Boston College Basketball: Jay Heath Jr. becomes first 2019 commit

Boston College basketball received some good news on June 26 when three-star guard Jay Heath Jr. verbally committed to the program.

The Boston College basketball program received its first commitment of the 2019 class with the verbal pledge of Jay Heath Jr. Heath is a 6-foot-3 point guard that attends Wilson High School in Washington D.C., an up-and-coming public school in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area. Heath has been busy racking up offers this summer. He recently received offers VCU and George Mason before deciding on Boston College. He received an offer from the Eagles back in April.

Heath currently ranks as the No. 123 overall recruit on 247Sports since transferring from Bishop O’Connell to Wilson High this past season. Since then, Heath has played with Team Melo (MD) on the EYBL circuit and D.C. Evolution in the Capitol Hoops Summer League at DeMatha High School.

He put up 16.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contests through 16 games for Team Melo. In the summer league, he’s averaging 20.8 points per game for D.C. Evolution flanked by high school teammates Makhi and Mekhel Mitchell as well as 2020 sharpshooter Dimingus Stevens.

Last season, Wilson won the DCSAA Boy’s Basketball Championship over St. John’s College High School under head coach Angelo Hernandez. They went to a 33-9 record while playing some of the top prep schools in the area. They also faced off against Gonzaga High School, Georgetown Prep, and Riverdale Baptist.

This season, Heath and Wilson will welcome Makhi and Makhel Mitchell, two players set to attend the University of Maryland next season. Coach Hernandez has engineered quite the successful turnaround since becoming head coach back in 2014. Now, he’s currently on administrative leave as the school investigates the eligibility of players on the team. While the investigation has remained relatively under wraps, sources say it could take up to six months to complete the investigation.

Success breeds more success

That’s what has come with the success of Coach Hernandez and company. Whether it’s a witch hunt or something else entirely, it’s hard to ignore what Hernandez is doing for public schools in an area where prep schools usually dictate the level of talent.

Boston College seen its fair share of quality guards come and go on their roster. Jerome Robinson is the latest to jump to the league after playing at Boston College. Robinson was taken 13th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by Los Angeles Clippers. In addition, Ky Bowman tested the draft waters but ultimately he decided to return to school. He’s next in line to hear his name called under the bright lights. Recent draft history could be what drove Heath’s final decision. He’s been working on improving his point guard skills all summer long while remaining a prolific scorer at the same time.

Next: Way-too-early 2019 Bracketology

Wilson will have an opportunity to be one of the top teams in the DMV area once again in 2018-19. The proverbial target on their back will only grow now that Heath is a Boston College-commit. Let’s see what his senior season brings.