Boston College Basketball

[Junkyard Dawg]

hey man, I for one appreciate the post about BC basketball.  if we can have random posts about Manchester United, as well as "what should I do, I think i got my girlfriend pregnant?" posts, we certainly can have postings about BC basketball.  (not saying I don't enjoy reading those other posts, as well!)

[CoachCowens]

BC basketball would be wise to pay attention to the brother of a local football recruit they have playing this year. This year they signed Jim Noels, an Everett, Ma HS football player and in short time plan to be playing him in their defensive backfield. He is an a-the-lete and a player.

Well he has a little brother who is a sophomore at Everett HS who's name is Nerlens Noel who is 6-9, 190 lbs and is currently ranked as the 18th best player in the country for the Class of 2012 and 4th best PF. He is projected to stop growing at somewhere around 6-11 to 7-0.

He is already being talked about by major programs and is just a sophomore. Seen the kid play personally and he is a friend of my son's. He is the real deal defensively and is way ahead at that end of things as he was originally a PG at the rec league level until having a huge growth spurt and doesn't have a ton of low post offense going just yet. Here's the other thing. He's really intelligent and a great kid.

He would have a better chance at getting recruited by Al Skinner if he was a thug and/or a drug dealer. Sorry grew up a Holy Cross fan and couldn't resist.

[Rondo2287]

BC had another recruit come in this past week.  SG Jordin Mayes visited BC on September 23rd.  ESPN grades him a 91 out of 100 has this write up on him,

"Mayes is one of the smoothest players on the west coast. His game is effortless and his skills are outstanding. His jump shot has a feathery touch out to the stripe and he is always on balance. He isn't the quickest or the fastest at his position, but he has a knack of breaking down opponents and finding the open man. His passing is high-level as well as his overall feel for the game. In addition to his skills and savvy, he has a tremendous demeanor about him. He never gets rattled under pressure and he possesses great leadership ability. "

After his visit with BC Mayes said, “Yes I took my official visit the past weekend. Not the one that just passed, but the one before that. It was my first time and I really enjoyed it. The players were cool and the coaches were cool. It was a good experience. At BC I liked all of the players and the coaches. Everyone was cool. I think I'd fit in with their coaching scheme. I also liked that they don't put any pressure on guys. They just let guys play.”

This looks like a Backcourt mate to add to PG Commit Brady Haslip who the eagles have secured from Canada.  BC has had a good California pipeline for basketball having Craig Smith and Jared Dudley both coming from Cali.  If BC was able to land this recruit it would mean they committed players from Canada, Minnesota, and California, which represents a big expanding of their recruiting base that is normally limited to the North East. 

Mayes is Also being recruited by: Cal, Colorado, Utah and San Diego

[Eja117]

I love college sports even though I don't always follow it as much as I'd like. Thanks for starting this thread Rondo

[jgod213]

26th in the nation? that seems a little too high...

I like the depth this year but i don't see how BC is going to compete for an ACC title with Roy Williams and his stellar recruiting classes.  I know UNC lost a lot of quality players to the draft, but i'm not convinced that this BC team has the fortitude to knock off UNC w/out a prime-time player like Rice.  Sanders and Jackson are real solid, but i don't think they're ready to be go-to guys in the ACC.

[Rondo2287]

26th in the nation? that seems a little too high...

I like the depth this year but i don't see how BC is going to compete for an ACC title with Roy Williams and his stellar recruiting classes.  I know UNC lost a lot of quality players to the draft, but i'm not convinced that this BC team has the fortitude to knock off UNC w/out a prime-time player like Rice.  Sanders and Jackson are real solid, but i don't think they're ready to be go-to guys in the ACC.

Ya its gonna be tough, but dont discount what UNC lost this year, Green, Ellington, Hansborough, Lawson.  Those are two all ACC guys and 2 more nba draft guys.  And while Rice was an excellent player last year he was held in check for most games, and didnt shoot that high of a percentage.  Trust me I loved the guy, but I think if Jackson can improve they will be fine and should compete for an ACC title. 

[Big_Matt34]

I know UNC lost a lot of quality players to the draft, but i'm not convinced that this BC team has the fortitude to knock off UNC w/out a prime-time player like Rice.  Sanders and Jackson are real solid, but i don't think they're ready to be go-to guys in the ACC.

I think Rakim Sanders becomes that go to guy this year, Andy Katz already has him on his Wooden award watch list and i'd expect a pretty big year from him. Something like 17/6 with his usual very good defense, he really reminds me of Caron Butler, a very strong wing who can shoot, not saying he will be as good but thats who he reminds me of. I think after this season he will shoot up the draft boards but hopefully he will stay because 2011 could be a special year if he does. He was very clutch last year hitting two buzzer beaters to win games and was their best palyer against UNC, he wasnt great the last few games but was playing with a hand/wrist injury.

Reggie Jackson looks like he will become a bigtime player himself and will put up very nice numbers, Biko Paris is a very solid pg who can hit the 3, and look out for Evan Ravenel who Andy Katz said the team loves and think will have a very nice season. Raji will do his usual stuff, gets boards, catch alley oops, hit the occasional jumper. Southern cant block shots but he can defend and rebound, and his offense really improved last year, Dunn is a solid backup bigman who did a great job on Hansbrough and other teams bigmen.

I liked Rice but he hurt the team a fair amount of time, and because of his style of play he probably hurt the play of teammates. Wtih him its dribble for 15 seconds, pass to someone and call for the ball back, then wait until 5 seconds are left on the clock to either shoot himself or pass it to Sanders or Trapani to chuck it up there. He was a very good player, but i think they will be a better team this year without him. They can certainly compete for the ACC title, they play hard like all Skinner teams but they are also very deep, talented, and athletic. As for the first rankings, id expect them to be in the 22-27 range.

[Rondo2287]

I am personally a fan of Courtney Dunn.  Seems like a good PJ brown type for this team.  Goes in, plays good D and rebounds and any points you get are a bonus. 

[Rondo2287]

And for the record this year Tyrese's line was

16.9 pts per game- Down from 21 the year before
3.8 rbs- up from 3.1
5.3 ass- up from 5
3.8 To's- up from 3.4
1.4 stls- down from 1.7
.413 fg%- down from .433
.347 3pt% down from .358

So while he will be missed I think he did have some issues with efficiency and if Paris can run the team better it may make up for lack of scoring.

[Rondo2287]

Bad News here

"ESPNU 100 small forward Rod Odom has confirmed to an ESPN.com's Arizona affiliate site that he is very close to announcing his decision and could come as early as next Monday.

"Right now, I know everything I need to know," he told www.WildcatSportsReport.com. "It's just a matter of sorting everything out now."

Odom's list has been narrowed to Arizona, Boston College, West Virginia and Vanderbilt. He has already taken official visits to Vandy, Arizona, West Virginia and is planning a trip to B.C. this weekend (Oct. 3)."

Since he takes his BC visit this weekend and he says, "I already know everything I have to know."  Im guessing he is going to commit to AZ on Monday.  But who knows. 

[Big_Matt34]

Bad News here

"ESPNU 100 small forward Rod Odom has confirmed to an ESPN.com's Arizona affiliate site that he is very close to announcing his decision and could come as early as next Monday.

"Right now, I know everything I need to know," he told www.WildcatSportsReport.com. "It's just a matter of sorting everything out now."

Odom's list has been narrowed to Arizona, Boston College, West Virginia and Vanderbilt. He has already taken official visits to Vandy, Arizona, West Virginia and is planning a trip to B.C. this weekend (Oct. 3)."

Since he takes his BC visit this weekend and he says, "I already know everything I have to know."  Im guessing he is going to commit to AZ on Monday.  But who knows. 

Arizona may be the leader but that quote doesn't really mean much. He has already been to BC and has met Al Skinner a few times so he already knows what to expect, i think that's more what the quote is about. I think, if anything that him visiting BC last will help, maybe the point of the visit is to tell them he is coming here. You'd think if his mind was already set on Arizona he would cancel the BC visit because he doesn't want to waste Skinner's time on something that's already done. There was a short interview with him the other day and he had this quote about BC which was nice.

http://realcollegebasketball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=295:rod-odom-interview&catid=51:interview&Itemid=100

What does he like best about the Boston College Eagles? “They win games,” replied Odom.

[Rondo2287]

Word, that was the other aspect I was considering.  He has also said that he has "very seriously considering," Arizona.  So who knows.  Im definitly hoping we snag him up.  It would be big time to get a top 100 recruit at BC

[nickagneta]

Looking at it the other way, he may have already decided on BC and his visit this weekend is to accept their offer and announce his decision to attend BC while here in Boston.

Just saying, that quote could be looked at as a positive for BC as well.

[Rondo2287]

Either way, I havent seen much regarding WV and Vandy, so it looks like it may be a two horse race.  Personally I would rather stay close to home, get a better education(which he says is important to him) and play in the ACC.  But thats just me being a homer!

Ya, I hear ya Nick.  The guy goes to HS in Concord MA, so BC is a big draw because he is already in Boston!

[Big_Matt34]

Word, that was the other aspect I was considering.  He has also said that he has "very seriously considering," Arizona.  So who knows.  Im definitly hoping we snag him up.  It would be big time to get a top 100 recruit at BC

Oh he is definately seriously considering Arizona, along with BC. It's almost definately between those two schools at this point, just really hope he picks here as he'd be a perfect fit for the flex offense with his versatility. Think about what their 9 man rotation could be next year if they get Odom and Noreen stays which is no guarantee. This team below would be VERY fun to watch.

Pg-Biko
Sg-Reggie
Sf-Rakim
Pf-Odom
Center-Southern

Bench:
Noreen
Heslip
Trapani
Raji/Ravenel