PointGuard

Bobby Grannum Just after I got to campus, this guy from the athletic department, an assistant something or other, told me something like, “Just do your best. Nobody expects you to replace Leonard Meliet.” I was thinking “what the hell does this guy know?” He then added that the main thing for me was to work myself into the team, support my teammates, get buddy-buddy with them. I responded, “Hey, what do you know about me and how I play ball? Let me tell you something. I know exactly what I can do on the court and what I bring to a team. And let me tell you, people here are likely to forget the name Leonard Meliet after seeing what I can do. And as for being part of the team…I do what I want and am friends with whom I want to be and that means I don’t have to hang with the guys. I give my all in practice and in games, but beyond that I’m my own man.” It’s turned out I was right. Four games into my college career and people are taking notice. And they aren’t saying, “We need Leonard Meliet.” And outside of practice and the games, I’m doing my own thing, got my own friends, checking out the girls I want to check out. That’s better than hanging with the guys I spend a lot of time with for basketball. My relationship with the team? I don’t really worry about that. Coach Fed and Coach Montgomery are good. They get their points across but don’t belabor them. They both give me space.

Nov. 25, 2029: UCLA Bruins (0-2) vs Boston College Eagles (3-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA 2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans UCLA was ranked in the preseason polls and also picked to finish 2nd in the Pac-12 standings. But then they lost their opener in the NIT Season Tip-Off to Northern Iowa and a home game against UC-Irvine. They’ve averaged scoring just 60 ppg in those two contests. C Jason Lavin is their best player and was the Pac-12’s Freshman Player of the Year 2 years ago and Pac-12 All-Conference 1st Team last season. He’s not a particularly prolific scorer, but is a good rebounder and is strong defensively. We’ll see how Courtland Reese does against him. We’re starting Darius Hein again at SF as we try to determine who will win out as starter. Rock solid defense allowed us to forge a 20-2 lead in the first 7 minutes of the game. At that point, UCLA had hit just 1 of 7 shots and made 7 turnovers. Darius Hein started out strongly, hitting both of his FG attempts. Then our offense went ice-cold and UCLA closed to within 8 points. We had a mini-rally to finish the half with a 33-20 edge. We hit just 40% of our shots, but UCLA could only manage to connect on 26% of theirs. We also out-rebounded the Bruins 19-14 and held a 13-5 turnover advantage. We started out the 2nd half strongly to take a 22 point lead after just 3 minutes of play. Our lead expanded to 27 points and we closed out the game with a 51 clobbering of the Bruins. Our guys shot better (46% to 38%), rebounded better (36-26) and had fewer turnovers (11 by us to 21 by UCLA). SG Corey Graham and C Courtland Reese both scored 16 points. PG Bobby Grannum had a double-double (12 points and 12 assists) and SF Darius Hein had his strongest game (10 points and 6 rebounds). A disappointment was that our reserves were on the court a total of 72 minutes but hit only 3 of 14 FGA’s and scored just 11 points (7 of those by Winston Minahan). After the game we found out the Eagles had moved into the Top 25 in the polls…#18 in the Media Poll and #17 in the Coaches Poll. We also have the 6th best NET Ranking. Other ACC teams in the polls (Media/Coaches rankings): Duke (2/2), Florida State (4/4), Virginia (5/6), Notre Dame (6/5), Pittsburgh (10/7), North Carolina (9/11), and Miami (14/9). In all the pre-conference games the 15 ACC teams have played thus far, they’ve won 55 and lost 13 (a winning percentage of 81%). In other ACC news: Good start by the ACC. In the first 4 pre-conference tournaments Virginia won the 2K Sports Classic, Duke was 2nd in the NIT Season Tip-Off, Florida State won the Maui Invitational, and Notre Dame won the WS Midwest Invitational.

Nov. 22, 2029: Oklahoma Sooners (2-0) vs Boston College Eagles (2-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA Donnie Morretti, fan Oklahoma is a strong team. They match up well with the Eagles. I attended BC’s first two games this season. While many wanted to see the Eagles blow those teams out of the water, I was happy that the games were close. I like the excitement generated by tight games. The teams traded baskets the first 8 minutes of the game, but led by PG Bobby Grannum and SF Glen Robinson, Boston College went on an 11-0 run to take a 28-18 lead with 8-1/2 minutes remaining in the half. From there the Eagles stretched their lead to 49-34 at the end of the half. Both teams shot well, 59% by BC and 54% by Oklahoma, but the Sooners had 12 turnovers. PG Bobby Grannum hit for 13 first half points. Just 2-1/2 minutes into the 2nd half, BC’s lead had grown to 20 points. The Eagles’ entire bench got extensive playing time as Boston College went onto whip the Sooners 86-70 Top scorers for the Eagles were: PG Bobby Grannum with 25 points, C Courtland Reese with 11, and SG Corey Graham with 10.

Nov. 18, 2029: Butler Bulldogs (1-0) vs Boston College Eagles (1-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds After being a regular participant in the NCAA Tournament, Butler’s had a 3 season drought. But I am wanting to see how this season’s Boston College team compares with the teams they’ve put on the court the past three seasons. Also I’ve enjoyed watching Courtland Reese during his career so want to see him in his final year at BC. Glenn Robinson is starting tonight at SF for the Eagles. I think he was a smart transfer pickup by Coach Aura. Then there’s Bobby Grannum who, even as a freshman, looks ready to step into the shoes left by Leonard Meliet’s early departure. BC’s getting off to a good start offensively, but as in their first game, they aren’t protecting the ball well, but they have a 10-6 lead at the first media timeout. Butler is killing the Eagles with 3’s. 5 of 9 in the first 10 minutes of the game to give the Bulldogs a 21-16 lead. After dropping behind by 7, BC digs down to creep within a single point and ends the half trailing 33-30. Butler just played a little better than the Eagles. Coach Aura needs to give the entire team a kick in the butt. While not yet firing on all cylinders, BC slowly claws their way to a 48-47 lead with 13-1/2 minutes to go. The Eagles defense tightens and the team maintains a 3-5 point lead for the next 8 minutes and then goes up by a 65-56 score with 4-1/2 minutes remaining. Coming out of the final media time out with BC up by 8, it looks like Coach Aura is going with Maynard Gardner at SF and not Robinson, Hein or Kolder. Gardner’s scored 8 points coming off the bench, so I guess Aura’s going with the hot hand. Both teams scoring almost at will. BC with 2 pointers and Butler with 3’s. 1:20 to go and the Eagles are on top 73-65. The Bulldogs foul Grannum on the inbounds pass. Grannum calmly sinks both shots. Another foul with Danny Toliver dropping in both shots. Now BC’s up by 12 with 56 seconds on the clock. Boston College finishes with an 80-68 victory in a game that was much closer than the final score. Butler drilled in 13 of 28 three-pointers in the game, but the Eagles offense came alive in the 2nd half and the team made just 2 turnovers in the final 20 minutes. But BC is having a tough time putting their opponents away, even at home. So it makes it difficult to predict how the Eagles will do this season. I see where the scribes say they expect Boston College to finish 3rd in the ACC behind North Carolina and Duke and just ahead of Syracuse and Notre Dame. PG Bobby Grannum was again BC’s high point man. He tossed in 19 points. C Courtland Reese was right behind with 16 points and SG Corey Graham scored 12.

Nov. 15, 2029: Colorado Buffaloes (0-0) vs Boston College Eagles (0-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA 1st Assistant Coach Darrell Montgomery Colorado had a 21-13 record last season and went to the NCAA Tournament. I think we have more overall talent than the Buffaloes, but anything can happen in the first game of the season. Since they haven’t played this year, Coach Anderson could only review game films from last season to develop his scouting report. They’re likely to take their time working the ball around, so we’d like to try to force turnovers. They’ll primarily be playing juniors and seniors so those players should be very familiar with their sets. All 5 of their starters and 11 of the 15 players on their rosters are upper classmen. Their main defense is a 1-3-1 zone. I’m hoping we’re able to pound the interior and score well in the paint. Glen Robinson has been our player most proficient employing our 1-3-1 zone attack offense, so as our 6th man for this game, we intend to play him at both SG and SF to give him as many minutes as we can. We got 3 steals in the first 3 minutes and turned each of those into baskets. We got sloppy and began turning over the ball midway through the half letting the Buffaloes tie us with 6 minutes to go and go ahead with 3 minutes left. We fell behind by 7 and trailed 32-27 at the break. We had a tough time with their zone defense, hitting just 38% of our shots. PG Bobby Grannum had 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. We rode the back of Bobby Grannum early in the 2nd half and finally got back a 45-44 lead with 12:44 to play. But C Courtland Reese picked up his 4th foul on Colorado’s next possession. The lead fluctuated for the next 4 minutes, but we then seemed to reach down deep to edge ahead. With 6 minutes to play we were up by 7 points. Then our shooting went cold and with 3-1/2 minute Colorado had cut our lead to a single point. We held on and led 64-63 but turned the ball over with 35 seconds to go. A foul allowed the Buffaloes to tie the game. We missed a shot with 10 seconds but Danny Toliver muscled an offensive rebound and we called a time out. Our pick and roll worked to free up Corey Graham for a 10 foot jumper that fell through the hoop with 2 seconds remaining. Colorado called a time out and then beat our press to get the ball quickly up to midcourt where they lofted up a shot at the buzzer. It was off target and we dodged a home court loss and instead edged the Buffaloes 66-64. Our shooting improved in the 2nd half as did our control of the boards. But we need to control the ball better in our upcoming games. While we realize this was the team’s first game of the season, neither Coach Aura nor I are happy with 17 turnovers. PG Bobby Grannum had a great first game as a collegiate, scoring 15 and dishing out 10 assists while also recording 5 rebounds and 5 steals. SF/SG Glen Robinson scored 12, SG Corey Graham and SF Danny Toliver both scored 10, and C Courtland Reese had 8 points and 9 rebounds.

1st Assistant Coach Darrell Montgomery (practice) Fall practice went smoothly. The guys worked hard and got along well together. I’m impressed by the talent on this team. We recruited 3 highly rated freshmen last year. PG Bobby Grannum was extremely strong from the outset of practices. C Tim Cotton was reasonably strong when practice began and improved as we progressed. SF Maynard Gardner started out looking out of place, but as the practices progressed, Maynard got stronger and stronger. The biggest problem for us is that we have a lot of players who want a lot of playing time and there’s only 40 minutes in a game so keeping everyone happy will be tough As for me, while I enjoyed the challenge of being head coach at Detroit Mercy, I’m truly enjoying that I’m being able to focus on player development here as 1st Assistant. That’s my forte and what gets me going every day. Helping the players improve and play well together is just so rewarding. And Coach Aura wants me providing advice on strategy as well as working with players on the bench to adjust what they’re doing on the court. On a personal note, I’m a history buff, so being here gives me a chance to check out a lot of historical sites in Boston and throughout New England. Starters are set for 4 positions with just SF up in the air. Bobby Grannum will start at PG. He’s a 6-4 freshman who is VERY talented. Great playmaker, defender, and scorer. Rashon Thorn will be the primary backup at PG with Ramond Keep also getting a little playing time at the point. Corey Graham will start at SG again. He’s a 6-1 sophomore. Solid all-around player and excellent scorer who averaged 14.7 ppg last season. Adrian Moss and Glen Robinson will both get minutes at SG. Danny Toliver will be our starting PF. He’s a 6-8 junior. Very strong rebounder who also can score from inside and outside. He averaged 7.5 ppg and 5.3 rpg last season. Winston Minahan will be the primary backup at PF, but can also play SF and C. Darius Hein will also get minutes at PF. Courtland Reese will be our starting C for the 4th straight year. He’s a 6-9 senior. Excellent rebound and very good scorer. He averaged 15.1 ppg and 8.0 rpg last season. The primary backup at C will be freshman Tim Cotton. At SF, we will initially start Darius Hein, a 6-7 sophomore. Last season he played both PF and SF and averaged 2.3 ppg and 1.4 rpg. He hit a high percentage of his shots last year. But we’ll rotate the starting role at SF with Glen Robinson. He’s a 6-7 junior who sat out last season after transferring. He’s very talented defensively and shoots well from the perimeter. He’s been a SG in the past and will also get minutes at that position for us. Keith Kolder, a 6-7 junior, and Maynard Gardner, a 6-7 freshman will also get time at SF and either could eventually take over the starting role. Andy Dawson will get a little playing time at SF also. Let’s see who eventually is most effective and becomes our regular starter. Our entire pre-conference schedule is tough so the team needs to gel quickly and be able to make good use of assistant coach Jeremy Anderson’s scouting reports.

2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting) We did a good job of creating at least limited interest in a large number of recruits. Getting them to let us know we were in their top 10 was a real challenge. There was a 5-star C from Massachusetts who we really wanted and did everything we could (short of anything illegal, of course) to entice. But he signed quickly with UCONN. A PF from Greece showed a very high level of interest and we spent far too much money on visiting him and his parents in Greece. His interest level remained high, but he didn’t commit. We got nervous about whether he would qualify academically, so we dropped our scholarship offer to him. But before the end of September we had verbal commitments from not one, but two PF’s: 1. PF Ben Schau, 6-6 HS Senior from Lusby, MD. 2.9 GPA. Averaged 16.6 ppg, 1.6 apg, 12.9 rpg, 1.8 bpg, and 2.4 spg as a junior last season. Outstanding rebounder. Very good scorer, particularly from inside. Strong defensively, who gets a lot of steals. Good passing skills. Ranked #28 in the nation. Was in the top 25 at the Indy Elite Camp and in the top 5 at the Big Apple Showcase. 2. PF Mike Williams, 6-6 HS Senior from Nappanee, IN. 3.1 GPA. Averaged 20.7 ppg, 1.9 apg, 9.5 rpg, 1.9 bpg, and 2.f spg as a junior last season. Excellent rebounder and defender. Outstanding scorer with excellent inside shooting skills. Good passer. Hard worker. Ranked #30 in the nation. Had a decent showing at the Indy Elite Camp. Landing two talented big men is just what we needed to provide the depth we’ll need next season. Not 5-star recruits, but both are damned near being that. Seemingly almost carbon copies of each other, but I'm sure they'll have their own set of proficiencies. Hopefully both will have good enough SAT scores to meet our minimum standards…because we ran though almost all our recruiting budget.

Coach Fred Aura We watched the pro draft with great interest wondering when Leonard Meliet would be selected. We didn’t have to watch too long. Leonard was the 11th player selected and the 2nd PG that was selected. Surprisingly PG Shahar Benson was selected 3rd in the draft. As a freshman, Benson started all games for Pittsburgh last season. But Leonard was much more productive than Benson. I called and spoke with Leonard after the draft was complete, and he was ecstatic to be selected and with the point at which he was selected. There were a total of 10 ACC players selected in the draft. Then later in the summer we got the news that sophomore SG Corey Graham had been nominated for the Norton Award as he was as a freshman. Corey had a good year last season, averaging 14.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, and 2.7 apg and was named the ACC Freshman of the Year and was selected for the ACC All-Conference 2nd Team. He developed well throughout the season and should be an even more complete player this season. He hit 43% of his FGA’s last year, but just 27% of his 3’s but I think that he will improve on his long-range shooting this year. I suspect he could well be one of the best scorers in the ACC this coming season.

JJ Conroy, BeanTownSports Blog Boston College’s Coach Fred Aura has a big challenge this recruiting season. He HAS to lasso a recruit who can FILL the very BIG SHOES of Courtland Reese who graduates after the conclusion of this coming season. That means a player who can score inside, rebound, and defend…and do it EXCEEDINGLY WELL and that means DOMINATE and do it from the get-go. Reese has been a horse inside for 3 seasons thus far and will be yet again this season. If Aura is unsuccessful in getting the right recruit, the recent success of the program will be in dire jeopardy. Not an easy task since top-flight recruits tend to migrate to very established strong programs (of which BC is not), but one that is paramount if Boston College wants to continue to try to be a major player in Division I basketball. Eagles fans will be watching closely, Aura.

2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting) Both Coach Aura and I are really pleased to have brought James Pratt in as a transfer player. As a very low ranked recruit, he is the kind of kid we just don’t really look closely enough at during the normal recruiting process…in fact we are most likely to just pass over him completely. I’m excited to see if he can produce for us like he did for NC-Greensboro. Although we don’t get a player for 4 years when a guy transfers to us, a bonus is that we can have more knowledge not only about his playing skills, but also of his attitude and personality, his work ethic, and his scholarship. Pratt checked out well on all those fronts. Since we signed Pratt as a transfer player to fill the spot on our roster that was vacated by Mike Braxton leaving us, we’ll have 2 scholarships to fill via recruiting this year. We purchased the basic National Report and Atlantic East Region scouting reports. And we will be attending the Indy Elite Camp and the Big Apple Showcase. That leaves us with $47,700 in our recruiting budget. The two scholarship players on our roster who will be graduating after this season are C Courtland Reese and PF Winston Minahan. So we’ll focus on recruiting two bigs. But we’ll also look at PG’s since we think Bobby Grannum will be good enough that he MAY possibly declare early for the pro draft so additional depth at PG would be good.

Coach Fred Aura As we had surmised, Mike Braxton has decided to transfer away from us. I truly believe he will be a good player for some team, as he would have been for us. But while we’ll miss his talent, we won’t miss his attitude. His departure meant we’d take a look at the other players who are transferring to try to find someone who will fit in well with our team and be a productive player. Mike Braxton transferred to Virginia Tech. So we’ll go up against him after he sits out a year of ineligibility. Virginia Tech also took another transfer player who has the reputation of having ever a worse attitude than Mike…best luck to the Hokies trying to meld the team with those two playing off each other. Basketball Team Equation: LoT – LoBA = TRBL…Lots of Talent minus Lots of Bad Attitude equals TRouBLe. Our efforts to get one of the top transfer players fizzled, so we wound up taking a bit of a flyer on a player who was transferring from a relatively low-prestige program. SF James Pratt accepted our scholarship offer. Pratt is 6’6” and comes from Burlington, NC. He wasn’t highly regarded when recruited out of high school (he was ranked #1232 as a recruit) but apparently was quite underrated. As a freshman at North Carolina-Greensboro he started all their games, averaging 29.2 mpg, 15.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.2 spg, and 1.0 bpg. What I particularly like is that he hit 46% of his FGA’s, 45% of his 3PA’s, and 87% of his FTA’s. He was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and was named to the SOCON All-Conference 1st Team. Besides being a good shooter, he’s a solid rebounder and is very strong defensively. Even though the competition level will be greater here than he experienced for NC-Greensboro, I expect him to contend for a starting role (or be a very effective 6th man) when he becomes eligible to play for us a year from now. While it’s not possible to know if he can maintain the offensive punch he had for NC-Greensboro, if he can start or come off the bench and provide us with some aggressive fire power from the “3” position, it will be very welcome. SF has continually been the least productive and most inconsistent position on our team. I’d love to have a guy who can regularly connect from the corner to keep our opponent’s defense honest and not playing soft on our SF so they can tighten the defense on the rest of our team.

2029-2030 SEASON Jason Braxton, Athletic Director We just got word that the three recruits we signed last season have been evaluated as the 11th best Recruit Class in the country. We’re floating on cloud 9 about that. Coach Aura and his recruiting guru, 2nd assistant coach Chris Evans, did a great job. But we weren’t the only ACC team to do well with recruiting. North Carolina landed 3 outstanding recruits that resulted in a ranking as the 2nd best recruit class in the country. Pittsburgh’ recruits were considered to be the 8th best. Other ACC team with recruit classes not that far beneath ours were: Louisville-12th, No. Carolina St-18th, Duke-22nd, Syracuse-33rd, Notre Dame-39th, and Wake Forest-51st.

Coach Fred Aura I was sorry to lose both David Woodruff and Rob Rowland from my coaching staff. They both did great jobs and worked well with me. But I’m happy David got a head coaching job. And Rob’s retirement wasn’t totally unexpected. He loves to hunt and fish and this will give him the opportunity to do it as much as he wants. I looked over a number of possible replacements. I finally decided to offer jobs to two coaches who I thought would work well within our program. Both offers were accepted. So my new 1st assistant coach will be Darrell Montgomery. He previously was the head coach at Detroit Mercy. That was a very tough place to coach and be successful so his won-loss record isn’t a reflection of his coaching prowess. Actually I believe that being a 1st assistant at BC is a step up for Darrell. He has excellent player development skills and will be my practice coach. He’s also a very skilled recruiter but Chris Evans, my 2nd assistant coach, will continue to handle the recruiting duties here at BC. Chris has performed well every year. My new 3rd assistant coach is Jeremy Anderson. He comes to us from Wake Forest where he was also a 3rd assistant. Jeremy has far less experience at the collegiate level, but has great scouting skills and his scouting for Wake Forest last year means he has good knowledge of the ACC. Since we have 3 incoming freshman players and a transfer player (Glen Robinson) who will become eligible to play for us this coming year, it’s important for Darrell to develop these players and work them into our team. On the recruiting front, we only have 2 scholarships to fill this coming year, but Chris will have a big challenge since our 2 players that are graduating a year from now are Courtland Reese and Winston Minahan. I’m confident that Jeremy will be a great scout and develop strong scouting reports for us this coming year. Looking ahead to next season, I believe we will have another strong team. Although losing Leonard Meliet to the pros is a big loss, I feel that the experience Rashon Thorn has gained this year as a freshman here will improve his PG play. We also have a 5-star recruit in Bobby Grannum who will compete strongly for a starting role at PG. At SG we have Corey Graham returning for his sophomore year after playing extremely well this past year. Adrian Moss will also be a sophomore this coming year and has shown he’s an excellent shooter. We also have Glen Robinson who has practiced with us this past year after transferring from Cincinnati where he scored well. Incoming freshman Maynard Gardner could possibly be our starting SF, but Keith Kolder is returning and he started for us occasionally this past season and should be an even stronger player this coming season. Darius Hein played some for us last season at SF, and I think Glen Robinson could play some SF for us this year. So we just have to see who steps it up the most. We’re deep at PF with Danny Toliver (who started for us this past year) plus Winston Minahan, Darius Hein, and Mike Braxton challenging for starting roles and substantial minutes. Should Mike Braxton transfer, we will look over the transfer group to see if there are any good candidates who we can entice to come here…if not, we’ll have an additional scholarship to offer this coming year. And at C we have Courtland Reese returning for his senior year. Tim Cotton, the recruit we landed this spring, should be a good backup to Courtland. So, while I look forward to some vacationing with the family next month, I’m also excited to see how the team develops this coming year.

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director Our basketball team played exceptionally well all season so their early exit from the NCAA Tournament was a surprise. Coach Aura achieved 3 of the goals I had set for him: (1) no academic ineligibility; (2) win 20+ games; and (3) win the ACC conference tournament. But he failed to accomplish 2 other goals I had set: (1) improve school prestige…actually it dropped from 63 to 60; and (2) reach the NCAA Tournament Final 4. We’re still happy with the job he’s doing for us. He laughingly said, “I got contacted by Kansas about their head coaching job. While they have an impressive basketball history, who in their right mind would accept the job when they have 3 more years remaining on their ban for post-season tournament play and 4 more years of being prohibited from offering any scholarships.” Even though several other colleges with strong basketball programs are interested in his services, he prefers to remain at Boston College. David Woodruff, his 1st assistant coach, has accepted the head coaching job at George Mason. And Rob Rowland, his 3rd assistant coach, has decided to retire from coaching. So Fred will have a big job to hire two new assistants. He requested an increase in his budget. I took his request to the board. The board did their normal thing and denied the request saying they felt the existing budget was adequate. Coach Aura was very disappointed.

Mary St. James, Boston College Athletic Department Publicist Three Boston College basketball players earned prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference awards: SG Corey Graham: ACC Freshman Player of the Year PG Leonard Meliet: ACC 1st Team All-Conference C Courtland Reese: ACC 1st Team All-Conference SG Corey Graham: ACC 2nd Team All-Confernece Reese and Graham return next year to lead the Eagles. Meliet has opted to declare for the pro draft. “These three players performed extremely well for us all season and their awards are well-earned,” said Jason Braxton, the Athletic Director for Boston College.

JJ Conroy, BeanTownSports Blog After what appeared to be a very successful season, the Boston College Eagles plummeted back to Earth with a massive THUD! The Eagles played a basic non-entity the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and not unsurprisingly busted the Eastern Kentucky Colonels back to Privates. But their round 2 opponent, Arizona State, proved the Eagles to be lacking. Yes, Arizona State. The same team that finished in 6th place in the Pac-12. Against THAT team Boston College was impotent. They looked weak through most of the first half, but a small run at the end of the half, gave hope…albeit false hope. Because the Eagles came out in the 2nd half with no offense and no defense. As the Sun Devils unraveled the Eagles enroute to an opening 13-2 run, what did Coach Aura do? No time out to settle his team or give them a kick in the butt. Then with 9 minutes to go in the game and the Eagles trailing by just 6 points and at a point when they needed to come on strong to drive to a comeback win, what happened? The team simply fell apart. Their offense sputtered and eventually completely came to a shattering stop. The Eagles gave up in the final 5-1/2 minutes…scoring ZERO points for the 330 LONG-G-G seconds, letting Arizona State not only slam the door but pour on the coal and toss the Eagles to the curb. Again Coach Aura had no answers for his team. Even though he was pacing the sidelines, he may as well have been sitting on his hands for all the good he did. It was embarrassing to watch and a complete humiliation for Boston College. So now talented PG Leonard Meliet leaves school early and heads to the pros, taking with him the leadership that was often responsible for regular season wins that got BC to the NCAA Tournament. That’s not a harbinger of hope for the coming season. In fact with the capabilities shown by Duke and Notre Dame in the NCAA Tourney this year plus North Carolina’s phenomenal recruiting success this year (signing the #1, #10, and #11 ranked recruits), it looks to me like the Eagles are likely to descend to 4th place (or lower) in the ACC this coming year. And after next season C Courtland Reese graduates. which will leave a large hole in the middle their offense. With Coach Aura not showing an ability to lead and direct when the going gets tough, it’s not a pretty picture.

Boston Herald NIT RESULTS Round 1: Clemson-90, Murray State-66 St. Bonaventure-78, Louisville-76 Pittsburgh-67, Utah Valley-59 Round 2: Wisconsin-83, Clemson-65 Pittsburgh-83, Stony Brook-57 Round 3: St. Bonaventure-84, Pittsburgh-71 Championship: Arizona-55, St. Bonaventure-46 NCAA RESULTS Round 1: Duke-80, Nevada-54 Georgia State-80, Florida State-66 Boston College-99, Eastern Kentucky-59 The Eagles went ahead 25-8 with C Courtland Reese scoring 14 points and hauling down 6 rebounds. BC continued to roll over the Colonels throughout the first half. When the half ended Boston College was on top 52-28. Reese scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds in the half. Even with BC’s entire bench getting time on the court, the Eagles continued to dominate Eastern Kentucky throughout the entire 2nd half, finishing with a thorough drubbing of the Colonels. Reese scored 35 points and had 16 rebounds. SG Corey Graham hit for 19 points plus had 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. PG Leonard Meliet had 13 points, 10 assists and 4 blocks. Texas Tech-78, North Carolina-75 Notre Dame-87, Albany-60 Miami (FL)-75, New Mexico-72 Round 2: Duke-80, Villanova-73 Arizona State-75, Boston College-54 Boston College jumped out on top 8-2, but Arizona fought back to take a small lead that they held for most of the half by controlling the boards and employing a staunch defense. With 5 minutes to go the Sun Devils expanded their lead to 7 points. BC came back, though, to go to the locker room with a 35-34 advantage. Arizona State started the 2nd half with a 13-2 lead that put the Eagles down by 10 points. BC struggled to chip away at the lead but could get no closer than 5 points. Then the Eagles offense went stone cold in the last 9 minutes and totally self-destructed as they failed to score at all the final 5-1/2 minutes of the game, allowing Arizona State to bury them. The only Eagle to score in double figures was C Courtland Reese with 13 points. Coach Fred Aura said, “We knew the Sun Devils had a good defense, but it was far better than we imagined. When you hit just 33% of your shots and 15% of your 3’s, lose the battle of the boards 43-23, and make 21 turnovers, there’s no way to win. Plain and simple…Arizona State played great, we played lousy.” Notre Dame-97, Memphis-93 Texas-82, Miami (FL)-70 Round 3 (Sweet 16): Duke-64, Nebraska-53 Notre Dame-91, Texas Tech-73 Round 4 (Elite 8): Duke-72, Nevada-Las Vegas-58 Notre Dame-72, Texas-53 Round 5 (Final 4): Temple-69, Duke-60 Notre Dame-73, Mississippi-60 Round 6 (Championship): Temple-80, Notre Dame-77

Pauly McManus, Eagles superfan I’ve been going to BC games for 15 years. From when they were ACC doormats to now when they’re ACC champs. Now that their season during which no other Division I team won more games than the Eagles 29 wins, the Eagles residing atop the ACC standings, and BC winning the ACC Tournament, it’s time for the NCAA Selection Show. It’s a forgone conclusion that the Eagles will be a #1 seed in one of the regions, but it’s still exciting to watch the show and hear that. I got a friend coming over to watch the show with me. He’s really a UCONN fan, so has no interest in where BC is seeded and it’s been a down season for UCONN so they won’t be going to the Big Dance, but he’s been impatiently waiting for the show to begin. Really I think he just can’t wait for the beer and snacks to start. NCAA Tournament: #1 seeds: Boston College (East Region); Duke (Midwest); Illinois (South); Mississippi (West). ACC teams in the Big Dance: Boston College, #1 seed in the East Region will play the winner of the Eastern Kentucky/Loyola (IL) play-in for a #16 seed. Duke, #1 seed in the Midwest Region will play #16 seed Nevada. Florida State, #11 seed in the Midwest Region will play #6 seed Georgia State. Notre Dame, #4 seed in the South Region will play #13 seed Albany. Miami (FL), #10 seed in the South Region will play #7 seed New Mexico. North Carolina, #9 seed in the South Region will play #8 seed Texas Tech. ACC Teams in the NIT Tournament: Clemson, #3 seed in the Midwest Region will play #6 seed Murray State. Louisville, #8 seed in the South Region will play #1 seed St. Bonaventure. Pittsburgh, #2 seed in the South Region will play #7 seed Utah Valley. It sure felt good to hear Boston College’s name called out for a #1 seed. Since they’ll be in the East Region, I’m going to try to latch onto some tickets for me and maybe my impatient friend, Wayne.

Boston College Chronicle EAGLES’ SEASON SUMMARY By Kinsey Ramsey The Eagles season began by a hard-fought victory over Seton Hall and concluded with a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win over Duke in the ACC Championship game. In between there were a lot more highs than lows and some magical moments. The Eagles completed an extremely successful regular season, capped by winning the ACC Tournament. BC’s season record was 29-5. They went 17-3 in the ACC to tie Duke for 1st place. Then they defeated Duke in an exciting overtime finish in the ACC championship. In both the Media Poll and Coaches Poll the Eagles were ranked 3rd. They had the best NET ranking. Boston College averaged 82.9 ppg which was 6th best in the nation. They only gave up 71.3 ppg to their opponents (142nd best). Their 35.1 rpg was 10th best. They averaged 18.0 apg (95th best). Player Stats: MPG: Leonard Meliet-31.4; Corey Graham-28.1; Courtland Reese-23.6; Danny Toliver-22.2; Michael Millford-20.4; Winston Minahan-13.6; Jason Caldwell-12.5; Keith Kolder-11.4; Rashon Thorn-10.4; Darius Hein-7.9; Adrian Moss-6.9; Mike Braxton-6.6; Greg Kidd-6.5. GS: Leonard Meliet-34; Corey Graham-34; Danny Toliver-34; Courtland Reese-33; Michael Millford-26; Keith Kolder-3; Mike Braxton-3; Darius Hein-2; Jason Caldwell-1. PPG: Leonard Meliet-16.3; Courtland Reese-15.1; Corey Graham-14.7; Danny Toliver-7.5; Michael Millford-6.4; Jason Caldwell-5.2; Winston Minahan-4.3; Rashon Thorn-3.1; Greg Kidd-3.0; Keith Kolder-2.6; Darius Hein-2.3; Adrian Moss-2.1; Mike Braxton-1.8. RPG: Courtland Reese-8.0; Danny Toliver-5.3; Winston Minahan-3.1; Leonard Meliet-3.0; Corey Graham-2.9; Jason Caldwell-2.9; Michael Millford-2.6; Keith Kolder-1.8; Greg Kidd-1.7; Adrian Moss-1.5; Darius Hein-1.4; Mike Braxton-1.3; Rashon Thorn-0.6. APG: Leonard Meliet-5.8; Corey Graham-2.7; Michael Millford-1.7; Courtland Reese-1.5; Rashon Thorn-1.5; Darius Hein-1.0; Danny Toliver-0.9; Keith Kolder-0.8; Adrian Moss-0.7; Jason Caldwell-0.6; Winston Minahan-0.5; Greg Kidd-0.4; Mike Braxton-0.3. BPG (top 5): Courtland Reese-1.1; Leonard Meliet-0.7; Danny Toliver-0.5; Michael Millford-0.5; Jason Caldwell-0.5. SPG (top 5): Corey Graham-1.4; Leonard Meliet-1.0; Danny Toliver-1.0; Courtland Reese-0.9; Michael Millford-0.8.

2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting) After our win over Florida State, we received a call from the recruit we had offered the scholarship that Leonard Meliet will be releasing by going to the pros. C Tim Cotton, a 6’10” senior from Asbury Park, NJ, announced he will be joining us next year. We’d been in frequent contact with him even when we didn’t think we’d have a scholarship to offer. Tim is averaging 15.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 3.1 bpg, and 2.0 apg. He’s an outstanding inside shooter and a great rebounder. He plays very strong defense and is a very good shot blocker. He has good passing skills. His coach says he’s a hard worker who doesn’t miss practices and doesn’t cause problems. He’s a solid 4-star recruit who is ranked as the 67th best recruit in the nation. We expect he will come in ready to contribute (and be a hedge in the event Mike Braxton transfers). By the time he’s a sophomore, Tim will be a solid replacement for Courtland Reese. Together with 5-star PG Bobby Grannum and 4-star SF Maynard Gardner, Tim rounds out our recruiting for this year. I’m ecstatic.

Boston Herald ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS Semifinals: #2 seed Duke-69, #6 seed North Carolina-62. The Tar Heels looked like they’d blow open the game in the early going as they built a 13 point lead. But Duke came back to life to go up by 3 at the break. The Blue Devils held a lead throughout the 2nd half, during which 3 starters for North Carolina fouled out, and won what was a very hard played defensive battle by both teams. The Blue Devils were sent to the line 17 more times and scored 10 more points on free throws than the Tar Heels. Duke was propelled by PF Dave Chavis’ 23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. North Carolina’s top scorer was SF Del Bender who had 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting. #1 seed Boston College-92, #4 seed Florida State-65. Boston College used a tenacious defense coupled with hot hand shooting to steadily pull away from Florida State throughout the first half. SG Corey Graham popped in 16 points and C Courtland Reese added 10 enroute to the Eagles’ 50-28 halftime lead. The Seminoles cracked the Eagles’ defense in the 2nd half and gradually whittled away at BC’s lead. With 7-1/2 minutes to go, Florida State was within 10 points of the Eagles. But the refs paraded BC players to the foul line to enable the Eagles to smash the Seminoles. Leading the way for Boston College was SG Corey Graham with 25 points. C Courtland Reese scored 12 and SF Mike Braxton chipped in 10 points. But after the game, it was revealed that Braxton sprained his ankle late in the game and will likely be unavailable for the championship game. “It’s embarrassing to say we won the game at the line, but that’s a fact. That’s the most foul shots a team I’ve coached has ever had. I’m not surprised that Florida State Coach Issiah Charles poured his frustrations out against the officials. But the number of free throws we shot overshadows that we played a strong game offensively, defensively, and on the boards. It was a good tune up for the championship battle with Duke,” said Coach Fred Aura. Championship: #1 seed Boston College-87, #2 seed Duke-85 (OT). The ACC championship game pitted #1 ranked Duke (29-5, 17-3) against #3 ranked Boston College (28-5, 17-3). Duke entered the game with a 14-game win streak including a win over BC. The Eagles had beaten the Blue Devils earlier in the season, so this constituted the rubber game between the two teams. Duke simply overwhelmed Boston College throughout the entire first half. The Blue Devils hit 56% of their FG’s and 44% of their 3’s, outrebounded the Eagles 17-10, and defensively held BC’s shooting to 38%, blocked 5 shots, and forced 15 turnovers (many of which they turned into driving layups). The result was Boston College finding themselves in a 49-26 hole at the half. Coach Aura lit a fire under the Eagles during halftime. Their defense stiffened and they began hitting shots. With 10-1/2 minutes to go they had reduced Duke’s lead to 60-52. Two minutes later the gap was down to 62-58. Then with 37 seconds on the clock, BC had narrowed the gap to 79-76, but the Blue Devils were in possession of the ball. SG Corey Graham intercepted a pass and fired it upcourt to SF Michael Millford for a driving layup that reduced the lead to a single point. BC fouled and Duke’s PF Dave Chavis sunk both free throws. After a time out with 4 seconds on the clock, the Eagles inbounded the ball to PG Leonard Meliet who lofted up a prayer from midcourt at the buzzer…the prayer was answered to tie the game at 81-81, capping a monumental comeback and sending the game to overtime. The OT was a nail-biter. Defense predominated. BC gained a 2 point lead twice but both times Duke was able to tie the game…the last tie when the Blue Devils hit a jumper with 13 seconds to go. With 5 seconds to go, Boston College called a time out and tried to isolate Meliet. But Meliet was double teamed near the right corner. He could only force up a 15 baseline jumper which settled cleanly through the silks with just 1 second left. Duke called a time out and inbounded the ball but couldn’t get off a shot. Boston College capped a comeback of historic proportions to be crowned the ACC Champion. Coach Fred Aura said, “After a disastrous first half, I really just stressed two things in the locker room…DEFENSE…and YOU CAN DO IT. And the guys responded amazingly well. We took a big gamble by employing such a tight defense that could easily have resulted in several of our players fouling out. Our guys were in their faces the entire half but avoided making too many fouls. Again we let Leonard Meliet take the shots to tie the game and send it to OT and then to take us home for the win in OT. He went 2 for 2 and you just can’t ask more from a guy than that.” Boston College’s starters scored 79 of the team’s 87 points…21 for SG Corey Graham, 19 by C Courtland Reese, 16 from PG Leonard Meliet, 14 by PF Danny Toliver, and 9 for SF Michael Millford. SG Jerry Henry was high point man for Duke with 18 points.

Boston Herald ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS Quarterfinals: #4 seed Florida State-65, #5 seed Pittsburgh-52. There were 9 lead changes in the first half. Florida State came out of the half with a slim 36-33 lead. But the Seminoles applied a stout defense in the 2nd half, limiting the Panthers to just 19 points allowing Florida State to gradually pull away. SG Evan Martin scored 14 points and PF Brett Blizzard had 13 points and 9 rebounds for Florida State. Pittsburgh’s PG Shahar Benson scored 13 points. #6 seed North Carolina-71, #3 seed Notre Dame-54. Even though the Tar Heels took the lead immediately, they weren’t able to shake the Fighting Irish in the first half. North Carolina steadily pulled away throughout the entire 2nd half. C Stephan Monroe and PG Jamie Lane again led the way for North Carolina with both scoring 14 points. Reserve C Kareem Turner topped the scoring for Notre Dame with 16 points. #2 seed Duke-71, #7 seed Virginia-66. The first half was a dog fight with Duke escaping with a slim 3 point lead at the break. Duke came out and opened a 14 point lead in the 2nd half and then had to hang on as Virginia blazed back late in the game. Leading the Blue Devils to victory was C Brian Taylor with 15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. PG Anthony Hart scored 16 points for the Cavaliers. #1 seed Boston College-95, #9 seed Miami (FL)-87. Boston College beat the Hurricanes by 24 points earlier this season, but was just a 2-1/2 point favorite coming into this game. The Eagles had a shaky first couple minutes but then opened a small lead. But a scoring drought midway through the first half allowed Miami to take a 4 point lead. PG Leonard Meliet brought the Eagles back into the game with a barrage of 3 pointers. The Hurricanes shot well to hang in until BC opened a 49-42 halftime lead. The Eagles expanded their lead to 12 points early in the 2nd half, but again the middle of the half was unkind to BC. Miami stormed back to take a 1 point lead. The Eagles edged back into the lead. But with a minute to go Miami was but 2 points behind. Leonard Meliet then sank a long 3 making the score 89-84 with 54 seconds to go. He was fouled trying to hit another 3 on BC’s next possession and sunk all 3 free throws to put the Eagles up by 8 with 35 seconds remaining. Meliet hit yet another 3 with 12 seconds to go and Boston College escaped with a 95-87 win that was closer than the final score. Leonard Meliet finished with 23 points. SG Corey Graham tossed in 19 points. C Courtland Reese had 15 points and PF Danny Toliver added 10. The top scorer for Miami was C Travis Telly with 16 points. Following the game, Coach Fred Aura said, “I give lots of credit to Miami, but we really need to pick it up if we’re going to go further in this tournament. Fortunately, Leonard (Meliet) saved us at two critical points in the game. He hit a series of big time shots at a point in the first half when we looked terrible and had fallen behind that kicked our team in the butt. Throughout the 2nd half Miami employed exceptionally tight defense on him to bottle him up offensively, but when the game was on the line at the very end, he scored 9 points in the span of 44 seconds to ice the game for us. I said that I’d miss him next season since he’s declared for the pro draft. Now you can see why.”

Boston Herald ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS Day 2: #5 seed Pittsburgh-82, #12 seed Wake Forest-74. Wake Forest led by as much as 6 points in the first half, but by the half trailed the Panthers by 3 points. The second half was close most of the way, but Pittsburgh began pulling away late in the game. All 5 Pittsburgh starters scored in double figures, led by SF Lee Jenkins 19 points and C Matt Swanson’s 13 points and 10 rebounds. High point man for the game, though, was Wake Forest’s Ryan Harris who poured in 24 points. #6 seed North Carolina-88, #14 seed Syracuse-65. North Carolina took care of business from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer. By the end of the first half, the Tar Heels has established a 17 point lead. Their lead ballooned to 29 points at one point in the 2nd half. C Stephan Monroe scored 20 points for North Carolina with PG Jamie Law dishing out 11 assists. SF Tyrone Graves was the only member of the Orange to score in double figures and he had just 11 points. #7 seed Virginia-93, #15 seed Virginia Tech-78. The Hokies stuck with the Cavaliers early in the game, but by the end of the first half, Virginia had taken control and led by 18 points. They simply held Virginia Tech off in the 2nd half to cruise to an easy victory. Virginia’s bench scored 49 points, led by guard Lawrence Bailey’s 18 points and forward Jason Demanby’s 10 points and 11 boards. C Reggie Evans scored 21 points and SG Tony Harrington hit for 20 points for Virginia Tech. #9 seed Miami (FL)-79, #8 seed Clemson-72. The lead shifted continuously back and forth through the entire first half with Clemson coming away with a narrow single point lead at the break. The game continued to be tight in the 2nd half, but the Hurricanes edged away from the Tigers late in the game. Miami’s PG Chris Skiffer scored 19 and had 7 assists. C Jeremiah Brown and SG Darius Wilson scored 14 points each for Clemson.

Boston Herald ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS Day 1: #15 seed Virginia Tech-85, #10 seed Louisville-70. Lowly Virginia Tech came out on fire and never looked back. They built a 23 point lead and led by 18 at the half. With a surprising offensive and defensive display, the Hokies totally throttled the Cardinals. SG Tony Harrington and C Reggie Evans both scored 20 points for the Hokies with Harrington also recording 10 rebounds and Evans getting 4 boards, 4 assists, and 5 steals. PF Josh Miller hit for 15 points plus had 8 rebounds. #14 seed Syracuse-75, #11 seed North Carolina St.-66. Syracuse led from start to finish. The Orange led by just 5 points at the half, but owned the first part of the 2nd half, building a 25 point lead. The Wolfpack fought back to narrow the gap, but simply ran out of time to erase such a large lead. Syracuse was led by SG Steve Darby’s 18 points and PF Jason Hamilton’s 12 points and 9 rebounds. SF Dusty Stowers scored 19 points for North Carolina St. #12 seed Wake Forest-74, #13 seed Georgia Tech-69. Even though Wake Forest led the entire game, their biggest lead was just 12 points. With the Yellow Jackets staying close, this was an exciting game all the way to the end. C Fred Simpson and SF Donald Howard both scored 15 points for the Demon Deacons with Howard also pulling down 8 boards and Simpson recording 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. Topping the scoring for Georgia Tech were C Scotty Brunson and reserve C Travis Hemsley, both of whom scored 16 points.

Fred Aura What do we do about Mike Braxton? I met with my assistant coaches today to discuss Mike Braxton. Mike is a freshman PF who was a highly ranked recruit. He came to us needing development and refinement of his skills, though. We have played him some, although he’s only averaged 5.3 mpg, 1.2 ppg, and 1.1 rpg. His shooting percentage has been low. But he has excellent potential. We started him at SF in our last regular season game. He played 23 minutes, scored 5 points, and hauled down 3 boards, but hit just 1 of 5 field goals, so while not bad, not great either. As the season has progressed, he’s expressed unhappiness about not starting and playing more. His relationship with the team and coaches is extremely low. His negative attitude could possibly infect others, although because he’s not really made friends with anyone on the team, that’s not been the case thus far. He was appreciative toward me about getting the start, but there was no uptick in his relationship with teammates. We discussed our options with respect to Mike. It’s very likely he may opt to transfer. That would result in our having 3 rather than 2 scholarships to fill this coming year. If he transfers, we could possibly fill one of those scholarships with a transfer player…or we could hold on to it and go after an extra high school recruit. We’re relatively deep at PF so we’d look to strengthen another position. There was discussion about possibly cutting Mike now and thus opening a scholarship that could be filled before the end of this season. Since there’s a strong possibility that he will decide to transfer, that’s an attractive option. It also would give us a chance to go after a strong C recruit that we’ve been maintaining contact with who would sub for Courtland Reese this coming season and be ready to take over as a starter when Courtland graduates after next season. But cutting players isn’t something I prefer doing. And should Mike not transfer, he could become a very strong player for us, if not next season as a sophomore, then most certainly as a junior and senior. The other problem with cutting him and immediately opening a scholarship to fill is that now Leonard Meliet has declared for the draft, we have already have an additional scholarship to fill this season. Our remaining recruiting budget is extremely low and that works against us successfully going after two recruits. Long and short…we decide to not cut Mike and see what he does. We will offer the scholarship that opened due to Leonard’s declaring for the draft to one of two C recruits that we’ve been actively recruiting this spring.