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Thoughts: Boston College Athletics has no juice right now

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10 months ago

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Boston College basketball provided another maddening loss to the list with last night’s season openening loss to FAU, 83-78 in overtime. With a five point lead, and the ball, and under a minute remaining, the Eagles failed to close out the game in an all-to-familiar fashion.

This disturbing trend has occurred numerous times in Earl grants tenure at BC, and has successfully bleed into his fifth season on the Heights. After last night’s loss, Grant spoke on the road, and over time struggles, which left BC winless last season in both categories, “This was the first game that we played this year,” said head coach Earl Grant in his postgame remarks. “We can’t really look in the rearview mirror much at all, and I’m looking forward to getting back to work. We play on Thursday, so getting back to work, getting back to Boston to try and figure out how we can correct some of the mistakes that we made.”

The ‘new team, new season’ mantra is fine when results improve. When you are having similar results with different players, then you have to look at the common denominator in the big picture.

It’s in the DNA:

The inability to close out games has long plagued this program. Costly turnovers, uncontested 3-pointers, and more. There is no execution when BC is in the drivers seat to secure victory. These games are what can swing a season by 2, 3, 4 wins by the end. There’s no ‘good losses’ for games your supposed to win.

Slow start: FAU wants to play fast. They did just that and put BC on their heels for most of the first half. The Eagles had seven points in the first 7-and-a-half minutes of the game. They trailed by multiple possessions for the majority of the half until a late run brought them within striking distance.

It’s hard to make up ground for a slow start, specifically on the road. BC was able to build a nine point lead of their own, before crumbling with under a minute remaining.

They have improved: Despite the loss, it appears Earl Grant does has a vastly improved roster on his hands. Boden Kapke debuted to the tune of 17 points, on 7-of-10 shooting, 8 rebounds and three huge 3-pointers. Chase Forte, who was also making his Eagles debut, assisted on a pair of Kapke’s triples and really looked in-sync as the floor general. It’s also of note that freshman Marko Radunovic had eight points and a team-high 11 +/-.

Football

As the gridiron Eagles prepare for their 12th annual Red Bandana Game, honoring the late Welles Crowther, BC was making headlines for anything but. A video of head coach Bill O’Brien went viral after he took exception to a media member’s question.

Lights, Camera, Sports host Mike Gualtieri mentioned fan’s dismay to the current state of the football program to which O’Brien candidly responded that no one on the team was down, and went on to criticize Gualtieri for his “down” outlook.

Plenty of fault to go around: It all starts up top. While exact numbers of funding for the individual athletic programs have not been released, it is widely known that Boston College has not put the maximum dollar into the football program. At the very least, they are not on par with their peer institutions. What we are witnessing on a week to week basis is a team that has lacked the fire power that additional resources would have provided. BC has suffered because of this, losers of 8-straight, and being without an FBS victory this season.

With that said, it seems that because of this lack of financial support, O’Brien and his staff sought to bring on FCS level players that would fit their budget, and it has not translated into any semblance of success on the field.

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

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5 months ago

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April 19, 2026

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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.

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Former Merrimack sharpshooter Ernest Shelton commits to Boston College

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5 months ago

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April 17, 2026

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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.

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

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5 months ago

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April 16, 2026

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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.

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