Elon game and other links

According to a North Carolina report, BC will play Elon in 2015. As BCI noted, that leaves BC with one too many games for that season. My hunch is that we will push back New Mexico State's return visit or drop that game all together.

Clemson is just the latest team to offer a scholarship to BC target and Cincinnati St. X LB Justin Hilliard.

The ACC named runner Liv Westphal its Performer of the Week.

The Heights caught up with former Eagle Matt Humphrey.

Pass the Van Nest koolaid and other links

The Globe's feature on 5th year basketball transfer Andrew Van Nest has me fired up. Aside from being a good story, what if this kid can actually play? I know he didn't see the court much at Harvard, but do you trust Tommy Amaker when it comes to managing a roster? The best part of the Van Nest situation is that there is no risk to BC. If he doesn't pan out, he is gone within a year. But who knows, maybe he can give us 10 minutes a game. We need another big body and 6'11 with shooting touch translates into most leagues.

Earlier in the week, the ACC locked in a deal with the Orange Bowl. There is still plenty of conjecture about what it means but there are some strong points in the deal. First the ACC will be able to sell the media rights. That gives us the chance to earn similar dollars to the Big Four conferences. Second, the Orange Bowl will be a New Year's Day game. That's huge as it should help travel and ticket sales. Finally Notre Dame will have an affiliation to the game. One more tie to the Irish is a good thing from a TV standpoint.

Connecticut WR Dave Coggins supposedly verbaled to BC the other day. Rivals says it is not a sure thing yet. BC offered a scholarship to Ohio Dlineman Truman Gutapfel. BC is hoping to get two Florida targets as a packaged deal.

Another Cincinnati-area BC target Evan Jansen committed to Indiana. BC also lost out to California offensive lineman Alex Redmond. Florida LB Nick Internicola seemed like a solid BC target, but he committed to Rutgers earlier this week.

Matt Humphrey is adjusting to his third college team.

Parker Milner has impressed the Bruins at their developmental camp.

A day in the life of coaches and other links

If you haven't already, do read Spencer Hall's day spent with the Mississippi State coaching staff. It confirms the grind that goes into the job and the energy needed to do it all well. What I found interesting is Mississippi State's building spree that includes a new player's lounge. There remains a facilities race in college football and BC is far, far behind. We will need an indoor practice facility in the next five years. Also, for those keeping hope that Dan Mullen might tire of facing Alabama and LSU annually and comeback to his native New England, this article is not going to help. The guy seems to like the SEC life. If he leaves, I don't think it will be for a job like BC.

Our current coach is No. 1 on Athlon's Hot Seat list.

The Heights followed up their Humphrey's work with a quote from Donahue.

BC will play St. John's at a neutral site in Connecticut at the Tigers' Class A Facility. Ticket details are here.

BC has interest in Ohio Tight End Greg Hart.

Insight into Humphrey and other links

Matt Humphrey's departure surprised many but not Heights writer Austin Tedesco. In this column he paints a picture of a guy who was very frustrated and separate from his teammates. Great job by Austin and I encourage other on campus reporters to leverage their time and access to write the same sorts of stories.

There were a few BC related names on Tom Lemming's Top 100 list. But at this point I don't really expect Spaz to land any of them.

Chris Kreider and the Rangers agreed to terms. He will join the team on Wednesday.

Coach Johnson is now focused on building his own recruiting pipeline. It will be interesting to see how he handles the players that were leaning towards BC under Crawley.

Humphrey's leaving, new football recruit and other links

Matt Humphrey decided to transfer from Boston College. Because he is set to graduate, Humphrey will be able to play for his next (third) school immediately. While it is a loss all around, Humphrey's decision is a bigger deal off the court than on. Humphrey proved to be BC's most consistent defender. He's was a streaky scorer, but seemed to improve his decision making as the season went on. The problem with Humphrey leaving is that it reinforces some of the negative rumors about Donahue. Donahue's reputation is that he is a tough critic and very candid with players regarding what they need to do and where their future is with the team. If a guy like Humphrey has one year of college basketball left and his coach is telling him he might not start and his minutes will probably go down, then you can't be surprised when those same players leave. What might be more effective for Donahue is to say (paraphrasing): "Matt these are the things to work on, this is how I see our roster next year, but I have all the confidence in the world that you will be a valuable player and critical leader for this team." Donahue needs Humphrey even at reduced minutes. I do think Donahue is one of the best coaches in basketball. He's smart and engaged and intense. He seems like a good teacher and I do think he is a very, very good game manager. He's also smart enough to know that he will need great players to succeed. To get those players to buy in, he needs to tweak his approach. If he doesn't other coaches will use it against BC in recruiting. Coaches will say that Donahue cannot relate to players and his current guys are bailing. Donahue is a smart guy. Let's hope he is smart enough to work on his people skills, so that player want to play for him instead of leaving.

Spaz signed Georgia WR Nigel Matthews to be part of the 2012 class. Nigel has decent potential. Previously he committed to Air Force. My bigger issue is with Spaz and his roster management. If things were well organized we wouldn't have all these open slots months after Signing Day.

Details are emerging about Jo-Lonn Dunbar's free agent deal with the Rams.

The Rangers are waiting for Chris Kreider's season to end.

Softball loss to UMass on Wednesday.