BC hires Cornell's Steve Donahue

[nickagneta]

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/news/story?id=5061139

BOSTON -- Steve Donahue, who led Cornell to three straight Ivy League titles and to the round of 16 in this NCAA tournament, was hired Tuesday as Boston College's coach.

Donahue guided the Big Red to a 29-5 record this season -- the most wins in Ivy history -- and victories over favored Temple and Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament. The first Ivy team to reach the round of 16 in more than 30 years, Cornell lost to No. 1-seeded Kentucky 62-45 in the regional semifinals.

Donahue replaces Al Skinner, who was fired after 13 years in which he became the winningest coach in BC history and took the Eagles to seven NCAA tournaments in nine years.

In announcing the decision, BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo said he was looking for a more exciting style of play than the banging, Big East style Skinner favored.

The school planned a news conference for Wednesday at its new Yawkey Athletic Center instead of the usual basketball postgame interview room at Conte Forum. It also sent an e-mail announcing a campus rally after the news conference.

DeFilippo hopes his new coach will draw fans to the Conte Forum, where attendance has declined for four straight seasons. The e-mail invited fans meet the coach and proclaimed a "new era in BC men's basketball."

Donahue went 74-117 in his first seven seasons at Cornell, which hadn't won the Ivy title since 1988. The Big Red went 16-12 in 2006-07 and the next year won the first of three straight Ivy championships. That broke a string in which Penn and Princeton won or shared every league title but three since 1969.

[Rondo2287]

Im alright with it. Obviously my top choice was Pearl, but I understand that had zero chance.  I like that at least he is used to recruiting with high academic standards.  Also, I think his style should better suite Reggie Jackson who i think with the proper system and coach could be one of the best players in the country. 

[PosImpos]

I have a feeling BC's basketball team is going to look considerably whiter in the next few years.

[Rondo2287]

I have a feeling BC's basketball team is going to look considerably whiter in the next few years.

Well two out of the three recruits Al brought in this coming year are white.  Assuming they still want to come, which I hope they do. 

[jgod213]

I have a feeling BC's basketball team is going to look considerably whiter in the next few years.

why is that? because we fired a black coach and hired a white one?  Cornell is an ivy league school in northern new york - clearly a school with such high academic standards, a high tuition, and a location far from the bright lights isn't going to yield a lot of inner-city talent; Cornell is for the priviledged few.  At BC Donohue will have relaxed academic standards (compared to what he's used to) and will be recruiting for a team in the ACC - he will have the ability to recruit pretty much any high school basketball player in the country that he likes - so with that in mind i don't think the team will be getting considerably "whiter."

Based on what i've been hearing from the local and national media, if Donahue is willing to do even a little recruiting himself he'll of committed himself more than Skinner has in the last few years.

[Rondo2287]

I have a feeling BC's basketball team is going to look considerably whiter in the next few years.

why is that? because we fired a black coach and hired a white one?  Cornell is an ivy league school in northern new york - clearly a school with such high academic standards, a high tuition, and a location far from the bright lights isn't going to yield a lot of inner-city talent; Cornell is for the priviledged few.  At BC Donohue will have relaxed academic standards (compared to what he's used to) and will be recruiting for a team in the ACC - he will have the ability to recruit pretty much any high school basketball player in the country that he likes - so with that in mind i don't think the team will be getting considerably "whiter."

Based on what i've been hearing from the local and national media, if Donahue is willing to do even a little recruiting himself he'll of committed himself more than Skinner has in the last few years.

And keep in mind Donahue can now offer scholarships which he couldnt at cornell.

[Rondo2287]

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=5067815&name=basketball_recruiting&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d5067815%26name%3dbasketball_recruiting


Anybody thats an insider wanna PM me the article?  thanks, I appreciate it.

[Rondo2287]

Bump. A little help?

[Evantime34]

I got you Rondo.

First of all loved the press conference, when he said that the Eagle's will average 75-80 points a game every BC fan tired of the flex smiled.

I think the Eagles should be real good next year. What is the perfect style player for an uptempo team? Fast guards and big men who can shoot. The Eagles have all of those. The problem with Skinner was that in the tail end of his tenure he was only able to recruit wing players and no big men. Well the players he recruited happen to be perfect for Donahue's system.

It will be nice to see a coach roaming the sideline who doesn't look like he just woke up from a long nap. His fire will help infuse this team and you can expect a very good team next year.

Donahue is going to need it. If he is bad his first year it will make it that much more difficult to recruit good players. If he is able to take the current talent and make a tournament run then he should be able to recruit some quality players. Recruiting will be all the more important after next season because this team is a senior laden one.

I will go on record as predicting a 6 seed for BC next year and a return to the Smith, Dudley, Bell, Abrams days.

[Rondo2287]

I got you Rondo.

First of all loved the press conference, when he said that the Eagle's will average 75-80 points a game every BC fan tired of the flex smiled.

I think the Eagles should be real good next year. What is the perfect style player for an uptempo team? Fast guards and big men who can shoot. The Eagles have all of those. The problem with Skinner was that in the tail end of his tenure he was only able to recruit wing players and no big men. Well the players he recruited happen to be perfect for Donahue's system.

It will be nice to see a coach roaming the sideline who doesn't look like he just woke up from a long nap. His fire will help infuse this team and you can expect a very good team next year.

Donahue is going to need it. If he is bad his first year it will make it that much more difficult to recruit good players. If he is able to take the current talent and make a tournament run then he should be able to recruit some quality players. Recruiting will be all the more important after next season because this team is a senior laden one.

I will go on record as predicting a 6 seed for BC next year and a return to the Smith, Dudley, Bell, Abrams days.

Agreed on all front. Im predicting Reggie Jackson ACC player of the year.

Also anybody else see Kevin Noreen's Stat line this year


Averages: 39 pts, 17 rbs, 6 ass, 4 stls 4 blks, per game

[Rondo2287]

So now Heslip, Norreen and Rakim Sanders are Transfering.  Tom Heslip, Brady's father, just left this post on the Boston.com comments section of the article about Kevin Noreen.  I am a bit worried now about what donahue is up to

"tomheslip wrote:
Over the past several days, my family and I have experienceda great deal of turmoil over Brady's future and changes at BC. To be candid, I personally have been angry and have made less than mature statements. I've now been labelled a nut case , wacked. etc. To some degree, these labels aren't entirely unfair given my angry outbursts, but here are the facts. Brady (and others) are transferring because credibility and trust have been lost. BC is not just a great school, it is one of the greatest. However, when dishonesty and manipulation take control, even great schools will pay a price. I honestly do not know the new coaches or Coach Donahue and it is only my opinion that they misunderstood the team they were taking over and the full picture of the potential they had in their hands. It went sour. My son Brady was simply told that he was not good enough for the ACC and perhaps they're right. But would you stay if a coach basically described your game as incompatible with the league you were to play in? What really transpired is that we , as a family, made a decision to allow Brady to leave prep school in December and join BC early (while redshirting). It was to allow him to grow as a person with a first semester of university under his belt, acclimatize and maximize an opportunity. It was a decision we made based on statements Gene Defilippo made about the "family" at BC, the stability of the basketball program, that Al Skinner would be the coach at BC as long as he wanted and it was made based on huge trust and respect for all of the people who echoed these statements at BC. Then 3 months later Gene Defilippo fired the entire staff. From Pat Duquette to Al Skinner we made a decision that our son's future would be bright in their hands, they were fired, unceramoniously and unexpectedly. Brady loved New Hampton School were he was attending and NEVER would have left at Christmas had some indication of the instability of the BC program been known. Gene Defilippo could have discretely managed this in a fair and honest way, but he chose not to. He lied. Our son's future is up in the air. Is it a big deal? It is a to a 19 year old and his family. Basketball will come and go, schools move on as do players but when you pick carefully who to believe and trust (and you do so most judiciously) and still find you were lied to, it lasts a lifetime."

[nickagneta]

Seems like a general house cleaning is occurring and quite honestly, I am not surprised. They will stink for a couple of years while Donahue and his staff get their people in there and then, if they still stink, well then DeFilippo will be firing a different group of coaches after promising recruits that that coach was there for as long as he wanted to be.

[Rondo2287]

I agree but still, Noreen is a beast.  The kid averaged 39 points a game and is 6-10.  Right now this team has no freshman and sophomores on the roster and only 8 scholarship players on the team.  6 of which are Seniors.  I am all for cleaning house, but im also for fielding a team.

[Donoghus]

Way to create an unnecessary mess, Gene. 

I feel for the kids more than anything here.  So a guy whose been in the Ivy League comes on board and tells a kid right away that he's not ACC material when this coach hasn't yet coached a game in the league?  That's pretty presumptuous if you ask me.  Now, that may be spin coming from the kid's father but I have no doubt that there has there has been some dishonesty coming from BC.  They essentially threw Skinner under the bus on the way out and did it via the local media. 

Thank god for BC hockey.  Gene won't be touching Jerry York anytime soon.  National championships keep getting in the way of that.

[Evantime34]

So now Heslip, Norreen and Rakim Sanders are Transfering.  Tom Heslip, Brady's father, just left this post on the Boston.com comments section of the article about Kevin Noreen.  I am a bit worried now about what donahue is up to

"tomheslip wrote:
Over the past several days, my family and I have experienceda great deal of turmoil over Brady's future and changes at BC. To be candid, I personally have been angry and have made less than mature statements. I've now been labelled a nut case , wacked. etc. To some degree, these labels aren't entirely unfair given my angry outbursts, but here are the facts. Brady (and others) are transferring because credibility and trust have been lost. BC is not just a great school, it is one of the greatest. However, when dishonesty and manipulation take control, even great schools will pay a price. I honestly do not know the new coaches or Coach Donahue and it is only my opinion that they misunderstood the team they were taking over and the full picture of the potential they had in their hands. It went sour. My son Brady was simply told that he was not good enough for the ACC and perhaps they're right. But would you stay if a coach basically described your game as incompatible with the league you were to play in? What really transpired is that we , as a family, made a decision to allow Brady to leave prep school in December and join BC early (while redshirting). It was to allow him to grow as a person with a first semester of university under his belt, acclimatize and maximize an opportunity. It was a decision we made based on statements Gene Defilippo made about the "family" at BC, the stability of the basketball program, that Al Skinner would be the coach at BC as long as he wanted and it was made based on huge trust and respect for all of the people who echoed these statements at BC. Then 3 months later Gene Defilippo fired the entire staff. From Pat Duquette to Al Skinner we made a decision that our son's future would be bright in their hands, they were fired, unceramoniously and unexpectedly. Brady loved New Hampton School were he was attending and NEVER would have left at Christmas had some indication of the instability of the BC program been known. Gene Defilippo could have discretely managed this in a fair and honest way, but he chose not to. He lied. Our son's future is up in the air. Is it a big deal? It is a to a 19 year old and his family. Basketball will come and go, schools move on as do players but when you pick carefully who to believe and trust (and you do so most judiciously) and still find you were lied to, it lasts a lifetime."

I'm confused, why would Donahue tell a player he isn't good enough when he's going to have to fill out the rest of the roster with walk ons? I'm sure Heslip is better than any walk on that would join BC's team.

I think even without the guys that just left we still are a tournament team next year. It looks like the year after that we might be starting 5 freshman.