Zach Laput said he absolutely loved his time playing college basketball at Bentley University. He even considered staying into his final season.
But the chance to contribute directly to a Division I college program was too big to pass up. So Laput, a former Notre Dame-West Haven standout guard, decided to transfer.
He said there are many suitors for his services in Laputo. He chose to play at Davidson from the Atlantic-10 Conference. Laputo will be a graduate transfer.
“I wanted to go to a high-level Division I program, a top 75 program in the country,” Laput said. “I wanted to put myself in a position to go to the NCAA Tournament.”
Laput, who grew up in Beacon Falls, signed with Davidson on April 13. He said he could have transferred to a lower Division I program after his first or second season at Bentley. However, by staying with Bentley and averaging 20 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for the Falcons, the 22-year-old Laput has become more marketable.
Laput was named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Within minutes of entering the NCAA transfer portal on March 22, Laput said the first team that contacted him was the College of Charleston. Laputte said he heard from about 70 schools in just a few days, and that number eventually rose to more than 100, he said.
Rutgers was the only Power Five school that Rupt said he reached out to. Other programs that have expressed interest include the University of Vermont, Quinnipiac University, Northeastern University, George Washington University, Iona College, Liberty University, Furman University, University of California Santa Barbara, University of Hawaii, University of Toledo, and University of Akron. You can
“We get to know each other through phone calls,” Laput said. “Some calls are five minutes, some are 30 minutes. Honestly, it was pretty easy to narrow it down. … I was looking for a place where I could grow as a player.”
“Without a doubt, it was exactly what I was looking for,” the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Laput said after his official visit to Davidson. Laput will graduate from Bentley next month with a degree in business administration.
Laputte said he does not have to report to Davidson until the second week of July, but plans to head to the Davidson, N.C., campus four weeks in advance to “accustomize as much as possible” to his new environment.
“Everything is now under my control. I am grateful for this opportunity,” Laput said.