Carson Sullivan Leaves Team

Midway through his first season with the Quakers, freshman guard Carson Sullivan has left the men's basketball team, as you can read about in today's DP.

I gave Carson a call, and he was kind enough to talk to me about the reason for his decision to transfer.

It's pretty apparent to me that the decision was definitely motivated by personal reasons. It was clear to me that he wants to be closer to his Charlotte home.

"I think it’s a personal decision, I wanted to be closer to home, I just wanted to find a better situation for me," he said. "It had nothing to do with the coaching staff or anything like that. I wanted to be closer to home was the main thing."

That was also clear from the schools he listed as possible destinations. While he's still gauging interest, he listed Elon, UNC-Wilmington, UNC-Asheville, and Furman as potential destinations. All four are located in the Carolinas.

But the decision was basketball-related as well.

Sullivan only played 34 minutes in six games thus far this season, and it's become pretty clear that he wasn't going to become part of interim head coach Jerome Allen's primary rotation. Thus, he wasn't getting much playing time and may want to be somewhere he can play meaningful minutes. He was pretty clear that he wasn't unhappy with the program as it stands, but hoped he could have gotten more playing time. He did recognize that he needed to earn his minutes and was unsuccessful in doing so for Coach Miller or Coach Allen.

"Basketball was part of it," he said. "I would have loved to have played more, but that’s not for me to decide. I respect the coaching staff, I think they’re headed in the right direction. I think Jerome’s a good coach for the program and is gonna help them be more successful in the future than they were in the beginning of the year. I think that’s part of it, I just needed to find a better situation for myself. I wish the team the best of luck and I know they’re gonna be fine...It was more a personal decision as far as finding a better situation for me closer to home where I can hopefully play more and contribute."

He noted that the coaching change and turmoil surrounding that was frustrating but insisted it had "nothing to do" with his decision.

As to why he left school midway through the year, he hopes to find a team to play for this semester. At the moment he's not sure if that's possible, but is still trying.

In all, he came across as very respectful and mature with regards to his decision. It's hard to argue with someone hoping to be closer to home and family, and I'm sure that leaving Penn was not an easy decision for him. He wished the rest of the team luck and expressed confidence that the team has the necessary pieces to be successful.

As a player, I liked what I saw from him when he did play. I think Carson could have been a major contributor down the line for the Quakers, and fully expect him to be successful wherever he transfers.