PointGuard

CIT Tournament Results: Coach Fred Aura: Round 2: #5 seed Boston College Eagles (18-16) vs #1 seed West Virginia Mountaineers (18-15)—We got whipped by the Mountaineers in the Emerald Coast Classic during pre-conference play. In tonight’s game we scored the first 7 points. West Virginia came back to go ahead 15-13 with 11 minutes to go in the half. We fell behind by 7 but our guys fought back late in the half to recapture the lead and take a 36-31 advantage into the 2nd half. The fouls seemed to all go against us in the 2nd half but we doggedly held onto a small lead. SG James Lilly fouled out and C Jason Caldwell had 4 fouls with 2:42 remaining and us ahead 59-53. We refused to cave in and the Mountaineers had to foul. When the buzzer sounded we had a 68-59 upset win. Our only player to score in double figures was PF Marius Witt with 15 points, but we held very small advantages in most team stats, and we had a 32-18 advantage in points in the paint and an 8-0 advantage in second-chance points. We also kept West Virginia’s top scorer, SG John Redden who had been averaging 15.6 ppg to just 7 points.

CIT Tournament Results: Coach Fred Aura: Round 1: #5 seed Boston College Eagles (17-16) vs #4 seed Nicholls State Colonels (19-12)—We came out hot, getting good shots and making them. Our defense was solid as well. By the end of the half, we led 49-31. Things turned around in the 2nd half. We just couldn’t get untracked and Nicholls State ate into our lead. With 2-1/2 minutes remaining they had gotten within 2 points of us. I called a time out to steady the team and set up a play. We worked the ball back and forth around the perimeter and then PG Willis Lofton executed a pass inside to Jason Caldwell who fired it immediately back to Lofton for a 14 foot jumper that he sunk off the backboard. We forced a turnover on the Colonels’ next possession and worked the clock down before scoring to give us a 6 point cushion. Nicholls State was forced to foul on each of our possessions after that. We came away with an 83-76 victory. All 5 of our starters scored in double figures: Reese-18, Lilly-15 (plus he had 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks), Witt-15, Caldwell-11, and Lofton-10. We hit 54% of our shots and held a 34-23 rebounding advantage. The one thing I was unhappy about is that we made 17 turnovers.

NCAA Tournament: #1 seeds: Michigan, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke ACC Teams: Virginia, #2 in South Louisville, #4 in South Clemson, #5 in South Virginia Tech, #11 in South Duke, #1 in West Florida State, #2 in West Syracuse, #6 in West Pittsburgh, #7 in West Georgia Tech, #10 in West CBI: Notre Dame, #3 in West CIT: Boston College, #5 in West

Robert Wilson, 3rd Assistant Coach: We finished with a 17-16 record. We scored 73.0 ppg but gave up 74.0 ppg to our opponents. We pulled down 32.8 rpg which was 79th best in Division I and hit 78.8% of our FT’s which was 24th best throughout Division I. Our NET ranking was 74th best. Individual Stats: Scoring (ppg): SG James Lilly-14.6 SF/PF Marvin Reese-9.7; C Jason Caldwell-9.3; PF Marius Witt-7.2; C Steve Ross-6.3; PG/SG Jon Ray-6.0; SG/PG Samuel King-5.8; PG Willis Lofton-5.7; SF Michael Millford-5.1; SF Earl Betts-2.3; SG Jason Dunn-1.7; C Damon Smith-0.4 Rebounding (rpg): PF Marius Witt-6.8; SG James Lilly-6.0; C Jason Caldwell-5.4; SF/PF Marvin Reese-3.6; C Steve Ross-3.5; SF Michael Millford-1.8; SF Earl Betts-1.7; SG Jon Ray-1.3; PG Willis Lofton-1.0; SG Jason Dunn-0.5; PG Chris Nelson-0.2 Assists (apg): PG Willis Lofton-4.7; SG James Lilly-2.4; PG/SG Jon Ray-1.7; SF/PF Marvin Reese-1.3; SF Michael Millford-1.1; SG/PF Jon Ray-1.0; PF Marius Witt-1.0; C Jason Caldwell-0.9; C Steve Ross-0.8; SF Earl Betts-0.7; SG Jason Dunn-0.5; PG Christ Nelson-0.2; C Damon Smith-0.1

www.collegebasketballreports website ACC Tournament—Round 4: #9 ranked, #4 seed Florida State Seminoles (26-6, 14-6) vs #4 ranked, #1 seed Duke Blue Devils (26-6, 16-4): Duke gradually pulled away from Florida State in the first half and went to the locker room on top 40-28. The Blue Demons tightened their defense in the 2nd half and drew away for a solid 73-52 beating of the Seminoles. SG Stephan McIntosh pumped in 30 points for Duke while PF Jermaine Slider scored 13 and pulled down 11 boards for Florida State. #3 seed Clemson Tigers (24-9, 14-6) vs #7 ranked, #2 seed Virginia Cavaliers (26-5, 16-4): Virginia’s offense romped in the first half to bury Clemson 57-35 in the first half. The Cavaliers backed on in the 2nd half and Clemson narrowed the gap but still lost 96-83. SG David Young lit up the board with 35 points for Virginia. C Tyrus Johnston tossed in 19 points for the Tigers. ACC Tournament—Round 5: #6 ranked, #2 seed Virginia Cavaliers (27-5, 16-4) vs #4 ranked, #1 seed Duke Blue Devils (27-6, 16-4): This was a matchup of the two teams that tied for 1st place in the ACC during the regular season. The game lived up to the hype. While there were small runs but both teams, neither could gain a secure advantage. At the half Duke led 41-39. Defense by both teams predominated in the 2nd half and at the end of 40 minutes of play, the teams were tied 72-72 sending the game into overtime. Duke’s defense was rock solid in OT which allowed the Blue Devils to move out to an 85-78 victory. For Duke C Maurice McCoy had 22 points and 14 rebounds and PF Greg McDyess finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds. That interior duo resulted in a 40-28 Duke advantage in points in the paint. PG Damion Clagget scored 19 points for Virginia.

www.collegebasketballreports website ACC Tournament—Round 3: #20 ranked, #8 seed Syracuse Orange (22-10, 11-9) vs #4 ranked, #1 seed Duke Blue Devils (25-6, 16-4): The Blue Devils jumped out on top and never gave up the lead. By halftime they were ahead 53-36. Their lead ballooned to 24 points in the 2nd half and they ripped Syracuse 88-68. C Maurice McCoy and SG Stephan McIntosh shared scoring honors for Duke with 18 points apiece. Syracuse’s top scorer was SF Wes Brown with 14 points. #10 seed Boston College Eagles (17-15, 8-12) vs #7 ranked, #2 seed Virginia Cavaliers (25-5, 16-4): Even though he was double-teamed C Dustin Bryant scored the first 14 points for Virginia, hitting shots without a miss and giving the Cavaliers a 14-8 lead. Although Virginia led, Boston College kept within striking range until the final 5 minutes of the first half when the Cavaliers showed why they are ranked 7th in the polls and moved out to a 44-32 halftime lead. Bryant finished the half with 18 points. Reserve SG Samuel King scored 11 points in 7 minutes of play for the Eagles. BC fought hard in the 2nd half, but the difference in talent level allowed Virginia to cruise to a 79-58 victory. C Dustin Bryant scored 19 for Virginia with SG David Young scoring 9 and grabbing 16 rebounds. SG Samuel King was the top scorer for Boston College with 16 points. BC’s coach Fred Aura said, “That was our 3rd loss to Virginia this season. Quite obviously they’re an extremely strong team. But I’m proud of how our guys battled the entire way. We just have a long ways to go to get to the caliber of a team like the Cavaliers.” #11 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish (19-14, 7-13) vs #3 seed Clemson Tigers (23-9, 14-6): The defenses of both teams predominated in this game. Notre Dame led at the half 31-26. Clemson’s defense sizzled in the 2nd half and they crept ahead and then went on a run that put them up by 14 points. The Tigers held on for a strong 64-54 victory. C Tyrus Johnston scored 13 for Clemson. Notre Dame’s SG Kenny Jennings led all scorers with 19 points. #17 ranked, #5 seed Louisville Cardinals (24-8, 12-8) vs #9 ranked, #4 seed Florida State Seminoles (25-6, 14-6): Louisville led early by as much as 7 points, but the Seminoles caught up and moved out to a 34-28 halftime lead. The two teams then went on a scoring spree in the 2nd half with Florida State taking a 19 point lead before finishing with an 80-69 win. Florida State’s SG Andy Blizzard scored 19 points and PF Jermaine Slider scored 16 while pulling down 16 boards. SF Josh Miller scored 22 for Louisville. No upsets. The top 4 seeds advance.

www.collegebasketballreports website ACC Tournament—Round 2: #12 seed Miami Hurricanes (14-17, 6-14) vs #17 ranked, #5 seed Louisville Cardinals (23-8, 12-8): Louisville totally dominated the Hurricanes, leading from start to finish. By the half, the Cardinals were on top 57-28. The lead expanded to as much as 43 points in the 2nd half. Louisville cruised to a lopsided 94-69 beatdown of Miami. PG Neil Field scored 25 points and passed out 9 assists for Louisville. SF Dewayne Jennings and SG Marcell Allaway both had 11 points for Miami. #11 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish (18-14, 7-13) vs # 6 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (19-12, 11-9): The first half was a defensive battle with Georgia Tech coming out of it with a slim 29-27 lead. The Fighting Irish used frequent trips to the foul line in the 2nd half to score 49 points in the final 20 minutes and upset Georgia Tech 76-66. The Fighting Irish Notre Dame’s top scorer was PG Tom Tatum with 16 points. Reserve C Ryan Gooden tallied 14 points for Georgia Tech. #10 seed Boston College Eagles (16-15, 8-12) vs #7 seed Pittsburgh Panthers (21-10, 11-9): It took 4 minutes before the first field goal was sunk by either team in this game. The vastly underdog Eagles gamely clawed the Panthers in the first half. The first portion of the half was close, but BC then steadily pulled away to open a 14 point lead before settling for a 43-32 halftime advantage. Most in attendance expected BC to fold in the 2nd half, but they surprised all by increasing their lead to as much as 20 points. Pittsburgh made a run with about 5 minutes to go to cut the lead to 9, but the Eagles rallied to pull away again and record a 72-57 thrashing of Pittsburgh in what was the biggest upset of the tournament thus far. SG James Lilly had his 2nd straight double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. For Pittsburgh, SG Rudy Kerlin scored 19 points and SF Kevin Woni had 16 points and 13 rebounds. “This was our biggest win of the season,” said BC’s coach Fred Aura. “Before the game our guys said they were tired of being underdogs and decided it was time to turn the tables. Our defense was dogged all night. Pittsburgh got off a lot of shots trying to catch up, but we made sure those shots were forced and difficult. There were very few easy shots for the Panthers tonight. That’s why they only hit 32% of their FG’s and 22% of their 3’s.” #9 seed Virginia Tech Hokies (17-12, 11-9) vs #20 ranked, #8 seed Syracuse Orange (21-10, 11-9): Syracuse unleashed a potent offense, hitting 56% of their FGA’s and 48% of their 3PA’s. They led 54-40 at the half and won by the final score of 102-72. SG Adrian Hooks scored 43 points for the Orange. Virginia Tech’s had no weapons to compete with that as C Shawn Deane’s 14 points topped the Hokies’ scoring.

www.collegebasketballreports website ACC Tournament—Round 1: #13 seed North Carolina Tar Heels (13-17, 5-15) vs #12 seed Miami Hurricanes (13-17, 6-14): Miami asserted their dominance in the first half by going ahead by 13 and then leading at the break 45-37. But the Hurricanes struggled in the 2nd half with the Tar Heels knocking down 3’s to make a ball game of it. Miami had to go on a late run to pull off an 87-81 victory. SF Dewayne Jennings hit 15 of 21 FG’s and 8 of 10 threes as well as 10 of 17 FT’s to score 48 points for Miami. PG Duke Stokes stroked in 30 points for the Tar Heels. #14 seed Wake Forest Deacon Demons (11-18, 5-15) vs #11 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish (17-14, 7-13): Notre Dame had no problem handling Wake Forest, taking over early and by the end of the first half leading 40-22. They went on to lead by as much as 25 before settling for a 71-52 whipping of the Deacon Demons. SF Rich Thompson was Notre Dame’s high scorer with 13 points but C Mike Benton had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Wake Forest’s PG Brian Worrell led all scorers with 16 points. #15 seed North Carolina State Wolfpack (11-18, 3-17) vs #10 seed Boston College Eagles (15-15, 8-12): NC State came out and opened a 6 point lead, but the game went back and forth in the middle part of the 1st half. The Eagles clamped down defensively in the last 8 minutes of the half to sport a 39-29 halftime advantage. Boston College gradually drew away in the 2nd half as they pounded the boards and came away with an easy 82-64 win. BC was led by SG James Lilly’s 22 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. SG Patrick Dabbert was the Wolfpacks’ leading scorer with 20 points.

Who’s UP, Who’s DOWN? As the result of last season’s results here’s which teams were promoted and relegated: Promoted from Conf B to Conf A: West Virginia, Arkansas, Seton Hall, Clemson Relegated from Conf A to Conf B: North Carolina, Duke, Gonzaga, Texas Promoted from Conf C to Conf B: Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kansas State, Michigan Relegated from Conf B to Conf C : Connecticut, Kansas, North Carolina State, Florida State Promoted from Conf D to Conf C : Temple, Iowa State, Utah, Georgetown Relegated from Conf C to Conf D : Oregon, Louisiana State, Iowa, Virginia Commonwealth Promoted from Conf E to Conf D : St. Bonaventure, Boise State, Missouri, Nebraska Relegated from Conf D to Conf E: Southern Methodist, Indiana, Belmont, Houston Promoted from Conf F to Conf E: Auburn, Vermont, Dayton, Colorado State Relegated from Conf E to Conf F: Stanford, Colorado, Saint Louis, Mississippi Promoted from Conf G to Conf F: Rutgers, George Mason, Northwestern, Yale Relegated from Conf F to Conf G: Southern California, South Carolina, DePaul, St. Johns Promoted from Conf H to Conf G: Illinois State, Wright State, Western Kentucky, Toledo Relegated from Conf G to Conf H: Akron, Fresno State, Nevada, East Tennessee State Promoted from Conf I to Conf H: Wyoming, Harvard, LaSalle, Western Michigan Relegated from Conf H to Conf I: Saint Josephs, Duquesne, George Washington, Northern Iowa Promoted from Conf J to Conf I: Milwaukee, Green Bay, Hofstra, Bowling Green Relegated from Conf I to Conf J: San Francisco, Miami (OH), Santa Clara, Texas Christian Promoted from Conf K to Conf J: Marshall, Pennsylvania, Loyola Marymount, Furman Relegated from Conf J to Conf K: Charlotte, Valparaiso, Northeastern, Montana Promoted from Conf L to Conf K: Detroit Mercy, Lehigh, Wofford, Rider Relegated from Conf K to Conf L: Bucknell, Southern Illinois, Cleveland, Iona Promoted from Conf M to Conf L: Chattanooga, Portland State, Stony Brook, Long Beach State Relegated from Conf L to Conf M: Fairfield, Mercer, Oakland, Rice Promoted from Conf N to Conf M: Towson, Morehead State, MD-Baltimore County, Colgate Relegated from Conf M to Conf N: Austin Peay, Georgia Southern, East Carolina, Siena Promoted from Conf O to Conf N: Florida Gulf Coast, Albany, Southern Utah, Cal State Fullerton Relegated from Conf N to Conf O: San Diego, NC-Wilmington, Cal State Bakersfield, Manhattan Promoted from Conf P to Conf O: Marist, Niagara, Florida International, Portland Relegated from Conf O to Conf P: Brown, Delaware, Lipscomb, Eastern Kentucky Promoted from Conf Q to Conf P: Jacksonville State, Cornell, Cal Poly, Idaho Relegated from Conf P to Conf Q: Northern Kentucky, Fordham, Texas State, Monmouth Promoted from Conf R to Conf Q: SE Louisiana, Long Island, Norfolk State, Mount Saint Marys Relegated from Conf Q to Conf R: New Orleans, Quinnipiac, Western Carolina, Purdue Fort Wayne Promoted from Conf S to Conf R: Kansas City, Stetson, Sacramento State, Navy Relegated from Conf R to Conf S: Cal St. Northridge, Lafayette, Montana State, Texas-Rio Grande Promoted from Conf T to Conf S: North Carolina A&T, Grambling, South Carolina Upstate, Campbell Relegated from Conf S to Conf T: Charleston Southern, UC Davis, North Florida, Southern Promoted from Conf U to Conf T: Massachusetts-Lowell, South Carolina State, Bethune Cookman, Incarnate Word Relegated from Conf T to Conf U: Central Connecticut, Dartmouth, Omaha, Eastern Illinois Promoted from Conf V to Conf U: Kennesaw State, Chicago State, Houston Baptist, Harvard Relegated from Conf U to Conf V: Seattle, Maine, Coppin State, NC-Central Promoted from Independent to Conf V: Arkansas-Pine Bluff Relegated from Conf V to Independent: NJIT

Mar. 3, 2026: Miami (FL) Hurricanes (13-16, 6-13) vs Boston College Eagles (14-15, 7-12) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Coach Fred Aura This last half of our ACC schedule has been pure hell. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disheartened. Winning just one of ten games will do that to you. We lost badly to the Hurricanes when we played them on their court earlier this season. While this game against Miami will not affect where we finish in the ACC standings, a win will give us a .500 season record. A win would be a minor redemption and will also put a positive spin for our team on what’s been a difficult season. While not playing particularly strongly, we held onto a small lead throughout almost the entire first half. In the last few minutes we expanded our lead a little to give us a small cushion. When the buzzer sounded we were on top 35-28. Our offense had sputtered at times, but our defense had been consistently good but not great. In the early stages of the 2nd half we scored well and increased our lead to as much as 15 points. But midway through the half, we had trouble getting the ball in the hoop and Miami’s start SF Dewayne Jennings caught fire. Our lead shriveled. Our reserves who normally produced well failed in this game. Our starters returned to the floor to staunch our wound and gamely rebuilt our lead. We came away with a 70-62 victory. Our team and fans were ecstatic. I was totally exhausted. SG James Lilly finished with 17 points. PF Marius Witt and SF Marvin Reese both pulled down 7 rebounds with Witt scoring 15 points and Reese adding 11. Miami’s Jennings led all scorers with 28 points. The win gave us a 15-15 season record. Our ACC record was just 8-12 and we finished alone in 10th place with 5 teams lower in the standings. This has been a sort of roller coaster of a season with a lot of ups and downs, but it's an improvement over what had been going on here at BC in recent years. To be honest, I never really expected us to do any better than we did. Next: the tough ACC tourney.

Feb. 27, 2026: #21 ranked Louisville Cardinals (21-8, 10-8) vs Boston College Eagles (14-14, 7-10) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Kevin Abney, 1st Assistant Coach A home game but against another tough opponent. We lost by 20 when we played the Cardinals on their home court. We’ve now lost 4 straight and 8 of their last 9 games. Since running off 7 straight wins, Louisville has lost 2 of their last 3 games. Cardinals’ freshman SF Josh Miller is scoring 16.5 ppg and hitting a high percentage of his shots. We had a great start and led 13-0 after 5 minutes of play. It took nearly 7 minutes before Louisville was able to score. We held onto a decent lead until late in the half when we had a profusion of turnovers. The Cardinals took advantage of that and captured a 32-30 lead with a minute-and-a-half to play. We came back to take a slim 35-34 lead to the 2nd half. Our biggest advantage was that we out-rebounded Louisville 20-13 but that was offset by our 13 turnovers compared to 8 by the Cardinals. Louisville put on a shooting clinic in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half and opened a 16 point lead. We chipped away at that lead, trimming it but unable to get closer than 6 points. We ended up with an 84-75 loss. SF/PF Marvin Reese and reserve guard Samuel King led our scoring with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Two of our players had double-doubles: C Jason Caldwell scored 11 and had 10 rebounds and PF Marius Witt scored 10 and picked off 10 boards. SG James Lilly added 10 points. We held Louisville’s Josh Miller to 10 points, but the Cardinals’ depth did us in. Their bench scored 45 points.

Unhappiness Rears Its Head 2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans As our losses have piled up recently, frustrations have grown also. After the game against Clemson, reserve SG Jason Dunn mouthed off to teammates about his not being able to play enough. In general, Jason has attitude problems and can get pretty negative at times. Coach Aura got together with him the following day to let him know his comments were unacceptable. Surprisingly, Jason took it well and said he just hates losing and acknowledged he was wrong to have said what he said. Coach Aura told him that we coaches appreciate his hard work in practice. Since that’s resulted in improvements in his skills, Coach Aura told him he’d try to give him more minutes during our remaining games this season.

Feb. 24, 2026: Boston College Eagles (14-13, 7-10) vs Clemson Tigers (20-9, 11-6) at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, SC Steve Ross, C We fell behind early in the game. But we fought our way back and took a 2 point lead with 10-1/2 minutes to go in the half. Clemson regained the lead, but late in the half we again pulled slightly ahead only to have the Tigers hit a 3 just before the buzzer sounded to give them a 42-41 halftime lead. I got to play more than usual since Jason Caldwell got into foul trouble. The refs sent Clemson to the line much more often and they scored 9 more points on free throws than we did. I hit for 7 points and pulled down 5 boards in the half with SF Michael Millford hitting for 8 to top our scoring. We quickly fell behind by double digits early in the 2nd half. We again made a move midway through the half to cut our deficit to 5 points. We struggled to get closer but just couldn’t do it. Then in the final few minutes, Clemson hit shots from all over the court to pull away for a 90-74 win. We lost because the Tigers scored 15 more points at the line that we did. SG James Lilly had 15 points and SF Michael Millford hit for 13. I scored 9 while grabbing 7 rebounds. PG Daniel Robinson scored 24 for Clemson. We’re now tied for 10th place with Notre Dame and just 4 teams are below us in the ACC.

JJ Conroy BeanTownSports Blog Blog of Feb. 21, 2026: I hate to say “I told you so”…but I did. BC is going down in flames as the season winds down. Their next game is AT Duke. They may as well phone in a forfeit. They aren’t in Duke’s class. And…Duke just sustained a road loss to Georgia Tech last night that cut their play the Eagles. So, Eagles fans…this ain't gonna be pretty. Blog of Feb. 23, 2026: Feb. 23, 2026: Boston College Eagles (14-12, 7-9) vs #4 Duke Blue Devils (22-5, 13-3) at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC Recipe for disaster: *Duke’s Big Mac attack trio of SG Stephan McIntosh-17.1 ppg; C Maurice McCoy-15.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg; PF Greg McDyess-14.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg. *Duke’s defense allows just 59.6 ppg. 1st Half: TOTAL DOMINATION by Duke. FG% 45% to 32%, FT’s 12 for 12 vs 0-0, Rebounds 19-8, Steals 8-5, Blocks 5-0, TO’s 9 by Duke vs 14 by BC…and halftime score 39-14. 2nd Half: Duke went up by 30 just a minute into the 2nd half and coasted the rest of the way as they demolished the Eagles 76-45. Dukes defense was just too much for BC. The only BC players to score in double figures was PG/SG James Ray with just 10 points. The entire starting 5 for the Eagles totally just 21 points. And the Mac’s? They didn’t need to score much for Duke, but finished 15, 14 and 11 points with McDyess getting a double-double (11 points and 10 rebounds). I hate to tell you “I told you so”…but I did.

Recruiting Goals: Ramon Montez, Alcorn State: If possible I want to sign 2 SF’s and a SG. We would then have one more scholarship to fill and it can be the best available, SG, SF or big man. Terry Morillo, Western Illinois: 3 scholarships available…prefer to get a PG, a SG, and an interior player. Ken Yamoto, UC-San Diego Tritons: Just one scholarship this year to fill. Want to go after a very strong recruit, preferably a PG or a SG who can also play PG. For the first time in my collegiate coaching career, I have the budget to do decent recruiting. Mike McMillan, MD-Eastern Shore: We have just 2 scholarships available. We need a good interior player and then either a SF or the best available recruit we can land. Dontell Spencer, Arkansas-Pine Bluff: We have 5 scholarships to fill and would like to land 3 big men, a PG and a SF. Our biggest impediment is that our budget is much too limited when we have so many recruits to land. We just have to do everything we can to limit our expenditures and identify some likely candidates as quickly as we can and really concentrate on them. In-state recruits definitely have to be in the picture for us this year.

Feb. 17, 2026: #9 ranked Virginia Cavaliers (20-5, 11-4) vs Boston College (14-11, 7-8) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Jason Braxton, Athletic Director Nice for our team to be playing at home. Not so nice to have to play Virginia. They’re the top-scoring team in the country (87.3 ppg) and also #1 in rebounding (38.0 rpg). The Cavaliers are 2nd in assists (21.6 apg), 10th in blocks (6.5 bpg), 25th in FG% (49.4 %), and 3rd in NET Rating (22.3). Virginia has 4 players averaging in double figures: C Dustin Bryant (17.4 ppg plus he’s also averaging 10.2 rpg), SG David Young (16.6 ppg plus averaging 9.0 rpg and 5.2 apg), SF Jamaal Lawson (14.3 ppg), and PG Damion Clagget (12.3 ppg plus 6.3 apg). Even though they’re the visiting team, the Cavaliers are prohibitive favorites in this game. But they have lost 4 on the road in ACC play so I’m not counting the Eagles out. I’m pulling for them to win their 15th game of the season…that would fulfill one of the goals I set for Coach Aura. Virginia jumped out on top but the Eagles were scrappy and took an 18-17 lead with 11:37 left in the half. But the Cavaliers controlled the game in the final 10 minutes of the half as Coach Aura was forced to protect 3 starters who were in foul trouble. Virginia moved out to a 50-39 halftime lead. Our guys fought hard in the 2nd half, but the refs tagged us with far too many fouls. Virginia held us at arms length and came away with an 89-78 victory. C Jason Caldwell topped our scoring with 16 points. Reserves Samuel King and Michael Millford both scored 13. Starters James Lilly only played 13 minutes before fouling out and Marvin Reese was limited to 18 minutes due to 4 fouls. Five Cavaliers scored in double figures.

Feb. 15, 2026: Boston College Eagles (14-10, 7-7) vs #22 ranked Louisville Cardinals (19-6, 8-6) at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky Baldwin the Eagle I’m the BC mascot. I normally don’t get to travel to away games, but I grew up in Kentucky and an alum who is from Louisville picked up the tab for me. Tough to play Louisville on their court where they’ve won 12 of 13 games. We’ll have to do most everything right to win. But we really need to play solid defense. We’re 0-9 in games where our opponents have scored 80 or more points and we’re 14-1 in games where they’ve scored 79 or less points. Louisville won their first 11 games this season, but are 8-6 since ACC play started so we’ve got a chance even though we’re big underdogs. The Cardinals’ best scorers are SF Josh Miller with 16.2 ppg and SG Jason Johnson with 11.1 ppg. Not many Eagles fans to pump up here but I gave the crowd a show with my antics anyway. On the court, our team fell behind early, and Louisville hit 60% of their FG’s to amass a 49-29 advantage at the break. During halftime Louie the Cardinal and I had a series of competitions to entertain the crowd. I was worried that the albatross around my neck would be Louie’s hometown advantage. But I’m not one to grouse and I’m pretty swift, so I ducked that advantage and terned it around by making this a lark. Louis tried robin me in some of the contests but toucan play that game. I don’t want to crow, but wouldn’t you be a loon to think an Eagle would lose to a Cardinal? So no egrets…um, I mean regrets. We played even with Louisville in the 2nd half but with both teams playing tough defense, there was no way for us to seriously cut into their lead. We ended up losing 75-55 as Louisville outshot us 48% to 34%. C Jason Caldwell scored 12 and SF/PF Marvin Reese hit for 11. For Louisville, SF Josh Miller scored 19.

Transfers: 3 of the 5 coaches have unfilled scholarships and went after transfer players to attempt to fill those vacancies on their rosters and reduce the number of recruits they will have to pursue this coming season. Terry Morillo @ Western Illinois: We landed 6’7” C Jamar Curtis who started every game for Kent State the two years he was there. Last season he scored 13.7 ppg and pulled down 6.2 rpg. We’re very pleased, expecting him to come up big for us after he sits out this season. Mike McMillan @ MD-Eastern Shore: We signed 4 transfer players: (a) PG Ewald Leitenberger is a 6’2” sophomore PG from Germany who transferred from Lehigh where he played little as a freshman but has a very good work ethic so will benefit from the year he has to sit out but can practice with our team; (b) 6’4” sophomore SG Edouard Gaultier who is from France and transferred from Mississippi Valley where he played little as a freshman. He likes to put up shots and also is a very strong defender; (c) 6’8” PF Dwayne Bullitt who as a freshman last season started every game for Belmont and averaged 7.1 ppg and 5.2 rpg; and (d) C Romolo Pantini who is a 6’8” center from Italy and who started every game the two years he was at Tennessee Tech. Last season he averaged 13.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg. These four players will give our program a big boost a year from now. Dontell Spencer @ Arkansas-Pine Bluff: We picked up 4 transfer players: (a) 6’0” sophomore PG Antony Gunn who was a starter his entire freshman season at NJIT where he averaged 13.1 ppg; (b) SG Kwame Mickens is a 6’0” junior who transferred from North Florida where he started all games both seasons, averaged 17.9 ppg as a freshman and 21.2 ppg as a sophomore, was the Conference S freshman of the year and 2nd Team All-Conference in his first year and 1st Team All-Conference last season, and has strong skills across the board; (c) SF Henry White, a 6’5” sophomore who came off the bench as a freshman at Southern Illinois, scoring 6.9 ppg while playing 13.3 mpg; and (d) PF Antonio Gailey, a 6’7” center who transferred from William & Mary where he started every game as a freshman and averaged 8.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg. The transfer activity cost us more than we would have liked and left our budget for recruiting even smaller. Ramon Montez, Alcorn State: I was very interested to see how the transfer season would go for Dontell, Mike, and Terry. I must say that I think all 3 of them did a great job. They each picked up players who will step in and give them a nice boost when they become eligible a year from now. I must say, I’m envious. And they all filled holes in their roster that will develop following this season. While it means that their teams will be more challenging opponents for us, I was happy that each of my friends was so successful.

2033-2034 Season It’s May, 2033 and time for the next season to begin. One of the first steps for our coaches was to take take a look at their rosters to see if they would be pursuing transfer players and look ahead to steps they will be taking related to going after high school and JC recruits in the coming season. Roster and Recruiting Planning: Ramon Montez @ Alcorn State: Our roster is full so we’ll be inactive during the transfer period. But with 4 of our players being seniors and graduating following the completion of this season, we’ll actively recruit. We’re going to purchase the basic Southeast regional report and attend the Memphis Hoop Summit camp. Terry Morillo @ Western Illinois: I’m satisfied by the recruiting budget here. We have one vacant scholarship that we’ll try to fill by signing a transfer player. During the upcoming year, we have 3 scholarships to fill due to graduations. To aid in this we’ll purchase the basic Midwest scouting report and attend the Chicago Prep Revue camp. Ken Yamoto @ UC-San Diego Tritons: We have a full roster so won’t be going after any transfer players. And we only have one senior who will graduating at the end of this season. So since the recruiting budget here is much higher than at Tarleton State, we will buy the Premium (Gold) edition of the West Scouting Report and attend the Las Vegas Revue and the Georgia Superstar national camps. Mike McMillan @ MD-Eastern Shore: Two of the players on this year’s squad are seniors. Since we didn’t fill all our scholarships last year, we’ll be a player in the transfer season. We can sign up to 4 transfer players. Whatever we do less than that will just add to the number of recruits we will be going after this season. I’d like to buy the regional scouting report and attend the Big Apple camp, but we’ll save our limited budget to go all out in the transfer season and to maximize our recruiting activities. Dontell Spencer @ Arkansas-Pine Bluff: We have 4 scholarships that are unfilled so will see if we can land any transfer players. On top of that we have 5 seniors on the team who will be graduating. Landing 5 recruits this coming season will be tough. Making matters worse is that our budget is rather limited when we have so many scholarships to fill so we can’t afford to buy any scouting reports or attend any camps. It would be great if there is a bumper crop of in-state recruits this year. We will need to strictly control our expenditures and be very focused in our recruiting efforts…and lucky as well.

Uprising and Reinstatement All hell broke out after the NCAA penalized Arkansas-Pine Bluff. First the university immediately appealed the action to the NCAA. Next a class action suit was threatened to be filed by a large group of fans of the Golden Lions who alleged the NCAA’s precipitous and disproportionate action had degraded the value of their season tickets. Then the entire congressional contingent from Arkansas (along with other members of congress who had been upset by how the NCAA had mishandled the scandal from a few years ago that had eventually led to the conference reorganization) said they intended to conduct hearings to consider action about might be taken about the status of the NCAA. But most significantly, a very well-to-do citizen of the state of Arkansas hired private investigators who began combing through records related to Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The detailed investigation revealed that there was a well-hidden record of reports submitted by Arkansas-Pine Bluff and that some of those reports were now missing from the NCAA’s files. It also found that one of the key NCAA staff members handling those records was an alumni of Presbyterian University, which was the school that got promoted in place of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. As pressure mounted on the NCAA, they reversed their action and again promoted the Golden Lions into Conference V. The NCAA staffer who was a Presbyterian alum was also fired. [Note of Explanation: Here’s what really happened. After beginning the 2033-34 season and completing the transfer season, I looked more closely at Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s dashboard screen and to my surprise noticed that they were still listed as an “Independent” rather than being in “Conference V” as they should have been since they had the best record of the 5 Independent teams last season. NJIT which had the worst record in Conference V had properly been relegated, but Presbyterian which had the 2nd best record amongst the Independents had been promoted rather than the Golden Lions which not only had the best record but had also gone to the semi-finals in the NIT tournament. But…my game was past May 1 (at which point I could have within the Commissioner page manually adjusted this error). So after a number of choice expletives (since I had really wanted to have all 5 coaches competing in Conference V this season), I created the NCAA’s penalty action report and posted it here a few days ago. But a day after posting that, I recalled that I had a separate save of the game from just before the end of the 2032-2033 season. I decided to run that save, make the manual correction for promotion of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on the May 1st date within the game and then run through the transfer season again. That necessitated this “Uprising and Reinstatement” post. A definite pain in the butt, but the planets were realigned in my Universe Association. So…now back to our regularly scheduled posting.]

BREAKING NEWS! The NCAA has found that Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s school administration was delinquent in their record-keeping for the basketball team. The penalty for this infraction that was levied by the NCAA was to rescind the promotion of the team to Conference V. The team will thus remain as an Independent in the coming season. “This is a travesty!” exclaimed Coach Dontell Spencer. “Our guys played their hearts out and had a great season and then showed how much determination they had by getting to the semi-finals of the NIT Tournament as well. It’s a real disappointment to everyone associated with the team that such drastic action was taken for mothing more than clerical errors. I'm incensed!” Coach Ken Yamoto: “All of us 4 other coaches have been in touch with Dontell. He said his team was crushed by the news. We’re all astonished by the severity of the penalty. We’d all looked forward to competing head-to-head amongst all 5 coaches in Conference V this season.”

Feb. 10, 2026: North Carolina State Wolfpack (10-12, 2-11) vs Boston College Eagles (13-10, 6-7) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Coach Fred Aura: We’re playing a team with a worse record than us and playing them on our court…and we’re underdogs. Sort of hard to believe, but that’s the respect we get. Following 3 straight losses, we really need to win this one. The Wolfpack took and held a small lead through much of the first half. It was a defensive battle but we overtook them late in the half and came away with a slim 29-28 halftime advantage. During the break we outlined a strategy designed to break their 1-2-2 zone defense. It worked and we began pulling away in the 2nd half. Midway through the half we led by as much as 12 points. NC State rallied to get close as time wound down. But we stopped them in the final 2 minutes and came away with a 74-67 victory. SG James Lilly and C Steve Ross both scored 12 while SF/PF Marvin Reese had 11 and C Jason Caldwell finished with 10. PF Marius Witt came up big on the boards with 12 rebounds.

Feb. 6, 2026: Pittsburgh Panthers (16-7, 6-6) vs Boston College Eagles (13-9, 6-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Boston College Chronicle Kinsey Ramsey, Sports Reporter After three straight away games, the Eagles finally returned home for a game. Pittsburgh, their opponent, had been ranked throughout the season but fell out of the top 25 recently. They began the season by winning 10 of their first 11 games including an 8-game win streak and winning the Las Vegas Invitational championship. But their play in the ACC has been inconsistent, although they entered the fray against BC after winning their last two games. Defense has been their forte. Their opponents averaged 69.8 ppg and they’d given up more than 80 points to only two opponents. Offensively they’re led by SF Kevin Woni’s 17.9 ppg, SG Rudy Kerlin’s 14.9 ppg, and PG Marcus Williams’ 10.5 ppg. Woni also was averag 9.3 rpg. So even though the game was at home for BC, they were up against a formidable opponent. It took more than 7 minutes for the Eagles to hit their first field goal. BC struggled to close the gap throughout most of the half, but as the half drew to a close the Eagles captured a one point lead. The half concluded with Pittsburgh on top by just 2 points at 38-36 even though BC hit just 39% of their shots and had 11 turnovers. Kevin Woni carried the Panthers with 16 points in the half BC scored the first 8 points in the 2nd half giving them a 6 point lead. Pittsburgh turned the tables by then going on an 8-0 run. The score remained close but in the last 8 minutes the Eagles had a tough time getting the ball in the hoop and Pittsburgh opened a double digit lead. BC tried to make a late run. But it was too little, too late. The Panthers won by a score of 82-74. Leading the scoring for the Eagles was SG James Lilly with 25 points followed by SF/PF Marvin Reese with 11. Coach Frederick Aura said, “Our poor start put us in a deep hole. Even though we were able to make comebacks, Pittsburgh never let us gain confidence in our shooting and that did us in.” The loss dropped BC into 10th place in the ACC standings with a 6-7 conference record.

Feb. 3, 2026: Boston College Eagles (13-8, 6-5) vs Miami (FL) Hurricanes (10-11, 3-8) at Watsco Arena in Miami, Florida 2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans Our southern road trip has moved from Virginia to Georgia and now to Florida. Sure would be nice to end it with a “W”. Miami: Their primary defense: 2-3 zone; I wish we were ranked…Miami’s played 6 ranked teams and lost all 6 games by 13 to 31 points each…but that makes them 13-2 against unranked opponents. Hurricanes’ opponents have scored over 30 points in 6 of their 8 losses, but when they’ve won, their opponents have not scored over 73 points…moral of the story is to get our offense in gear. Miami’s Top player: SF Dewayne Jennings who averages 23.2 ppg and 9.0 rpg and is in strong contention to win the Norton Award. He’s scored 20+ points in 16 of their 21 games and has scored in the high 30’s in two of those games…need to keep him from breaking out. In addition he’s a great defensive player and he averages making just 0.6 fouls a game. Marvin Reese is good at drawing fouls for us, but it looks like it’s nearly impossible to get Jennings into foul trouble and onto the bench…he’s averaged 34.3 mpg on the court. Miami’s SG Marcel Allaway is averaging 11.8 ppg while hitting 50% of his FGA’s and 42% of his 3’s. We stunk the first 6 minutes…falling behind 18-2 due to 5 turnovers leading to multiple easy layins, 6 fouls (2 on Lilly and 2 on Caldwell) on us and none on the Hurricanes, and we hit just 1 for 8 from the field. With Coach Aura screaming at the refs and our players, we finally picked up our game a little, but not enough and found ourselves in a 39-27 hole at the half. If Miami had been able to hit more than 39% of their shots, we would have been even further behind. We hit just 30% of our shots and made 10 turnovers. James Lilly had 3 fouls and no points. Our top scorer was SG James Ray with 9 points. The only thing we’d done well was hold Dewayne Jennings to just 3 points on 1 for 6 shooting. We started the 2nd half almost as badly as we did the first half and fell behind by 21 points with 13 minutes to go. We just didn’t have it and went down to an ignominious 83-58 beating. SG Jon Ray hit for 18 and SF/PF Marvin Reese scored 15. No one else on our team scored more than 6 points. All 5 starters for Miami scored in double figures. Jennings finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds so well below his average….just a pyrrhic victory since we let everyone else on the Hurricanes do so well.

Jan. 30, 2026: Boston College Eagles (13-7, 6-4) vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (14-7, 6-4) at Hank McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, Georgia C Damon Smith, Walk-on This is the 2nd of our 3 straight road games. We’re tied with Georgia Tech in the standings and both teams are riding 3 game win streaks. We got whipped by the Yellow Jackets 92-76 about a month ago when we hosted them. So our team wants to return the favor and beat Georgia Tech on their court. I assume I’ll likely be a spectator from the bench the entire game, as usual. Things began OK for us, but we had a series of turnovers that allowed Georgia Tech to take a 17-11 lead with 13-1/2 minutes to go in the first half. The only player on our team doing much scoring was Marvin Reese. He finished the half with 12 points. We were down 42-34 at the half. Coach Aura was on us to clean up our play in the 2nd half…fewer turnovers and better crashing of the boards. The lead pretty much stayed intact until midway through the half when the Yellow Jackets went on a tear and opened a 73-51 lead with about 9 minutes to play. Coach tore into us all during a time out, but things didn’t improve. With a minute-and-a-half left we were behind by so much that Coach Fed put me and Chris Nelson, our other walk-on into the game. Chris got an assist. Both Chris and I put up a shot apiece but neither of scored. Final score was an embarrassing 87-62. The loss slipped us down from 6th place to 8th place in the conference so 7 teams above us and 7 below us. SF/PF Marvin Reese scored 14 and SG James Lilly had 13 for us. C Brandon Elloie tossed in 20 to lead Georgia Tech.