SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN? (DDSCB22)

[PointGuard 70]

Boston Globe

FINAL ACC STANDINGS AND OVERALL RECORDS

Boston College—18-2; Overall: 28-3; Net Ranking: 1; #2 in polls

Virginia—16-4; Overall: 25-5; Net Ranking: 4; #8 in polls

Notre Dame—15-5; Overall: 23-7; Net Ranking: 19; #13 in polls

Duke—15-5; Overall: 27-5; Net Ranking: 3; #3 in polls

Louisville—13-7; Overall: 24-8; Net Ranking: 13; #11 in polls

North Carolina—12-8; Overall: 19-10; Net Ranking: 18; #17 in polls

North Carolina State—10-10; Overall: 18-12; Net Ranking: 40

Clemson—10-10; Overall: 16-14; Net Raning: 62

Miami (FL)—8-12; Overall: 16-14; Net Ranking: 71

Florida State—7-13; Overall: 17-14; Net Ranking: 75

Georgia Tech—7-13; Overall: 14-17; Net Ranking: 93

Pittsburgh—7-13; Overall: 14-16; Net Ranking: 129

Virginia Tech—5-15; Overall: 11-19; Net Ranking: 245

Syracuse—5-15; Overall: 12-17; Net Ranking: 197

Wake Forest—2-18; Overall: 8- 21; Net Ranking: 204

[PointGuard 70]

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

PG Phil Thompson gave us notice today that he intends to declare for the pro draft.  It was unexpected since he still has a lot of development remaining.  He certainly has the talent to become a very good player.  But I think he would have been wise to wait since he will likely to be a second round pick and probably will go to the Development League.  Had he waited, improved his skills and posted some strong stats, he would have had a good chance of being a high 1^st round draftee.

But we all wish him well.  It’s fortunate that Leonard Meliet is a natural PG and can shift to that position next season and that we recruited a PG.

[PointGuard 70]

Boston College Chronicle

Kinsey Ramsey

ATLANTIC COAST TOURNAMENT RESULTS

ACC TOURNAMENT--FIRST ROUND

#15 seed Wake Forest-69, #10 seed Florida State-66

#11 seed Georgia Tech-87, #14 seed Syracuse-78

#12 seed Pittsburgh-75, #13 seed Virginia Tech-68

ACC TOURNAMENT—SECOND ROUND

#5 seed Louisville-93, #12 seed Pittsburgh-76

#6 seed North Carolina-92, #11 seed Georgia Tech-77

#7 seed Clemson-80, #15 seed Wake Forest-72

#8 seed North Carolina St.-79, #9 seed Miami (FL)-68

ACC TOURNAMENT—QUARTERFINALS

Mar. 10, 2028: #8 seed North Carolina St. Wolfpack (19-12) vs #1 seed Boston College Eagles (28-3)

In a home game earlier this season, the Eagles ripped the Wolfpack 91-64. 

In their tournament opener, the Eagles held a lead through most of the first half, but fell behind by 5 points late in the half.  BC then went on an 11-0 run in the last few minutes and went to the locker room with a 45-42 edge.  C Courtland Reese accounted for 14 of the Eagles first half points and SF Dusty Stowers had 12 for North Carolina St.

The score was close in the early going of the first half but midway through the half, the Eagles lead grew to 11 points.  BC stayed in control of the game from that point and won with ease by a final score of 91-75.  Boston College’s main advantage was total control (42-21) of the boards.

Six of the Eagles scored in double figures: C Courtland Reese-24, SF Leonard Meliet-15, PF/C Jason Caldwell-12, PG Phil Thompson-12, PG Josh McFadgon-11, and PF Marvin Reese-10.  Courtland Reese and SG James Lilly both had 8 rebounds.  SF Dusty Stowers scored 22 points for North Carolina St.

Other Games:

#2 seed Virginia-88, #7 seed Clemson-74

#3 seed Notre Dame-76, #6 seed North Carolina-56

#4 seed Duke-74, #5 seed Louisville-66

ACC TOURNAMENT—SEMIFINALS

Mar. 11, 2028: #4 seed Duke Blue Devils (28-5) vs #1 seed Boston College Eagles (29-3)

Boston College defeated the Blue Devils by 17 and 19 points in their two conference games this season.  But Duke’s SF Rod Allen and C Brian Taylor are both Norton Award finalists and Allen has declared for the pro draft as has Duke’s talented reserve SF David Dye.  

Both of the Eagle’s starting guards were relegated to the bench with 2 fouls apiece within 6-1/2 minutes of the start of the game.  Duke went to the foul line 13 times in the first 10 minutes to take a 19-12 lead.  The Eagles used some excellent shooting (59% on FG’s including 67% on 3’s) to get back into the game.  Duke scored 13 more points at the foul line though.  At the end of the half Duke was ahead 37-35.  Leonard Meliet scored 11 points for BC and Rod Allen scored 13 points for Duke.  Six players on BC had 2 fouls assessed against them in the first half.  None of the Blue Devils players had more than a single foul called on them.

Boston College began the 2^nd half with an extremely tight defense and scored 15 unanswered points to go ahead by a score of 50-37 with 14-1/2 minutes remaining.  BC increased their lead to as much as 19 points.  But Duke made a furious late comeback which included another slew of trips to the foul line.  With 1:15 left, the Eagles lead had been whittled to 76-74.  Then 57 seconds to go, Duke picked off an errant pass.  Duke called a time out but their 3 pointer after than was off target.  BC rebounded and SG James Lilly kissed a 14 footer off the glass to give the Eagles a little breathing room.  Duke hurriedly fired off another 3 point shot that went off the rim.  Lilly was quickly fouled.  He dropped in both ends of a one-and-one.  Duke’s last shot didn’t go down either and Boston College came away with an 80-74 victory.  Duke hit 31 of 40 free throws, scoring 21 more points at the line than the Eagles.  But BC outshot the Blue Devils 55% to 37%. 

SF Rod Allen dropped in 31 points for Duke as well as pulling down 9 rebounds and making 3 steals and 2 blocks.  But that was offset by the Eagles again getting scoring and rebounding throughout their entire lineup and bench.  SF Leonard Meliet hit for 20 points and 5 assists, C Courtland Reese scored 13 points and pulled down 9 boards to go along with 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, PF/C Jason Caldwell scored 11 points, and SG James Lilly had 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Coach Fred Aura said, “Duke gave us everything we could handle tonight.  The refs putting Rod Allen on the line 21 times was almost more than we could overcome.  Our combination of great offense and defense at the beginning of the 2^nd half was the difference in this game.”

Other Game:

#3 seed Notre Dame-81, #2 seed Virginia-66

ACC TOURNAMENT—CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2028: #3 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish (25-7) vs #1 seed Boston College Eagles (30-3)

Boston College beat Notre Dame by 12 early in the season, but that was played on the Eagles home court.  And the Fighting Irish came into this championship game sporting a 9-game win streak.  Four of their starters are averaging in double figures.  To win the Eagles needed to crack Notre Dame’s vaunted defense which has allowed the 11^th fewest points in Division I basketball this season.  Opponents have averaged just 61 ppg throughout Notre Dame’s recent win streak.

Notre Dame took a 5-0 lead in the first minute of play.  Six turnovers by BC put them behind by 8 with 14 minutes to go in the half.  Boston College doggedly fought back late in the half to trail by just a 30-27 score at the break.  PG Marqus Gibson carried the Fighting Irish with 12 points.

Four minutes into the 2^nd half, James Lilly hit 2 free throws to forge a 36-36 tie.  Then Leonard Meliet and Courtland Reese were charged with their 3^rd fouls in the next minute and went to the bench.  Notre Dame re-opened a 7 point lead but BC came back and Phil Thompson hit an off-balance jumper with 8:46 to give the Eagles their first lead at 48-47.  90 seconds later the Eagles were on top by 6 points.  Notre Dame answered by scoring 8 straight points to move ahead by 2.  Notre Dame hit a 3 with a little over a minute to play to put them up by 5 points.  The Eagles were forced to foul which caused them to lose 66-57.

None of the Eagles scored in double figures.  The team hit just 33% of their FG’s and 13% of their 3’s.  “Credit Notre Dame’s defense,” said Coach Fred Aura.  “Not only did they prevent us from getting many clear shots, but they forced us to turn the ball over 20 times.  The Fighting Irish will be a force in the NCAA Tourney.”

[PointGuard 70]

Boston Herald

NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKETS SET

The selection committee has completed their work.  Boston College will be the #1 seed in the East Region and will play in Charlotte, NC. against the winner of the Utah Valley/Mount St. Marys game who meet to gain the #16 seed.  Three other ACC teams are in the East Region. Virginia is the #3 seed in the East and will go up against 14-seed Elon.  Louisville will be the #4 seed in the East and play 13-seed Montana in Round 1.  North Carolina is the 5^th seed and plays 12^th seed Hawaii.

The Kansas Jayhawks are the #1 seed in the Midwest Region.  Duke is the 2^nd seed in the Midwest Region and plays #15 seed Princeton.  North Carolina State is the 11^th seed in the Midwest and take on 6^th seeded Temple.

In the South Region, the #1 seed will be the Providence Friars that will be up against the #16 seed Omaha.  There are no ACC teams in the South Region.

In the West Region, Illinois is the #1 seed.  Notre Dame, which won the ACC Tournament, is the #2 seed in the West.  The Fighting Irish’ opponent will be 15-seed Morgan State.

ACC teams that will be participating in other post-season tournaments are: Clemson, #1 seed in the South Region of the NIT Tournament; Miami (FL), the 7^th seed in the Midwest Region of the CIT Tournament; and Florida State, the 7^th seed in the South Region of the CIT Tournament.

The ACC had 6 teams ranked in the polls and 10 of it’s 15 teams will participate in the various post-season tournaments, including 7 teams that were selected to play in the NCAA Tournament.

[PointGuard 70]

Boston College Eagles Achieve Unparalleled Success This Season

Mary St. James, Boston College Athletic Department Publicist

Boston College’s basketball team heads to the NCAA Tournament not only as the #1 seed in the East Region after finishing atop the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference.  Their record in the ACC was 18-2 and their record thus far the entire season is 30-4.  They were ranked #2 in the Media Poll and #3 in the Coaches Poll.  The Eagles had the best NET Ranking this season within all of Division I basketball.

Jason Braxton, the Athletic Director for Boston College, said, “The Eagles have had a phenomenal season.  In the few short years Frederick Aura has been our head coach, he’s really turned around the program, taking it from the depths of the ACC to the pinnacle of the conference and making us a national powerhouse.”

Throughout the entire season the Eagles averaged 78.5 ppg while giving up just 67.8 ppg. Their 36.6 rpg is 6^th best in the country.

Braxton added, “An impressive part of our success has been that we did it with a real team effort rather than having one or two star players who carried the team game after game.  But Coach Aura’s recruiting efforts have landed us better players each year he’s been with us so that we have a deep team with strong starters and reserves.  Coach Aura does a great job of playing a deep bench so that we have fresh legs coming in throughout the game.  And this year we had two Norton Award nominees, senior James Lilly and freshman Leonard Meliet.  And Meliet was named a quarterfinalist for the award.  Freshman PG Phil Thompson has declared for this summer’s NBA Draft and I expect we will have more of our players drafted this summer or future drafts.”

This season the Eagles top scorers playing in 20 or more games were:  Leonard Meliet—15.7 ppg; Courtland Reese—14.6 ppg; James Lilly—7.9 ppg; Josh McFadgon—7.7 ppg; Marvin Reese—7.5 ppg; Jason Caldwell—6.1 ppg; Michael Millford—5.6 ppg; Greg Kidd—4.7 ppg; Phil Thompson—3.3 ppg; Jason Dunn—3.1 ppg; Winston Minahan—2.9 ppg; Jon Ray—1.8 ppg; Keith Kolder—1.8 ppg.

Our best rebounders were: James Lilly—6.4 rpg; Courtland Reese—6.1 rpg; Marvin Reese—4.2 rpg; Jason Caldwell—4.2 rpg; Leonard Meliet—4.1 rpg; Greg Kidd—3.3 rpg; and Michael Millford—2.2 rpg.

Leading the team in assists were: Leonard Meliet—3.6 apg; James Lilly—3.4 apg; Josh McFadgon—2.7 apg; Phil Thompson—1.3 apg; Marvin Reese—1.1 apg; and Courtland Reese—1.0 apg.

James Lilly had the most steals, averaging 1.3 spg and Courtland Reese averaged 1.2 bpg to lead the team in blocks.

Coach Frederick Aura stated, “I’m really proud of this team.  They worked hard and came together to achieve beyond any of our expectations.  We’re proud to be the #1 seed in the East Region for the Big Dance and are focused on taking the tournament one game at a time.”

While the team is losing several players to graduation, the coaching staff was able to recruit 5 top-flight players who are expected to help continue the Eagles success in the upcoming seasons. “We’re committed to bringing great student-athletes to Boston College,” said Coach Aura.

[PointGuard 70]

Omari Aura

Man, I’m really glad I chose to play for Providence.  We finished the season tied with Creighton for 1^st place in the Big East Conference with identical 17-3 records.  Our season record thus far is 31-3 and we’re 3^rd in the Media Poll and 2^nd in the Coaches Poll.  Our NET Ranking is 7^th best of all the Division I teams.  What’s more is that we’re a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  That was a surprise to all of us on the Friars and led to an explosion of joy and exuberance when it was announced.  I’m particularly happy with that since it means both we and my dad’s team are #1 seeds.  I hope we both move on to the Final Four so we can meet on the court.  We enter the tournament at full strength.  I’ve played behind Matt Fox at SF this season.  Matt will be a junior next year, but it’s likely he will move to his more natural PF position since Greg Slaughter who starred for us this season at PF is graduating after this season.  I’m hoping to become the starting SF next season.

Edited October 16, 2021 by PointGuard

[PointGuard 70]

CIT Results

Round 1

Florida State-66, California Baptist-55

Northern Iowa-90, Miami (FL)-77

Round 2

New Mexico State-80, Florida State-63

Championship

Northern Iowa-82, St. Louis-75

CBI Results

Championship

Hampton-76, St. Joseph’s-66

NIT Results

Round 1

Clemson-90, Merrimack-74

Round 2

Clemson-81, Rutgers-71

Round 3

Clemson-84, Chattanooga-77

Round 4 (Semifinals)

Clemson-70, Oregon-62

Round 5 (Championship)

Kansas State-79, Clemson-73

[PointGuard 70]

NCAA Tournament

Round 1

Virginia-93, Elon-90 (OT)

Louisville-84, Montana-70

North Carolina-65, Hawaii-53

Duke-92, Princeton-67

North Carolina State-73, Temple-65

Notre Dame-71, Morgan State-58

March 16, 2028: #16 seed Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (16-17) vs #1 seed Boston College Eagles (30-4)

The Eagles came out strong and pulled further and further ahead to finish the first half with a commanding 47-30 lead.  Boston College continued to smother the Mountaineers in the 2^nd half.  Midway through the 2^nd half, BC was on top by 29 points.  With Coach Aura playing his entire bench liberally, Mount St. Mary’s shaved a few points of the lead, but the Eagles won handily by a final score of 81-60.  Courtland Reese had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Leonard Meliet scored 12 plus has 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.  Michael Millford scored 11 and Marvin Reese added 10.

The ACC finished round 1 with a perfect 7-0 record.

Round 2 (Round of 32)

Virginia-98, Iowa State-82

North Carolina-63, Louisville-49

Duke-67, Minnesota-54

Creighton-91, North Carolina State-70

Notre Dame-89, Navy-68

March 18, 2028: #9 seed Oklahoma State Cowboys (23-11) vs #1 seed Boston College Eagles (31-4)

Oklahoma State is a good shooting team with sharp passing skills leading to the most assists in the country.  They Cowboys are an offensive juggernaut (81 ppg), but also give up a lot of points (74.5 ppg).  SG Bucky Blair is averaging 16.1 ppg.

Boston College started with a deliberate offense designed to control the tempo of the game and throw the Cowboys off-balance and also attacked the boards.  The Eagles also drove incessantly causing Oklahoma State’s players to commit fouls.  It worked well enough that BC held a 14-3 lead at the first media time out and two Cowboy starters, including Bucky Blair, had amassed 2 fouls apiece that sent them to the bench.  Although Oklahoma State began hitting some shots, the Eagles shooting was cooking so that with 7 minutes to play in the half, the lead had grown to 38-17.  BC led 54-36 when the half ended.  Josh McFadgon and Leonard Meliet had 12 points each and Courtland Reese scored 10.  The Cowboys’ Bucky Blair had been held scoreless, but PG Aaron Angner hit for 13 points.

Although the Eagles shooting cooled in the 2^nd half, they steadily padded their lead, never letting Oklahoma get a sustained run.  When the claxon sounded, Boston College had crushed Oklahoma State by a score of 96-70.  The Eagles outshot the Cowboys 62% to 47% and totally dominated the boards, 38-19.

C Courtland Reese had another double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds.  SF Leonard Meliet scored 19 plus had 8 rebounds.  PG Josh McFadgon put 15 points on the board and had 6 assists.  PF Marvin Reese hit for 10 points and SF Michael Millford tossed in 9 points.  BC held Bucky Blair to just 5 points.

“Oklahoma State’s offense is so potent that we knew we needed to put a roadblock in their way.  Our guys executed our game plan to perfection with control of the tempo and a stingy defense.  And our team’s offense got off to a blazing start and kept clicking the entire game plus our guys really attacked the boards.  It was one of the best games we’ve played this season,” said Coach Fred Aura.

Round 3 (Sweet 16)

Virginia-97, Florida-72

Duke-73, Creighton-70

Arizona-68, Notre Dame-61

Mar. 23, 2028: #5 seed North Carolina Tar Heels (22-11) vs #1 seed Boston College Eagles (32-4)

The Eagles got trounced by a score of 78-53 in Chapel Hill the only time this year that these two teams met.  So Boston College has the motivation to show that game was a fluke, but can they figure out the Tar Heel defense and turn things around to advance in the tournament?

The game started as the A.J.Gainous show.  The North Carolina PF scored the Tar Heels first 8 points while BC looked confused and tenuous on the floor.  The Eagles hit just 1 of their first 9 shots and had 5 turnovers in the first 6 minutes of the game as they fell behind 11-2.  After trailing 21-8 midway through the half, Boston College scored the next 13 points to draw into a tie.  With 2 minutes remaining the Eagles took their first lead ad 26-25, but North Carolina came back to take a 32-27 halftime lead.  Both teams shot poorly, but BC’s undoing in the first half was making 12 turnovers and A.J. Gainous scoring 13 points for the Tar Heels.

The Eagles finally began to hit some 3’s in response to North Carolina’s 2-3 zone in the 2^nd half.  But each time BC got within 1-2 points, the Tar Heels opened a 4-6 point lead.  With 3-1/2 minutes, the Eagles finally tied the score and then went ahead by 2 when Courtland Reese hit a 10 foot jumper with 2 minutes remaining.  Neither team could score and North Carolina blocked a shot with 42 seconds left and called a time out.  After the Tar Heels missed a 3, BC had a pass intercepted and called another time out.  BC’s defense kept North Carolina from getting a free shot and Josh McFadgon blocked their attempt with 2 seconds to go and Lilly recovered the ball to end the game.  Boston College pulled out a 65-63 squeaker.  BC outshot North Carolina 43% to 32% but the Tar Heels scored 11 more points at the free throw line.  The Eagles had 19 turnovers to North Carolina’s 12, but held a 39-35 rebounding advantage.

North Carolina’s A.J. Gainous scored 28 points.  For the Eagles, C Courtland Reese had yet another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  PG Josh McFadgon scored 13, SF Leonard Meliet dropped in 12 points, and SF Michael Millford added 11.

Coach Fred Aura said, “North Carolina again made it exceptionally tough for us and we simply couldn’t stop A.J. Gainous.  The defense by both teams was exceptional and totally frustrated the offenses.  We struggled the entire game.  Those last 2 minutes seemed like a lifetime.  I can’t say enough about Courtland Reese.  He’s had 3 straight double-double and did it tonight with 4 fouls on him.  And his defense has been outstanding in all 3 games. 

Round 4 (Elite 8 )

Duke-63, Kansas-59

March 25, 2028: #3 seed Virginia Cavaliers (29-6) vs #1 seed Boston College Eagles (33-4)

Boston College took control early and by the end of the first half, the Eagles held a 38-21 lead. 

Both teams scored well in the 2^nd half.  The Eagles held onto a double digit lead the entire half and came away with a 77-65 victory.

C Courtland Reese scored 21 points and grabbed 7 boards.  SF Leonard Meliet hit for 15 points.  PG Josh McFadgon and PF/C Jason Caldwell both scored 11 points.  SF Jamaal Lawson scored 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for Virginia.

“Virginia’s a really good team,” said Coach Fred Aura.  “So our guys did a great job taking command early and then keeping the Cavaliers from coming back.  Virginia’s Lawson showed what a tremendous player he is, but we had a great team effort.  Getting to the Final Four is fantastic, but having to take on the duo of Rod Allen and Brian Taylor plus all of Duke’s other excellent players a 4^th time this season is no picnic.”

The 7 AAC teams are 17-5 in this tournament and 3 of the 5 losses were to other ACC teams.

Round 5 (Final 4)

Wichita State-86, South Carolina-73

Apr. 1, 2028: #2 seed Duke Blue Devils (32-6) vs #1 seed Boston College Eagles (34-4)

This game ensures one ACC team will be in the championship game.  Boston College has handled Duke with relative ease in their previous 3 meetings this season, but Duke’s win over Kansas in the Elite 8 showed how good a team they really are.

Duke came out with fire in their eyes and streaked to a 9-0 lead while BC’s SF Leonard Meliet picked up 2 fouls within the first 2 minutes.  The Eagles got within 2 points a couple times but each time Duke pulled away.  With 9 minutes to go, the Blue Devils led 27-14.  When the half ended the Eagles were in a 46-35 hole.  BC was simply outplayed by Duke.

Things didn’t improve in the 2^nd half for the Eagles.  With 13 minutes to go they trailed by 20 points.  Duke hit 14 of 23 from beyond the arc enroute to an 89-69 thrashing of Boston College.

C Courtland Reese scored 14 and had 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks.  SF Michael Millford tossed in 13 points and PG Josh McFadgon added 12.

Coach Fred Aura said, “Duke just seemed to want it more tonight and they shot the lights out. They showed why they’ve been so highly rated in the polls the entire season.  We’ll be rooting for them in the championship game.  I’m proud of what my guys did throughout this season though.  It’s been a joy working with them.”

Round 6 (Championship Game)

Wichita State-90, Duke-80

Edited October 18, 2021 by PointGuard

[PointGuard 70]

Awards for Boston College

National Coach of the Year: Frederick Aura

ACC Coach of the Year: Frederick Aura

ACC 2^nd Team All-Conference: Leonard Meliet

[PointGuard 70]

Janaka Aura

Fred had several very good universities interested in hiring him as head coach…including Michigan State and North Carolina.  As a family we had a long conversation about it.  And the decision was…stay at Boston College.  BC’s prestige increased quite a bit (from 55 to 63) and Fred is looking forward to coaching the returning players and his new recruits this coming year.

[PointGuard 70]

2^nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

With PG Phil Thompson declaring for the pro draft, a scholarship came available.  So we made a late offer to a PG from New Jersey.  We’d burned our entire recruiting budget so could only call and text him to try to generate a little interest that way.  But that was unsuccessful.  So that means we will have one scholarship available if we want to go after a transfer player.

[PointGuard 70]

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

Obviously we’re extremely pleased with the job Fred Aura has done as our head coach.  He met all the goals I’d set before the season began: winning 20+ games; finishing in the top half of the conference standings; qualifying for the NCAA tournament; improving school prestige; and no academic ineligibility.  Job well done!

Fred requested improvements to our facilities but the board denied the request, overriding my support for Fred’s request.

Coach Aura’s record

2019-20: Towson, 18-15, .545, unranked, 6^th (tie) in CAA, No post-season tourney

2020-21: Towson, 13-17, .433, unranked, 5^th in CAA, No post-season tourney

2021-22: Towson, 24-9, .727, unranked, 2^nd in CAA, NCAA (Round 1)

2022-23: Towson, 27-7, .794, ranked 24^th, 1^st in CAA, NCAA (Round 2)

2023-24: Towson, 30-4, .882, ranked 15^th, 1^st in CAA, NCAA (Sweet 16)

2024-25: Towson, 25-8, .758, unranked, 1^st in CAA, NCAA (Round 1)

2025-26: Boston College, 21-17, .553, unranked, 10^th in ACC, CIT (Finals)

2026-27: Boston College, 25-10, .714, ranked 25^th, 3^rd in ACC, NCAA (Sweet 16)

2027-28: Boston College, 34-5, .872, ranked 2^nd, 1^st in ACC, NCAA (Final 4)

Career Record: 217-92, .702

When you look at what Coach Aura did during his last 4 years at Towson, you can see why we hired him.  His success here has been just as dramatic, maybe even more so since our team’s ascent in the tough ACC, as well as national recognition, has been so rapid.

[PointGuard 70]

2028-2029 SEASON

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

Non-Conference Rival:

Last season I mentioned that we wanted to change our non-conference rival.  For a number of years it’s been Cornell.  While Cornell and our school both have very strong academics so that’s a good fit, our basketball program has significantly developed and strengthened far beyond Cornell’s.  We identified a university and basketball program that much more closely fits with where we are now.  Not only are the basketball programs of near equal strength, but this university is relatively nearby geographically and, like us, is a Catholic school.

Today we are announcing that our new non-conference rival starting this season will be the Providence Friars.  They’re a member of the Big East Conference.  So not only is their team prestige much closer to ours but their conference’s prestige level is much like the ACC’s than Cornell’s Ivy League.  The last two seasons the Friars have gone 29-10 (ranked #13 in the polls) and 32-4 (ranked #3 in the polls), so obviously they will be a real challenge to play.

And yes, there’s one more thing.  Coach Aura’s son, Omari, will be a sophomore on the Friars team this season.

As part of our long-term relationship with Cornell, we helped them set up a new non-conference rival that is closely similar to the Big Red basketball program and has similar academic credentials and geographically is a good fit.  Cornell’s new non-conference rival will be the Northeastern Huskies of the Colonial Athletic Association.

Recruit Class Ratings:

The ratings for last season’s recruiting came out this week.  Our recruit class was rated as the 15^th best recruit class.  Pittsburgh which was rated 4^th was the only ACC program higher than ours.  But there were 3 other ACC teams in the top 25: Clemson at #19, Florida State at #20, and Notre Dame at #21.

Goals:

After last year’s successes, I kept 4 of the goals from last season (improve school prestige, no academic ineligibility, win 20+ games, win the conference tournament).  The first 3 should be relatively easy for Coach Aura and his team to achieve.  The fourth is certainly doable, but as we saw last season, it’s a crap shoot.  I then added a new one: reach the NCAA final four.  Actually we did that last season which exceeded my previous goals for the team, but now that we did it, I and the administration (as well as our students and fans) want that again.  Not easy, but with the team we will have this season, I believe we can do it.  I could have made it win the national championship (which I also think is at least a possibility), but figured that if they achieve the goal of getting to the final four they then have internalized a desire to win the championship.                                            

[PointGuard 70]

2^nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

May 2028:

Due to Phil Thompson declaring for the pro draft, we now have 3 scholarships to fill this year, although we can fill one of those 3 with a transfer player.  We’re pretty deep on the interior, so we’ll look primarily look at guards and SF’s to see if one of the available transfer players can compete for a starting job after sitting out this season and also will be good for the chemistry of the team.

We decided to limit our purchasing for scouting reports to the basic reports for the Atlantic East Region and the National Report.  We also will limit our camp attendance to the Indy Elite Camp and the Big Apple Showcase.

June 2028:

We initially tried to entice the top-rated transfer player.  He’s a true 5-star player.  But it quickly became obvious that he was really focused on transferring to Kansas, so there was no use wasting more of our time and money when we had no real chance of persuading him to consider Boston College.

We shifted our focus and we signed a transfer player early during the transfer period.  He’s SG Greg Robinson from Harper Woods, Michigan who played two seasons for Cincinnati.  He’s 6’2” and played 16.4 mpg and scored 8.2 ppg last season.  He’s excellent defensively and is a good shooter from outside.  As a transfer he will sit out this season but will be a junior eligibility-wise when he can play for us the following year.

That leaves us with 2 scholarships to fill through recruiting this year.  Ideally we’d like to land a PG and SF.

[PointGuard 70]

Greg Robinson, Transfer SG

I hadn’t really considered Boston College that much when I decided to transfer from Cincinnati.  But my discussions with Coach Aura (I guess the guys call him Coach Fed) and Assistant Coach Evans got me excited about switching over to the Eagles.  My high school coach at Trinity Catholic in Harper Woods, Michigan also was really high on Boston College.  And my parents were happy I would be going to a Catholic university, although that didn’t really play into MY decision.  The rapid improvement of BC’s basketball program has been nothing short of phenomenal.  At Boston College I’m pretty sure I will be playing in the NCAA tournament during my junior and senior years of eligibility.  Obviously BC wanted me because they’re good recruiters and could have gone after a top-flight recruit instead of offering me the transfer.

My two seasons at Cincinnati were a bit underwhelming.  I got into almost every game both years, but only played a little over 6 mpg in my freshman year.  While my playing time increased to about 16 mpg in my sophomore year, I never got to start.  Heck, I was hitting over 40% of my FG’s and almost 40% of my 3’s.  I averaged 3.5 ppg as a freshman and 8.2 ppg as a sophomore.  Not bad for how little time I was on the court, and I scored 19 points in one game and was the Player of the Game five times.  And I think I was one of Cincinnati’s best defenders.  I, and most people I know, thought I should have been playing more. Cincinnati’s coaches wanted me to be more involved with my teammates there, but after practice I had better things to do.  And I’m not a big rah-rah guy while sitting on the bench.  I got the distinct impression that some of my teammates didn’t like that.  Sort of gave me a cold shoulder, but that doesn’t bother me.  I can make my own friends.

While Coach Aura didn’t promise me a starting job after I sit out my year for transferring, I’m optimistic.  They have two freshman SG’s this season and one is pretty darned good.  That means he could very well be a one-and-done, thereby opening things for me when I become eligible to play a year from now.  Once the coaching staff gets to see both my offensive and defensive capabilities, I think they’ll agree.  I’ve always been a really hard worker, so will give it my all even when I have to just practice (and not play) this coming season.  That will help me improve plus give me a solid knowledge of Coach Aura’s sets and strategy.  I already have a lot of experience with one of the offenses (Princeton) that BC uses.  Coach Aura also said he’d get me hooked up with some great basketball camps this summer.

Time to get on my Play Station, so more later.

Edited October 23, 2021 by PointGuard

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Coach Fred Aura

Pro Draft

We were sorry to lose Phil Thompson when he decided to declare for the pro draft.  But his decision was probably the right one for him.  He got selected in the 1^st round.  Even though he was the last player to be drafted in that round, it means he has a good chance of sticking with his team and not going into the Development League.

I called him immediately after he was selected to offer my congratulations and wish him the best.  He was ecstatic, particularly since he will be on a very good team. 

12 ACC players were selected in the first round, which shows how strong our conference is.  Phil was selected just 2 picks behind Jamaal Lawson who gave us fits when we played Virginia.

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

Norton Award

Two of our players, Leonard Meliet and Corey Graham were nominated for the Norton Award.  As a freshman last season, Meliet was a quarterfinalist.  Graham is a freshman this year.

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2^nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

We worked recruiting really hard throughout the summer and into the fall…and with good results since we filled both of our open scholarships with strong performers. 

In mid-September we got a verbal acceptance of our scholarship offer from SF Maynard Gardner.  Maynard’s a 6’7” high school senior from Tenafly, NJ.  He’s an outstanding scorer who shoots well from both inside and outside.  His rebounding skills are excellent and he’s very strong defensively with very strong stealing skills.  He also has great passing skills.  As a junior last season, he averaged 21.1 ppg, 3.0 apg, 6.1 rpg, 1.2 bpg, and 4.3 spg.  Overall we rated him as an A+ and he’s ranked as the 30^th best recruit in the country.

At the beginning of October PG Bobby Grannum gave us a verbal acceptance.  Bobby is a 6’4” high school senior from Orlando, FL.  Last season as a junior he averaged 20.0 ppg, 7.6 apg, 5.2 rpg, 0.5 bpg, and 3.6 spg.  He’s a great scorer with a sweet shot from outside and very good interior shooting as well.  He’s an excellent defender who gets a lot of steals.  He’s a very good rebounder and has outstanding passing skills and is a good ball handler.  He’s extremely athletic.  His coach told us he’s got a tremendous work ethic but has had some attitude and discipline problems.  So we’ll have to keep track of that and address the issue if it arises.  On a positive note, he showed a lot of interest in discipline and Coach Aura can be strong in that area.  We rate his as an A+ and he’s ranked as the 25^th best recruit nationally.  He was a top 10 player at the Indy Elite Camp and was the MVP at the Memphis Hoop Summit this summer.

So recruiting is finished for this season…well at least it is if they both get high enough SAT scores.  Hopefully they do, because we blew through most all of our recruiting budget already.

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1^st Assistant Coach David Woodruff (practice)

We just finished a month of practice.  That went well, no issues, some good competition for playing time when games begin.

We’ve nailed down starters for 4 of the 5 positions with one still up in the air.  Like last season we have good starters.  We also have a lot of depth, particularly on the interior, although not as much at the guard positions as we’d like.

We have a tough pre-conference schedule and then of course the ACC competition is always keen.  AND…we have 5 freshmen and a transfer player.  So 6 players who’ve never experienced competition for us yet.  How will each of them do?  We have an idea, but in reality it’s anyone’s guess.  And then there are always injuries.  Hopefully no major ones.  So, it’s hard to say how we will do this season.

Starters:

PG-Leonard Meliet: He started at SF last season but will be playing his more natural PG position this year.  As a freshman he averaged 15.7 ppg, 3.6 apg, and 4.1 rpg.  For the second straight year he’s a Norton Award candidate.

SG-Corey Graham: He’s a freshman who is also a Norton Award candidate.  He’s got a very good shot and isn’t afraid to put the ball up. 

SF-This is where it could either be senior Michael Millford or sophomore Keith Kolder…or maybe even freshman Darius Hein.  Michael has the most experience, but he and Keith are very similar players and it’s hard to say who will perform the best.  Darius came to us as a PF, but with the depth we have at that position, he definitely will get playing time at SF as well as at PF and could possibly ultimately become our regular starter at SF.

PF-Freshman Danny Toliver:  After sitting out a season due to transferring from Georgia Tech where he averaged 9.1 ppg and 6.5 rpg as a freshman, he’s going to be a very strong player for us this season. 

C-Junior Courtland Reese:  He’s been our “rock” in his first 2 seasons with us.  Last season he averaged 14.6 ppg and 6.1 rpg which was very similar to what he did as a freshman.  But he just keeps improving.

Subs:

PG-Freshman Rashon Thorn.  He’s a good ball handler and passer and can put the ball in the hoop but needs some seasoning.

SG-Freshman Adrian Moss.  He also needs experience to develop into what we expect will be a strong player in future years.

SF-Discussed above.

PF-Junior Winston Minahan averaged 2.9 ppg and 1.9 rpg, but is solid and will definitely be an able interior player coming off the bench.  Freshman Mike Braxton will also get some time at PF but has some maturing to do before getting too many minutes on the court.  We considered redshirting him, but figured he might be the type to transfer if redshirted.

C-Senior Jason Caldwell would be a strong starter if it weren’t for talented Courtland Reese. Jason is an extremely good interior player who averaged 6.1 ppg and 4.2 rpg last season.  Senior Greg Kidd is also a strong player coming off the bench and he averaged 4.7 ppg and 3.3 rpg last year.

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Nov. 15, 2028: #20 ranked Boston College Eagles (0-0) vs Seton Hall Pirates (0-0) at Prudential Center in South Orange, NJ

Coach Fred Aura

It’s sure good to have the new season beginning.  Seton Hall always has a solid team and playing them on their court will be a challenge, particularly as a season opener.  SF Quincy Abrams is their star player.  As a freshman last season he averaged 15.3 ppg and 6.7 rpg.

I’m nervous to see how we do with so many brand new players on our team.  You’ve heard who we’re starting…well except at SF…and for our first game we’ll go with experience and start Michael Millford at the 3 but expect Keith Koder and Darius Hein get their minutes as well.  I wish I could put all 3 of them on the court at the same time to try to contain Quincy Abrams.  With the inexperience we have throughout our lineup, I won’t be surprised if there are some major butterflies and we have a bunch of turnovers.  But, here’s how the game went:

Tough start. We fell behind 5-0 and it took 2-1/2 minutes for us to finally score.  Michael Millford hit a 3 at that point to put us on the board.  Things got worse…we trailed 18-7 seven minutes into the game.  By applying some solid defense, we chipped away at the Pirates’ lead, and with 5:13 to go, Danny Toliver was fouled on a 3 point attempt.  He sunk all 3 free throws to tie the game at 26-26. 45 seconds later we got our first lead when Greg Kidd powered his way to the hoop and jammed down a bucket.  PG Keith Bland was simply killing us so we changed our double-teaming from Abrams to Bland.  He knocked down all 5 of his FG’s including four 3’s, and also was 7 for 7 from the line to score 21 points and lead Seton Hall to a 39-36 halftime edge.  The Pirates were deadly from the free throw line, hitting 15 of 15.  Our scoring was distributed throughout out lineup with Courtland Reese scoring 8 and grabbing 5 boards.  Our new guys though, only hit 1 of 11 from the field in the half.

We had a 7-0 run in the first 70 seconds of the 2^nd half.  We held onto a small lead, but fouls were piling up on our guys.  I was working the refs but had to not go all out since I got called for a technical in the first half.  The Pirates were sticking with us mostly by getting to the free throw line.  But we held on and came away with a 75-64 win in our opener. 

We hit just 37% of our shots, but our defense held Seton Hall’s shooting to 32%.  Our real forte though was that we totally dominated the boards (43-26).  Because of that we outscored the Pirates 26-12 in the paint and 14-4 on 2^nd chance points.

Courtland Reese had 14 points, 12 rebounds, a steal and 3 blocks.  Michael Millford also scored 14 points and Corey Graham added 13.  Leonard Meliet scored just 7 points but had 8 assists.  For Seton Hall, Bland finished with 22 points and Abrams scored 21 points.  Our six new guys only made 3 of 20 shots from the field, but this was their first game for us, so first game jitters.  I’m confident they’ll be more effective in our future games.

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Nov. 18, 2028: #17 ranked Purdue Boilermakers (1-0) vs #20 ranked Boston College Eagles (1-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Eric Perry, 2^nd Assistant (Scouting) Coach for the Providence Friars

The first half was close all the way with both teams sharing the lead.  Purdue outshot the Eagles, but BC controlled the boards.  At the break the Eagles led 41-40.  Courtland Reese scored 15 points and pulled down 8 rebounds in the half.

After missing all 6 of their 3PA’s in the first half, BC hit 4 of their first 5 3PA’s in the 2^nd half as they cruised to a 58-48 lead with 13 minutes left in the game.  The Eagles defense ensured that their lead held and BC dispatched the Boilermakers by a final score of 79-68.  As in their first game, the Eagles controlled inside, pulling down 40 rebounds compared to Purdue’s 22 and holding a 24-8 edge on points in the paint and a 16-5 difference in 2^nd chance points.

C Courtland Reese had a big game, scoring 21, grabbing 17 rebounds, and blocking 4 shots.  PG Leonard Meliet had 17 points and 6 assists.  SG Corey Graham put in 12 points and SF Michael Millford contributed 10 points.

OK, sure I have a lot of notes on the Eagles and their players.  But you think I’m gonna show you those?  Ya think I’m dumb?  No way I want you to know what I think the strengths and weaknesses of Boston College are.  That’s just for the coaching staff and players for Providence so we can whip BC’s butt when we host them next month.

Oh yeah, and Coach Aura’s son Omari?  He’s fighting to start at SF for us and preparing to play the best game of his short collegiate career against his papa’s team.

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Nov. 22, 2028: Colorado Buffaloes (1-1) vs #15 ranked Boston College Eagles (2-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Baldwin the Eagle

This gig as BC’s mascot is fantastic.  How else can you get all the girls wanting to hug you?  Plus it’s just a lot of fun.  Last year I was the backup as mascot so only got to be Baldwin for a few games.  But now I’m the primary Baldwin and will do most all the games.  I’m loving the attention even though it is mighty hot inside the costume.

Colorado’s loss this season was in a tournament to top-ranked Kansas, and the Buffaloes gave the Jayhawks a good battle.  They were 31-6 last season, ranked #11 in the polls, and got to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.  So tonight’s game could be a real struggle.  Their leading scorer thus far this season is SG Rahim Collins.  He was the team’s top scorer last year as well and was named to the Pac 12 All-Conference 1^st Team.  SF Travis Garner was the Pac 12’s Defensive Player of the Year last season.  C David Morgan has been on the Pac 12’s All-Conference 1^st Team both season’s he’s been at Colorado and is also a defensive stalwart. 

After falling behind 5-2, the Eagles scored the next 15 points.  With 6-1/2 minutes left in the half, we had opened a 20 point lead.  BC finished the half with a 46-24 lead, primarily due to the fact the Eagles had just 1 turnover compared to 15 by the Buffaloes.  PG Leon Meliet led the scoring with 12 points.

Colorado wasn’t ever able to challenge in the 2^nd half and the Eagles came away with an easy 84-58 stomping of the Buffaloes. 

Guards Leon Meliet and Corey Graham scored 22 and 20 points respectively with PF Danny Toliver picking up a double-double (14 points and 10 boards). 

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Nov. 25, 2028: #9-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles (2-1) vs #15 ranked Boston College Eagles (3-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

JJ Conroy, BeanTownSports Blog

OK, kudos to the Boston College Eagles for a great year last season.  They outdid everyone’s expectations.

But, while I think this season they’ll do pretty well, I would bet my 2^nd born kid that they won’t be as good as last year.  Sure they won their first 3 games, and sure they will have a decent overall record and be up toward the top of the ACC standings, and make it to the NCAA Tournament.  But, Eagles fans, don’t get expect another miracle season.  And don’t start hyperventilating about me being a Boston College hater.  I’m not, I’m just a realist.

The Eagles starting guards (Meliet and Graham) definitely are very good.  But since they’ve had to move Meliet from SF (where he played last season) to PG, that has made the “3” position much weaker.  Inside they have very good depth but not better than last year.  And overall, I think the Eagles bench strength is not as strong as what they had last season.

As I’m writing this, they’re about ready to go up against Marquette, a team that is ranked #9 in the polls…a gross over-rating, if I’ve ever seen one.  Marquette is good inside, but is atrocious at the guard positions.  And the Golden Eagles have only beaten two push-overs and lost at home to Ohio State.  Not an exemplary record at all.  BC has home court advantage so they should romp…but that’s no indication as to whether the Eagles are a good team or not.

OK, the games starting so here’s my observations:

A sloppy start by both teams.  BC then took advantage of miscues by Marquette to go on a 7-0 run.  Then bad news for the Eagles, C Courtland Reese picked up his 2^nd foul just 4-1/2 minutes into the game.  Marquette scored just 2 points in the first 6-1/2 minutes, but that was due to poor play (including 6 turnovers) by the Golden Eagles rather than stellar defense by BC.  Even though BC sported a 40-24 halftime advantage, they only hit 42% of their shots and were fortunate that the Golden Eagles fouled so much that BC was able to score 15 points from the free throw line, shot even worse (35%) than BC, and made 9 turnovers to 2 for the Eagles.  SG Corey Graham and PF Danny Toliver carried the Eagles offensively by scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Marquette had 2 turnovers, a missed shot, and a blocked shot in their first 4 possessions of the 2^nd half.  By then they trailed by 22 points.  Although the Golden Eagles scored a few points on free throws, it took them over 6 minutes to make their first field goal of the 2^nd half.  Midway through the half, the Eagles were up by 32 points and the game was a lock.  To Coach Aura’s credit, he played the far end of his bench most of the rest of the way to take a little of the sting away from the drubbing his team inflicted on the Golden Eagles.  Final score: Boston College-76, Marquette-54.

Scoring in double figures for the Eagles were: SG Corey Graham with 19 points and PF Danny Tolliver, C Courtland Reese, and PF Winston Minahan with 10 points apiece.  PG Leon Meliet finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 12 assists.

As I figured, this game didn’t really tell us anything about the strength of the Eagles.  It did help those oh-so-smart pollsters move BC up to #10 in Media Poll, though.  ACC teams, Duke and Notre Dame are #2 and #3.

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Nov. 29, 2028: Minnesota Gophers (2-2) vs #10 ranked Boston College Eagles (4-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds

The Eagles flew high last season.  From what I’ve seen so far, I think they will do the same this season.

Inside both starters, Courtland Reese and Danny Tolliver, have shown they can score, rebound and play defense.  Reese is averaging 13.3 ppg and 9.8 rpg and had a 21 pt, 17 reb game.  Tolliver has averaged 8.8 ppg and 5.3 rpg with a 14 pt, 10 reb game.  And Jason Caldwell, Winston Minaham, and Greg Kidd all have shown the ability to produce when them come in off the bench.

Starting guards, Leonard Meliet and Corey Graham, are great outside.  Meliet is averaging 13.5 ppg, 7.5 apg and 3.0 rpg and has scored 22 points in one game and had 12 assists and 8 rebounds in another.  Freshman Graham leads the team in scoring with 16.0 ppg plus has averaged 2.8 rpg and 2.3 apg and has scored 20 and 19 points in his last 2 games.  Freshmen Rashon Thorn and Adrian Moss are getting valuable experience coming in off the bench.

The starter at the SF position has not yet been set, but Michael Millford appears to have the edge, averaging 7.8 ppg.  Keith Kolder and Darius Hein haven’t been as productive scoring but appear to be better rebounders.

The team has averaged 78.5 ppg while giving up just 61.0 ppg and has shown the ability to dominate the boards.

While Boston College is just one of seven ACC teams ranked in the polls, their primary competition thus far appears to be Duke and Notre Dame.

The Eagles needed to use this home game against Minnesota as a tune up for two upcoming road games against ranked opponents, Arkansas and Providence.

The Eagles came out firing on all cylinders and opened a 14-2 lead after 3 minutes of play, increased their lead to 15 points just 5 minutes into the game and continued to pull away with C Courtland Reese nearly unstoppable.  BC totally dominated the boards in the first half (28-14) and outshot the Golden Gophers 50% to 23%.  The half ended with the Eagles holding a commanding 49-22 lead.  Reese had 15 points and 8 rebounds.

The Eagles’ bench got a lot of playing time in the 2^nd half which allowed Minnesota to trim the lead.  But BC was never seriously challenged.  The game ended with Boston College winning by a score of 76-63. 

Courtland Reese scored 19 and pulled down 9 boards.  SG Corey Graham had 14 points, SF Michael Millford scored 13 points, PF Danny Tolliver scored 11 plus had 7 rebounds, PG Leonard Meliet had 7 points and 8 assists, and reserve C Jason Caldwell scored 7 and grabbed 7 rebounds.

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Dec. 6, 2028: #10-ranked Boston College Eagles (5-0) vs #23-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (6-0) at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR

Boston Herald

EAGLES HOG-TIE RAZORBACKS

Boston College travelled to take on Arkansas in a battle of unbeatens.  Both teams struggled to score throughout most of the first half.  But the scoring picked up late in the half and the Eagles took a 35-31 lead at the break.  BC’s starting guards, Leonard Meliet and Corey Graham, both scored 11 points in the half. 

Boston College began the first half with an 11-2 run.  Arkansas trimmed the Eagles’ lead to keep in contact until the last 3 minutes when BC again pulled away to score a 75-59 win.

Leading the way for Boston College was C Courtland Reese with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  PG Leon Meliet and SG Corey Graham also scored 15 points apiece with Meliet also recording 9 assists. 

Coach Fred Aura said, “While we had a tough time buying baskets in the first 15 minutes, our offense was decent the final 25 minutes.  But our defense won the game for us, holding Arkansas’ shooting to just 35% and forcing the Razorbacks to make 22 turnovers.  Arkansas battled us the entire way, so I’m very happy to get out with a victory.”

When asked about the Eagles’ placement in the polls (10^th in the Media Poll and 11^th in the Coaches Poll), Aura responded, “We let the pollsters take care of all that.  We’re still feeling our way through the early stages of the schedule.  We have a lot of new players so it’s important for them to gain experience and for us to see how to best utilize everyone.  I’m generally happy with what we’ve accomplished thus far, but like always, we just need to focus on every opponent as we play them. We have another away game coming up next week and then go to a pre-season tournament, so we’re in the midst of a tough part of our pre-conference schedule.  Then we begin ACC play late in December and have to play our first 3 conference games on the road.  So there are some big tests coming up for us.”

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Boston College Chronicle

By Kinsey Ramsey

OUTSIDE THE SPOTLIGHT

We wanted to focus on one of the starters on our basketball team.  But Coach Fred Aura encouraged us to rethink things.  He felt it was more important to highlight a deserving reserve on the Eagles.  Aura said the player most deserving of this article was senior Jason Caldwell.

Caldwell came to Boston College as a freshman in 2025, the same year Coach Aura became head coach here.  Jason had played high school ball at Ramapo High School in Spring Valley, NY.  Although not highly recruited, the Eagles’ coaching staff at the time felt he could be a solid interior player due to his imposing size (he’s now 6’6” and 262 pounds). 

Coach Aura said he was surprised how well Caldwell adapted to the college game.  He rapidly fit right into the team because of his extremely likeable personality.  By the time pre-season practices concluded, he’d surprised everyone and won the starting Center position.  He started all 33 games his freshman season, averaging 23.5 mpg, 9.3 ppg and 5.4 rpg. 

But when he returned for his sophomore year, two talented freshman, Courtland Reese and Sam Dickens, had arrived and staked a claim to the Center and Power Forward positions.  That relegated Caldwell to a supporting role coming in off the bench at either position.  That season he got just 10 starts when injuries sidelined either Reese or Dickens.  His playing time dropped to 16.7 mpg and he averaged 6.1 ppg and 3.9 rpg.  In Caldwell’s junior year, Reese was still the starting Center.  Dickens had transferred to Wisconsin, but Marvin Reese won the starting PF role.  Caldwell’s starts shrunk to just 7 games and his playing time hovered at 16.0 mpg.  His production remained static at 6.1 ppg and 4.2 rpg.  Then this season transfer player Danny Toliver became eligible and has been starting at PF with Courtland Reese still commanding the starting Center role.  While Caldwell has played in all 6 games thus far at both PF and C, his playing time has diminished to 12.7 mpg.  But he’s made the most of that time by averaging 6.2 ppg and 3.2 rpg.

Coach Aura stated, “Jason’s attitude throughout the entire time he’s been here has been extremely good.  He didn’t cry about coming off the bench, but instead has made the best of it and been a key contributor each and every season.  He’s a great role model for our younger players.  His buoyant spirit lifts the other players in the locker room, on the practice court, and during games.  Any team benefits from the type of person and player Jason is.  I can count on him infusing a high level of enthusiasm and effort each time I insert him into the game.  And not only is he a talented player, but he’s sporting a 4.0 GPA.  I’m sure he will be successful in whatever he does after graduating from Boston College this coming spring.”

Caldwell’s career bests in games include scoring 22 points in one game, pulling down 14 rebounds in another, and games with 4 assists, 3 blocks, and 4 steals.  Jason said, “The top moments in my career have been our wins over Duke and getting to the Final 4 last season.”  Teammate Courtland Reese said, “Jason can really fill the lane defensively and for rebounding.  I’ve found out the hard way that when he really wants a rebound to just back off and let him have it.  There’s a lot less bruises that way.”  Reese added, “Two other places where ya gotta give Jason his way are in the food line and when playing cards.  We kid him that he came to BC weighing 180 and now is up to 260. And we play a card game that is sort of a multiple player kind of solitaire where everyone is playing cards into piles in the middle of the table.  I wouldn’t say Jason has quick hands, but if you both have the same card to play on a pile, just pull back because his big meat hook will slam the hell out of your hand if it gets in the way.”

Caldwell said, “When I was recruited I was happy to come to Boston College because of it’s high academics.  But the basketball team had been the doormat of the ACC for a long time, and I didn’t expect that to change while I was here.  But fortunately Coach Fed came along at the same time and riding the incoming tide of success that’s stemmed from his coaching here has been a great experience and a lot of fun for me.”