One thing Boston College head coach Al Skinner seems to keep emphasizing is the idea of success—a successful basketball team, a successful season and successful players.
And with one senior, seven juniors and three sophomores returning this year, the Eagles should have no problem building momentum and having that success in the ACC.
“The nice thing about it is that we have so many guys coming back, so I think we’re in a good place,” Skinner said. “We’re hoping we can accelerate things a little bit and that we can be better earlier on than we would have been last year.”
Though the Eagles lost their star player, Tyrese Rice, to graduation, Skinner said the team is prepared for the change, especially from an attitude standpoint.
“The guys are really prepared to take on the responsibilities that are necessary for us to be successful,” he said. “It was great for us last season because [Rice] gave the young guys a good idea of how to be successful, and I hope we can continue to build on that this year.”
Breaking away from tradition, Boston College did not sign any new recruits to the team. Rather than bringing in someone new who might not have the opportunity to play, the Eagles wanted to focus on working more as a unit and moving ahead with a relatively unproven team.
Last season, Boston College finished 22-12 overall and tied for seventh place in the ACC with a 9-7 record. The Eagles reached the first round of NCAA Tournament but fell to USC 72-55. This year, they were picked to finish ninth in the ACC.
Skinner said he tries to avoid the rankings, however, and aims to encourage his team from within rather than from outside sources.
“I rarely use outside influences to help my [team] because there’s always the negative stuff, and even the positive stuff sometimes inflates their [egos],” he said. “We’re just going to continue to do what we’ve been doing but hopefully just do it better. That’s our motto this year: do what we do, just better.”
With great depth and experience, the Eagles are prepared to bring their best game to the conference slate and hopefully the NCAA Tournament.
But without Rice, Boston College could have trouble in high-scoring games that are unavoidable in ACC play. Rice averaged almost 17 points per game in 2008-2009, and scored over 20 against both Duke and North Carolina last season for the Eagles. Boston College has some weapons, but replacing Rice is the priority for the new year.
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