Connect with us

Basketball

DiMAURO: It’s time for a new men’s basketball coach at Boston College

Published

2 years ago

on

Disclaimer to begin: I try not to be part of this country’s rage culture, where apocalyptic social media howls of FIRE THAT GUY!! only fortify the ripples of cheap debate permeating a country filled with more screamers than listeners.

Incessant, arbitrary demands for a coach’s job callously ignore the issues of livelihoods, not to mention uprooting families.  

And so I derive no joy whatsoever in this. But Earl Grant’s time as Boston College’s head men’s basketball coach should be on the 18th green. 

This is Year Four. There is significantly more regression than progression. The latest NET ranking is a crisp 226, behind Maine, Northeastern, Lowell and Brown, among others. The last two home games have delivered about 75 percent of Conte Forum wearing the colors of the opposing team. There is little passion, student apathy, a rotting rooting interest and frankly, very little hope.

And this will be the 16th straight season BC misses the NCAA Tournament, which is a complete stain on athletic hierarchies of the past. Future decisions will determine whether this regime joins the parade.

There is no reason – none – why BC can’t succeed in a sport it once did. Quite regularly. And there is no reason that on a campus where there’s been a bit of a sports renaissance in recent years across many programs, that basketball spins its wheels furiously, but with no traction.

BC loyalists all have their theories about why the program has swirled the bowl since Al Skinner was fired. Here’s mine: Incompetent leadership manifested through terrible coaching hires. Not bad hires. Terrible. Steve Donahue was over his head. So was Jim Christian. This job is too big for Grant as well. Again: This is not a character assassinstion. This is admission that in a results-oriented business, the results have been unacceptable. For 16 years.

But then blame assessment, while popular, is largely useless – and certainly not as important as how the institution acts moving forward. BC is no different than any other athletic department in the idea that if you hire a good coach, the perception of the program changes in lockstep with win totals. See Bill O’Brien and Acacia Walker-Weinstein as Exhibits A and B.

Athletic director Blake James better have the metaphorical rolodex of coaching candidates in his top drawer. He cannot retain Grant. He cannot swing and miss on the successor. We’ve been watching 16 years of lousy basketball. I believe I can speak for us all when I say we’ve had enough. EEE-NUFF.

Know what irritates me the most? That the program is mocked as some basketball desert. It’s an insult to what amounts to decent history. Lest we forget that Bob Cousy and Chuck Daly coached here. Skinner made the NCAAs seven times in 10 years. His teams won a Big East Tournament, played for an ACC title and made the Sweet 16. He even started a season with more than 20 straight wins. Jim O’Brien made the Elite Eight. So did Dr. Tom Davis. Gary Williams won plenty. This is a place with Austin, Bagley, Driscoll, Adams, Barros, Curley, Eisley, Abrams, Smith, Dudley and scores of others.

And now? I couldn’t believe I read (and later heard) this quote from Grant after the Syracuse game:

“It was a back and forth game,” he said after the Jan. 11 loss. “If I was a fan, I probably really enjoyed the game. I kind of enjoyed coaching it, but I probably would enjoy it more as a fan. It was entertaining.”

What was entertaining, coach?

Conte Forum awash in the orange hue of the opponent?

Losing an eight-point lead late?

Losing another game?

Enjoyable? Entertaining? Have you any idea what it’s been like watching this for the last 16 years?

This hasn’t been enjoyable – aside perhaps from upsetting No. 1 Duke in 2017 – since Tyrese Rice left. This hasn’t been entertaining at all, evidenced by the perpetually muted tones inside Conte Forum.

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that BC’s NIL Collective (“Friends Of The Heights”) has been on a heater. Friends Of The Heights, as well as collectives across the country, won’t necessarily change roles next season, but will have company with the concept of compensation. Revenue sharing begins July 1, allowing institutions to compensate student-athletes directly.

Translation: BC will never be an athletic factory. But it will remain plenty competitive in attempts to procure and retain players through compensation. Plus, there’s a new practice facility. There are elite academics, second-to-none social life and an engaging city. 

Now all Blake James must do is go find the right guy.

Grant seems a nice man whose demeanor and comportment represents BC well. But as previously stated: This is a results oriented business. It’s time to demand better results.

Mike DiMauro, a columnist in Connecticut, is a contributor to Eagles Daily and a member of BC’s Class of 1990. He may be reached at m.dimauro@theday.com or @BCgenius

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Teddy Errico

    January 21, 2025 at 3:17 am

    The last 3 hires were incredibly bad. How do we let it be known that a change this year must be made ! And we can’t hire cheaply again.

    In recent memory BC has the most wins in the tournament for any school who has never made it to the Final Four. That’s something, even if someone passed us by.

    Blake : Pleaae do something to restore hope in BC Hoops

    Reply

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

5 months ago

on

April 19, 2026

By

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

5 months ago

on

April 17, 2026

By

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

5 months ago

on

April 16, 2026

By

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