State of BC Basketball

As many of those who follow the BC basketball team know the 2013-14 campaign is one that many would already like to forget about.  Coming into the season there was much hype surrounding the team given the amount of talent returning and how the squad finished last season strong, yet the team hasn't come close to meeting the pre-season expectations.  While I was happy that BC had scheduled non-conference games against teams from power conferences like UConn, USC, Auburn, Purdue and VCU as well as maintaining regional rivalry games against Providence, UMASS and Harvard, the one thing all these games had in common is non of these games were played at Conte Forum.  One of the ways to excite a fan base, as was seen by the crowd against Syracuse last night, is to bring quality opponents to Chestnut Hill.  Two of the best games BC has played at home over the past 2 seasons (although both ended in a loss) were the Duke game from last year and the Syracuse game from last night, which both had huge crowds with a lively student section.  I truly believe any team in any sport increases their level of play when they know the crowd is fully behind them.  Bringing in a Division 2 team like Philadelphia University is not a way to excite fans and make them want to come to the game.

Now that BC is starting to get into the thick of ACC play and it is clear that it will be the 5th year in a row without an NCAA Tournament appearance, one has to start looking into the future about what's best for the program.  I, like many BC fans, think Steve Donahue is a great guy who represents everything good that Boston College as an institution stands for, but at the end of the day a Division 1 coach in an elite conference is judged not by their character but by their win-loss record and in the time he has been at the helm at BC he has yet to deliver results that show the program is heading in the right direction.

When BC hired Donahue, I was excited, even though I was sad to see Al Skinner go.  While I longed for the days of Jared Dudley, Craig Smith, Louis Hinnant and Sean Marshall again, I did look forward to the style of play Donahue would bring to BC.  His Cornell team that made the Sweet 16 the year before was a fun team to watch and it is clear Donahue coaches the game with great passion.  The one major concern I had however was how would his style of play in the Ivy League translate into the elite conference of the ACC.  Donahue's hiring of Joe Jones as an assistant I thought was a great hire, not only because he also had head coaching experience, but he was also a strong recruiter during his time as an assistant at Villanova.  When Jones left for the head coaching gig at the school down Commonwealth Ave.  BC was left with a coaching staff that was made up of rather young and inexperienced coaches, and I am confident in saying that this has had an impact on the level of play by the team on the court.

The core group of this BC team has been together for 3 years and while the play towards the end of last year, especially with the emergence of Olivier Hanlan, gave me great hope for this year, the team as a whole does not seem to have the skill and athleticism to compete at a consistent basis with the middle and upper tier of the ACC. The regression of the defense this year is what has been the most shocking, and while I know part of this has to do with the absence of big man Dennis Clifford, it is clear missing him is not the only reason for poor play.  Going back to last year BC has shown they can compete for 30 minutes but the final 10 minutes of each game is where they seem to falter and lose their composure.  Watching the second half of games this year has been increasingly frustrating and for the sake of my health and BC fandom, I don't think I can go through another year of watching this team play like this.

Based on how the year has gone, I don't see how Athletic Director Brad Bates can keep Donahue beyond this season.  I do think Donahue is still a great coach, but like Tommy Amaker at Harvard (who has now beaten BC 6 years in a row) maybe he is best suited to coach at Ivy or Patriot League level school.  The question now becomes who does Bates turn to from here?

If it was up to me, first person I'd be calling is Bruce Pearl, although I am well aware it comes with great risk. Pearl is a BC grad and I am sure he is itching to get back into the coaching ranks after his 3 year show cause ban.  Pearl has proven he has been successful both at the mid major level at Wisconsin-Milwaukee (who beat BC in the 2005 NCAA Tournament and went onto the Sweet 16) and in a power conference at Tennessee who he took to the Elite 8 in 2010. He has a good eye for talent and sounds like a relentless recruiter (as long as he does it legally) and coaches with great energy, which sounds a lot like BC's first year head football coach Steve Addazio.  While Pearl seems a little crazy based on some of his off the court antics (as is seen by the pictures I have added) I'm hoping his time away from coaching has made him wiser and because of that I'm hoping Bates at least gives him a shot.

Whether Bates goes after Pearl, is still a huge question mark, but I do hope that Bates at least goes after a guy who has been a head coach at an elite level, and not hire a coach from a mid major, like a Steve Donahue, in the hopes that he is the next best thing.