NCAA Basketball: Previewing the 2020 2K Empire Classic
Boston College
- 2019-20 record: 13-19 overall, 7-13 ACC
- 2019-20 KenPom rating: 179
- 2020-21 KenPom rating: 106
I talked about Boston College and their future aspirations in a piece last month, and my feelings toward them then still stand: this is a team that could, honestly, be a dark horse in the ACC.
There is a really good team brewing in Chestnut Hill, and not receiving much attention largely due to the lack of success these past few seasons. The Eagles bring back Jay Heath – a top-20 scorer in the ACC last year as a freshman (13.1 ppg) – and Steffon Mitchell, one of the premier rebounders (8.7 rpg) in the conference.
But head coach Jim Christian will have a few additional weapons available in his arsenal, both through the recruiting trail and the transfer market. DeMarr Langford, Jr. is a four-star recruit who is the fifth-highest rated recruit in program history. Frederick Scott and Rich Kelly are two graduate transfers who were two of the best scorers in the MAAC while at Rider and Quinnipiac, respectively.
Who I completely forgot to mention when I initially wrote about Boston College was Wynston Tabbs, returning for his junior season after missing all of last year with an injury. Tabbs was one of the best freshmen in the ACC in 2018-19, starting in 14 of the 15 games he appeared in before missing the final half of the season with an injury.
In that 15-game opening stretch, Tabbs recorded double-digits in 11 of those games. Among those was a 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals performance against Sacred Heart – a stat line that has only been accomplished by an ACC player 12 times since 1996-97. BC was 10-5 in the 15 games he played in – and finished 4-12 in the 16 he missed.
This is a Boston College team that, despite finishing 13-19 last year, had some quality wins. They picked up road wins at USF, Notre Dame, and California, and knocked off Virginia in their first game of the calendar year.
They will be without Nik Popovic (10.5 ppg), who graduated, and Jairus Hamilton (9.5 ppg), who has transferred to Maryland, but Christian and his staff have done a solid job at finding replacements who can immediately produce. Arguably, this could be the most talented group Christian has put together in his seven seasons with the Eagles.
Having Villanova as their opening opponent is, obviously, beyond challenging, and it will be difficult for the Eagles to come out with a win – that is not even mentioning the second-round match-up against either Baylor or Arizona State.
The best team Boston College played out of conference last season was, arguably, Richmond – and that was a 20-point blowout in favor of the Spiders. I do not think that will be replicated against the Wildcats – instead, there is enough talent on this team to compete, and I think they will hang around with Villanova.