A new era begins this season in Chestnut Hill. After four relatively unsuccessful seasons, Steve Donahue was fired, and replaced by Jim Christian, who won 49 games in two season at Ohio before being named the head coach for Boston College. Unfortunately, he's inherited a team that was terrible defensively last season, and also lost their second and third leading scorers from last season to transfer.
Backcourt
There is one piece of good news for the Eagles: Olivier Hanlan is back. While his shooting percentages were down last year, he was still the team's best scorer, averaging over 18 points per game. The junior is a fearless player, as he shot 228 free throws last year. He's not afraid to drive to the basket and draw contact. He will likely be asked to do that and more this year. Lonnie Jackson will be asked to do more as well. He is a three point specialist by trade (53 of his 66 made field goals last year were three pointers). He will likely be relied on to play some point guard this year. There is a little depth behind them though. Dimitri Batten and Aaron Brown are both fifth year seniors who will be eligible immediately after transferring in. Batten averaged 11.0 points per game last season for Old Dominion, while Brown averaged 10.0 points per game for Southern Miss last season. Garland Owens provides some defense and athleticism.
Frontcourt
This is where the Eagles have to be much better in order to have a successful season. There are not a lot of scoring threats on the roster here after Ryan Anderson decided to transfer. Patrick Heckmann might be their best option, albeit undersized and not much of a defender. Eddie Odio could rebound, and occasionally score, but was rather inconsistent. Alex Dragicevich is a three point shooting specialist who hit 20 threes in 27 games for the Eagles last season. The key for the Eagles is getting a healthy season out of Dennis Clifford. The senior played in just two games last season, and while he isn't much of a scorer, can rebound well. KC Caudill and Will Magarity will be reserves for the Eagles who will split time between the power forward and center spots. Also backing up is freshman Idrissa Diallo. He could ultimately be one of BC's best defenders down the road.
| Projected Starters |
|---|
| Olivier Hanlan |
| Lonnie Jackson |
| Dimitri Batten |
| Eddie Odio |
| Dennis Clifford |
Schedule
The non conference portion of the schedule does provide some challenges. The Eagles will face UMass and New Mexico on the road, and Providence, USC, and Harvard at home. In ACC play, the Eagles get home and homes with Syracuse, and face Duke, UNC, and Virginia just once.
Prediction
Christian definitely has his work cut out for him this year. There is not a lot of high caliber talent on the roster, and he will need to hit the recruiting trail hard this year, as there are eight seniors on the roster. The biggest question for the Eagles this year is who besides Hanlan will pick up the scoring slack, and if the Eagles can get out of the basement in some of the defensive categories. The latter likely won't improve much with the talent on the roster. This will likely be a long season for the Eagles. They might not get above .500 overall, and will likely finish near the bottom of the ACC.
by Will Ojanen @WillsWorldMN
Fantasy Player to Watch
Olivier Hanlan will carry the scoring load once again for Boston College. Hanlan will likely lead the league in shot attempts per game making him a valuable fantasy option.
Projected Statistics (Returning Players Only)
Explanation of Statistic Projections
| Name | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | % Correct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olivier Hanlan | 17.6 | 3.3 | 4.4 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 76 |
| Lonnie Jackson | 11.7 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 81 |
| Patrick Heckmann | 9.2 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 85 |
| Dennis Clifford | 8.9 | 0.8 | 5.6 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 83 |
| Eddie Odio | 7.8 | 1.1 | 5.6 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 84 |
| Garland Owens | 7.2 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 92 |
| Alex Dragicevich | 6.0 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 94 |
| Will Magarity | 5.3 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 93 |
| KC Caudill | 4.9 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 92 |
| Darryl Hicks | 3.9 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 100 |
| Sam Donahue | 2.9 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 98 |
| Steve Perpiglia | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 99 |
| Drew Jacobs | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 99 |
| John Cain Carney | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 98 |
Last Year's Player Statistics
| Boston College | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | GP | Mins | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | FG% | 3P% | FT% | |
| Olivier Hanlan | 32 | 36.3 | 18.5 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 44.7 | 34.7 | 81.1 | |
| Ryan Anderson | 32 | 31.4 | 14.3 | 1.4 | 7.3 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 48.9 | 26.7 | 73.9 | |
| Joe Rahon | 32 | 33.3 | 9.0 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 40.0 | 35.4 | 74.2 | |
| Lonnie Jackson | 29 | 23.6 | 7.0 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 39.1 | 37.9 | 67.9 | |
| Patrick Heckmann | 31 | 16.1 | 6.0 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 44.8 | 34.6 | 71.7 | |
| Eddie Odio | 31 | 20.9 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 50.0 | 43.2 | 63.3 | |
| Garland Owens | 30 | 15.4 | 3.7 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 51.2 | 38.9 | 52.2 | |
| Alex Dragicevich | 27 | 15.2 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 41.5 | 34.5 | 69.6 | |
| Will Magarity | 30 | 10.5 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 61.9 | |
| KC Caudill | 19 | 8.5 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 52.4 | 0.0 | 66.7 | |
| Danny Rubin | 16 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 23.1 | 30.0 | 100.0 | |
| Sam Donahue | 12 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 0.0 | |
| Drew Jacobs | 4 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| John Cain Carney | 4 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Steve Perpiglia | 3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Dennis Clifford | 2 | 16.5 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Darryl Hicks | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
