It’s incredible to think about all the memorable moments and major changes in college basketball since the last time Boston College was a relevant program. The Eagles have not been in the NCAA Tournament since 2009 and have been under .500 in the ACC each of the last 14 seasons in a row. Earl Grant enters his fifth season trying to fix this reclamation project but is coming off his worst record yet, with Boston College just 12-19 in an awful season for the ACC last year.
Four starters are gone from last season, with the Eagles notably losing the production of forwards Elijah Strong and Chad Venning, as well as guards Joshua Beadle and Dion Brown. What does stand out for Boston College is the returning of their leading scorer and rebounder in Donald Hand. Now a junior, he’s coming off a season where he put up nearly 16 points and 6 rebounds a night and will need to be even more effective for this program’s success.
Grant’s staff spent recent weeks building a new rotation around Hand and even without any eye-popping additions have a solid new squad. Boden Kapke and Aidan Shaw are bigs with some potential transferring from Butler and Missouri respectively. The Eagles added Jason Asemota, a former Top 50 forward from Baylor who’s also hoping for a greater opportunity over in Boston, but the fourth name on the transfer list will be this team’s most important.
Chase Forte is a 6-3 guard from Raleigh who’s had quite the eventful collegiate career, with stops at the D1 level at UNC Asheville, Northwestern State, and South Dakota. A feisty point guard with decent scoring touch, Forte averaged 17.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists last season in his lone season with the Coyotes and was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, leading the league in steals.
There’s unquestionably a major jump from Summit League to the ACC but Forte goes a long way to filling one of the holes in Boston College’s roster. He adds an experience presence at the point who can facilitate offensively and also cause havoc on the defensive side. It remains to be seen how his skills will transfer in a much stronger conference, but the former First Team All-Summit League should get every chance to prove himself as an ACC point guard.
There’s inexperience all across this roster, and it’s not just about time on the court. Hand is an awesome player and should put up great numbers as a junior but there are many freshmen and new faces around him on a team that hasn’t been winning in recent memory. Every new team needs time to gel but bringing in a veteran point guard and pesky defender could go a long way towards Boston College surprising us by the time 2026 rolls around.