Hanlan honored and other links

The AP released their All America teams and Olivier Hanlan made the honorable mention team. As more and more underclassman declare for the NBA Draft, the hope of Hanlan returning gets better.

Chris Shaw earned Hitter of the Week honors from the NCBWA.

Hockey Captian Michael Matheson signed with the Panthers and will skip his final year of college hockey.

Former Eagle Jordan Daniels completed his degree at Drake and is now free to transfer and play right away.

The ups and downs of recruiting teenagers UPDATE

[Of course after I wrote this and went to bed, Dalton made it official and decommitted from BC. If you're listening to whispers, BC wasn't putting up with his flightiness and pulled the offer. As I wrote, BC and this class will be fine. Best of luck to Dalton...wherever he goes.]

In my short stint with Scout.com, I did my best to avoid interacting directly with recruits. My excuse at the time was that I couldn't because I am a BC booster. But the reality is that I didn't want to go near the potential eagles. I know most are probably good kids, but there are also plenty that would drive me nuts. Recruiting is an emotional roller coaster for the college coaches. Reading the tea leaves, I am sure BC's staff has spent way too much emotion already dealing with current verbal commitment Danny Dalton.

Dalton has been the subject of speculation on various BC message boards, but for those who don't read the boards, here is a quick recap. Massachusetts TE Danny Dalton committed to BC last month. A local product with upside, it seemed like Addazio found good potential and Dalton said all the right things. Of course BC's discovery sent out signals to other programs. Supposedly Alabama had interest. And maybe the extra attention got Dalton thinking, because since committing to BC, he visited Rutgers and raved about it, and visited Penn State this past weekend. Addazio and staff cannot comment publicly on a player, but I can't imagine they enjoy his mini-tour and tweeting about rival programs.

Verbal commitments are not binding and plenty of BC stars of the past were people who changed their mind and flipped to BC (Herzlich and Hilliman are two that come to mind). Addazio might lose Dalton and others in the future. He'll also flip some back to BC. I am not going to lose sleep over it, but I am sure the assistants are. They found and nurtured the relationship with Dalton and now have to fret the next 10 months until Signing Day. Or they can cut their losses and tell Dalton if he keeps looking, his BC offer is gone. Either way I doubt he ends up an Eagle. But because he's local, Addazio has to handle it with kid gloves. Pissing off one local coach or recruit can have a real ripple effect.

At this point I trust Addazio on recruiting. If he can't keep Dalton, he will find an capable replacement. Because if Dalton reminded us, teenagers love to change their minds.

A baseball sweep!

Maybe we should move all of BC's home games to Delaware!? While being the "home" team in the First State, BC Baseball swept Duke over the weekend. BC now stands at 4-7 in ACC play. The team has now won five in a row and face UConn and UMass this week. If they keep the hot streak going, they can reach .500 before the play another ACC team next week.

The Delaware solution was only temporary, however, I don't think this is the end of BC's barnstorming. Weather and Shea Field will always make early season games precarious. For now let's just hope they keep making the best of the circumstances and keep on winning.

Hockey season over as Denver sends BC packing

The silver lining is that BC was still a tournament team during a transition year. As much as casual fans assume that the team can often just turn it on, not winning the Beanpot or Hockey East Tournament served as a warning sign. BC didn't have enough to hang with Denver as the Pioneers won 5-2.

BC finished the season 21-14-3. Even with the loss, the guys and Jerry York still deserve our thanks for another very good season.

Isn't it supposed to be Spring?

It is only fitting that following a winter that no one in Boston will forget, the first Boston College "open scrimmage" was filled with snow. The team started things early just to avoid the worst part of the scheduled storm. With the bubble down, the forecast becomes a much more important part of the planning process.

According to Adam Kurkjian, all three QBs looked green. But how much of that was jitters, the conditions or just young QBs getting the kinks out?

Based on some of the pictures, it seems like the weather kept most of the fans away from the new event.

Football Spring Scrimmage pic.twitter.com/TyWeoxybJ8
— WZBC Sports (@WZBCSPORTS) March 28, 2015

You cannot read too much into any of this. Even just measuring the Marketing aspect, I don't know if you can really compare this to a traditional Spring Game, since the schedule got tweaked and the weather was so bad. Let's hope it helped recruiting. I don't know if this will make Bates rethink future Spring Games, but it did help Addazio's argument for an indoor practice facility.

Tweets of the Week

Coughlin has an iPhone but only knows how to text. "I don't trust the lady in GPS. Don't trust her."

— Kevin Clark (@KevinClarkWSJ) March 25, 2015

Gottfried with a stump for the ACC, too: "No disrespect to Villanova, they're obviously very, very good ... "

— Joe Giglio (@jwgiglio) March 22, 2015

Gottfried cont.: "... but I'm not sure they're winning our league."

— Joe Giglio (@jwgiglio) March 22, 2015

Uh-oh. RT @BostonCollegeIT: Rumors swirling as to who will replace Zayn Malik. pic.twitter.com/vGuGQgQbTR

— Boston College (@BostonCollege) March 26, 2015

@french60wasp Oh god no. Not another Steve Addazio.

— Matt Barr (@MattyLight11) March 24, 2015

No confusion: Blackmon on board

Do you remember the confusion regarding Ronnie Blackmon's verbal last month? At the time, some sites said he was coming to BC, while others said it was premature. Now things are clear: Blackmon is committed. In addition to Scout's news, 247 says he a BC lock too.

Ronnie's own Tweet also shows him in Boston.

Atlanta⏩⏩Boston pic.twitter.com/3x2QdSZLcW
— Ronnie Blackmon (@smooth_ronnie4) March 26, 2015

Like all of our early verbals, Blackmon will hear from plenty of other programs, but I think BC can keep him locked in.

BC is one of many after Jaren Sina

One of the most sought after basketball transfers of this recruiting cycle is Jaren Sina. The former Setor Hall combo guard visited Binghamton, but plenty of big schools have shown interest. Reports differ on who the true favorite is, but BC is consistently mentioned. Sina is not a critical piece for BC -- especially if Hanlan returns -- but he would be a "nice to have." He can add depth and some scoring. It would also be another positive sign that Christian put together a good recruiting staff.

Morias commits

BC picked up another verbal commitment Tuesday. The newest member of the 2016 recruiting class is Bryce Morias. The Georgia DE recently visited and based on his twitter account really seemed to buy into Addazio's program.

Once again Al Washington deserves much of the credit for turning Georgia into an important recruiting territory. Morias has offers from UNC and Tennessee and I am sure other big programs will try to poach him. But I trust Washington and Addazio to keep him on board.

Barlow commits and other links

New York DE Brandon Barlow verballed to Addazio Monday. He's been at BC's camp, so the staff should know what they are getting in him.

Another reminder that baseball needs a permanent home and a better surface for dealing with wetness and rain: our series with Duke will be played in Delaware.

BC basketball target Mike Edwards is now getting attention from Michigan.

According to an ESPN study using wins and salary, Addazio is one of the better bargains in college football.

Former Eagle Tony Sanchez hopes to make the most of this season with the Pirates. Although it looked like he might start the season in Triple A, injuries to other catchers and a strong spring could help him start in the majors this year.

Addazio takes Indoor Practice Facility push to Media

The Globe and BC's own web site both had write ups on Saturday's scrimmage. Both had quotes from Addazio. BC's piece had more quotes from the coach, but left out an important one that the Globe included: "We need a permanent indoor facility." 

Addazio's push for an permanent indoor practice facility is not new to those who have heard him speak lately. He tends to work it into his speeches at booster and alumni functions. Taking it to the media though changes the objective. Now the pitch goes from receptive ears to a broader community who can interpret it a few different ways. In general, I think BC fans (the passionate and the casual) will support the facility. It is just part of the arms race of college football. And the facilities are no longer just at football factories. Private schools across the ACC have them or are building them. Good facilities can make a difference with quality recruits. But Addazio's quote will also be fuel for those who don't want it (locals who object to any BC construction) and those we recruit against.

I don't think Addazio talked about the facility to put pressure on Brad Bates or start building excuses for himself. It is still early in his tenure, but I don't think he is that manipulative. But taking the message to a wider audience is a power play. Addazio is very friendly with Vega. If he didn't want the quote out there, it would have been removed. Now, Addazio is letting the BC broader BC community know that if we want to compete we need to raise the money and build this facility.

Hockey opens Tourney against Denver

The NCAA rolled out the selections and seeding for the NCAA Tournament Sunday. BC will face Denver in the first round. The game is Saturday at 3 pm ET on ESPN 2. If they advance, they will face the winner of Miami of Ohio and Providence on Sunday. Congrats and let's go win this.

Hockey should get into the NCAA Tourney

Without their usual automatic bid, BC is going to have to wait out the last few games. The BCI crew broke down the scenarios and are very confident that BC will get invited. All that matters is getting hot at the right time. That has been a problem this season, but I still believe that York can get these guys going.

[Eds. Note: Joe corrected me on the selection process. It is pretty cut and dry on ranking. Once again as with hockey and other things, I am an idiot.]

BC starts Scholarship Fund for Marathon Couple

There were many inspirational stories that came out of the Boston Marathon Bombing, but one that captured the hearts and attention of the BC community was that of Patrick Downes '05 and his wife Jessica Kensky. Now the Boston College Class of 2005 has started a scholarship to honor both and is raising money in conjunction with BC. The class hopes to fully endow the scholarship and direct it towards students who have overcome adversity. If you are interested in pledging, learn more on the Boston College Strong Scholarship page.

Women's Hockey loses in Frozen Four

The best season in BC Women's Hockey is over...without a championship. Rough night.

That’s all folks. BC’s record-breaking season ends with a 2-1 loss to Harvard in the Frozen Four semifinals. pic.twitter.com/xcC47pZM0H
— Tom DeVoto (@DeVotoHeights) March 21, 2015

Tweets of the Week

Hey @SportsCenter, the Eagles might not have won, but we still feel Thatcher Demko's save is #SCTop10 worthy! https://t.co/omH7eR8E63

— BC Hockey (@BCHockeyNews) March 16, 2015

Mark Herzlich has gone back to his old Boston College jersey number, No. 94. That number got freed up with the release of Mathias Kiwanuka.

— Giants 101 (@Giants_101) March 18, 2015

Can BC just replace the Spring Game with "Beer and Ribs with Steve Addazio Night"? I'd attend the hell out of that

— A.J. Black (@BCHysteria) March 16, 2015

Book worlds collide. #Bapst #Burns pic.twitter.com/tDdI17ZWeB

— Boston College (@BostonCollege) March 19, 2015

Recruiting Roundup

BC continues to add targets for their 2016 class. Addazio and staff offer Michigan QB Josh Jackson. Jackson is picking up more offers but is planning a BC visit. It is still very early though for QBs and Addazio usually offers a couple. If Jackson follows through with his on campus visit, we will have a better idea of how serious he is about BC.

BC offered another Michigan prospect -- OL Michael Jordan -- but he seems focused on Big Ten powers.

BC continues to pursue California WR Anselem Umeh. No other schools have offered, but he does have interest from Pac 12 schools. BC is making other offers in California too.

Pro Day speaks to past recruiting and current development

24 NFL teams sent representatives to BC's annual Pro Day. Considering we lack any true first day draft picks, that sort of turnout is impressive. Of the potential draftees, Andy Gallik probably generated the most attention, but there weren't 24 teams there to see just him. This Pro Day was about the diamonds in the rough that helped lead the resurrection of BC football under Addazio.

The lack of elite NFL talent mostly falls back to Spaz's recruiting. Most of the guys that worked out today developed under Addazio. Outside of Gallik I would think that Asprilla, Betanourt, Keyes, Mihalik, Phillips, Silberman, Vardaro, and White all have a chance to be late round picks or undrafted free agents. None of those guys were dominant players while at BC, but I think Addazio and Co. have done good job the past two years of developing players. I think NFL teams respect what he's done and his assessments of his own players. One of those 24 teams is going to find a contributor from today.

The most interesting case will be Tyler Murphy. He threw as a QB (see the video below) but I have a hard time believing any team will give him a real shot there. He just didn't show enough as a passer for a team to use a draft pick on him. But he also showed he is a great athlete and great open field runner. I think he could be a very good NFL WR or even a 3rd RB.

@bceaglesfootball QB Tyler Murphy shows off his arm at #BCProDay

A video posted by Boston College Athletics (@bcathletics) on Mar 18, 2015 at 2:53pm PDT

BC explains its protest vote

The New York Times featured BC and Brad Bates in Monday's article on paying college athletes. As most inferred, Bates and Father Leahy knew the initiative would pass and felt they needed to send a message with their vote. I am all for being a contrarian, but I have a problem with how BC is playing this.

College athletics is headed down a path where things are going to become more professional and more commercial. It is only fair and probably in the best interest of the athletes. BC's leadership is smart. We know they see the big picture, hence the "We clearly wanted people to pause." Who does the "pausing" benefit? The current power brokers (i.e. schools, coaches, admins). It doesn't really benefit the athletes. The oncoming changes are disruptive but inevitable and trying to stop the inevitable is wasted energy.

Instead of trying to maintain the status quo even through protest votes, BC's leadership should decide where they want to be in the new world. It is not an easy decision, but coming up with real answers is more brave and shows more leadership than an "I told you so" vote among college administrators.

Why the Spring Game will always be a problem

BC cancelled their annual Spring Game. While they buried it in the announcement of their open scrimmage, the traditional Jay McGillis Spring Game will not take place in 2015. This is the second time in three years the game has been called off (the 2013 game was cancelled in the wake of Marathon bombing). At this point I don't know if it ever will or should held again.

Ideally the Spring Game is a capstone to spring practices and a fun day for fans and recruits. For a variety of reasons the BC Spring Game never draws a crowd and never generates much excitement with recruits. For a school like BC it makes sense to have a smaller, more intimate event -- like the open practice -- that allows Addazio to show off his team to the constitutes that matter and not explain away an empty stadium.

As much as I want the Spring Game to become a real event, I don't know if it ever can at BC. We have a few inherent challenges that will always create problems.

-- The University Schedule
BC has an early Spring Break and an extended long weekend at Easter. On some years Easter is quickly followed by Patriots' Day. Those breaks disrupt the flow of practices. Programs are only allowed a certain number of practices. With two long breaks annually (and a third thrown in most years), coaches have to decide to start practice early or late. If you start early the Spring Game is cold. If you start late, you get better weather for the Spring Game but kill practice momentum due to breaks at Easter and Patriots' Day.

-- The Weather
We've had some nice spring game days in the past few years, but the weather remains a crap shoot. BC can never really plan on a great spring day and the fans are always going to wait to see the weather before they turn out in droves.

-- The roster limitations
We are always going to lack an army of walk-ons who fill out spring games across the country. Throw in the inevitable injuries and each spring BC doesn't have enough players to field two 'teams'. That leads to convoluted offense vs defense formats that the fans cannot really understand.

BC is not the first school to cancel their Spring Game. I don't know if this will be permanent. If no one misses it and recruits like the new concept, then I have no problem trading out the Spring Game for an annual open practice. Sometimes new traditions are better than old ones.