DUNK CITY, Fla. – FGCU men's basketball walk-on Kevin Boyle will not return to the team in 2014-15, opting instead to focus on academics.
 
Boyle transferred to FGCU last summer after not playing basketball for more than two years while he attended New York Film Academy, film-oriented Emerson College in Boston and worked on a documentary profiling his father's national championship high school team at Montverde Academy. Boyle, who still has more than a year of classes remaining to graduate, plans to remain at FGCU to complete his degree.
 
"I'd like to thank Kevin for all his contributions to FGCU basketball, but it's more important for him to focus on academics at this time of his life," head coach Joe Dooley said. "After meeting with him we both agreed that Kevin had other priorities and passions outside of basketball he needed and wanted to focus on, and that it would be best for him and the program to pursue those."
 
With FGCU's roster thinned last year, especially at the beginning of the season, Boyle appeared in 20 games for the Eagles, averaging 5.3 minutes per contest and just more than a point per outing.
 
"I would like to thank coach Dooley and the rest of the staff for giving me an opportunity to be a part of this program," Boyle said. "I had an incredible experience playing alongside teammates and friends, but after consulting with coaches, friends and others I've concluded that at this time it is best for me to focus on excelling academically and preparing to succeed in areas that do not include basketball. I look forward to watching our men's basketball team in what is sure to be an exciting and successful season, and I will forever be proud to say that I was part of this program."
 
FGCU now enters the 2014-15 season with seven returning letterwinners and three starters. Six high-major transfers in Demetris Morant, Eric Moeller, Julian DeBose, Marc-Eddy Norelia, Brian Greene Jr. and Nick Pellar are all eligible in Dooley's second season at the helm. Furthermore, highly-touted Logan Hovey is expected to see his first action as the 6-7 forward redshirted in 2013-14 following surgery to repair a stress fracture. Additionally, Dooley and his staff will have incoming freshman guard Christian Terrell to bolster a 15-man roster which will be one of FGCU's deepest teams in program history.
 
FGCU finished 2013-14 with a 22-13 record following the program's first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season championship courtesy of a 14-4 league mark. The Eagles participated in the NIT for the first time in program history as FGCU's 22 wins marked the second-straight 20-win season and were the second-most in the Division-I era (2007-08).