Rice still hoping for NBA spot and other links

The Globe had a good article on Tyrese Rice and his second go around with NBA teams. Rice spent last season in Greece. I joked about it on Twitter, but Rice should seriously drive himself to Miami and sign with the Heat of the league minimum. They need point guards and spot shooters.

Here is an article on the Hayes brothers. All indications point towards them both playing at BC this fall.

WEEI has a round up on BC's basketball recruiting. Here is a little more on Matt Humphrey.

This transcript of the ACC-ESPN press conference goes on and on without giving away too many details or specifics. In my opinion this biggest news is that ESPN will continue the Sunday Night Hoops series but wants to play the games at earlier times.

BC Soccer and the World Cup

With the World Cup final coming up this weekend, we shouldn't forget that BC has become a very important U.S. soccer program. We know about Charlie Davies but there are some other prospects that could be contributing to future national teams. Alejandro Bedoya was one of the final cuts from this year's World Cup team. If he raises his skills and starts playing in a higher level European League he could continue to be called up by the National Team. Sacir Hot is training with the U.S. U-20 team. The U-20 team will be a great showcase for his talents and will get him notice internationally.

Ed Kelly deserves much of the credit for building the BC program. The U.S. will never be a soccer power if we are dependent on college players but having a few BC guys for depth is not a bad thing. I am encouraged that U.S. soccer is taking young talent and developing it professionally before the guys even reach college age. Ultimately that is the way to go. But our youth soccer population is so broad and our professional infrastructure is still so new, that it is nice to have guys like Ed Kelly finding and developing hidden gems. Enjoy Sunday's game and let's hope that in four years the U.S. is playing in the finals with a few Eagles on the field.

TV deal update and other links

The ACC finalized its TV deal with ESPN. People are making a big deal of it being the first true multisport contract. That is certainly important, but football still drives the dollars. There is also still little detail on what percentage of programming will be broadcast vs online. I hope the ACC secured a few key slots on Thursday and Saturday nights.

Some basketball players visited a local children's hospital. The real news in the link is confirmation that the new freshmen Coton and Rubin are on campus and already hanging with the team.

The freshmen got their numbers. The roster still needs weights and some class updates.

Tom Condon is challenging the public record of Jeremy Trueblood's arrest.

Our newest OLine commitment is a late bloomer, but seems like a good project.

When writing about the NBA summer league, BC guy Andrew Sharp uses Tyrese Rice as an example of a someone using the league to showcase his NBA level talent.

Here are the Vineyard Vine shots from campus. Couldn't they find actual BC students to do the modeling?

Here is a bio on incoming baseball player Tom Bourdon. I wish we all knew who would be coaching him next year.

This is not sports, but it is a great story involving a young BC alum.

Report: Aoki to Notre Dame

BC Guy and leading College Baseball Blogger Brian Foley is reporting that Mik Aoki has accepted the Notre Dame opening. I wish him the best of luck. I think we will miss Aoki as a recruiter. (His curious strategic decisions won't be as missed.) Foley thinks another BC grad -- Mike Gambino -- is the favorite to replace Mik at the Heights.

Recruiting outlook and other links

ESPN published a state of the recruiting class piece today. It doesn't really break any news or provide much hard analysis, but it does summarize where we are and where we are going. My only concern with recruiting so far is the lack of commitments. Every year it seems like we don't have enough on our B list, so after we miss out on some A list, we are left to find new guys and late bloomers.

Here are some draft ratings for current college players. Herzy is mentioned and they say that his rating hasn't changed despite his illness and surgery. How can that be? I still think Herzy will be an NFL player, but shouldn't he get back on the field before we decide how it will translate to the NFL? In the end it is all offseason filler. (Thanks to all those who sent the link.)

Here is Phil Steele's ranking of the ACC team's of the decade. No word on if we will be included in the Big East rankings too.

Tyrese Rice is playing well in Utah's summer league team, but it is still unlikely to make their final team. He's battling Sundiata Gaines and Othyus Jeffers for playing time.

Kevin Challenger resigned with Montreal. He will always have a little more staying power in the CFL since he is a Canadian citizen.

Long weekend roundup

Here is more on BC's latest commit Connor Wujciak. Inside the article he mentions frequent talks with Andre Callender during the process. It is nice to see Seton Hall Prep guys sticking together.

This article focuses on UConn but also mentions that BC football turned a profit last season. I guess we owe Tampa Bay thanks for taking Jags' buyout off our payroll.(Thanks to Mike for the link.)

Ryan Glasper is keeping his career alive in the UFL...and still has a bit of bad blood towards TOB.

Tampa bloggers still have hope for Ryan Purvis.

Former BC Director of Basketball Ops Preston Murphy may end up back up at URI on Barron's staff.

BC has reportedly offered Pennsylvania guard Darrun Hilliard.

A call to all big BC eaters

Many of the world's greatest athletes have worn the maroon and gold. BC has produced first round draft picks, NBA stars, great runners, Soccer strikers, MLB prospects, some of the best sailors in the world, etc. I could go on for days listing the great competitors who called the Heights "home." Yet here on the day where the sporting world turns to a hot dog eating contest, I am left to wonder "how come none of the great eaters are from BC?"

When I was at BC, I saw guys consume tons of food in minutes. I saw hundreds of disgusting (yet hilarious) acts related to food, booze and puking. We have a competitive food landmark in the Eagles Deli blocks from campus. Isn't there one Eagle out there who could eat 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes?

I am glad the best eaters are once again American. Now we just need someone to challenge Joey Chestnut and bring the Yellow Belt back to Chestnut Hill.

BC on TV (and Hulu)

The Friday Night Lights episode filmed on campus last year finally aired this week. You can now view it online. Although I saw the movie and heard good things about the series, this will probably be the first and last episode of FNL that I watch. I guess I am just desperate to see football and BC anywhere. At times I wish I could fast forward the summer so that football will be on again.

Spaz building up his class and other links

Connor Wujciak is the newest member of Spaz's recruiting class. The NJ DE had a solid list of offers and spurned his father's alma mater (Notre Dame) as well as his brother's (Maryland). The good news was dampened a bit by word that BC lost out on Rob Burns.

Notre Dame has interest in bringing on Mik Aoki. I would be surprised if Mik took the Notre Dame job. The money may be a little better but you are in a worse baseball conference and a less fertile recruiting territory. Hopefully Gene can give him a raise to keep him happy.

BC Magazine went behind the mask with Baldwin.

Blue Ribbon's preview and other links

ESPN offered up a free version of the Blue Ribbon preview of BC. It is a good assessment of the team but doesn't really offer anything we don't already know. But I am starting to get less bothered by what the magazines say about BC. These days, I mostly buy the preview mags so that I can learn more about our opponents.

It is down to BC and UVA for DE prospect Rob Burns.

Do you play college fantasy football? If so, Athlon thinks Montel Harris would be a good pick up.

More incoming transfers and other links

Another day, another transfer. This time Donahue landed former Oregon wing Matt Humphrey. Like Taylor, Humphrey will sit out next season and have two years remaining when he does suit up. He was a bit of a disappointment at Oregon given his recruiting rating coming in, yet is supposed to be a good, high energy kid.

Spaz added LB/FB prospect Nick Lifka to the recruiting class. His high school coach had very good things to say about BC's fit for Lifka.

Scout.com likes what they see in current commit Brian Miller.

EDSBS is marking the biggest dickish moves in college football history. Not surprisingly Lou Holtz's fake punt in 1992 made the list.

Donahue adds depth with transfer

The Donahue staff grabbed a critical transfer in former Monmouth forward Travis Taylor. Taylor will be eligible for the 2011-2012 season and have two years remaining in his college career. Although we won't know his impact for another season, Taylor was very good for Monmouth (arguably their best player). Plus we really need the depth after we graduate all of this year's seniors. This is a solid (and much needed) pickup. I also expect at least one more incoming transfer this summer to bolster the 2011-2012 team.

Noreen heading to WVU and other links

After seemingly talking to every program in the country, Kevin Noreen signed with West Virginia. It's a good program but from what I gather, I don't think his style of play will mesh with Huggins more physical, bang'em schemes. Best of luck to him, but the whole thing seems like a missed opportunity for him and BC's new staff. The good news is that Donahue's first elite camp went really well and the staff is laying the foundation for their new approach.

Ohio prospect Shaq Washington is set to make his announcement and is still considering BC.

Several baseball players were honored with postseason awards.

Nice weekend at the Hayes house and other links

Soon to be Eagle (hopefully) Kevin Hayes was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft. Everyone is assuming Hayes will come to BC, but Chicago also acquired his brother, current Eagle, Jimmy in a trade. Would they have done that if they weren't going to press him to skip BC and go straight to pro hockey?

Jo-Lonn Dunbar was back in Upstate New York to host a football camp and talk about the NFL.

Here are some of the upcoming storylines for the 2010-11 basketball season.

Sample vuvuzelas played over BC's biggest moments

As you know, I am a fan of the vuvuzelas. In honor of the World Cup, Youtube has created a feature that allows you to play the horn over highlights. Just click on the soccer ball icon on the right side of the time box on any Youtube clip to hear it (sorry but the feature doesn't work when embedded). You can listen to the Flutie Hail Mary

Or Matt Ryan at Virginia Tech.

Now that the U.S. is out of the Cup, there won't be much of a BC angle. But let's hope Charlie Davies is a big factor in 2014.

Flutie still a fan and other links

ESPNBoston posted a Q&A with Doug Flutie on his latest news. He mentions Billy and BC sports throughout. Since this is Billy's last year, I fear we might not see Doug as much in the coming years.

Andy Katz thinks Reggie could skip his senior season and enter the NBA draft in 2011.

BC grad Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah aka Kofi Kingston will be wrestling at the DCU when WWE hits New England.

Most of you probably read this but it looks like the Hockey team's T crash may have been the fault of the T Driver.

Sanchez's tough luck and other links

Former Eagle Tony Sanchez was having a great first season in the minors until Tuesday when a stray pitch broke his jaw. He will have surgery and is out indefinitely. He should fully recover...let's just hope the bad luck surrounding the Pirates doesn't trickle down to their prospects.

NC State hired Maryland's AD to run their athletic department. I don't feel strongly one way or the other about Yow, but wonder if she'll pressure TOB to finally win.

Want to go on record with your season prediction: check out BCI's feature that let's you predict throughout the season.

Know your likely BC bowls: EagleBank Bowl

Since we know BC will never be selected for the top bowls, the only options are playing our way into the Orange or getting sent down to the afterthought bowls. The ACC has some new bowl affiliations this year, so I thought we should take the time to learn about our likely destinations. This will be a series of posts over the summer. Part III is the EagleBank Bowl.

Bowl: EagleBank Bowl
Named Sponsor: EagleBank. Since the bowl is new and made for TV, it has never been without a sponsor name that I could reference. The actual bank is a regional D.C. based financial institution. Do the players get free checking as part of the gift bag?
History: Does two years count as history? Both games have been decent, but no real history has been made yet. Nothing historic or memorable took place in the 2008 or 2009 EagleBank Bowls.
Opposing Conference: The Naval Academy, the MAC, the Big Ten and Conference USA.
Date: December 29, 2010. The game will be on ESPN at 2:30 ET. This is actually a big improvement over their original slot prior to Christmas.
Location: Washington, D.C. Our nation's capital doesn't need a lot of background from me. There is plenty to do and see. The weather is cold (as anyone who went to Maryland last year can tell you), but not as bad as Boston. The cool thing about the game is that it is held at RFK. The Redskins' old home is certainly outdated, but the seats are close to the action and the stadium has seen a lot of great football.
Fun Fact: The bowl has a sponsorship program that allows fans to buy tickets for military families. This is a nice idea and does two good things -- adds atmosphere and provides a nice bonus for those serving our country.
Prediction: We are not going to D.C. this year. The EagleBank Bowl selects the eighth ACC team and I don't see a situation where we will be there. We will play in the game some year, but I don't expect it to be this season. If/when we go, it actually will be a good opportunity to finally sell tickets since we have so many alums and fans in the area.

All America honors and other links

The Sporting News named Kuechly and Castonzo to their All America teams. Surprisingly Kuechly made first team while Castonzo was third. I would have expected Castonzo to have more support from a national publication.

Derrick Knight's cousin (who is from Mass) is headed to NC State. TOB played up the BC connection as they are with Matt Ryan's cousin John Loughery.

Scouting services still think Herzy has great NFL potential.

Donahue adds another to the 2010 class

One of my fears has been eased as Steve Donahue added another commitment to this current class in Florida guard Gabriel Moton. Donahue recruited Moton at Cornell but saw him commit to the Air Force Academy. When Donahue switched jobs into the ACC, his pitch to Moton became more appealing. Can you blame Moton? Would you rather spend your summer in basic training or playing hoops at the Plex and taking one class at BC?

Moton should play right away and see most of the minutes that had been penciled in for Heslip. Now for balance and impact sake, let's hope Donahue gets another under the radar guy this summer.

(Thanks to the commentors for posting the links during the day.)