SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN? (DDSCB22)

[LepexYT 0]

Thoughts on Bryce Harper?

 

[PointGuard 70]

Jan. 27, 2027: Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-10, 3-6) vs Boston College Eagles (11-7, 3-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Kevin Sizemore, BC Student

I’m a junior at Boston College majoring in history with the aim to eventually become a college professor.  I’ve got to almost all the home games in my time here.  I enjoy the games although they’d be even better if BC was a top-flight team.  Following a good start this season, the Eagles have struggled in ACC play and now are sitting on a 4-game loss streak.  So this home game against a so-so team is a must win to get out of the bottom half of the conference standings.  I like our chances.  The 3 new guys (C Courtland Reese, SF Sam Dickens, and PG Josh McFadgon) have combined to average 35 ppg, 15 rpg, and 7 apg.  Most of Wake Forest’s scoring comes from their guards.  SG Brian Worrell is averaging 15.1 ppg and hitting 53% of his FGA’s and 46% of his 3PA’s.  PG Tom Matthews averages 12.9 ppg.  If BC can control Worrell, we should win, particularly since I think we’re a helluva lot stronger inside than are the Demon Deacons.

I went to get some snacks to munch on throughout the game and nearly missed the beginning.  I had just sat down when PF Marvin Reese slammed down a dunk off the tip off.  And then SG James Lilly anticipated a pass by Wake Forest, picked it off and shot it up  court to a streaking PG Josh McFadgon for an uncontested layin to make it 4-0 with just 30 seconds played.  We knocked down the first 5 shots we took to make it 10-4 with 18 minutes to go in the half.  4 minutes into the game we were up by 10 at 15-5.  But then the refs called a second foul on C Courtland Reese a minute-and-a-half later.  Our shooting went cold for a spell which allowed the Demon Deacons to cut into our lead a bit.  But in the latter part of the half, we put together good offense and defense to draw away to a 34-15 lead with 3-1/2 minutes to go.  The Eagles played sloppily the rest of the half and finished the first stanza with a 36-23 lead. 

BC had a tough time scoring in the early stages of the 2^nd half.  Wake Forest got within 8 points.  But midway through the half, the Eagles’ offense woke up and with 7 minutes to play, we led 62-39.  BC then put it on cruise control and came away with an easy 74-56 whipping of Wake Forest.  While the Eagles were better in all aspects of the game, they played very strong defensively.

Leading the Eagles (after having just 2 points in the first half due to being benched with foul trouble) was C Courtland Reese with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Reserves Jason Caldwell and Steve Ross each scored 10 points.  BC held a 38-2 advantage in points in the paint.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 1, 2027: Boston College Eagles (12-7, 4-6) vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12-7, 5-5) at Hank McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, GA

2^nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

We’ve got confirmation that the SAT scores for all 3 of our recruits this season exceeded our minimum qualifications.  Hoorah!  So my primary responsibility is complete.  I feel good that the 3 we recruited are strong players and will help our team improve in the future.

Georgia Tech is a high scoring team but also gives up a lot of points.  When we played Georgia Tech on our court we beat them 77-62 in a game in which our defense was stellar.  Obviously this road game will be a totally different challenge for us.  In their last 6 games, the Yellow Jackets have had a different top scorer each game.  But their two centers both are averaging in double figures, so we need some strong interior defense.

Here’s how the game went:

Led by PG Josh McFadgon and C Courtland Reese, we got off to great start offensively to jump out to an early lead.  But Georgia Tech shot well also to keep us from opening a large lead.  Even though shooting percentages slipped during the midpoint of the half, the offenses of both teams overrode the defenses.  The half ended with us on top 53-45.  We outshot the Yellow Jackets 61% to 52%.  C Courtland Reese scored 17 points and PG Josh McFadgon hit for 14.  For Georgia Tech, SF Dan Branch had 16 points and reserve C Ryan Gooden scored 14. We need to put together another strong 20 minutes, with Coach Aura stressing the need to play some strong D in the 2^nd half.

We did a better job defensively and held onto an 8-10 point lead for most of the 2^nd half.  But the Yellow Jackets got it going and closed to within 1 point with 4-1/2 minutes to go.  Lilly hit a couple quick baskets with about 3 minutes to go to get us back up by 5.  Georgia Tech hit a free throw and then knocked down a 3 pointer to again get within 1 with a minute left.  SF Sam Dickens made one of 2 free throws with 34 seconds remaining to make it 85-83.  The Yellow Jackets missed a 3 and then had to foul.  Josh McFadgon dropped in both foul shots putting us ahead by 4 with 15 seconds on the clock.  Georgia Tech brought it up court quickly and sank a 3 to cut our lead to 1.  They fouled on the inbounds play.  This time McFadgon only made one free throw.  With just 4 seconds to go we pressed and it worked.  Georgia Tech was unable to get it out of the back court or even get off a desperation full court toss at the basket.  We escaped with a thrilling 88-86 road win.  We won by outshooting the Yellow Jackets 56% to 47%, outrebounding them 29-22, and outscoring them 42-38 in points in the paint.  The victory moved us into a tie for 9^th place in the ACC.

C Courtland Reese poured in 22 points, PG Josh McFadgon scored 15, SG James Lilly added 13, and PF Jason Caldwell came off the bench to drop in 12 points.  The Yellow Jackets were led by C Ryan Gooden and SF Dan Branch who both scored 24 points. 

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 6, 2027: Miami Hurricanes (13-10, 6-6) vs Boston College Eagles (13-7, 5-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Janeka Aura

This is the first game I’ve been able to attend in a long time.  It looked like my mother was responding well to chemo, but then she had a set back and so I’ve been spending a lot more time at my parents’ house.  That plus work and the kids have kept me away from Conte Forum until tonight.  Frederick is going through his typical mid-season hyper-focus on his team.  So his home time has been limited.  He tries to get to as many of our boys’ high school games as he can.  Both Omari and Malik are doing great.  Omari, who is now a senior, is the team captain and top rebounder and defender at PF.  Malik, who is a sophomore, is starting at SG and is the team’s leading scorer.  Omari has been hounded by a lot of colleges.  He said he was not going to any ACC school.  We thought he was going to pick Temple, but he decided to wait until this spring to make a final decision.  He’s got a friend from Towson who wants Omari to join him at the University of Maryland.  The head coach there who is a good friend of Frederick is making some strong pitches as is the head coach at Bradley.  We’ll just have to wait to see who he goes with.  Malik wants him to choose Providence so we can go to his home games.  Devany is now a 4^th grader and a soccer natural, but I’m hoping the focuses more on her ballet and piano.

Fred says his team needs to keep Miami’s Dewayne Jennings who is averaging 25.5 ppg from breaking loose.  He dropped in 26 points to lead the Hurricanes to a win over BC when our team travelled to Miami a couple weeks ago.

I was really happy when BC came away with an 81-66 victory.  Fred is always in a better mood after a win. 

The lead went back-and-forth throughout the first half and ended with BC holding a slim 35-33 edge.  Both teams’ defenses kept the other from breaking away.  The first 10 minutes of the 2^nd half were pretty much a replay of the 1^st half, although the Eagles maintained a small lead throughout.  While BC’s defense held firm, they were able to steadily pull away from Miami in the final 10 minutes.  The big accomplishment by the Eagles was holding Dewayne Jennings to just 7 points.  They just never let him get free.  It was the first time this entire season that Jennings failed to score in double figures (in fact he had scored 20+ points in 19 of their previous 23 games). 

PG Josh McFadgon led the Eagles’ scoring with 15 points.  C Courtland Reese had 13 points and 9 rebounds.  PF Marvin Reese scored 12 points and had 7 rebounds.

The win moved Fred’s team into a tie for 7^th place in the ACC standings.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 8, 2027: Boston College Eagles (14-7, 6-6) vs Pittsburgh Panthers (15-6, 7-5) at Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA

Ty Richerson, Head Coach of Pittsburgh

This is our 4^th straight home game, but we only won 1 of the 3 previous home games.  I’ve been riding the guys about that.  There’s no excuse to lose home games.  Boston College has a strong interior game.  Our big guys haven’t done that well this season, but we need to try to throttle the Eagles’ C Courtland Reese.  Offensively, we’re strongest on the perimeter with our two starting guards combining to average 28 ppg.

Boston College came out and totally disrupted our offense in the first half.  We shot poorly and had a bunch of turnovers.  The Eagles’ SG James Lilly completely shut down our star SG Rudy Kerlin.  None of my adjustments cured our problems and we left the court at the half trailing badly, 39-24. 

Our offense got into gear in the 2^nd half, but BC’s starting 5 continued to score and we just never could really make a dent in their lead.  I was really disappointed in how my team performed.  We got clobbered 79-62.  Our 19 turnovers has me really fuming.

Rudy Kerlin scored just 9 points for us which is half of what he usually scores.  PG Marcus Williams was our only player to score in double figures and he had just 11 points.  For Boston College, C Courtland Reese had 18 points and 10 boards, SF Sam Dickens scored 14, SG James Lilly had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and a block, and PG Josh McFadgon hit for 11 points plus dished out 6 assists.

Our loss dropped us into a tie with Boston College and 2 others (Georgia Tech and Louisville) for 5^th place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.  We’re all trailing the 4 ACC teams ranked in the polls: Duke, Clemson, Syracuse, and Virginia.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 13, 2027: Boston College Eagles (15-7, 7-6) vs Louisville Cardinals (13-9, 7-6) at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY

Boston Herald

EAGLES FLY HIGH IN LOUISVILLE

Boston College won their second straight road game against a tough ACC opponent last night when they decimated the Louisville Cardinals 79-57.  The Eagles totally shut down the Cardinals in the first half, holding them to just 17 points while BC scored 35.  BC’s defense was nearly impenetrable, making nearly every possession extremely difficult for the Cardinals.  By allowing Louisville no easy shots, the Cardinals hit just 21% of their shots.

The tempo picked up in the second half but Boston College continually stymied every effort by Louisville to cut into their lead.  The Eagles cruised to an easy win, led by SG James Lilly’s 21 points and 11 rebounds.  PG Josh McFadgon hit for 16 points while dishing out 8 assists.  C Courtland Reese had 12 points and 8 rebounds.  PF Jason Caldwell came off the bench to work the boards for 14 rebounds.

“It was great to see James (Lilly) come up so big offensively, defensively and on the boards.  It just shows what a tremendous player he is, said Coach Frederick Aura.  Aura added, “In addition this is the fourth straight high-scoring game for Josh McFadgon and he was finding the open player so well I this game also.”

Boston College has now run off five consecutive wins and will host the #13-ranked Virginia Cavaliers tomorrow night at Conte Forum.  The Eagles now have an 8-6 conference record and moved into sole possession of 6^th place in the ACC standings.  Aura stated, “Virginia will be a huge test for us.  The Cavaliers are the best scoring team in Division I this year averaging about 91 points per game while hitting 52% of their field goal attempts and 41% of their threes.  We need to figure out a way to slow down their offense.  Dustin Bryant is a beast inside, averaging 24.2 ppg and 13.1 rpg.”

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 15, 2027: #13-ranked Virginia Cavaliers (20-5, 9-5) vs  Boston College Eagles (16-7, 8-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

Comments prior to the game:

Conte Forum is packed tonight.  Our recent success plus a great team like Virginia visiting here have filled the place.  I’m hoping the fans rock the place and help the Eagles overcome a very talented Cavaliers team. 

Just when the Eagles were reeling from 3 straight losses, they turned things around and now have won 5 in a row.  The team has really gelled. 

Remarks on the game:

Both teams started rather slowly. There were a few lead changes but we began to move out to a small but solid lead five minutes into the game.  The crowd’s enthusiasm was certainly a factor in inspiring our players to perform well.  Our defense was rock solid.  So even though our offense was inconsistent, we still came away with an impressive 32-23 lead at the break. 

The second half was completely different.  Defense be damned on both ends of the court!  The early stages of the half were dominated by the Eagles.  We increased our lead to 22 points.  But then Virginia began to pour in basket after basket.  The gap between the two teams steadily narrowed.  With two minutes to go we led by just a single point.  Coach Aura called a time out.  The team executed the play he designed to perfection, taking the 30-second clock down to the final second and isolating Sam Dickens for a clear 12 footer that he drilled.  Trailing by 3, Virginia brought it up court quickly and rushed a shot that went awry.  After grabbing the defensive rebound Courtland Reese was immediately fouled.  He went to the line and knocked down both free throws.  We forced Virginia to work the ball around the perimeter, but they put in a shot from far out that went in.  But the refs saw that a toe was on the 3-point arc line and so it was good for only 2 rather than 3 points.  The Cavaliers were again forced to foul.  Josh McFadgon made the first but missed the second making it Boston College-77, Virginia-73 which turned out to be the final score. Our crowd was delirious.  While we made 22 turnovers to the Cavaliers 15, we completely dominated the boards 37-21 which ultimately was the difference in the ballgame as we outpaced Virginia in 2^nd chance points 15-2.

Reserve SG Jason Dunn and C Courtland Reese both scored 18 points, PG Josh McFadgon had 14, and SF Sam Dickens finished with 10.  C Dustin Bryant scored 17 for Virginia, but that was over 8 points less than his average this season.

Post-Game Conversation of Jason Braxton, Athletic Director:

Our win moved us into a tie with Virginia and Syracuse for 3^rd place in the ACC, a game behind Clemson and 3 games behind Duke.  We have 5 games left in the regular season…3 at home and 2 on the road (against Duke and Virginia, so those will take a super effort to win).

Coach Aura has done a tremendous job for us in the less the 2 years he’s been at BC.  Taking a so-so team he had been handed last season to over 20 wins and 2^nd place in the CIT Tourney.  A 17-7 season record, 9-6 ACC record (which puts us in a tie for 3^rd place), and the 23^rd best NET rating in the country…thus positioning us thus far for a good chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament.  And while he’s done a first-rate recruiting job last season and this season, our prestige level and recent history (neither of which are strong) have prevented him from landing a top 10 or top 25 recruit like 10 of the 14 other schools in the ACC have.  So our team is strong as a team because Fred has molded them into one, not because we have a high-flying player to lead us to success.  Take a look at the type of players most of our competitors in the ACC are relying upon:

Clemson:

Freshman C Williams Yeaton, #6 ranked recruit, 23.6 ppg, 9.9 rpg

Duke:

Freshman PF Robert Tarkanian, #14 ranked recruit, 15.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg

Senior C Maurice McCoy, #16 ranked recruit, 10.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg

Louisville:

Freshman SF Carl Williams, #12 ranked recruit, 1.7 ppg

Sophomore PF Travis Church, #20 ranked recruit, 11.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg

Miami (FL):

Junior PF Dewayne Jennings, #5 ranked recruit, 25.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg

North Carolina:

Freshman SF Brian Howard, #16 ranked recruit, 9.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg

Junior SG Duke Stokes, #14 ranked recruit, 19.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg

Notre Dame:

Freshman SG Freddie Curtis, #20 ranked recruit, 18.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg

Freshman SG Mario Krimmel, #5 ranked recruit, 3.7 ppg

Sophomore SF Rich Thompson, #23 ranked recruit, 12.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg

Pittsburgh:

Senior SG Rudy Kerlin, #13 ranked recruit, 16.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg

Syracuse:

Freshman C Mike Miller, #9 ranked recruit, 11.3 ppg. 7.4 rpg

Senior Adrian Hooks, #11 ranked recruit, 25.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg

Virginia:

Senior C Dustin Bryant, #15 ranked recruit, 23.9 ppg, 13.0 rpg

Junior SF Jamaal Lawson, #18 ranked recruit, 18.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg

Wake Forest:

Sophomore SG Tom Matthews, #24 ranked recruit, 13.1 ppg                                                                                                              

Presently Yeaton, Bryant, and Jennings are the top 3 in the running for the Norton Award and Hooks is 6^th. 

And to Louisville and Notre Dame: if you’re not going to use Williams and Krimmel, send them on over to us (although I hear that Williams may not be the most likeable of people).

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 17, 2027: Florida State Seminoles (12-13, 7-8) vs Boston College Eagles (17-7, 9-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Maury Rentzwick

I gamble on college basketball games.  OK, I gamble on lots of things, but college ball has a hold on me.  Being from Boston, I’ve known enough of Boston College’s past incompetence not to bet on them winning games or beating the spread.  I have to admit to betting against them a number of times and being damned happy I did.  That income has offset losses on some other bad picks.  But the Eagles have been flying high lately.  They’re listed as 6-1/2 point favorites in this home game and I think they’ll  beat that spread, so I’ve got some heavy money down on them.  Heavy enough that I’ve come to tonight’s game.  Florida State’s offense has been the equal of BC’s (and the Seminoles are a better shooting team), but their defense has been much worse than the Eagles.  More importantly BC is a much better rebounding team so that together with a better defense spells good things for the Eagles tonight and an extension of their win streak to 7 games.  They better perform up to my expectations and win big.  I need to win this bet.

BC’s defense was on spot from the get-go.  The Seminoles had a helluva tough time getting free for shots.  The Eagles broke out on top and steadily increased their lead.  By the end of the half, they were up 42-24.

The Eagles relaxed their defense a little in the 2^nd half, but picked up the tempo and were scoring at will (they hit 63% of their shots the entire game and the starters hit over 70%).  With BC continuing to stretch their lead, Florida State’s players grew frustrated and were tagged for a bunch of fouls.  The Eagles dropped in 32 of 37 free throws during the game.  And recall, I said the Eagles were a better rebounding team, right?  Well they out-rebounded Florida State 34-17.  Coach Aura played his entire bench and Boston College still stomped the Seminoles 100-66.  Total freakin’ domination.  That’ll put a lot of dough in my pocket.

I was really impressed by the Eagles’ new guys…C Courtland Reese and PG Josh McFadgon.  Reese hit 9 of 11 shots and scored 22 points and he only played 22 minutes.  McFadgon ran the offense nearly flawlessly and scored 17 points, hitting 4 of 5 from the field including draining his only 3 point attempt and 8 of 8 free throws.  I’ve seen SG James Lilly before and he is as good as ever.  He scored just 10 points but hit 3 or 4 FG’s, 1 of 2 from 3 point range, and 3 of 3 at the line…plus he was the Eagles’ top rebounder with 10 boards… and did all that in just 18 minutes on the court.  Others scoring in double figures were PF Marvin Reese and reserve SG Jason Dunn, both of whom scored 10 points.

[PointGuard 70]

3^rd Assistant Coach Rob Rowland (scouting)

Four games left in the regular season.  We’re tied for 3^rd place in the ACC with 10-6 record.  Duke is the ACC leader with a 13-3 record.  The Blue Devils are ranked 4^th in the polls.  They play great defense.  In 2^nd place is 11-5 Clemson.  The Tigers are 8^th in the polls and combine an explosive offense with a very solid defense.  Tied with us for 3^rd is #14 ranked Virginia with an 11-5 record.  The Cavaliers are an offensive juggernaut.  #22 ranked Syracuse is a half-game behind us in the standings with a 9-6 record.  The Orange are strong offensively and on the boards.

We travel to Durham, NC to take on Duke in our next game.  Duke has yet to lose at home this season.  We’d like to break that streak, but need to figure out a way to break the Blue Devils’ defense.  Their man-to-man D is so solid and they mix in a 3-2 zone to keep teams off-balance.  They also press a lot with a 2-2-1 half-court press.  They get a lot of steals.  Their talented players come up with frequent blocked shots also.  Their opponents have averaged just 63.3 ppg which is the 6^th lowest in the nation.  That defense has resulted in their winning 16 of 21 games thus far even though their offense has just been middle of the road (73.2 ppg).  Their interior game is pretty strong though with PF Robert Tarkanian averaging 15.5 ppg and C Maurice McCoy averaging 10.4 ppg.  They, together with SF Ed Robertson, are all 5-star players.  SG Kirk Lloyd has scored 10.7 ppg and has hit a high percentage of his shots.

We’ll be going into the game against Duke two players short.  SF Sam Dickens and PG Samuel King got into it verbally and were counselled by Coach Aura.  But the next day they began pushing each other around while arguing about a girl.  Coach Aura again had them in his office.  Neither took kindly to his words and he suspended both of them.  Freshman Sam Dickens is an OK guy personally but for some reason he hasn’t fit in well with the team.  He’s an extremely talented player but all us coaches are concerned he may transfer after this season. Samuel King is a senior.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 22, 2027: Boston College Eagles (18-7, 10-6) vs #4-ranked Duke Blue Devils (21-5, 13-3) at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC

SF Sam Dickens

I’m laying on my bed watching the guys take on Duke.  Coach Fed suspended me so I’m missing this game.  Yeah, not smart on my part and I’m pissed not to have a chance to go up against Duke.  I’m taking some real hits on social media.  But to hell with that bunch of strangers. Duke beat us on our own court 67-56 earlier this season.  I had a pretty good game, 9 points and 8 boards, but the Blue Devils pretty much throttled our offense.  I know you’re all thinking I’m letting the team down, and yeah, I probably am.  Samuel King, though, should not have butted into my efforts to hit on Tawnyah Daniels.  But the guys never have really accepted me anyway.  And now I know they’re pissed at me because I’m missing this game, but their giving me the cold shoulder ain’t helping.  I’m trying not to think too deeply about it, but if I can’t fit in here, maybe I need to consider taking my game elsewhere.  Some of my friends say I should declare for the pro draft, but I know I need to develop my game more before doing that.  Anyways, enough about that, the game is about to begin.

We start out good.  Great D that is keeping Duke from getting comfortable.  They are having a tough time scoring and we hold onto a small lead through most of the first 10 minutes.  Refs just put Josh (McFadgon) on the bench with 2 fouls just 6 minutes into the game.  Courtland (Reese) is doing his usual great job inside, but the refs are tagging him for fouls and he picks up his 3^rd with about 9 minutes to go in the half.  Duke is forcing some turnovers and moves ahead by a few points but we don’t let them pull away and are within one at the end of the half at 29-28. 

Typical Duke game though…big time D.  We hit just 38% of our shots but held Duke’s shooting to 29% (and 1 for 11 from 3 point range).  But Duke hit 14 of 18 free throws which put them ahead.  Our guys need to stop Duke’s C Maurice McCoy who scored 14 points in the first half…tougher to do with Courtland probably riding the bench.

Damn! Marvin (Reese) picks up his 3^rd foul with 19:37 to play.  Refs really are working us over.   We keepin’ up with ‘em but unable to get ahead.  Now with 9:54 to go we get a steal and breakaway jam to go ahead 48-46.  Some real good defense is keeping them from scoring and we’re up by 4 with 7 minutes remaining.  Oh man, 3 fouls against us in the next minute gives them 7 points.  We’re making FG’s, they’re making FT’s.  With 3:13 left we’re ahead 60-55.  We press and they fumble it out of bounds with 2:30 to go and us ahead 60-56.  After a time out, we run a pick and roll…James (Lilly) sinks a 15 footer and is fouled and he converts the 3 point play to put us ahead by 7 with 1:46 on the clock.  Duke quickly gets a basket.  But now they are forced to foul.  Josh (McFadgon) and James (Lilly) makes them pay, hitting 8 of 8 from the line.  We rip Duke on their court, 71-58.  I sure wish I had been there.  Huge win.  That’s 8 straight wins for us.

We hit 48% of our FG’s, Duke only made 30% of theirs.  On 3-pointers, 33% for us, 13% for the Blue Devils.  They outshot us at  the line 85% to 74%.  We out-rebounded Duke 31-26 and made just 13 turnovers while they made 14.  We held a 30-10 advantage on points-in-the-paint.

Top scorers for us: Courtland Reese and James Lilly with 15 apiece and Josh McFadgon added 10.  Mo McCoy finished with 20 points for Duke.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 24, 2027: North Carolina Tar Heels (16-13, 10-8) vs Boston College Eagles (19-7, 11-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

WRKO Radio reports:

Report Prior to the game:

Boston College hosts the North Carolina Tar Heels later tonight.

For the Eagles, reserve C Steve Ross came down with the flu a couple days ago.  He’s able to play for BC tonight but his endurance will be reduced.  C Courtland Reese took a fall in practice and sprained his wrist.  He also has been cleared to play but we’ll have to see how the wrist affects his play.

SG Duke Stokes leads North Carolina’s offense and is averaging 20.2 ppg.  The Tar Heels have won 3 of their last 4 games.

Post-Game Report:

Boston College had an early lead but then let North Carolina dictate the tempo and fell behind by as much as 13 in the first half.  The Eagles rallied late in the half to get within 2 points then fell behind by a 40-34 score at the break.

North Carolina held the Eagles off early in the 2^nd half.  But BC then went on a 13-0 run that put them in the lead by a 56-48 score with 13-1/2 minutes to play.  The Eagles held onto a solid lead the rest of the game and won 80-71.  The victory was the 9^th straight for Boston College and will keep them in a tie with Syracuse for 3^rd place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Four players for Boston College scored in double figures: PG Josh McFadgon-19, PF Marvin Reese-18, SG James Lilly-14, and SF Sam Dickens-12.

WRKO’s Post-Game Interview:

Interviewer: Nice going, Coach.  Another win.

Coach Fred Aura: Thanks.  It’s always good to get a win.  But outside of that big run in the 2^nd half, we were flat and just didn’t seem to have a hunger.  We really need to step it up when we travel to take on Virginia in our next game.

Interviewer:  What’s changed for Josh McFadgon?  He’s been on fire recently.

Coach Fred Aura:  He’s really been playing great.  Josh has been an integral part of our recent success.  I think he’s just starting to come into his own.  We knew he was going to be good, but it took a while for him to adjust from playing JC ball to Division I.  Once he did that, you could just see a difference in his confidence and aggressiveness.  At the beginning of the season he was the new guy on the team, but now has established himself as a leader and the person the other guys can count on.  That new confidence level is apparent with how his shots are falling.

Interviewer: Courtland Reese had an unusually quiet game.

Coach Fred Aura:  Courtland has been a rock for us all season.  But yeah, this was a down game for him offensively but it’s understandable since he sprained his wrist and that injury is affecting him.  He still played a strong game defensively though.

Interviewer:  Two games left in ACC play. Is your team going to be able to run your win streak to the very end?

Coach Fred Aura: We’re certainly going to try.  But two big tests since both Virginia and Syracuse are ranked teams in the polls.  Going up against the Cavaliers on their court will be a huge challenge, particularly since they seem to have instant offense and have one of the best players in the nation in Dustin Bryant.  But we’ve pulled off some other surprises, so who knows.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 27, 2027: Boston College Eagles (20-7, 12-6) vs #15-ranked Virginia Cavaliers (21-8, 10-8) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA

1^st Assistant Coach David Woodruff

SF Sam Dickens strained an abdominal which likely will take 10-12 days to completely heal.  He can play but the injury is likely to limit his performance.  C Courtland Reese’s sprained wrist definitely affected his effectiveness in our last game.  The wrist is still bothering him some, so with both of those players not 100%, it’s going to hurt our chances. It’s a long season and it seems to be taking a toll on our players as we wind down.  Our biggest challenge, though, will be to try to slow down the Cavaliers’ dynamic offense.  It’s led by C Dustin Bryant who is averaging 23.5 ppg and 13.1 rpg.  He’s going to score no matter what we do.  But I think our guards are better than theirs, so we’ll try to wear them down and force some turnovers.

Virginia came out firing and pulled away to a 24-13 lead midway through the first half.  The Cavaliers drove on to 48-31 halftime advantage.  Virginia hit 59% of their shots and generally outplayed us.  C Dustin Bryant poured in 16 points and grabbed 12 boards.  Our leading scorer was SG James Lilly with 14 points, but our interior game was nearly totally shut down.

More of the same in the 2^nd half.  We continued to slip further behind and dropped this one 87-64.  We just went up against a better team tonight.

Leading our scoring was SG James Lilly with 21 points and PG Josh McFadgon chipped in 14 points.  Virginia’s C Dustin Bryant dominated us, scoring 24 points, pulling down 21 rebounds, and blocking 7 shots.

Syracuse lost to Duke thus setting up our upcoming last game of the regular season with Syracuse as a fight for sole possession of 3^rd place in the ACC.

[PointGuard 70]

Mar. 1, 2027: #22-ranked Syracuse Orange (19-9, 12-7) vs Boston College Eagles (20-8, 12-7) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Karen Vogel, fan

My husband Trevor and I attend most home games together with our good friends, Mollie and Hank Pratt.  Hank played college ball at a small midwestern school and Trevor played basketball in high school.  So the guys got Mollie and I hooked on the game.  Actually I think we’re more dedicated BC fans that either Trevor or Hank.

BC is going up against another team with a player who has a chance of winning the Norton Award.  SG Adrian Hooks of Syracuse is averaging 26.4 ppg and 6.3 rpg.  He got his knee banged up but will be starting for the Orange.  Whichever team wins will finish 3^rd in the ACC.

Led by Josh McFadgon’s two three-pointers, the Eagles scored the first 11 points in the game and the crowd was going wild forcing Syracuse to call a time out early.  Courtland Reese picked up his 2^nd foul with 14-1/2 minutes left in the half.  Syracuse worked their way back into the game.  After the lead shrunk to just 2 points, BC combined good offense and defense to pull away again.  When the half ended, the Eagles were on top 43-25.  All 10 players Coach Aura had put into the game had scored.  Hank was ecstatic about BC’s defense, talking to all those around us about how they’d held Syracuse’s shooting to 32% and forced the Orange to make 12 turnovers plus kept Syracuse’s star, Adrian Hook, from hitting any shots from the field and scoring just 5 points, all on free throws.  I felt like we fans should get some credit because of our cheering.

The Eagles started the 2^nd half strongly and led 59-34 with 12 minutes left in the game.  Syracuse was unable to mount a challenge and Boston College ran roughshod over them to score a lopsided 85-49 win.

PG Josh McFadgon and reserve SG Jon Ray both scored 14 points, SG James Lilly had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and C Courtland Reese scored 11 points.  The Eagles held Adrian Hook to just 12 points, less that half his average.

[PointGuard 70]

Boston Herald

FINAL ACC STANDINGS:

Clemson Tigers, 15-5 (26-5, #5 in the polls, NET 7)

Duke Blue Devils, 15-5 (23-7, #7 in the polls, NET 11)

Boston College Eagles, 13-7 (21-8, NET 14)

Syracuse Orange, 12-8 (19-10, #25 in the polls, NET 26)

Virginia Cavaliers, 12-8 (23-8, #14 in the polls, NET 19)

Miami (FL) Hurricanes, 11-9 (18-13, NET 54)

Louisville Cardinals, 10-10 (16-13, NET 51)

Florida State Seminoles, 10-10 (15-15, NET 57)

North Carolina Tar Heels, 10-10 (16-15, NET 91)

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 9-11 (16-13, NET 74)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 8-12 (15-14, NET 125)

Pittsburgh Panthers, 7-13 (15-14, NET 94)

Virginia Tech Hokies, 7-13 (14-15, NET 119)

North Carolina State Wolfpack, 6-14 (15-14, NET 93)

Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 5-15 (11-19, NET 232)

MEDIA POLL TOP 25:

1.      Wichita State, 31-1

2.      Alabama, 27-4

3.      Kansas, 25-5

4.      Memphis, 26-6

5.      Clemson, 26-5

6.      Xavier, 24-7

7.      Duke, 23-7

8.      Michigan, 24-5

9.      Nevada, 27-4

10.  Florida, 24-8

11.  Arizona, 23-7

12.  Kentucky, 24-7

13.  Providence, 23-8

14.  Virginia, 23-8

15.  Illinois, 23-7

16.  Brigham Young, 24-7

17.  Tennessee, 22-8

18.  Iowa State, 23-6

19.  Oregon, 21-10

20.  Ohio State, 21-9

21.  Virginia Commonwealth, 24-7

22.  Belmont, 26-5

23.  Villanova, 21-8

24.  Gonzaga, 22-8

25.  Syracuse, 19-10

[PointGuard 70]

Boston College Chronicle, Kinsey Ramsey

ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS

ACC Tournament, Day 1

#10 seed Georgia Tech-67, #15 seed Wake Forest-61

#14 seed North Carolina St.-64, #11 seed Notre Dame-58

#12 seed Pittsburgh-85, #13 seed Virginia Tech-74

ACC Tournament, Day 2

#5 seed Virginia-85, #12 seed Pittsburgh-62

#14 seed North Carolina St-94, #6 seed Miami (FL)-71

#7 seed Louisville-95, #10 seed Georgia Tech-67

#9 seed North Carolina-86, #8 seed Florida St.-74

ACC Tournament, Day 3

#1 seed Clemson-83, #9 seed North Carolina-72

#7 seed Louisville-73, #2 seed Duke-49

#5 seed Virginia-89, #4 seed Syracuse-81

#3 seed Boston College-99, #14 seed North Carolina St.-74

BC came out firing darts in the first half to streak to a 55-42 halftime edge.  The Eagles then applied a strong defense in the 2^nd half to run away from the Wolfpack and overwhelm the tourney’s Cinderella team by a 25 point margin.  BC knocked down 63% of their FGA’s and 50% of the 3PA’s plus dominated the boards 40-21.  Reserve SG Jason Dunn topped BC’s scoring with 16 points, PG Josh McFadgon had 17 points, SG James Lilly hit for 14 points, and reserve SF Michael Millford dropped in 13 points.

ACC Tournament, Day 4 (Semifinals)

#1 seed Clemson-77, #5 seed Virginia-74

#3 seed Boston College-69, #7 seed Louisville-58

The score was close and there were several lead changes in the early going of the first half.  Midway through the half, though, Boston College’s offense clicked and the Eagles edged ahead to take a 41-31 lead at the break.  The Eagles applied a strangling defense in the 2^nd half to keep the Cardinals from mounting a challenge.  Boston College came away with a solid 69-58 victory to send them to the championship game.  Louisville’s shooting was limited to just 27%.  The Eagles got scoring from throughout their lineup.  PG Josh McFadgon was their only player to score in double figures and he finished with 13 points.

ACC Tournament, Day 5 (Championship)

#1 seed Clemson-72, #3 seed Boston College-65

BC and Clemson battled it out in the 1^st half with 8 lead changes and 3 ties.  But in the last 6 minutes the Tigers zipped past the Eagles, going up by as much as 11 points.  BC came back in the final minutes but still trailed 45-38 when the teams headed for the locker room.  The refs sent Clemson to the line 12 more times where they scored 12 more points than the Eagles.  C Williams Yeaton scored 14 points and pulled down 8 boards for Clemson.

A combination of good defense by Clemson and sloppy play by BC which led to numerous turnovers resulted in Clemson pulling away in the 2^nd half.  But trailing 61-48, Boston College went on an 8-0 run that got them back into the game and within 5 points with 7 minutes to play.  The Eagles trimmed the lead to 69-65 with 2 minutes remaining.  But BC was unable to sink a basket in the final 2 minutes and lost 72-65.  BC had 20 turnovers compared to 11 by Clemson but outrebounded the Tigers 43-28.  The game was won by Clemson by their getting to the foul line 17 more times where they scored 16 more points on free throws.  Top scorers for BC were PG Josh McFadgon and SF Sam Dickens with 10 points apiece.  C Courtland Reese pulled down 11 rebounds and SG James Lilly had 10 boards.  But the leading scorer in the game was Clemson’s Williams Yeaton with 24 points.

Boston College finished their season with a 23-9 record and the 11^th best NET ranking.

In the final Media Poll of the season, Boston College FINALLY edged into the rankings at #25.

BOSTON COLLEGE PLAYER AND TEAM STATS

TEAM STATS:

Offense:

75.6 ppg (89^th best in nation)

36.2 rpg (12^th best in nation)

16.6 apg (263^rd best in nation)

Offensive rating: 102.8 (97^th best in nation)

Defense:

67.8 ppg (41^st best in nation)

5.7 bpg (40^th best in nation)

6.6 spg (260^th best in nation)

Defensive rating: 92.1 (14^th best nation)

Season records:

Won 23, Lost 9 (season)

Won 13, Lost 7 (ACC, 3^rd place)

NET Ranking: 11^th best in nation

Media Poll Top 25:  #25

PLAYER STATS:

PPG: Courtland Reese-14.5; Josh McFadgon-10.8; James Lilly-10.3; Sam Dickers-9.2; Marvin Reese-7.6; Jason Caldwell-6.1; Jason Dunn-5.6; Steve Ross-5.3; Michael Millford-3.8; Jon Ray-2.8; Willis Lofton-1.3; Earl Betts-1.2; Samuel King-0.8; Chris Nelson-0.0

RPG: James Lilly-6.8; Courtland Reese-6.6; Sam Dickens-5.9; Marvin Reese-4.8; Jason Caldwell-3.9; Steve Ross-3.2; Josh McFadgon-1.6; Michael Millford-1.6; Jason Dunn-1.5; Samuel King-0.7; Jon Ray-0.7, Earl Betts-0.7; Willis Lofton-0.5; Chris Nelson-0.0

APG: Josh McFadgon-3.9; James Lilly-3.0; Sam Dickens-1.9; Marvin Reese-1.3; Jason Caldwell-1.3; Jason Dunn-1.1; Courtland Reese-0.9; Steve Ross-0.9; Willis Lofton-0.9; Michael Millford-0.7; Jon Ray-0.6; Samuel King-0.6; Earl Betts-0.3; Chris Nelson-0.0      

SPG: James Lilly-1.5; Sam Dickens-0.8; Marvin Reese-0.7; Courtland Reese-0.7; Jason Caldwell-0.6; Josh McFadgon-0.5; Michael Millford-0.5; Jason Dunn-0.5; Steve Ross-0.3; Willis Lofton-0.3; Samuel King-0.2; Earl Betts-0.2; Jon Ray-0.2; Chris Nelson-0.0

BPG: Marvin Reese-1.0; Sam Dickens-0.9; Courtland Reese-0.9; Josh McFadgon-0.9; James Lilly-0.6; Steve Ross-0.6; Jason Caldwell-0.4; Michael Millford-0.3; Jon Ray-0.2; Jason Dunn-0.1; Earl Betts-0.1; Willis Lofton-0.0; Samuel King-0.0; Chris Nelson-0.0

[PointGuard 70]

RyRey's by Ryan Reynolds

NCAA  Tournament Selection Show (for ACC Teams):

Clemson (29-5) is the #1 seed in the Midwest Region and plays #16 seed Merrimack (18-14)

Virginia (25-9) is the #4 seed in the Midwest Region and plays #13 seed McNeese St. (21-10)

Louisville (18-14) has a play-in game against UCLA (22-10) for the 12^th seed in the Midwest Region

Syracuse (19-11) is the #7 seed in the South Region and plays #10 seed UCONN (18-13)

Duke (23-8) is the #3 seed in the West Region and plays #14 seed South Carolina State (21-11)

Boston College (23-9) is the #4 seed in the West Region and play #13 seed Western Carolina (19-13)

#1 seeds: Alabama (30-4, ranked 2^nd in polls), Clemson (29-5, ranked 3^rd in polls), Wichita State (33-2, ranked 1^st in polls), Xavier (27-7, ranked #6 in polls)

ACC Teams in other tournaments:

NIT

Miami (FL) is 2^nd seed in Midwest Region

North Carolina is 8^th seed in Midwest Region

CBI

Georgia Tech is 6^th seed in West Region

CIT

North Carolina State is 5^th seed in East Region

[PointGuard 70]

Maury Rentzwick

Hey, it’s your resident gambler back at ya.  Now that the March Madness brackets are out, I’ve begun my Gambling Madness.  I’ll be placing bets throughout the entire Big Dance.  But Boston College has made a believer out of me.  So I’ve already place 4 bets on them.

1^st…to beat the spread in their opener against Western Carolina.  The odds are low on this so if the Eagles win I’ll make some pocket change.  Then there are bets you can place on how deep a team will get in the tournament. The odds get better of course, the deeper in the tournament you bet on them to get.  These bets are dangerous since you just never know what will happen and injuries can really mess things up.  Anyway, I placed a big bet on the Eagles getting to the Sweet 16, a little smaller bet on them getting to the Elite 8, and yet a pretty small bet on them getting to the Final 4.  Looking at their bracket, I’m pretty confident that the Eagles will win their opener against Western Carolina and their round 2 game against either Brigham Young (their likely opponent) or Kent State. Yeah, I know they lost to Brigham Young early in the season, but since then their 3 new guys this season (Courtland Reese, Sam Dickens, and Josh McFadgon) have gained a lot of experience on the team’s sets and playing against strong Division I opponents.  Their next opponent trying to keep them from getting to the Elite 8 will likely be #1 seed Xavier.  Xavier is ranked 6^th in the polls and has freshman phenom SG Jeremy Strange who’s averaged 27.1 ppg this season, but I believe that BC can take them. I believe #2 seed Kansas would then be their opponent to beat to get to the Final 4.  I’m not all that confident about BC getting by the Jayhawks who are ranked 5^th in the polls (and probably should have been the #1 seed in this bracket), but I think they have a chance of doing so.  That’s why my bet on BC getting to the Final 4 is pretty small.  If they do, I’ll have piled up a bunch of winning bets and I’m gonna be rich.  If BC falters in round 1 or round 2, I might have to sell my house. 

[PointGuard 70]

Boston Herald

TOURNAMENT RESULTS FOR ACC TEAMS and CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

CIT Results

1^st Round:

Northern Kentucky-74; North Carolina St.-73 (Sims-18/5)

Championship:

Albany-90, Missouri-82

CBI Results

1^st Round:

San Diego St.-70; Georgia Tech-57 (Byrd-21/5 Ast)

Championship:

Arkansas-82, Massachusetts-72

NIT Results

1^st Round:

Miami (FL)-63; MD-Eastern Shore-62 (Stone-12/13)

UNLV-72; North Carolina-62 (Stokes-22/2)

2^nd Round:

Miami (FL)-78; Central Florida-62 (Mueller-12/6)

3^rd Round:

UNLV-81, Miami (FL)-63 (Jennings-16/7)

Championship:

Saint Josephs-62, UNLV-59

NCAA Results

Play-in for 12^th seed:

Louisville-75, UCLA-63 (OT) (Odle-20/7)

1^st Round:

Clemson-81; Merrimack-54 (Yeaton-20/16)

Virginia-93; McNeese St.-81 (Bryant-21/9; Lawson-21/6)

Louisville-93; Villanova-89 (Odle-21/5)

Syracuse-90; UCONN-73 (Hooks-30/7/6 Ast)

South Carolina St-73; Duke-70 (OT) (Tarkanian-24/11/4 Ast)

Boston College-78, Western Carolina-54 (C. Reese-19/6)

Boston College went ahead 22-2 in the first 8 minutes of the game.  Western Carolina’s 2-3 zone then began to frustrate the Eagles and together with a rash of fouls and turnovers, BC let the Catamounts get back into the game.  The first half ended with Boston College on top 43-31.  SF Sam Dickens led the Eagles in the half by scoring 9, grabbing 5 rebounds, and dishing out 4 assists.

In the first 7 minutes of the 2^nd half, BC re-established their 20 point lead.  The Eagles defense held Western Carolina’s shooting to just 35% plus forced the Catamounts to make 21 turnovers enroute to an easy round 1 victory. 

Topping the scoring for BC was C Courtland Reese with 19 points.  SG James Lilly had 15 and SF Sam Dickens scored 13.  PG Josh McFadgon dished out 9 assists.

Coach Aura said, “We came out loose and aggressive.  But there were 10 minutes in the first half when we were tight and just didn’t play well.  Fortunately our defense was solid tonight.”

Round 2:

Clemson-70, Western Michigan-54 (Yeaton-25/18/5 Ast, 5 Stl)

Virginia-85, Louisville-75 (VA: Lawson-23/10, Bryant-16 11; LVILLE: Church-12/9)

Michigan-92, Syracuse-87 (Hooks-24/5, Miller-18/9)

Boston College-65, Brigham Young-54 (McFadgon-14/0)

In a game that was expected to be a toss-up, Boston College came out with a stifling defense in the first half.  Brigham Young could only make 22% of their shots and turned the ball over 13 times in the half.  Unable to establish their interior game, BC hit enough mid-range jumpers to pull away to a 35-21 halftime advantage. 

The Eagles lead ballooned to 21 points early in the 2^nd half.  But C Courtland Reese was sent to the bench when he picked up his 4^th foul early in the half.  Reese never returned to the game.  The Cougars then took control of the boards and began eating into BC’s lead.  SG James Lilly also was assessed his 4^th foul midway through the half.  With 4 minutes to go the Cougars hit a 3 that put them just 6 points behind.  The Eagles rallied behind some good shooting by reserve SF Michael Millford (10 points in 11 minutes of play to keep Brigham Young from getting any closer.  BC added to their lead when the Cougars were forced to foul in the waning minutes of the game. 

Top scorers for Boston College were: PG Josh McFadgon with 14 points and SG James Lilly and SF Michael Millford with 10 points each.

“Our guys played some tremendous defense tonight,” said Coach Aura. “That allowed us to take control of the game from the very beginning.  Even though the Cougars cut into our lead, we had built enough of a cushion to keep them from overtaking us.”  When asked about their upcoming game, Aura replied, “Xavier has a tremendous SG in Jeremy Strange.  He’s averaging over 27 ppg, so we’ll need another strong defensive effort to try to contain him and give us a chance to win.”

After the game it was disclosed that C Courtland Reese suffered an injury to his knee and C Steve Ross also has an injury to his calf that could limit their play in the Eagles’ Sweet 16 game against #1 seed Xavier.

Round 3 (Sweet 16):

Clemson-81, Virginia-74 (Clem: Yeaton-24/17/4 Ast/4 Stl/5 Blk; VA: Lawson-16/6, Bryant-10/12)

Xavier-78, Boston College-63 (C. Reese-19/6)

Xavier took it to Boston College as soon as the game started, gaining a 9-2 lead.  BC fought to cut the deficit to 2 points, but then the Musketeers went on a run that opened a 16 point lead.  The Eagles again narrowed the gap and by the end of the half it was Xavier-38, Boston College-31.  The difference was due to Xavier scoring 7 more points at the free throw line and the Eagles inability to stop SG Jeremy Strange who poured in 20 points.

The Eagles cut the lead to 3 with 14-1/2 minutes left.  Xavier then re-established a solid lead by scoring 8 unanswered points.  The Musketeers went on to bury BC after that and ended the game with a 78-63 victory over Boston College.

Xavier’s SG Jeremy Strange scored 31 points.  C Courtland Reese was the only BC player scoring in double figures and he scored 19 points.

Round 4 (Elite 8):

Clemson-75, Minnesota-68 (Williams Yeaton-25/11)

Round 5 (Final 4):

Clemson-90, Providence-69 (Williams Yeaton-30/10/7 Ast/8 Stl/2 Blk)

Round 6 (Championship):

Maryland-88, Clemson-72 (Taylor-19/4, Williams Yeaton-10/12/4 Blk)

[PointGuard 70]

Coach Fred Aura

Awards:

The ACC did well in the National Awards with Williams Yeaton of Clemson winning the Norton Award and all other major individual awards.  Clemson’s Ty Allison was the National Coach of the Year.  Four ACC players were named as 1^st Team All-Americans (Williams Yeaton of Clemson, Dustin Bryant of Virginia, Dewayne Jennings of Miami (FL), and Adrian Hooks of Syracuse). 

Our C Courtland Reese was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference 2^nd Team All-Conference.

Next Season:

Getting to the Sweet 16 led to a number of very high prestige basketball programs showing interest in my becoming their head coach.  But I want to continue at BC.  The program is really taking shape and I’m looking forward to working with the returning players plus the new recruits this coming year.  James Braxton, our Athletic Director, was happy with the performance of our team and congratulated me on meeting all 5 of his goals for me: Qualify for NCAA Tourney; Finish in top half of ACC standings; Win 20 or more games; No academic ineligibility; and Improve school prestige (it moved up to 55 from 52 at the beginning of the year).  But my request for a budget increase was denied by the board.

I’m keeping my entire assistant coaching staff together for next season, so some good continuity.

We’re losing guards Willis Lofton and Samuel King and SF Earl Betts to graduation.  To replace them we have 3 incoming freshman recruits; PG Leonard Meliet, PG Phil Thompson, and SF Keith Kolder.

[PointGuard 70]

2027-2028 SEASON

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

Our recruit class was ranked as the 11^th best in Division I.  Duke and Syracuse were the only ACC teams with recruit classes ranked above ours.  But Pittsburgh, Louisville, Notre Dame, Florida State, North Carolina, and Clemson were in the top 25 and North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech were in the top 50.

In addition to our 3 incoming recruits, PF Winston Minihan, who transferred to us last May and had to sit out last season due to the transfer, is now eligible to play for us this coming season.  He maintains his sophomore status for

Bad news came early though.  SF Sam Dickens has decided to transfer.  He told us he doesn’t like his teammates and needs a change. No one can put a finger on why he failed to fit in with the team since he’s not a bad guy personally.  He performed well for us in his freshman season and will be a big time player in his future collegiate career. I’m sure he will be picked up by a very strong program.  His departure wasn’t a surprise, but his leaving is going to create a big hole in our roster.  We hope to pick up a transfer player to fill the vacant scholarship, but of course he’ll have to sit out a year before becoming eligible to play for us.

[PointGuard 70]

2^nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

We have 5 scholarships to fill this coming year.  We will purchase the basic versions of the Atlantic East Regional Report and the National Report.  Our summer travel will be to the Indy Elite Camp and Big Apple Showcase.  Since the administration didn’t approve a budget increase and our having a lot of scholarships to fill this year, we’ll have to be careful how we spend our money.  We have 5 seniors on this year’s squad.  We’d like to pick up 3 guards (preferably one of those being a JC player) and a big man plus the best available player we can get.

With the loss of Sam Dickens, we have an extra scholarship to fill, but expect that will be accomplished by singing a transfer player.

[PointGuard 70]

Transfer Season

Coach Fred Aura

A lot of transfers come with big-time attitude/personality issues.  We stayed away from the worst of those.

We made an offer for a SG who only played a few minutes for Villanova as a freshman but who should be a real star.  Unfortunately he decided to go to Kansas.  We then made an offer to PF Danny Tolivar.  As a freshman at Georgia Tech last season he started nearly every game and averaged 9.1 ppg and 6.5 rpg.  Tolivar accepted our offer, will be ineligible this season, but should contest for a starting position the following season when he will be a eligibility-wise.  He’s a good shooter from all parts of the court.  Serendipitously he is well-schooled and experienced in our offensive and defensive sets.  We’ll be working closely with him this season to keep his attitude positive.

Sam Dickens is transferring to Wisconsin.  I wished him the best during his career with the Badgers (as long as they don’t play us).  I’m sure he will be a major asset for Wisconsin.  I still wish he would have stuck it out with us.  We did everything we could to keep him, but for some reason he just never fit in with his teammates here.

Edited August 20, 2021 by PointGuard

[PointGuard 70]

Boston College Press Release

Two Boston College basketball players have been selected as candidates for the prestigious Norton Award which is presented at the end of the season to the player who demonstrates the highest level of excellence on the court, in the classroom, and within the community. 

This year Boston College’s senior SG James Lilly and freshman PG Leonard Meliet are candidates.  Lilly, who is from Sprinfield, Mass, has been a team leader throughout his career at BC and has provided outstanding offense, defense, and rebounding for the Eagles.  Meliet was highly recruited by a number of excellent basketball programs and chose to play for the Eagles.  He’s from Gladewater, Texas.

Coach Frederick Aura said, “It’s really a high honor to be named to be a candidate for the Norton Award.  Both of these players are very deserving nominees and I believe their performance this year will keep them in the running for the award.”

[PointGuard 70]

September/October Recruiting Results

2^nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

We had 5 scholarships to fill this year.  With 4 of our 6 guards (including all 3 of our SG’s) graduating after this season, the pressure was on to not only recruit guards, but GOOD guards and guys who can contribute as soon as they get here.  Our primary goal was to recruit 3 guards, an interior player, and the best other recruit we could lasso.  Our secondary goal was to recruit a 5-star player and have all 5 recruits have a good chance of starting or filling key roles off the bench immediately.

Our principal focus was on the Atlantic East region, but we also had recruits on our list from all over the country.  We cast a big net with 50 recruits on our list at all times throughout the summer and tried to get each recruit interested in our program and as many as possible listing us in their top 10.  We were pretty successful with getting recruits to show at least some interest, less successful with getting as many as we would have liked to include us in their top 10.

When we got to September, we made offers to three 5-star recruits…all 3 liked what we had to offer, but ultimately opted for other schools.  But we got verbal commitments from 2 recruits in mid-September, another by the end of September, a fourth in early October, and the fifth in mid-October.  The effort consumed nearly our entire recruiting budget. 

But here’s Recruiting Five:

SG Adrian Moss, 6’5” HS senior from Meriden, CT.  Our first impression was that Adrian was very much controlled by his parents and we found out that his parents would love for him to come to BC even though they attended other colleges.  So we were sure we could get him.  But it turned out that while they had input, he was going to make the final decision.  Playing close to home was his primary concern so that really helped us get him to commit to us.  He’s an excellent rebounder (we hope as good as James Lilly has been for us).  Other strengths include his being a good scorer, good outside shooter with strong passing skills.  He’s a hard worker who had a decent showing at the Indy Elite camp and was in the top 25 at the Big Apple Showcase.  As a HS junior last season he averaged 15.0 ppg and 7.4 rpg.  He is ranked at the 47^th best recruit nationally.

SG Corey Graham, a 6’1” high school senior from Greenville, KY was the next recruit to commit to us.  Corey’s parents do exert extensive control and while one of their primary interests was location, they also ranked academics, conference prestige, and facilities high on their list so that helped us be a strong contender.  Corey’s primary concern, other than location, was playing time and since all SG’s were leaving, he understands he has a good chance for that to happen.  Corey is an outstanding scorer and a great outside shooter.  Hes’s very strong defensively who gets a lot of steals.  He has well-developed passing skills. During his junior year, he scored 21.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 2.5 spg.  Corey was in the top 25 at the Indy Elite camp, in the top 5 at the Memphis Hoops Summit, and is the 29^th highest ranked recruit in the country.  So while he’s not identified as a 5-star recruit, he’s darn near it.

PF Mike Braxton, a 6’7” senior from New Kent, VA was the 3^rd recruit we gained.  Mike’s primary concern is academics which fits right into one of BC’s strengths.  Mike is a solid scorer who has excellent inside and outside shooting skills.  He works the boards extremely well.  He’s a good passer and on defense does a good job of shot blocking.  His coach said he hardly ever missed a day of practice.  Last season he averaged 14.2 ppg, 12.5 rpg, and 2.7 bpg.  His Indy Elite camp performance was decent, but at the Big Apple Showcase he was in the top 25.  He’s ranked as the 67^th top recruit.

PF Darius Hein, who is a 6’7” high school senior from Carrington, ND was a bit of surprise to us when he accepted a late scholarship offer.  We had kept tabs on him but not highly recruited him until just before Coach Aura did a home visit and made the offer.  Academics and conference prestige played a significant role in his acceptance.  He made a decent showing at the Indy Elite Camp and we got some good reports on how he did at the Houston Classic.  His coach said he’s a hard worker who while not a leader, doesn’t cause problems.  Darius is a very good scorer, particularly from inside.  He’s a very strong defender and a good rebounder.  Last season he scored 17.0 ppg and averaged 5.7 rpg.  He is the 59^th best ranked recruit.

PG Rashon Thompson is a 5’7” high school senior from Montross, VA.  Rashon didn’t stand out at the Indy Elite camp but we liked what we saw of him at the Big Apple Showcase.  Rashon was most motivated by location and coach discipline and let us know throughout the summer than he liked our program.  But we let our blinders for liking bigger guards blind us to him for quite a while.  But in September we took another look at him and then a closer look in October.   His coach told us that Rashon is very talented and could be a very good college PG if he works hard and that he’s been injury free.  He’s a very good passer and ball handler plus he’s an outstanding outside shooter who puts points on the board.  Last season he averaged 15.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 3.7 apg.  As recruiting wound down, we pulled an offer for our last available scholarship to another player who was showing interest but looked to be a long way from making a decision and offered it to Rashon who accepted immediately.  We think he’ll probably be a good backup point guard who can come in and provide stability to and control of our offense.  He’s the 84^th highest ranked recruit.

So maybe no standout star, but a very good group of 4-star players who we think can fit in well with our team.  So I would put up our 5 new recruits up against any and all recruits by other colleges.  We expect all 5 to score well enough on their SAT’s, but as usual will be holding our breath in late January until scores are announced.

When I look at this great set of incoming players, I’m conflicted.  We have a new season starting up soon with a team that will be exciting and fantastic to work with.  But the conflict comes because I also want to immediately start working these 5 new recruits.  Guess my impatience is showing.

[PointGuard 70]

1^st Assistant Coach David Woodruff

We have 3 incoming freshman players this season.  Of those 3, it’s obvious that Leonard Meliet should be starting.  Leonard has played PG in high school and is talented at that position.  Could he start for us at PG as a freshman?  Yes, but that would mean that Josh McFadgon would be relegated to the bench and that’s not really something we want.  Leonard could also be a sound SG but we have James Lilly at SG and James will be our starter at SG.  But when Sam Dickens transferred that created a hole at SF.  Michael Millford certainly could start for us at SF and in fact, did so a few times last season.  But Leonard Miliet is 6’5” and a very good rebounder, as well as being a good ball handler, passer and scorer.  We feel that he could handle the SF position for us with Millford backing him up.  So we had Leonard working out at SF in the summer camps he’s attended. and we’ll see how he fits in at the 3 when we begin practicing together as a team in October.  A starting lineup of McFadgon, Lilly, Miliet, and the two Reese’s would be potent.  If this works out, Leonard will probably also put in some minutes at PG in most games as well so that he develops at that position, readying him to take over at that position next season after McFadgon graduates.