When Florida State decided to hire Luke Loucks this past March, one of the reasons given was his argument that he could do more with less. That was sort of the idea when Boston College hired Earl Grant back in 2021, but to date, it hasn’t worked out all that well.
Whatever else you can say about Grant, say this: his teams play hard. They just haven’t been very good, and the revolution sparked by NIL and the portal haven’t helped much either.
Change may be coming to Boston College: the president, Rev.
William P. Leahy, will be stepping down next year and the next president, Rev. Jack Butler, seems to be all-in on sports.
He’s been the football team’s chaplain for 14 years and apparently lives and dies with the team’s success. He apparently understands the important of athletics to admissions and is willing to invest to get BC competitive again.
Grant is signed through the 2028-29 season and that’s a factor too. We don’t know for sure, but we don’t think the BC athletic department is awash with money right now.
Grant’s best option is to win, but it’s a catch-22: in order to win more, he needs more money. If he doesn’t do better this year, the Eagles brain trust may feel like they have to make a move (indeed, Butler might insist on it). And with Luke Murray just an hour and a half away in Storrs, and clearly ready for his own gig, the temptation might be intense (of course, Murray would not bite if the money wasn’t resolved).
Last season, BC finished just 12-19 and in 17th place in the bloated ACC. And moving up is going to be very tough with the dramatic improvements we should see at several programs. We’re not quite at Dead Man Walking stage, but it’s not looking great. Still, he clearly gets his team and gets them to play hard, and that’s the first priority.
From last season, BC loses Chad Venning (12.4 PPG), Elijah Strong (9.6 PPG), Dion Brown (7.5 PPG), Joshua Beadle (5.9 PPG), Roger McFarlane (5.2 PPG) and Chas Kelley III (4.4 PPG)
Of the nine players to get double-figure minutes, only three return.
Those three are junior Donald Hand Jr. (15.7 PPG) and sophomores Fred Payne (6.9 ppg) and Jayden Hastings (4.0 PPG), who averaged 33.2, 18.2 and 15 mpg respectively. Hand is an excellent player and Payne had his moments. Hastings might come along.
Luka Toews (1.6 PPG), Kany Tchanda (0.4 PPG) and Nick Petronio, who redshirted also return. It’s possible that Hastings, Toews or Tchanda could pull a David Robinson or something, but we’ll have to see that to believe it.
From the portal, BC gets 6-4 grad student Chase Forte (17.9 PPG at South Dakota), 6-9/210 senior Aidan Shaw (2.6 PPG at Missouri), 6-11/255 junior Boden Kapke (4.1 PPG at Butler) and 6-8 sophomore Jason Asemota (1.6 PPG at Baylor)
Forte, who attended Raleigh’s Word of God Academy, is on his fifth school, having previously been at UNC Asheville, Gulf Coast State, Northwestern State and most recently South Dakota. He did well at his last stop obviously, but clearly he hasn’t been in great conferences to date.
Shaw comes over from Mizzou. He’s not been a scorer so far, but he could be a useful defender. He should certainly get more minutes at BC and we’ll see what he does with them.
Kapke adds some size. He got 13.4 mpg with Butler and put up 4.1 ppg and got about 3.0 boards.
Boston native Jason Asemota heads back home after one year at Baylor. He was a decent high school player and should have more opportunities with the Eagles. He didn’t get a ton of opportunity with Baylor.
For the freshmen, BC gets 6-6 Akbar Waheed (four-star), 6-10 Jack Bailey (three-star) and 6-5 Caleb Steger (three-star) and a very late surprise.
Waheed is probably the best of the lot. A DMV kid, if he’s ready, we could see him starting with Hand to give the Eagles a big backcourt. You’d really have to guard both of them carefully, which would help open the inside up.
In high school, he averaged 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. He was an adequate but not great shooter, hitting 34.8 from behind the line and 45.5 percent overall.
Bailey is ranked as a three-star, for whatever that’s worth. His high school coach told Zagsblog that “Jack is a supremely skilled versatile 6-10 forward who fits the positionless modern game perfectly. He is our team’s best passer and makes others better every time he takes the floor. More than that, he is a kind, humble and unifying teammate who strengthens every locker room he inhabits.”
That’s either a standard strong recommendation or a sincere one. He sounds like he could help, but it might take a year for him to really expand his game. He also raved about Grant and his coaching style, which, if you’re the staff, you really appreciate.
Steger is out of a Jesuit high school and seems to appreciate the experience. In his comments here, he mentioned playing at a Jesuit college as a selling point. He seems like a humble and smart kid.
His strong points are shooting and perhaps especially three point shooting. He wants to become a combo guard as well.
You have to love this: “I am happy and extremely eager to get to work. BC Nation should know that they are getting a hardworking, competitive, and passionate person. I am excited to get involved and grow with the community, on and off the court.”
Who wouldn’t want a guy like that on your side?
Now for the late surprise: apparently a few days ago, Boston College got an international commitment from Marko Radunovic, a 6-6 guard from Montenegro. He’s gotten some buzz as a potential NBA player but it’s probably a bit early for that. For BC though? He could be a huge help and BC certainly needs help. It’s not clear when he’s going to take the court though. The semester has already started and he’s not even listed on the roster.
The only certain thing here is that Hand could be an All-ACC player. If he has to carry too much of the burden, like JJ Starling did for Syracuse last season, Boston College will be in trouble. If the pieces fit though, and some guys exceed expectations, the Eagles could soar.
The problem though is that unlike last season, the ACC is going to be much more difficult. A lot of teams could be much more competitive but not really move up. For Boston College, moving up is going to be very difficult. And for Grant, that could be bad news indeed.
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