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LOCATION: Chestnut Hill, MA
CONFERENCE: Big East
LAST SEASON: 6-21 (.222)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 3-15 (13th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Eagles
COLORS: Maroon & Gold
HOMECOURT: Silvio O. Conte Forum (8,606)
COACH: Al Skinner (Massachusetts '74)
record at school 21-37 (2 years)
career record 159-163 (11 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Tim O'Shea (Boston College '84)
Bill Coen (Hamilton '83)
Ed Cooley (Stonehill '94)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 9-19-22-15-6
RPI (last 5 years) 159-44-28-121-212
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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It has to be getting better, doesn't it? At least that's what Al Skinner must be repeating to himself every time he shows up for work at Boston College. The Eagles are improving. They are adding better talent. They are doing the things necessary to compete in the Big East Conference. They will someday return to the NCAA Tournament. BC will once again be known for its basketball. OK, so it seems a little improbable. Skinner sure doesn't want to consider the alternative. During his two years with the program, the Eagles have remained in the league's bottom quarter, no closer to the top than they were when Jim O'Brien left town after the school's admissions department played the equivalent of give-him-the-leg-and-take-it-away with some top recruits, thereby driving a furious O'Brien away from his alma mater and into the waiting arms of Ohio State and the Final Four. (In a nice bit of irony, one of the players whom O'Brien watched bolt Chestnut Hill in the admissions fiasco aftermath, Michael Bradley, has transferred from Kentucky to Villanova and will be eligible next year to show BC fans what they're missing.) Skinner understands his team's status and talks with the confidence and objectivity of a man who must have one of the all-time great contracts. Take recruiting, for instance. While most coaches strive to make even the most ordinary class look like an updated version of the Fab Five, Skinner sounds like one of those analysts spewing information into his 900 number service for eager (or, shall we say obsessed) clients. "I think our recruiting has been solid, but by no means outstanding," Skinner said.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH C+
FRONTCOURT B- INTANGIBLES C+
Coach Al Skinner said his Eagles should be able to dictate tempo and matchups more this season, and those are important steps toward contention. BC will be able to play big, fast, slow or small and just about any combination in between. The question is, will it be able to do all of the above well enough to reach .500 and maybe snake an NIT bid? The answer, for now, is not likely. Boston College remains extremely young, and while the program's talent level is much higher than it has been, there is still work to be done. A full-fledged go-to guy must emerge, and while that could be Xavier Singletary, it's likely that a future recruiting class will have to provide that person. But BC will score more, if only because Troy Bell and Singletary will get theirs. The Eagles should play better defense, too, thanks to the surfeit of interior players. That would help considerably BC allowed rivals to make .461 percent of their shots from the field last year. So, the progress is being made, but everybody including Skinner knows the road is long. Boston College won't be a soft touch very often this year, but that doesn't mean 16-17 victories are possible, either. Be happy with the short steps forward and look to the future for bigger things. That's just reality talking. And Skinner is listening. |
Uh, coach, that's not the best way to convince your bosses that things are heading in the right direction. Nobody ever beat Connecticut or Syracuse with some fair-to-partly-sunny players. It's going to take more than that. Maybe Skinner knows that. So, instead of building up people's hopes for a short-term disappointment, he is playing the long-term card, expecting a great future return and all the hosannas (and cashola) that go with it. Whatever the case, the Eagles aren't exactly championship timber this year, either. On the other hand, they're not quite in the same leaky boat as the Pittsburgh program, either. There is even the chance, though somewhat remote, that Boston College could leap all the way into single digits in the Big East standings. Really. While the Eagles can't match up man-for-man with the league's better teams or even the second tier, they have improved themselves and should be deeper, quicker and more athletic. Hey, it's a start. "I like the people we're bringing into the program," Skinner said. "Some of the things that we were lacking on last year's team have been addressed. We've got to blend last year's work ethic with this year's talent. If we do that, we have the chance to be more competitive than we were last year." One of the main arrivals in Chestnut Hill this year is 6-0 freshman guard Troy Bell (Academy of Holy Angels/Minneapolis, Minn.), a scoring-minded point with the quickness, scoring ability and brashness the program so desperately needs. While Skinner won't admit it, Bell should start every game during his four years at BC barring injury and has the opportunity to fill a spot in the program's lineage of slight, though highly productive guards. (Michael Adams, Dana Barros, Scoonie Penn.) Last year, Bell, who signed in November of 1998, was one of the five finalists for Minnesota's Mr. Basketball award, thanks to his per-game averages of 35.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists at Academy of Holy Angels, which he led to the state's 2A title game. A first-team all-state guard, Bell finished his career with 2,491 points, fourth-best in state history. Impressive. But guess what Skinner would like to see from him at BC? "He has a chance to play and play a lot in this program, but he has a lot to learn," Skinner said. "He has the potential to be good, but he scored a lot of points in high school. He's not a pure point guard. Can he give the team the leadership and guidance it needs?" Good question. If Bell does, the Eagles are immediately better. If not, he'll have to split time and occasionally play with 5-10 senior Dwayne Pina (4.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 117 assists, 37.8 3 PT), who started every game last year and averaged a team-high 30 minutes a game too many for Skinner's liking. "He can play better if we can afford to give him a breather at times," Skinner said. "There were times when he was on the floor last year when he should have been off it." The Eagles could have an entirely new backcourt, if 6-6 Howard University transfer Xavier Singletary (Howard University/Dunbar HS/Washington, D.C.) steps up and delivers the kind of play he showed during workouts last year. Singletary averaged 22.3 points during his sophomore season at Howard and brings excellent size to the off-guard spot. He can get to the basket and also has the ability to knock down the jumper. Skinner, of course, is a little skeptical about the transfer's ability to put it together in Big East play. In other words, the coach wants to see if Singletary will play some defense. "We put him in practice situations last year and let him play," Skinner said. "It's a different situation than he'll see this year. He's a scorer, a good perimeter shooter who can take it to the basket. He's strong enough post up, too. He can definitely score points." If Singletary takes over the starting two spot, that means last year's leading scorer, 6-5 junior Kenny Harley (11.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 41.6 3 PT), will head to the bench. Like Pina, Skinner believes Harley will improve if he can spend a little less time (he averaged 28.5 mpg last year) on the court. Rounding out the backcourt is 6-3 junior Nicolas Dunn (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg), who appeared in only two games last year and didn't attempt a field goal. BC upgraded its frontcourt through recruiting (or at least got taller), something that should help against the better teams in the league. But let's not get carried away. The Eagles remain a long way from having the kind of talent up front necessary to mount a serious challenge for postseason play. Leading the way are 6-10 freshmen Andrew Dudley (Life Center, N.J., HS/Bristol, Pa.) and Erik Witt (University School/Bonn, Germany), neither of whom is expected to be an immediate force. But both will get a chance at considerable playing time. Dudley has the frame (245 pounds) to be a bruiser. Witt is more of a Europivot and likes to step away from the hoop. "Dudley's very strong, a no-nonsense kind of guy," Skinner said. "He'll probably foul out of every game he's in, but he is a physical presence, and once he learns how to play, he'll be good. He's strong and tough to guard. "Witt is a little better skilled and not as strong. He provides more offense. He plays the high post, and you can run the offense through him." Returning for a second year at the four spot is 6-8 sophomore Brian Ross (8.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 46.5 FG), who is probably the happiest man in Chestnut Hill about the arrivals of Dudley and Witt. Last year, Ross had to spend a lot of time guarding much bigger players, and it wore him down. Now, he can play the power-forward spot, where he is most comfortable, and make some solid contributions. "I felt bad for Brian Ross at times last year, because he was playing against guys five- and six inches taller than him," Skinner said. "He found his niche and made others pay for being taller than him." The Eagles should have plenty of work at the four spot, thanks to the arrival of 6-8 freshman Uka Agbai (Archbishop Molloy HS/Queens Village, N.Y.), 6-4 senior Michael Cotton's (10.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg) return and the expected continued maturation of 6-8 sophomore Osei Millar (2.2 ppg, 1.3 rpg). Cotton provides mismatch problems for rivals and can score well inside. He is going to swing between the three and four spots. Millar must improve his shooting to get more time. Agbai, meanwhile, is a rugged interior player who averaged 13.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots last year. Skinner hopes 6-5 sophomore Kenny Walls can continue his maturation into a full-fledged three man. A high school pivot, Walls (10.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg) has plenty of skills, but is still adjusting to life on the perimeter. Jonathan Beerbohm (5.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg), a 6-7 junior, is also in the front line mix. Beerbohm continues to adjust to the big-time life after playing prep ball in Nebraska. Two other frontcourters expect to compete for time 6-6 junior Julian Bah (0.3 ppg, 0.4 rpg) and 6-5 senior Jim Boland (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg).
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