The Eagles are coming off of an underwhelming 20-16 season, ending with a loss to UNLV in the second round of the NIT. There were some bright spots, especially the play of big man Quinten Post, but he graduated and is on to the professional level.

Returners:

BC lost all 5 starters to either the portal or graduation, as well as losing one of their main bench pieces, Prince Aligbe, and a few other deeper bench players. Their main three returners are Donald Hand Jr, Elijah Strong and Chas Kelley III. Hand Jr had the most significant minutes last season, returning from a torn ACL, with double digit points against Clemson, NC State, and. Louisville. He is a downhill scorer who also thrives in the midrange, and shot 34% from three last year. Kelley played a much smaller role as a freshman last year, not playing in their last 7 games, but did have good moments, such as a 13 point performance against St Johns in December. Elijah Strong, while not playing much as a freshman, got some good minutes in the Eagles NIT games, and put up two solid performances, with 10 points against Providence and 7 against UNLV. He is a forward who can stretch the floor while being a strong finisher at the rim.

Transfers:

Boston College added four transfers, hoping to replace all they lost. Center Chad Venning from St Bonaventure will be a projected starter for the Eagles following two seasons at Morgan State and two with the Bonnies. Venning averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds last year, an efficient and physical interior scorer, shooting over 60% on the 61% of his shots that come at the rim. He also makes an impact on the defensive end, averaging 1.6 blocks per game last season.

Another key transfer and projected starter is Dion Brown out of UMBC (pictured above). Brown averaged 19 points and 8 rebounds in his sophomore season, highlighted by a 28 point performance to open the season against Louisville and a 31 point performance against Bryant in February.

Forward Roger McFarlane joins the transfer class from Southeastern Louisiana, where he averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds per game. As a high level scorer both at the rim and from three (34% on high volume), it will be interesting how he fares at the higher level of competition in the ACC.

The fourth and final transfer for the Eagles is Josh Beadle, a guard from Clemson. The rising junior is the one high major transfer in this class, but got seldom minutes for the Tigers last season and didn’t make any significant impact. His bright spot was a 12 point performance at Florida State, which gives some hope for the impact he could make in Chestnut Hill.

Recruits:

This recruiting class for Boston College is nothing special. I would be surprised if any of them make a strong immediate impact this season, but in college basketball you never know. Their class consists of two local 3 star guards, Luka Toews and Nick Petronio, neither of which is a top 200 recruit, and Kany Tchanda, a top 200 forward who could get some minutes this year due to their lack of frontcourt depth.

Season Outlook

To be frank, I would be very surprised if this team is within the top 12 of the ACC, and even more surprised if they have a winning record. No one has a track record of consistent success at the high major level, and they have no returning leadership. They tried to fill the holes created by their many departures, but the holes were just too big for them to fill. Even if the mid major transfers can replicate that success at the high major level (which is unlikely), this teams ceiling is breaking a .500 record this season. Lack of talent and lack of leadership will sadly never be a recipe for success.

(P.C. Boston College Athletics)