PointGuard

FOLLOW-UP ACTION (following the meeting with his AD): Coach Aura contacted the following players about working on 3’s more: Rashon Thorn—didn’t want to initially, but agreed to do it. Bobby Grannum—agreed immediately. Glen Robinson—resisted it preferring to do pretty much the same as he’s done throughout his career. James Pratt—agreed enthusiastically.

Transfer Results (part 1 of 5) Ken Yamoto, UC San Diego: The transfer period was frenzied. It took us a while to get our players, but we ended up filling all of our scholarships. We missed out on some guys but midway through the period, we picked up two new players for our team. We needed a SG and we got one when Stephan Perry accepted our scholarship offer. He’s a 6’1” SG from St. Mary’s, PA. Perry will be a senior so we’ll only have him for this coming season. He played for Howard where he was a sub averaging under 10 mpg. He wants more playing time. He’ll get it with us since right now he’s penciled in as a starter. He’s a good rebounder for a guard but isn’t likely to be a big scorer. Our second new player will be 6’9” C Michel Woodward. He’s a junior from Rochester, IL and played for SIU Edwardsville previously. I like the way he attacks the boards. He needs to shoot more, particularly since he’s got a good feel for getting the ball in the hoop inside. I think we’re a little stronger when comparing who we lost and who we gained due to transfers. But we’ll just have to see how things go when the season gets underway.

Meeting between Coach Fred Aura (FA) and Athletic Director Jason Braxton (JB) JB: What’s up on the transfer front, Fred? FA: I’ll tell you, I’m in the dark on that. This new system the NCAA unleashed on us has got all us coaches wondering what will happen. There’s no doubt most all of us will have guys who decide to fly the coop and try latching on elsewhere. JB: So let’s talk some names. Who’s most likely to possibly leave our program? FA: I can’t say who is MOST likely. But here’s my take on some guys who I think are iffy: · Adrian Moss: There’s no doubt he wasn’t happy with how few minutes he’s played the 2 years he’s been with us. He’s gonna be a strong player, but still is developing. But he thinks he’s good enough to start. He gets along well with the rest of the team though and hopefully that will offset what’s probably some disappointment in me for not playing him more. · Maynard Gardner: He’s got even more potential that Moss and is developing more quickly. I was surprised that he actually was considering declaring early this spring. It’s good he opted not to do it since he’s really not ready for the pros yet. But like Moss, even as a freshman last season he wanted to play a lot more. I’m sure he knows that there are teams where he could be a starter. Here he’ll be fighting for a starting job, but right both Darius Hein and Keith Kolder have an edge over him at SF. · Tim Cotton: Yet another guy that’s pretty much in the same boat as Adrian and Maynard…having tremendous potential but not quite ready yet to start for us. And since he also wants to play a lot, that creates a possibility he could bolt even though next season he will be playing a lot more for us that he did last season. But all 3 of these guys are good guys who get along well with the rest of the team. I’m just hoping that’s enough cement to keep them all with us. · Bobby Grannum: Totally different situation. The guy starred for us as a freshman this past season, starting every game. He’s a 5-star player and a real key for us this coming season, so losing him would really hurt. But, he’s got a personality that rubs people wrong at times and his relationship with his teammates is poor. He and I get along pretty well though. I’m just concerned that his failure to fit in with the rest of the team could make him think things will be better elsewhere. · Rod Thorn: His relationship with the team and coaches was pretty tenuous early in this past season, but it slowly improved as the season ground along and I’m hoping that will be enough to keep him in the fold. He’s not concerned about playing time so that’s not an issue fortunately. · Darius Hein: Another guy whose relationship with the team and coaches needed fortifying at the begging of the season. I think we did a pretty good job of doing that, but it’s still not where I’d like it. He got the minutes he wanted this season so I don’t think that will be an issue, but I’m not sure he will start next season even though he did this past season. And he probably knows that as well so that makes him a slight possibility to transfer. JB: Damn. That’s a pretty bleak picture, Fred. You really think we could lose a bunch of players? FA: Like I said, I just don’t know. I’m not thinking we’ll lose a lot of guys, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if one or two take a hike. The uncertainty does make me a bit nervous. This new transfer system makes it just too attractive for guys to look for greener pastures. We’ll know soon though. In the meantime, I’m walking on eggshells. JB: Switching topics…what you looking for regarding our pre-conference schedule this year? Tough? Patsies? Home? Away? FA: Let’s get as good of teams as we can, but as many at home as we can. That’ll make you happy, won’t it? Fill the seats here and fill our school’s coffers. Maybe then the stingy administration might see their way to actually spend some of the extra money on the facilities here or increasing our recruiting budget to give us a better opportunity to recruit with the likes of Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, and Louisville. JB: I’ll see what I can do. A lot of the good teams don’t want to play tough competition, particularly away. They’d prefer to schedule a bunch of powder puffs they can slaughter so that they look good to the pollsters. How’s things with the family and how are your boys doing? FA: We’re doing pretty well. Janeka’s mother is still battling cancer and so Janeka spends a lot of time helping out at her parent’s house. Devany’s now old enough to be a big help in that respect as well, at least when she’s not tied up with her soccer practices and games. You know Omari did well playing for Providence this season and should be a big key to Providence’s success next season. Malik is excited about leaving home and playing for Georgetown. Providence will already be on our schedule as our non-conference rival, but maybe you can get Georgetown to play us also. That would be cool, although Malik is scary good and could help to pile up two losses to my sons this year. JB: Yeah, I’ll work on that. But let’s beat Providence this season. I’m already tired of losing to them and they’ve only been our rivals for 2 years. FA: Hey Jason, you’re preaching to the choir. You gotta know I take a lot of heat from Omari after a loss to Providence. JB: By the way, congratulations on landing the 20th best recruiting class this past year. Well done! FA: Thanks. I’m excited to see how Mike Williams and Ben Schau do for us. But I see that Providence was #6, Georgetown was #7, and Duke was #10 on that list. I take some of the blame with respect to Georgetown since Malik was a key to their rating so high. Fortunately Providence and Duke lost some outstanding players who declared early this spring, but they just keep reloading. Duke’s budget just totally dwarfs us…that makes it tough to compete for the best recruits, particularly on the international front. JB: Well, I’ve got confidence that you can overcome their monetary advantages and whip the Blue Devils this coming season. I’m not going to change the goals we had last year: Win 20+ games (preferably 30+), finish in the top 3 in the ACC (preferably #1), qualify for the NCAA (and preferably go deep), improve our prestige, and absolutely no academic ineligibility! Quite doable, right? FA: No promises. We’ll do as well as we can. The administration likes that we’re winning and that we get to the Big Dance every year. I’m telling you right now though. It’s time, past due time, for that same administration to reward our success by improving our facilities and increasing our budget this coming year. I’m tired of their denials. JB: I know, I know, Fred. Me too, but let’s just stay focused on what we can do. We just have a very conservative board of directors. You know we’re all very pleased with what you’ve done for us and want you to continue building BC into the ACC powerhouse.

Transfers The transfer rules have been greatly liberalized. Since transfer players won’t have to sit out a year after transferring, it’s expected that many more players will opt to try to hook on with new division I programs this summer. Terry Morillo, Western Illinois: We had a full roster with 13 players on scholarship and 2 walk-ons when May 1st rolled around. We need more talent at the guard positions, though. Two players then entered the transfer pool. William Byams, a sophomore C with a lot of potential but still needing a lot more development felt there were just too many ahead of him on our depth chart. SG Mike Noyola, another sophomore, also didn’t play much last season and while he would have been competing for a starting job, he decided to try his luck elsewhere. We really need a strong SG and either another guard or a big man with the remaining scholarship. Mike McMillan, MD-Eastern Shore: We approached summer with just 10 scholarship players and one walk-on player on our roster, but I like who we have. Whoa! We were already short on players and 3 of our guys opted to transfer away. Junior SG Ewald Leitenberg played about 10 minutes a game but had yet to develop to go beyond that. Frank Reed is a senior who started and played very well for us last season, so he’ll be tough to replace. Sophomore SF Jair Jupiter only got into one game last season and was unlikely to get a great deal more playing time this season. So during the transfer sessions we have 6 scholarships available and really need guards plus a C. Ken Yamoto, UC-San Diego: On May 1st we had a full roster of 15 players with 13 players on scholarship. Talent-wise there’s some to be desired. When we found out about who was transferring, we weren’t surprised. We lost our starting PG sophomore Kevin White and senior forward Charles Williams who played very little for us. White never really clicked with the rest of the team. Williams did but just wanted to see if he could latch on somewhere where he could play more. I’ll be looking to land a very good guard and the best other player at any position during the transfer period. Dontell Spencer, Arkansas-Pine Bluff: While I’d like to see an improvement at PG and SF, we’re fortunate that we had 13 scholarship players and 2 walk-ons on our roster on May 1st. But then we learned that 3 of our players will be transferring away from us. Jamar Brown is a senior PF who did a good job for us coming off the bench last season, but wants to get a lot more playing time in his final year of collegiate ball. Antony Gunn, a junior SG, was a disruptive force on the team and played very little for us. Paul Marley, is also a junior SG who played little last season. We need 2 guards and a SF from the transfer pool. Ramon Martez, Alcorn State: Our May 1st roster consisted of 13 scholarship players and one walk-on. We’re stronger inside that at the perimeter. Two of our players are transferring to other programs: sophomore SF Darrick Grace who played very little last season and wasn’t expected to do that much more this season; and sophomore C Jarrett Dudley who also only played a few minutes last season and wasn’t part of our plans for this season. We need to land at least one guard and then either a guard or SF with the other available scholarship. Jamar Brown is a senior SF who was a good sub last season.

2030-2031 SEASON [NOTE: Imported the DDSCB2021 association into DDSCB2022 for all future activity] Landon Friel (2nd Asst Coach)—call from a friend Jerry: Hey buddy, congrats on your new job. Couldn’t happen to a worse guy. Landon: Hah! Thanks loads. But yeah, I was really happy when Coach Aura let me know they wanted me here handling player development and practices. Jerry: Well that’s your forte. You’ve always been good working with young guys. Landon: That’s because I began my coaching career at the high school level. Jerry: Speaking of high school. I just got done watching your boy. Landon: My boy??? Jerry: Yeah, I had a contracting job in Maryland this winter and spring and got to watch Ben Schau a lot. The guy’s a freakin’ stud. Landon: Ah, OK. Yeah, I have been looking over his stats but really haven’t had a chance yet to watch any video on him. Jerry: Hell. Landon. If you’d had a guy or two like Schau at Oregon State, the Beavers would have been on top of the Pac-12 instead of stuck near the bottom all these years. Schau is an absolute beast on the boards. He’s only 6-6 but I watched him manhandle some much bigger guys. He knows how to position and then out-muscle guys. The guy really is able to put the ball in the hoop also. He led his team not only in rebounding but also scoring. He’ll get most of his points inside, but he can connect from long range as well. And for that matter, he gets a lot of blocks and steals too. Landon: Yeah, like I said, I saw his stats and had a big smile on my face as I went over them. Jerry: I’d say his only weaknesses are at the foul line, and maybe more importantly, his ball handling. You need to work with him on his hands. Sometimes he just doesn’t control the ball well when he gets a pass or when he puts the ball on the floor. Landon: I’m glad you called me and let me know what you observed. I trust your basketball sense so that helps me know what to expect. Jerry: What’s your take on Fred Aura? Landon: Much too early to say. I barely know him at this point. But there’s no doubt he’s a great coach who’s built up two very different Division I programs in a pretty short amount of time. I’m excited about working with him and think I’ll learn a lot. Jerry: You all settled in yet or still living out of suitcases? Landon: Connie came back as soon as I found out I got the job. She found a place fast and now has the house pretty well like she wants it. I just pretty much stand back on that front and let her do whatever she thinks is right. Jerry: That’s cool, man. If I can get up to New England this winter be sure to leave me a ticket. I’d like to see the Eagles play. If they win, I’ll buy the drinks…if they lose, it’s on you, buddy.

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director Courtland Reese was our only player to receive an award. He was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s All-Conference 2nd Team. He’s graduating after playing extremely well for us for 4 straight seasons and achieving a 3.7 GPA. Other players graduating are Winston Minahan and walk-on Andy Dawson. The scholarships being vacated by Reese and Minahan have been filled by: Ben Schau from Lusby, MD. He’s a 6’6” PF who averaged 18.9 ppg, 3.8 apg, 10.2 rpg, 2.9 bpg, and 3.5 spg as a high school senior. He’s been a great scorer and rebounder and is also strong defensively. He was ranked as the 28th best recruit. Mike Williams from Nappanee, IN is a 6’6” PF who averaged 16.8 ppg, 3.4 apg, 6.9 rpg, 2.6 bpg, and 2.i8 spg in his senior high school season. He also is a very strong scorer and rebounder and a good defender. He was ranked as the 32nd best recruit. Those additions together with the improvements of our returning players sets the stage for a very strong team this coming season. But we’re all concerned about the new NCAA transfer rules that opens the door for a lot more guys to transfer since they will be able to play immediately and no longer have to sit out a year. Because we have a lot of talented players, it wouldn’t be surprising if some of them give serious consideration to transferring to a team where they think they can start or at least get more playing time. But we just have to wait to see how it all turns out. Coach Aura met all of the goals I had set for him before the season began, including improving our prestige (from 60 to 63). His coaching record to date is as follows: 2019-20: Towson, 18-15, .545, unranked, 6th (tie) in CAA, No post-season tourney 2020-21: Towson, 13-17, .433, unranked, 5th in CAA, No post-season tourney 2021-22: Towson, 24-9, .727, unranked, 2nd in CAA, NCAA (Round 1) 2022-23: Towson, 27-7, .794, ranked 24th, 1st in CAA, NCAA (Round 2) 2023-24: Towson, 30-4, .882, ranked 15th, 1st in CAA, NCAA (Sweet 16) 2024-25: Towson, 25-8, .758, unranked, 1st in CAA, NCAA (Round 1) 2025-26: Boston College, 21-17, .553, unranked, 10th in ACC, CIT (Finals) 2026-27: Boston College, 25-10, .714, ranked 25th, 3rd in ACC, NCAA (Sweet 16) 2027-28: Boston College, 34-5, .872, ranked 2nd, 1st in ACC, NCAA (Final 4) 2028-29: Boston College, 30-6, .833, ranked 2nd, 1st in ACC, NCAA (Round 2) 2029-30; Boston College, 26-9, .743, ranked 8th, 2nd in ACC, NCAA (Round 2) Career Record: 273-107, .718 Obviously with that kind of record, it isn’t surprising that there are some very good college basketball programs showing interest in his coming their way. But fortunately Fred has decided to remain at Boston College. 2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans has decided and has taken a job as 1st assistant coach at Western Carolina. It’s a nice step forward for Chris. Coach Aura has hired Landon Friel to serve as his new 2nd assistant coach. Landon is 43 years old and was the 3rd assistant coach at Oregon State the past 3 years and 3rd assistant coach at Texas Christian the previous 2 seasons. He’s strength is player development. Therefore, Coach Aura is moving 1st assistant coach Darrell Montgomery from player development to recruiting. Fred has been politicking for a facilities upgrade, but I let him know I was pretty certain the board wouldn’t go for it. He therefore asked for a budget increase, but the board wouldn’t even approve that. Needless to say, Fred was not happy.

JJ Conroy, BeanTownSports Blog Well, didn’t I say that the Boston College Eagles would get no further than the 2nd round in the NCAA Tournament? Another disappointing end of the season for the Eagles. The team just seemed to be running out of gas the last few weeks of this season. Even though BC is bringing in highly regarded recruits, the team has regressed the past 2 seasons under Coach Fred Aura. And there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Eagles were quite inferior to Duke this season. Hell, even Coach Aura’s son’s team (Providence) was a much better team than the Eagles this year. Is it possible that getting to the NCAA Tournament is the best Aura can do? A team that finishes high in the ACC standings should definitely be able to get much deeper into the NCAA Tournament than their Round 2 exits the past 2 seasons. Maybe it’s time for Boston College to start looking for a coach who can take the team the next step. To top this off, I have it from good sources that there are a number of returning players who have either a poor relationship with the coaches or with the rest of the team. Does that mean that several players may decide to jump ship and transfer to other programs now that the transfer rules have been significantly loosened starting this summer? The clouds are darkening. The winds are beginning to howl. A storm seems to be brewing for the Aura-led Eagles.

Recruit Class Rankings Western Illinois--#73 MD-Eastern Shore-#111 UC-San Diego--#130 Arkansas-Pine Bluff--#270 Alcorn State--#318

Boston Herald RESULTS OF ACC TEAMS IN POST-SEASON TOURNAMENTS CIT Round 1 Pittsburgh-96, Youngstown State-75 Round 2 Florida International-74, Pittsburgh-71 NIT Round 1 Miami (FL)-79, Portland-54 Georgia Tech-63, Baylor-44 Virginia-72, St. Mary’s-61 Round 2 Miami (FL)-74, West Virginia-69 Murray State-77, Georgia Tech-63 Virginia-76, Western Carolina-60 Round 3 Alabama-Birmingham-77, Miami (FL)-76 Virginia-93, Nevada-74 Round 4 (Semifinals) Virginia-85, Murray State-71 Round 5 (Championship) Missouri-83, Virginia-75 NCAA Round 1 Duke-67, Evansville-36 North Carolina-85, Sacred Heart-60 Clemson-71, Memphis-70 Florida State-70, Bowling Green State-59 Albany-64, Notre Dame-63 North Carolina State-87, Colorado State-77 Boston College-90, Dartmouth-75----Dartmouth scored the first 7 points of the game. BC chipped away at that lead and took the lead when Corey Graham sank a 3 to make it 11-10. The Eagles then slowly pulled away and finished the half on top 48-34. The Eagles never let Dartmouth get back into the game in the 2nd half and won easily. Scoring in double figures were: PG Bobby Grannun-16, C Courtland Reese-16, SG Corey Graham-13, and SF/SG Glen Robinson-11. Round 2 Duke-88, Hofstra-66 North Carolina-85, Clemson-76 Penn State-90, North Carolina State-88 Nebraska-74, Florida State-75 Arkansas-67, Boston College-60----BC beat Arkansas by 24 points early this season. But a combination of sloppy ball-handling together with poor shooting resulted in Boston College falling behind Arkansas by as much as 11 points in the first half. In the final minutes of the half the Eagles cut into the lead to trail by just a 35-31 score at the break. Things didn’t improve in the 2nd half. The Eagles cut the lead to 2 points only to see the Razorbacks rapidly pull away as the Eagles offense fell apart. Arkansas built a 15 point lead when the Eagles were unable to get their shots to fall and repeatedly turned over the ball, finishing the game with 18 turnovers. Topping the scoring for BC was C Courtland Reese with 15 points. C Tim Cotton and SF/SG/PG Glen Robinson both scored 10 points. Round 3 (Sweet 16) Duke-88, Central Florida-56 North Carolina-66, Southern California-54 Round 4 (Elite Duke-69, North Carolina-62 Round 5 (Final 4) Oklahoma-60, Duke-57 Championships: CIT: Columbia CBI: Davidson NIT: Missouri NCAA: Oklahoma

JJ Conroy, BeanTownSports Blog ACC Teams going to post-season tournaments NCAA #2 ranked Duke(34-1) is the #1 seed in the East Region and will go up against the winner of the Bucknell/Evansville play-in game. #6 ranked North Carolina (24-9) is the #3 seed in the East Region and will take on #14 seed Sacred Heart (21-11). Clemson (19-13) is the #11 seed in the East Region and plays #6 seed Memphis (22-12). #8 ranked Boston College (25-8) is the #2 seed in the Midwest Region and takes on #15 seed Dartmouth (17-14). #11 ranked Florida State (24-8) is the #3 seed in the West Region and goes up against #14 seed Bowling Green State (21-12). #18 ranked Notre Dame (21-11) is the #5 seed in the West Region and will play #12 seed Albany (22-10). North Carolina State (21-12) is the #8 seed and goes up against #9 seed Colorado State (24-9). NIT Miami (FL) is the #4 seed in the East Region and plays #5 seed Portland. Georgia Tech is the #4 seed in the South Region and plays #5 seed Baylor. Virginia is the #5 seed in the West Region and plays #4 seed Saint Mary’s. CIT Pittsburgh is the #8 seed in the East Region and plays #1 seed Youngstown State. Boston College prospects So let’s take a look at our local team, the Boston College Eagles. What are their chances in the Big Dance? Easy answer: not good. This team has shown a propensity for getting off to really slow starts in recent games this season. Getting into a hole early in the NCAA Tournament is a recipe for disaster. In addition, the injury bug has bitten them with C Courtland Reese experiencing back spasms that are expected to limit him for the next week-and-a-half. And 6th man Glen Robinson injured his arm that could impact his play for about 5 days. My prediction for the Eagles is that they go out in Round 2 (Round of 32). The best I can see them doing is getting to the Sweet 16.

Boston College Chronicle EAGLES TEAM AND PLAYER STATS By Kinsey Ramsey Boston College will go into the NCAA Tournament with a 25-8 record. The team was 11-5 in the ACC, finishing in 2nd place. The Eagles are ranked 8th in the polls and have the 5th best NET Ranking. The Eagles averaged 75.6 ppg while giving up 67.0 ppg. Starters stats: PG Bobby Grannum: 11.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 5.7 apg SG Corey Graham: 12.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.1 apg SF Darius Hein: 5.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.5 apg PF Danny Toliver: 7.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.8 apg C Courtland Reese: 13.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.5 apg Reserves stats: Glen Robinson: 8.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.8 apg Winston Minahan: 5.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.6 apg Tim Cotton: 5.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.8 apg Maynard Gardner: 1.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.5 apg Rashon Thorn: 2.8 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 1.4 apg Keith Kolder: 2.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.4 apg Adrian Moss: 1.9 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.8 apg Andy Dawson: 1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.0 apg

Boston College Chronicle ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS ACC Tournament Semi-finals: #1 seed Duke-70, #4 seed North Carolina-56 #11 seed Virginia-77. #2 seed Boston College-68 Virginia jumped out to a 24-11 lead, primarily by hitting 5 of their first 7 3-point shots. By playing poor defensively, shooting poorly, and turning the ball over frequently, the Eagles fell behind by 22 points before rallying late in the half to narrow the halftime gap to 47-39. BC cut into the lead further in the 2nd half, but their shooting woes kept them from being able to get ahead. Topping the scoring for the Eagles was PG Bobby Grannum with 22 points. C Courtland Reese recorded a double-double with 19 points and 14 boards. SG Corey Grannum added 10 points. ACC Championship: #1 seed Duke-77, #11 seed Virginia-68

Boston College Chronicle ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS ACC Tournament Quarterfinals #1 seed Duke-73, #9 seed Georgia Tech-58 #2 seed Boston College-82, #7 seed North Carolina St.-75 NC State hit their first 5 shots in the game and then went on to drop in 64% of their FG’s throughout the entire first half enroute to building a 42-35 halftime advantage. The Wolfpack held a lead throughout the 2nd half until PG Bobby Grannum and SF Keith Kolder combined to knock down 5 straight 3’s. The Eagles then had to fight to cling onto a small lead, only expanding it when NC State was forced to foul in the waning moments of the game. Leading the Eagles were C Courtland Reese with 20 points and 15 rebounds, PG Bobby Grannum with 12 points, and PF Danny Toliver with 10 points. Decisive in the win was BC’s dominance on the boards where they pulled down 44 rebounds compared to just 20 by the Wolfpack. #11 seed Virginia-89, #3 seed Florida St.-71 #4 seed North Carolina-81, #12 seed Pittsburgh-69

2035-2036 SEASON Promotion/Relegation (Top 4 in the standings in each conference are promoted to the next higher conference; bottom 4 in the standings in each conference are relegated down to the next lower conference...with the exception of Conference V for which just the last place team is relegated and the Independent team with the best record is promoted into Conference V) Relegated to Conf B: Virginia Notre Dame Kansas State Arkansas Promoted to Conf A: Butler Texas Louisville UCLA Relegated to Conf C : Marquette Seton Hall Creighton Purdue Promoted to Conf B: Baylor St. Bonaventure Georgetown Nebraska Relegated to Conf D : Oklahoma State Wisconsin Tennessee Syracuse Promoted to Conf C : Texas Tech Vermont Cincinnati Pittsburgh Relegated to Conf E: Missouri Iowa Temple Iowa State Promoted to Conf D : Southern Methodist Nevada-Las Vegas Miami (FL) Penn State Relegated to Conf F: Arizona State Belmont Saint Louis Mississippi State Promoted to Conf E: Yale Central Florida Rutgers Houston Relegated to Conf G: Stanford Indiana Murray State Wright State Promoted to Conf F: Old Dominion Oregon State Illinois State Wake Forest Relegated to Conf H: Mississippi Western Michigan Washington State St. Mary’s Promoted to Conf G: Fresno State Nevada Harvard Louisiana Tech Relegated to Conf I: DePaul New Mexico State South Dakota State Western Kentucky Promoted to Conf H: Wyoming Missouri State Marshall Furman Relegated to Conf J: LaSalle East Tennessee State Drake Green Bay Promoted to Conf I: Northern iowa Louisiana Lafayette Weber State Middle Tennessee Relegated to Conf K: Hofstra Georgia State Stephen F. Austin Texas Christian Promoted to Conf J: Chattanooga Stony Brook Northeastern Sam Houston State Relegated to Conf L: Rider Texas Arlington Hawaii Wofford Promoted to Conf K: Morehead MD-Baltimore County Towson Princeton Relegated to Conf M: Charlotte Cleveland State Air Force Bucknell Promoted to Conf L: Central Michigan Colgate Eastern Michigan Florida Gulf Coast Relegated to Conf N: IUPUI Ball State Abilene Christian South Alabama Promoted to Conf M: Georgia Southern Coastal Carolina Austin Peay Rice Relegated to Conf O: Oakland Albany Texas-San Antonio East Carolina Promoted to Conf N: San Diego High Point Portland Florida International Relegated to Conf P: UC-Riverside Cal Poly Niagara South Dakota Promoted to Conf O: Texas State Youngstown State Northwestern State Jacksonville State Relegated to Conf Q: American Denver Cal State Bakersfield Cornell Promoted to Conf P: Norfolk State Long Island Loyola (MD) Northern Kentucky Relegated to Conf R: Saint Peter’s Gardner-Webb Delaware Troy Promoted to Conf Q: Fairleigh Dickinson Texas-Rio Grande Tennessee State Lamar Relegated to Conf S: Fordham Canisius Northern Colorads Columbia Promoted to Conf R: Incarnate Word Jacksonville Western Carolina Lafayette Relegated to Conf T: Tennessee Tech Hampton Bethune-Cookman South Carolina Upstate Promoted to Conf S: Chicago State McNeese State Bryant St. Francis (NY) Relegated to Conf U: Jackson State Massachusetts-Lowell Saint Francis (PA Prairie View Promoted to Conf T: Alcorn State Arkansas-Pine Bluff Seattle Central Arkansas Relegated to Conf V: South Carolina State Central Connecticut Merrimack North Florida Promoted to Conf U: MD-Eastern Shore Kennesaw State Presbyterian North Alabama Relegated to Conf Independent Status: Binghampton Promoted to Conf V: NJIT

Coach Fred Aura We now know who we'll face first in the ACC tournament. North Carolina State's victory sets up a game for us against the Wolfpack. The guys are chomping at the bit to get started in the tourney. I told them to get a good night's sleep so they'll be well-rested.

Boston College Chronicle ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS ACC Tournament—Day 2 #12 seed Pittsburgh-69, #5 seed Clemson-60 #11 seed Virginia-73, #8 seed Miami (FL)-70 #7 seed North Carolina St.-72, #15 seed Wake Forest-67 #9 seed Georgia Tech-88, #6 seed Notre Dame-78

Boston College Chronicle ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS ACC Tournament—Day 1 #15 seed Wake Forest-72, #10 seed Syracuse-63 #11 seed Virginia-66, #14 seed Louisville-63 #12 seed Pittsburgh-78, #13 seed Virginia Tech-65 "I wasn't surprised by the results of this first day, even Wake Forest's win over Syracuse. Throughout the ACC tournament anyone can win depending upon if a team gets hot, or another team has an off-night. The Syracuse/Louisville was a thriller," said Coach Fred Aura in response to a question about the first day's results. When asked about his team's preparations, Coach Aura responded, "We won't know who we're playing until tomorrow's games are completed. But we have a lot to practice and are doing so without worrying about who we will have to play."

Discussion during a meeting of the 5 coaches: Ken Yamoto: Hey, you guys really put together good seasons. Ramon Montez: You did well also Ken. You were on target to finish high enough in the standings to earn the team a promotion, and even though your team slumped late in the season, you just barely missed out on that. Terry Morillo: It’s pretty impressive that 3 of you will be moving up to higher conferences next year. Congratulations, Dontell, Mike and Ramon! Ken Yamoto: Dontell, your getting your team to the championship game in the NIT Tournament was tremendously impressive. Dontell Spencer: I think we’re all just finally getting our feet on firm ground in the collegiate ranks. Our recruiting is getting better too. Terry Morillo: Well all of your recruiting efforts are getting better. I was only able to fill one of four scholarships. Ramon Montez: But the guy you got is a 4-star. None of the rest of us was able to pull that off. And I bet you get some good transfer players also. Mike McMillan: Hey, what’s up with college boards of directors? We have good seasons and the only one of us able to get our requests approved was Ken. Ken: Yeah, actually I was extremely surprised that mine accepted my plea for an upgrade to our facilities. I’m really happy that they’ll go up from was I graded as a D to more like a C. Dontell Spencer: While I’m happy for you, Ken, I’m pretty unhappy that three straight years of gaining promotions for the team haven’t gotten my board to approve an increase in our budget, which we really need to be able to competitively recruit. Ramon Montez: Yeah, my also continues to say you seem to be doing just fine with the budget you already have. Terry Morillo: Did you request a facilities upgrade like I did…and get refused, Mike? Mike McMillan: I sure as hell did and the board told me they want a big increase in our level of prestige before they will approve any upgrades. Dontell Spencer: Bottom line is all our teams are being much more successful that they were before we started coaching, we’re increasing home attendance which means our schools are raking in more money, and our boards just aren’t supportive. Ramon Montez: I’m willing to give it another year or two, but if I can’t get support from the university, there are other schools who are showing interest. I’m sure that’s the same for all of us. There’s always a lot of movement in the collegiate coaching ranks each year.

1st Assistant Coach Darrell Montgomery (practice) We coaches had been talking this spring about players declaring for the draft. We now have players on our roster who very well could leave us early. The two primary ones are our guards, freshman PG Bobby Grannum and sophomore SG Corey Graham. Both not only started for us all season, but are very talented and have great potential. We have two other freshmen, C Tim Cotton and SF Maynard Gardner. Neither were starters but have tremendous potential and both wanted a lot more minutes on the court than they got this season.. So we were worried we’d have someone leave us early. Surprisingly, Bobby, Corey and Tim never really showed interest in leaving after this season. We coaches had a big sigh of relief about that. But Maynard let us know he was thinking of jumping ship. Like I said, he’s going to be a very good player. But to be honest, he still has a lot of development before I think he’s ready to go pro. While we discussed some of the pros and cons of declaring early, we were careful to leave the ultimate decision totally up to him. Today on the final day for players to declare, Maynard let Coach Aura know that he’d decided to stick with us for at least another season. We’re delighted since he’ll be in the mix to start at SF this coming season…and expect that no matter if he’s a starter or not, he’ll be playing a lot more that he did this season. So now our next worry will be if any of our guys will opt to transfer this coming summer. As mentioned, Tim and Maynard plus some of our other subs wanted more playing time and that could end up biting us in the butt. Other ACC schools got some bitter news though: both Duke and North Carolina had 3 players each declare and Notre Dame and Syracuse each have one player declaring early.

Mar. 3. 2030: Virginia Cavaliers (18-13, 8-11) vs #8 Boston College Eagles (23-7. 14-5) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds In a tune-up for the ACC Tournament, the Boston College Eagles hosted the Virginia Cavaliers who were in a dogfight with the Eagles for 2nd place until the Cavaliers went into a bit of a tailspin in the past 3 weeks. For the 2nd straight game, BC started slowly. Their sluggish start in which they shot horribly, committed far too many turnovers and were charged with numerous fouls resulted in Virginia achieving a 7 point lead midway through the half. It was obvious to all that Coach Aura was aggravated with his team’s punchless effort. Aura’s chastisement apparently worked. Corey Graham led the team to their first lead with 3:54 remaining in the half. But after moving ahead by 3 points, the Eagles faltered badly in the final 2 minutes to trail 36-28 at the break. Coach Aura prodding in the locker room resulted in his team scoring the first 9 points of the 2nd half to edge ahead. But Virginia again recaptured the lead. Midway through the half the Eagles offense caught fire. The team jumped on top and then gradually pulled away to score an 80-67 victory. The Eagles 2nd half turn-around produced a 55% to 37% shooting advantage for BC over the Cavaliers. Boston College also out-rebounded Virginia 41-26. In the post-game interview, Coach Aura said, “In the first half we fizzled, but in the 2nd half we sizzled.” Leading the scoring for Boston College was SG Corey Graham with 19 points. PG Bobby Grannum contributed 15 points and C Courtland Reese added 10. The Eagles finished in 2nd place in the ACC standings. Duke…20-0 Boston College…15-5 Florida State…13-7 North Carolina…13-7 Clemson…11-9 Notre Dame…10-10 North Carolina State…10-10 Miami (FL)…10-10 Georgia Tech…9-11 Syracuse…8-12 Virginia…8-12 Pittsburgh…7-13 Virginia Tech…7-13 Louisville…5-15 Wake Forest…4-16

Staff Hiring Ken Yamoto at UC-San Diego hired two new assistant coaches. Mack Redd will be his 1st assistant coach and his scouting coach. Rodney Williams was hired as his 3rd assistant coach and will handle practice. Terry Morillo at Western Illinois hired Tyler Berry as his 2nd assistant in charge of practice and Marvin Tackett who will handle scouting as the new 3rd assistant coach. Dontell Spencer at Arkansas-Pine Bluff negotiated a new contract with his 3rd assistant coach Bill Schafer to keep him from departing.

Recruiting Results: Ramon Montez at Alcorn State: We had two seniors graduating and filled the scholarships they had been filling. B. J. Jefferson is a 6-10 PF from Noxapater, MS who averaged 10.0 ppg and 8.9 rpg this past season. He’s the #840 ranked recruit and we rated him as a B-. His biggest strength is his recruiting but he shoots well form both inside and outside, but doesn’t shoot enough. Defense is definitely a work in progress, but he’s a hard worker so we’ll work on that. Jermaine Wheeler is a 6-6 SF from York, ME. Strengths are his shooting, rebounding, and athleticism. A weakness is his defense. He’s a great leader and a hard working kid. We rated him as a C+ and he was #1441 in the recruit rankings. This past season he scored 10.0 ppg and hauled down 4.7 rpg for his high school team. Dontell Spencer at Arkansas-Pine Bluff: We filled both scholarships that were available. Randy Kickert, a 6-8 SF from Greenland, AR was a recruit we rated as a C+. His recruit ranking was #1486. His biggest strengths are his shooting, particularly from outside and his rebounding and he has a good work ethic. Defense is a weakness. He averaged 11.3 ppg and 5.5 rpg for his high school team this season. Delvon Palmer is a 6-8 PF from Jacksonville, AR. We rated him as a B- recruit and his recruit ranking was #1256. We most liked his inside scoring and athleticism and overall level of skills although defense is not a strength. He doesn’t cause problems and has been injury free. This season he averaged 14 .3 ppg and 7.4 rpg at his high school. Mike McMillan at MD Eastern Shore Our recruiting sucked in the summer and fall but even though we were out of recruiting money, we were able to fill one of our four scholarships this spring and it was a home run. Jibran Hale is a 6-5 SF from Sykesville, MD. He’s ranked as the #52 best recruit and as a 4-star recruit we rated him as an A. He scored 15.7 ppg, picked off 7.4 rpg and dished out 4.1 apg as a senior. He’s a great scorer inside and also shoots well from outside. He’s an excellent rebounder and is very good defensively. He’s a good passer and very athletic. He’s not a good student and his SAT scores barely exceeded our minimum which is low, so we’ll need to get him tutors. Since we have 3 vacant scholarships, we’ll see if we can pick up some transfer players this summer. Ken Yamoto at UC-San Diego We filled all 4 of our scholarships this year. Brad Sanders is a 6-7 PF from Sutter, CA who scored 15.5 ppg and grabbed 11.0 rpg this past season. He’s a very good rebounder and scores well inside. We’ll need to work on his defense. He was in the top 25 at the Las Vegas Revue and is ranked #594. We rated him as a B-. Jared Keating is a 6-6 PF from Atherton, CA. He’s a good shooter from outside, but excellent from inside. He’s not yet a good rebounder. This past season he averaged 13.7 ppg and just 2.7 rpg. He was ranked #1233 but we rated him as a B-. Lance Rhodes is 6-0 PG from Culver City, CA. We have been impressed by his passing and ball handling skills and he shoots well from outside. Defense is a weakness, though. This season he averaged 12.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 5.9 apg. He’s exhibited some attitude problems but doesn’t cause problems. We rated him as a C+ and he was ranked #1562. Brad Young is a 6-4 PG from Placer, CA. He’s an excellent shooter from outside and averaged 17.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, and 3.5 apg for his high school as a senior. His biggest weakness is rebounding. He’s athletic and doesn’t cause problems. We rated him as a C+ and his recruit ranking was #1596. Terry Morillo at Western Illinois We had 6 scholarships to fill and got 2 recruits early and 4 recruits in April. Larry McClain is a 6-8 C from Ferndale, MI where he averaged 14.2 ppg and 7.7 rpg as a high school senior. He’s ranked #1269 but we rated him as a B-. We really liked that he’s a strong leader. He’s an excellent inside scorer and also a solid rebounder. He doesn’t know how to spell “defense”, so that’s something we will have to work on. Mohamed Ammons is a 6-5 SG from Wilmette, IL. He’s ranked #1500 and we rated him as a C+. But he has a sweet shot from outside, is a very good ball handler and is very athletic. His major weakness is rebounding. This past season he averaged 16.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, and 3.0 apg. He doesn’t cause problems but could work harder. Charles Jones is a 6-7 PF from Shawnee Mission, KS. This past season he averaged 11.9 ppg and 7.0 rpg. He scores well from inside and is a good rebounder. We rated him as a B- and he was ranked #906. His defense needs work. Martin Dixon is a 6-5 PG from Johnston City, IL. He was only ranked #1789 and we rated him as a C, but we liked the way he passes and handles the ball and he shoots well from outside. He’s an extremely hard work but has had some attitude issues. Defense is a weakness. He averaged 9.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and 3.6 apg as a senior in high school. James Johnson is a 6-7 SF from Verona, WI. He averaged 16.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 4.4 apg this past season. He’s a very good shot from outside and can get inside and score as well. He’s a good passer and strong defensively. We rated him as a B- and he was ranked #634. Jonathan Bailey is a 6-2 PG from Chicago, IL. As a senior he averaged 11.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, and 4.1 apg. He’s a hard worker. His a sharp shooter from outside and has very good passing skills. He’s weak defensively but is a hard worker so we’ll work to improve that.

Mar. 1, 2030: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (15-12, 9-9) vs #8 Boston College Eagles (22-7, 13-5) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA Coach Fred Aura Pre-game in the locker room: OK, guys, this is the last week of the regular season. We go through the 3-game road trip with 2 big wins. Now we just have 2 home games before the ACC Tourney. Let’s stay focused and play hard so we can finish the regular season strong and go into the tournament on a roll. Georgia Tech is a good team so we need to go after them with all we have, execute our game plan, and play hard the entire 40 minutes. Remember that their PG Rahim Arnold hits a very high percentage of his shots from anywhere on the court. Let’s not let him break out. Defense, defense and bang the boards, guys. Now let’s get out there on the court and show the Yellow Jackets and our fans how BC plays top-flight basketball. On the sidelines: All our players are healthy and available tonight, so we’ll try to keep fresh legs on the court and wear down the Yellow Jackets. The game’s about to start. I’m confident but a little nervous since Georgia Tech whipped #7 North Carolina in their last game. We’re tight early, missing our first 3 shots and turning the ball over once. But Darius Hein stepped in front of his man and picked off a pass, got the ball to Danny Toliver who was spurting upcourt and threw down a jam with just over 17 minutes to go in the half for our first field goal. Then Toliver picked up two quick fouls. It took 3 minutes more for us to get our 2nd bucket. Although we still weren’t firing on all cylinders, we were getting to the foul line and finally took our first lead at 11-9 with 13 minutes left in the half. I really felt like tearing the guys up about their anemic offense, but their defense was rockin’ so best to just let them work out things for themselves on the offensive end of the court. Coach Jeff Wallace was tearing into the refs as the fouls mounted up on the Yellow Jackets. No matter who I put on the court, and I was subbing freely, we just couldn’t get untracked. At the media time out with 7:26 to play we were tied at 18-18 and had hit just 5 of 15 shots and were getting beat on the boards 13-9. I laid into the team and showed just how concerned I was in their play. I’d like to say that woke the guys up, but we continued to hang with Georgia Tech by getting to the line for the next 4 minutes. Then Darius Hein made two quick baskets and in the final 3 minutes of the half we spurted to a 42-30 halftime advantage. That improved our shooting from 30% to 48%, but getting to the line 25 times where we scored 18 points was still the reason we were in front of the Yellow Jackets. Courtland Reese scored 9 and Darius Hein and Keith Kolder both had 8. We did a good job on Georgia Tech’s PG Rahim Arnold, holding him scoreless. We scored the first 13 points in the 2nd half to go ahead by 25 points. From there on I was able to get a lot of minutes for our bench players. We came away with a 76-55 win. In juxtaposition to the first half, we didn’t get to the foul line a single time in the 2nd half. But we did it in the 2nd half with a stellar defense and some good shooting. C Courtland Reese finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Darius Hein played both SF and PF and scored 13 points. PG Bobby Grannum hit for 11 points and SF Keith Kolder scored 10. The win guaranteed us a 2nd place finish in the ACC, but I want to win our final regular season game to keep the momentum going into the ACC tourney.

Feb. 24, 2030: #8 ranked Boston College Eagles (21-7, 12-5) vs Virginia Tech Hokies (14-12, 7-10) at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburgh, VA Excerpts from TV broadcast of the game: *Unless these two teams meet in the ACC tournament, this will be the only time they play each other this season. Since Coach Aura got to Boston College, the Eagles have had the best the Hokies, beating Virginia Tech all 5 times they’ve met the past four years. But head coach Darell Nathaniel in his 2nd year at Virginia Tech, says his team is determined to beat Boston College this season. BC’s at full strength tonight. Virginia Tech has SF TJ Rogers, who was averaging 10.4 ppg, is out with a broken elbow and sophomore Frank Oliver will be starting in place of Rogers. SG Tony Harrington has been shooting the lights out for the Hokies and is averaging 17.2 ppg. BC’s leading scorer is SG Corey Graham who’s hit for 13.3 ppg. *The starters have been announced and the national anthem has been played, so we’re ready to get this game underway. *The tip is controlled by the Hokies and the work the ball around the perimeter. Rose gets the ball inside to Evans who drives to the hoop and scores. The Hokies draw first blood. The Eagles’ Graham dumps the ball over to Toliver who cross courts the ball to Reese on the baseline. Reese makes a move to the basket, attacks the rim and delivers a crashing dunk to tie the game. That was sort of a right back in your face play. *Virginia Tech is really working the ball to Harrington. It’s been effective as he’s hit a 3 and drawn early fouls on Graham and Grannum. *That’s the fourth foul committed by BC. None have been called on the Hokies. Coach Aura is really working the refs. *Nice backdoor pass by Graham to Cotton who puts the ball on the floor and then goes up for the shot that drops through the hoop. BC’s centers, Reese and Cotton have now scored 12 of the Eagles’ 18 points and BC leads by 8 with 11 minutes to go in the half. *So far the Eagles are beating the Hokies on the boards. BC works down the shot clock. Hein finds Thorn in the right corner. He’s free and puts up a 3 that swishes through. That’s 8 points for Rashon Thorn and BC’s lead expands to 33-18. *Whoa! Another 3 by Thorn. He’s now hit 4 from long range. It’s 41-23 with 2:45 on the clock. *BC’s defense has been stellar. Virginia Tech is having a tough time getting any free shots and their shooting percentage reflects that. *Reese continues to dominate inside. He made a nice crossover move to get past Tice and then kisses a shot off the glass giving him 12 points thus far. *As the half winds down, the Hokies are unable to get anyone free and have to put up an off-balance shot that misses badly with 2 seconds on the shot clock. BC rebounds and the half ends with Boston College leading Virginia Tech 45-25. *Taking a look at the halftime stats shows that the Eagles have outshot the Hokies 58% to 30% and have an 18-10 advantage on the boards. Boston College scored 20 points in the paint in the first half. BC’s PG Rashon Thorn came off the bench to score 14 points while C Courtland Reese has contributed 12 points. The only Virginia Tech player to score more than 4 points was SG Tony Harrington who finished the half with 13 points. *Grannum brings the ball over midcourt. A quick pass to Hein on the right side line. Hein surveys the defense and then dishes it back to Grannum who knocks down a 3 from downtown to make it 50-25. *Grannum hits Graham who made a cut down along the baseline. Graham making a move toward the basket. No. He pulls up and hits a nice jumper to put the Eagles on top by 30 at 64-34 with 10-1/2 minutes remaining in the game. *Thorn back in the game and he immediately hit a 3 and now he drops in a jumper. The guy’s on fire. *The game ends with a final score of 79-53 in favor of Boston College. *BC hit 52% of their shots compared to the Hokies 32%. But the big difference in the game was the Eagles total dominance on the boards. BC had 46 rebounds compared to just 25 by the Hokies. *PG Rashon Thorn came in off the bench to score 23 points. That’s a career high for Thorm. Other Boston College players in double figures were: C Courtland Reese with 18, PG Bobby Grannum had 12, and SG Corey Graham scored 11. The top scorer for Virginia Tech was SG Tony Harrington with 17 points. *The win keeps BC in sole possession of 2nd place in the ACC, a game ahead of Florida State.

AWARDS: Conference U: Chris Betts, Arkansas-Pine Bluff—Conference U Defensive Player of the Year Dontell Spencer, Arkansas-Pine Bluff—Conference U Coach of the Year Kwame Mickens, Arkansas-Pine Bluff—Conference U 1st Team All-Conference Will Friel, Alcorn State—Conference U 1st Team All-Conference Dan Jefferson, Arkansas-Pine Bluff—Conference U 2nd Team All-Conference Gabriel Atwood, Alcorn State—Conference U 2nd Team All-Conference Chris Betts, Arkansas-Pine Bluff—Conference U 2nd Team All-Conference Conference V: Craig Grant, Western Illinois—Conference V Freshman of the Year Romolo Pantini, MD-Eastern Shore—Conference V 1st Team All-Conference Guillermo Cabrera, Western Illinois—Conference V 2nd Team All-Conference