is for sure.

The junior point guard was benched earlier this season and was relegated to backup point guard after BYU had dropped four straight games in the middle part of the season. Skyler Halford and Anson Winder both got starts at the guard position in the second half of the season, with Carlino sitting on the bench.

Despite that decision by Coach Rose and his staff, Carlino’s minutes did not drastically decrease from his freshman or sophomore seasons, and he averaged the most points and posted his best assist-to-turnover ratio during his junior season at BYU. However, it was evident that Carlino was not happy with his role on the bench, hence his request to transfer now.

Carlino is no stranger to switching schools, making this development a little less surprising. Carlino originally committed to Indiana out of high school, but flipped to UCLA in the spring signing period. After leaving Bloomington South High School in Indiana a year early, he arrived at UCLA only to transfer midyear after sustaining a concussion in the preseason and allegedly enduring physical and verbal abuse from former Bruin Reeves Nelson. After that, Carlino transferred to BYU, where he redshirted initially. Four years later, Carlino is back on the road again.

Although Carlino has been associated with four teams throughout his college basketball career, it’s mostly due to misfortune than indecision and immaturity. UCLA was never a great fit for him and the writing was on the wall at BYU for his senior season. Matt Carlino is a traveler, mostly because of what transpired.

Moving forward, BYU is still in good shape. However, with Kyle Collinsworth potentially out for the beginning of the season, the Cougars could be very short at the point guard position. Jordan Chatman, who is coming back from serving his LDS mission next season, will be the number one candidate to be the Cougars primary ball hander in that scenario.