Matt Haarms Probably Transferred Because Purdue Made Him Cut His Hair (No, Not Really)

(Photo credits: Purdue Athletics)

Matt Haarms, he of the glorious hair (how did we never hashtag it #HaarmsHaair?) and boundless energy, has decided to transfer from Purdue. As with all surprise things like this, there are always many who cannot help themselves on message boards and twitter from spouting forth completely conjured-up theories and “sources.” Reportedly, even Purdue was “blindsided” by this news, so if they didn’t know, then it’s hard to imagine the guy with the Purdue logo as his avi has deeper insider knowledge.

So let’s start with that – we don’t know anything. But the most logical answer is that it likely didn’t have anything to do with something being awful at Purdue. Haarms reportedly said as much to Rivals, acknowledging it had nothing to do with Purdue specifically but just that he wants to take his game to the next level and may need to look elsewhere to do that.

Here’s where we acknowledge that that, by definition, means it did have something to do with Purdue. And that’s okay. Haarms lost some playing time last year. We’ve all felt for a while that he was injury-riddled much of the season and it continued to hamper him. The emergence of Trevion certainly made Haarms playing less more tolerable, so perhaps Matt saw that and also realized that the ~20 mins per game he might get next year might not be enough to help him maximize his pro potential. That’s a reasonable thought for a guy with only one year of college ball left to prove he can play at the next level, whether that’s here or abroad.

What if Haarms could play 25-30 mins a night and average 18 and 10? In the right system, in the right conference, he could. What if he becomes the shooter we all thought he might? Clearly, there are a lot of “what ifs” but it also underscores that for as much as we all loved Matty H, he didn’t quite develop into the player we all expected him to be by this point. That’s not a knock on him at all – sometimes guys develop differently or more slowly.

One thing I can say with certainty is that all of us at BS loved this guy, and I know we’re not alone in the Purdueiverse. He played with passion, hustle, energy and he made other fan bases mad. Oh, how we all loved that. (I saw an IU stooge tweet that maybe he is leaving because the IU fans made him feel bad once. It’s pretty hilarious considering Matt Haarms never lost to IU. A sweet 5-0 mark over his three seasons.)

Matt Haarms was a key component of the 2019 team that we will all love for eternity. A team that seemed to surely have less talent than the year prior but yet got within that painful whisker of the Final Four. Think of how much Matt Haarms would have screamed and smiled during that celebration.

One of the more famous Purdue gifs of recent times is the one where Boogie tells Haarms to calm down. Both of those guys are now gone from Purdue, both with eligibility remaining. While that may feel like a punch to the gut, I think it might actually be a sign of how good the program is getting – having NBA talent leaving early and having so much talent in general that good players feel they need to go elsewhere to get the minutes they need aren’t entirely bad things. If Coach Painter continues the positive momentum the program has been enjoying (this year’s .500 meh sandwich not included), then brighter days remain ahead, friends.

Right now we have no idea where Haarms will wind up, but I personally look at him like Elijah Sindelar. They’re both guys who gave a lot of their hearts to Purdue and who I was always proud of having to represent us as Boilermakers. And wherever they go, I know I’ll be pulling for them.