Connect with us

Basketball

DiMauro: BC basketball has a ‘path’ too

Published

on

It would be indiscreet at this point to steal “The Path” from Boston College football, what with its recent popularity explosion. But then, BC basketball has its own path (avenue? gateway?) to salvation, too, otherwise known as its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2009.

The avenue/gateway for the dukes of Earl began with an exclamation point Monday night at Conte Forum, an impressive 89-70 win over Fairfield. Consider that a year earlier, the Eagles had to walk barefoot over a hibachi to finally slay Cornell at the buzzer.

And this is where we begin.

Other programs in other outposts might fit into a national media narrative that suggests college basketball is a “one month season.” Wake them up when March Madness begins. The regular season is a four-month slog that merely determines who gets seeded where.

Not so much at Boston College. Every game matters. And a game such as Monday’s, which might have generated a yawn during the Bagley/Adams/Curley/Bell/Smith/Dudley days, was far more significant than the calendar and weaker opponent suggests.

The avenue/gateway for BC begins here: The Eagles, who figure to be a bubble team even if all goes well this season, cannot lose to inferior opponents. Nothing else kills a tournament resume faster than what we’ve seen in recent years, the home losses to Albany, Maine and New Hampshire, among others. And so while Fairfield hardly qualifies a sexy victory, it would have been a devastating defeat, even this early in the season. This is why they all count.

In the old days, making the tournament for BC required three things: Twenty overall wins, a winning league record and a quality win outside the conference. But now in today’s analytical revolution, many more factors are involved. The old “who did you beat and where did you beat them?” has company alongside “adjusted offensive efficiency” and deep dives into strength of schedule.

(Win valuable prizes if you can provide your humble narrator with the contextual significance of “adjusted offensive efficiency” and how it relates to tournament qualification.)

But that’s a rant for another day.

The point is that as “top 50” wins enhance a resume, “bottom 100/150” losses kill them. So while the Eagles will have much work to do once conference play begins, they must provide the foundation in November and December by keeping the avenue/gateway spotless.

BC has a chance to earn quality nonconference wins against Creighton and St. John’s. There are toughies against Colorado State and at Vanderbilt. And a home game against Harvard that has the potential to feel more uncomfortable than hemorrhoids. Losses in those games wouldn’t necessarily be killers. But all the others? Oy.

One way BC can avoid the annual inexplicable loss is to make Conte Forum a hellhole for opponents. We’re all familiar with the “Conte Morgue” thing. Makes you wonder whether past sleepless atmospheres have contributed to losing. The good news is that nearly 5,000 showed up Monday night, many students in their hard hats, maintaining the current football/hockey vibe of outstanding student support this season.

“Big time,” BC center Quinten Post said of the atmosphere. “Our media team and our marketing team did a great job of advertising the game. I think there’s a certain hype around our program this year. I think people know and people expect that this is going to be our breakout year. That’s how the team feels. That’s how I feel and that’s how coach (Grant) feels.

“And I think you can kind of feel it in the air. The fans were great tonight. We had a lot of people show up. I hope that the next home game we have even more people show up and that we can turn Conte into a really hard place to play.”

The Eagles took about as positive of a Step One as possible Monday night, mostly because 1) they didn’t lose; and 2) they inhaled an inferior opponent. It’ll satisfy all those esoteric analytical platforms that determine postseason fates.

Too early to be talking postseason in early November for a program that hasn’t danced in 14 years? Au contraire. BC basketball has a path, too. And happily, it’s clear for the moment.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Basketball

Boston College lands one of nation’s top rebounders in Brandon Benjamin, along with former Charleston forward Colby Duggan

Published

on

Boston College received two more transfer commitments this weekend in Brandon Benjamin and Colby Duggan. Benjamin and Duggan join Money Williams, Ernest Shelton and JB Frankel as the fourth and fifth transfers to commit to Luke Murray and BC this offseason. The Eagles now have seven players on their roster, including international signing Zak Smrekar and Jack Bailey, the only BC player from last year not to enter the portal.

Benjamin, a 6-foot-8 forward from Newark, N.J., played his only collegiate season last year at Fairfield University. The rising sophomore was named to the 2025-26 MAAC All-Rookie Team and All-MAAC Second Team after averaging 14.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting 56.5% from the field. Benjamin ranked first in the MAAC and eighth in the country in rebounds per game and second in the country in offensive rebounds per game (4.25).

“What made me pick BC first was the coaching staff,” Benjamin told ZAGSBLOG on Sunday. “It really felt like family. I will bring my high motor, plus rebounding, finishing around the rim and taking guys off the dribble. [I also bring] my catch-and-shooting, pick-and-pop, my winning impact and my versatility with guarding 1-5 with the ability to block shots.”

Duggan, a 6-foot-7 forward from Monson, Mass., averaged 9.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 19 games for Charleston last season after missing the first part of the year with an injury. He spent the previous two seasons at Campbell University and averaged 15.7 points and 3.3 rebounds on 34% shooting from 3-point range during the 2024-25 season.

“He competes on both ends of the court at all times,” former Charleston head coach and current USF head coach Chris Mack said. “He’s a warrior. He’s a winner. Defensively, Colby doesn’t back down. He guards well in the post and on the perimeter. Offensively, he led the conference in scoring and is just scratching the surface of what he can be as a mismatch.”

Benjamin should slot into the starting lineup as the power forward or a small-ball big thanks to his impressive rebounding ability, while Duggan comes to BC as a depth piece off the bench.

Continue Reading

Basketball

Former Merrimack sharpshooter Ernest Shelton commits to Boston College

Published

on

Guard Ernest Shelton announced his commitment to Boston College early Thursday night. The former Merrimack Warrior became the fourth transfer to commit to head coach Luke Murray and the Eagles, joining Zak Smrekar, Money Williams and JB Frankel. Shelton was named to the 2025-26 All-MAAC first team while helping lead the Warriors to a MAAC regular-season championship.

Shelton played two seasons at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, on the opposite side of the state from his hometown of Philadelphia, before transferring to Merrimack last offseason. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 15.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 34.6% from behind the 3-point line.

“[Shelton]’s a shooter,” Merrimack head coach Joe Gallo said. “Every time it comes out of his hand, you think it’s going in.”

Shelton knocked down 99 3-pointers for Merrimack last season and was among the top 40 in the country in 3-pointers made per game (2.9). He set a career high last season with nine 3-pointers in a game against Boston University and made five or more 3-pointers in six games.

The sharpshooter is a breath of fresh air for a Boston College program that finished last in the ACC in 3-point percentage last season.


Continue Reading

Basketball

Boston College lands Zak Smrekar, Money Williams, and JB Frankel, first three transfer commitments of Luke Murray era

Published

on

Boston College received its first three transfer commitments of the 2026 transfer portal cycle on Thursday in Zak Smrekar, Money Williams, and JB Frankel. Smrekar, Williams, and Frankel are the first three players to commit to BC since Luke Murray was named head coach on March 26 and join Jack Bailey as the only three players currently on the Eagles’ roster.

Smrekar is a 19-year-old, 6-foot-7 guard from Slovenia and was the first to commit to Murray. He played for the club Krka Novo Mesto in the Slovenian ABA for three seasons and averaged 9.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 15 games in the 2025-26 season. Smrekar also played for Slovenia in the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup and averaged 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in seven games.

Williams is a 20-year-old, 6-foot-4 guard who played the last three seasons for Montana. The Oakland, California, native was named to the 2025-26 All-Big Sky First Team after averaging 20.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game on 49.8% shooting from the field. Williams scored a career-high 40 points against Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Tournament, along with tallying six other 30-point games last season.

“I can’t come up with enough words to praise Money Williams properly,” Montana head coach Travis DeCuire said in October 2025. “When you talk about the young man that he is off the court, the young man he is when you bring him in the office, and you have real conversations with him and look him in the eye and talk about things that are hard to talk about.”

Frankel is a 21-year-old, 6-foot-3 guard who is not moving far, as he played the last three years at Northeastern. He started 13 of 30 games for the Huskies last season and averaged 5.9 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. The New York City native scored a season-high 13 points in a road win against Harvard.

Coach Murray will have to continue to build up the Eagles roster, but with three guards being picked up, look for the Eagles to hone in on finding their starting forwards and big men.

Continue Reading

Trending

©2026 Eagles Daily