I don’t doubt this is what he wants to do or he wouldn’t be doing it, and I hope it’s everything he hopes it is. However he is young, and just with life and aging things and feelings about what we value change.
this is just my opinion, but I think later in life Connor will regret this decision. Just my thoughts.
Here's the thing. I believe it's perfectly reasonable to both wish Connor well AND think he's making a mistake. The world isn't binary on all decisions, regardless of what the media tells you.
Honestly, I think part of the pain some people have is just a reflection of how good the hardcore Bradley basketball fans are. They feel like each one of the players is family and live/die with each game (maybe a little hyperbole but you get the point). So, if it comes across that someone has turned their back on their family, it's just not going to go over well with everyone. I won't harbor any bitterness towards Connor or anyone else who left, but I can't say I'm really going to go out of my way to root for them. It's sort of like an old significant other - if you hear about what they are doing later on, so be it and you don't wish ill on them, but they are sorta gone from your life and you've moved on.
I also think the other painful aspect is that these decisions are made in recent times because a player, like Connor in this case, considers somewhere "better" than BU. They could have been happy but they still decided that somewhere else was a better spot for their basketball career. For alums especially, I believe that is pretty hard to take. That's not inherently saying he's wrong or that it won't end up "better" for him, but at the same time, if you choose to not get your degree from BU, that is a little bit of a slap in the face for us who proudly think about our degree from Bradley.
The last part of it that I think is demonstrated by how many posts there are in this thread is it is especially painful when you feel like someone is part of the core group that you would never see leave. I get it that times are different now but that doesn't make it any easier. BU has that prototype - shooting guard who has decent talent, extra heart and is a great shooter. You all know the names - Maniscalco, Kennell, Crouch, Ville, etc. Hickman was in that mold of someone who you've never see leaving early. Maniscalco I could not harbor any negativity because of when he transferred.
So, you boil all those factors into one and that is why there is so much feeling behind it. And honestly, that's a testament to how important of a player Hickman was is that so many people are emotional about it because he mattered. This wasn't some 12th man off the bench that only saw mop up minutes.
I will have a positive view of his tenure at BU, but anyone who doesn't have that senior night to cap off their career at BU will always just be a step down in my pantheon of BU greats. I'd even feel this way about someone who went to the NBA - O'Bryant for example. Even those who didn't spend their entire college career here but finished it - those are the ones I consider the true greats.
Everyone's different, though, and I don't take issue if you want to fully embrace "Once a Brave, Always a Brave" even if they are competing against us.
