Boston College Eagles Basketball Season Preview
The college hoops season is right around the corner, and Busting Brackets is here to whet your basketball-starved appetite. Over the next five weeks, we are publishing season previews team by team, conference by conference, to offer a glimpse into the upcoming season. Busting Brackets is giving you the lowdown on the biggest storylines, offseason changes and x-factors for each team and each league as we roll into the 2012-13 season. Our complete season preview archive can be accessed here. Buckle up, peeps.
Boston College Eagles
| Last Season | 9-22 (4-12 ACC) Lose to NC State in opening round of ACC tournament |
| Key Returning Players: | Ryan Anderson, F Dennis Clifford, C Patrick Heckmann, G Lonnie Jackson, G Jordan Daniels, G KC Caudill, C |
| Key Additions: | Oliver Hanlan, G (New Hampton School) Joe Rahon, G (Torrey Pines HS) |
| Key Losses: | Matt Humphrey, G (Graduated, Transferred to West Virginia) Gabe Moton, G (Transferred to Brandeis) John Cahill, G |
| Top Non-Conference Games: | Nov. 15 vs. Baylor (Charleston Classic) Nov. 16 vs. Dayton or Colorado (Charleston Classic) Nov. 28 @ Penn State Dec. 4 vs. Harvard Dec. 22 vs. Providence*The Boston College-UMass series that had continued for the last 17 years was cancelled over the summer due to the ACC’s expansion to an 18-game schedule |
| Top Conference Games: | Jan. 5 vs. NC State Jan. 16 vs. Miami (FL) Jan. 29 vs. North Carolina Feb. 10 vs. Duke Feb. 16 @ Florida State |
| Breakout Player: | Patrick Heckmann. Ryan Anderson was the team’s most productive player last season—leading the Eagles in points and rebounders per game—but no freshman-turned-sophomore is more poised for a breakout season than Patrick Heckmann. The German guard burst onto the scene in the first half of last season but tapered off as conference play rolled around. Heckmann missed almost a month during ACC competition because of mono and didn’t return the same player (he had begun to spiral off before then). He was a mess with the ball during the second half of last season and struggled scoring against together ACC defenses. Heckmann put on a display during non-conference play, so the talent is unquestionably there. Assuming a clean bill of health, expect Heckmann to have strong sophomore season. Honorable Mention: Dennis Clifford. The 7-foot center flashed signs as a freshman, but never fully established himself as a threat on offense. That should change this season. Clifford is not shy of top-echelon competition, so don’t expect guys like Mason Plumlee or Reggie Johnson to fluster him. He outplayed Nerlens Noel, the top incoming freshman in all of college basketball, during a Boston summer league (Steve Hailey League), and reports are he’s a much different player now than he was six months ago. |
| X-Factor: | Improvement of last year’s freshmen. Boston College started four freshmen for most of last season and featured two more off the bench because of roster limitations. The Eagles had only returned one scholarship player from the season before (former sophomore guard and Brandeis transfer Gabe Moton), prompting head coach Steve Donahue to rely on then-grad student and walk-on John Cahill as a cog in the rotation. Six of the team’s nine leading minutes-loggers last season were freshmen, and the lone three non-freshmen have since left the program. BC was the youngest team in the league—one of the youngest in all of college basketball—and it showed. Boston College committed the second most turnovers per game in the ACC last season (behind only veteran-laden Florida State, oddly) and was a victim of youthful mistakes throughout conference play. Now that those freshmen have a full year of D-I experience under their belts, a more consistent, fruitful season could be in store for the Eagles. Donahue has talked about playing faster this season. With experienced [and hopefully more mature] sophomores who withstood a baptism by fire as freshmen, the Eagles head man should be able to spruce up his offensive attack accordingly in 2012-13. How much [or how little] BC improves between last season and next directly hinges on how much the sophomores improve from their freshmen campaigns. |
| Best Case: | Heckmann shores up his ball-handling and doesn’t shy away against ACC competition this go-around. Clifford has a breakout sophomore season and turns heads as one of the ACC’s premiere centers, flashing range on his jumper and more brute strength inside which he didn’t have at this time last year. A league thin in frontcourt talent (especially in the post) watches as a budding star emerges in Chestnut Hill. Ryan Anderson becomes a more efficient scorer, developing his perimeter shot and refining his back-to-the-basket game. A major weakness from last season, defensive rebounding improves in 2012-13 thanks to more committed performances from the backcourt guys in crashing the glass. Free throw shooting markedly improves (BC shot just 67-percent from the charity stripe last season) and the Eagles, with more maturity and poise, become much better at closing out games, an area where they struggled immensely last season. The Eagles don’t compete for anything meaningful, but they do give their faithful something to be proud of. More importantly, improvement from the sophomore core bodes well for the future and lends credence to the possibility that this group could compete for an ACC crown as seniors. A win over one of Duke, North Carolina or NC State caps off an up-and-down season. Lucky for the Eagles, they’ll have three cracks at the Triangle trio at home (and three on the road, where they don’t stand a chance). If BC fans storm the court once this season, they’ll have something to hang their hats on. |
| Worst Case: | Heckmann is again overmatched in ACC play, so much so that it becomes evident that his European style will not effectively translate to the uptick in college competition. Despite lofty expectations and a favorable progress report from his head coach, Clifford disappoints and BC is exploited on the glass once again. Jackson and Daniels continue to be inefficient scorers rather than the all-around playmakers Donahue needs them to be. Anderson has a strong sophomore season, but another poor season from the perimeter overshadows any other improvements he makes to his game. Free throw shooting and ball control continue to be bugaboos for the Eagles despite the one year of experience the sophomores already have under their belts. Oliver Hanlan, a prized freshman point guard, is not ready for ACC play and doesn’t see meaningful action all season. Thanks to the logjam of underclassmen, one of the sophomores squeezed out of the rotation for most of the year opts to transfer at season’s end. The Eagles finish in the basement of the ACC, but worse yet, offer no glimpses of optimism for the short- and long-term future. |
| Projected Finish: | 13-18 (5-13 ACC) Lose in opening round of ACC tournament |