Heights' Donahue Q&A and other links

The Heights has been tweeting out quotes from their Donahue Q&A for a couple of days. Today they posted it. It is very thorough and well done. Donahue is more than candid and seems to have a good perspective on BC, his players and building the program. Hats off to the writer Austin Tedesco. He looks to have a bright future covering BC sports.

Donavan Henry -- who spurned Spaz's offer to play football -- explained his choice to pursue track to the Herald.

Track's Jon Vaughn is looking to build off of his strong indoor season.

Kent State named former Eagle Danielle O'Banion their new women's basketball head coach.

Kristin Igoe, Mikaela Rix, and Covie Stanwick earned All-ACC honors in lacrosse.

Former Eagle Rakim Sanders played well at the Portsmouth Invitational, but I still doubt he'll earn a spot on an NBA roster. What can Rakim do that 40 other potential draftees cannot?

Maryland athlete Daikiel Shorts is on BC's recruiting radar.

Katz on Donahue and other links

Many wondered how Andy Katz's coverage of BC would change after Skinner was fired. At the time I predicted Andy would still give BC special coverage. Andy's relationship with BC predates his work at ESPN. He can't say it, but I bet a lie detector test would prove he is a BC fan. So here is his first feature on Donahue and I think it is solid. It also includes quotes from his top assistant Joe Jones. But mention the importance of recruiting but don't seem concerned about the transfers or about the incoming class potentially bailing. We'll see how it plays out.

The baseball team will hopefully build off of the momentum of this win over Wake.

Tennant's hometown paper views him as the second best center in the draft.

Jags selected Dejuan Tribble in the UFL expansion draft.

Rakim's high school coach tried to shed more light on Sanders' decision to transfer.

More hoops comings and goings and Jags update

Andy Katz is adding to the Sanders news by reporting that Rakim is likely to join former BC assistant Ed Cooley's team at Fairfield.

The other news is that new assistant John Gallagher will never actually coach a game at the Heights. He's reportedly been hired as the new head coach at Hartford.

Finally Jags will return to the sidelines as Head Coach of the UFL's expansion franchise in Omaha. Not particularly glamorous but it gets him back in the game and if he wins, it gets him back on track to being a head coach in the NFL or college.

Report: Sanders leaving

Jeff Goodman is reporting that Rakim Sanders is leaving BC. Where the rising senior will transfer is unknown. Sanders would have to sit out a year and only have one year remaining.

With any coaching change you expect transfers, but I didn't expect the seniors to leave. Sanders' season was such a train wreck last year that you would hope he would stick around and let the new staff help him reach his potential.

Instead he is leaving. If anything Sanders represented what went wrong with this group of guys and the end of the Skinner era. Instead of having gym rats with physical limitations, you had a team of guys with huge upside who never got "it."

Best of luck to Rakim.

Done

As a tweeted after the game, this was the most joyless BC basketball season of my time as a BC fan. So it is only fitting that the not fun season ends with a loss to a under-maned UVA squad. I'll spend the following weeks trying to get a hold on the season. Hopefully the staff will also try to figure out what went wrong and how they will fix it for next year. Now let's hope Jerry York and crew can make us forget this depressing season.

Skinner model: what is going wrong this year

Things are bad on the basketball front. I remain one of the Skinner loyalists, but a large portion of the fanbase has checked out of this season. They join a smaller group of fans who have long been critical of Skinner's approach. Do these factors and the pathetic play threaten Skinner's job? Not really. Al is secure at BC for now and with his girls approaching college, I don't think Al wants to go anywhere. But Al doesn't have lifetime security. He will enter next season with pressure to improve. I don't know if he will make staff changes or encourage some veteran players to leave, but the current mix is not working. But what went wrong? All that is missing from last year's team is Tyrese Rice. Rice was a very good player, but his absence doesn't explain all the issues.

In my mind these are the problems. Unfortunately there are no quick fixes. (As always, leave your thoughts below.)

1. The current Juniors. Ironically Skinner's most heralded recruiting class has been the biggest disappointment of his tenure at BC. As configured, the current Junior class is deep but severely flawed group and their personalities don't seem to mesh. The only guy who seems suited for the flex is Corey Raji, but nagging injuries and his teammates lack of passing has limited Corey's contributions. Trapani and Sanders could be very good players, but one has forced to much this year and the other has been terrible in his effort, passion and decision making.

2. No one great player. Sometimes one great, or very good player can cover a lot of mistakes. This roster doesn't have one. The closest thing might be Jackson, but he is not at the Bell/Smith/Dudley level or even at the Rice level yet. He may be that piece next year, but I don't know if he can blossom into a Rice like player coming off the bench and playing with so many other guys who are selfish and impatient.

3. Defense. Al's defenses have always been bad. This year is not any worse but the offense isn't filling the gaps. If Al had a good defensive scheme to fall back on things might not be so bad.

4. Rotations. We are now going 10 deep. That doesn't seem to work for Al. All the problems, whether it been guys forcing things, guys checking out, guys blowing assignments, all come back to playing time. If you had 8 engaged guys, things might not be so bad.

5. No high basketball IQ guys. Do you get the sense that any of these guys live basketball? Or are basketball junkies? Jared Dudley didn't have the best physical gifts. Rice was too small. But both of those guys lived in the gym and had a great sense of the game. Skinner is not a rah rah guy. He needs to have driven players that will maximize the system's potential. If Rakim Sanders shot as many jumpers as Tyrese Rice and didn't shoot line drives, he'd be in the NBA now.

My biggest fear in all of this is that next year will be more of the same. Will any of these guys changed their attitude over the summer? Will any of them improve their games? I hope so, but I fear some will check out at the first sign of adversity. I've long said Al is a great coach. If he is then turning around this mess won't be a problem.

BC cruises in Beanpot opener and other links

BC got up early over Harvard and never looked back. This is the fourth time in the last five years they have advanced to the Beanpot Finals where we will play BU...again. That is the joke -- the "BU Invitational." Now let's hope we have a slightly different outcome from most years.

Dr Saturday is using Signing Day as a chance to rehash his defense of the recruiting systems. I disagree with him, but understand his point and analysis. My arguement is that All America teams are often selffulling based in part on recruiting hype.

One of the last recruits BC was focusing in on decided to commit to Syracuse.

The Herald had a good article on Sanders' struggles this year. I think the injury is part of the problem but Rakim is forcing things and has yet to show that he understands his own weaknesses.

Starters suspended

We will be without Sanders, Raji and Dunn against Dartmouth and for the next game. No specifics are given other than the violation of team rules. I was told from unnamed folks that this is not a big deal or a sign of a bigger problem. It is more BC being BC.

Basketball Season Grades: Rakim Sanders

[We now continue with the longest delayed series in atleagle history...]

When pinpointing the difference between last season and the '07-'08 campaign, you don't need to look much further than Rakim Sanders. Always considered to be the most talented recruit of his class, Sanders showed this year he has the ability to lead a team, create mismatches with any player in the league and make a big play when the game is on the line.

Sanders accession didn't seem like a sure things when the season began. Early on you saw many of the same issues from his uneven freshman year. He'd be off on his shots. He'd shoot too much. He'd get in foul trouble. Slowly he turned a corner and the bigger the stage the better he played. His shot selection and defense were huge factors in our upset of UNC.

Despite his progression, Sanders still has areas in need of improvement. His handle in the open floor is not great. Even down the stretch he still had games where he committed stupid fouls. Considering how often he is touching the ball and the offense we run, he needs to improve his assist to turnover ratio. (Or even just be more careful with the ball.)

If he continues to improve Sanders should be all ACC next year. I am very excited for what he may do (and not just because of his late game heroics). His size and strength and ability to play inside and out could make him deadly when our offense is clicking. Think of all those easy baskets Smith and Dudley got in the flex. That could be Rakim next year as he pounds smaller wing players. Ultimately, he has the tools to be great. This year he showed glimpses of that greatness and the willingness to work to get there. For that he gets a strong grade.

Season Grade: A-

Stars, Skinner, and winning differently next season

This season validated many things around BC basketball. It showed that last year was a temporary setback due to rebuilding. It showed that BC could win in the ACC with a young team. And finally it showed that BC could win if Rice got more of his teammates involved. But as we all read in the run up to the tournament, opposing coaches and fans still felt Rice was the key to the team. Friday night USC stopped Rice and therefore stopped BC. But I don't think any of us believe it was that simple.

Rice is now gone and Skinner's squad will be very different next year. For the first time in a long time BC won't have a proven star returning. In fact next year will be the first time since 1999-2000 that BC will enter the basketball season without a player who has earned league honors. None of the super sophs, Roche or Jackson have been named to ACC rookie teams, defensive teams or all conference teams. The only player to get any sort of recognition is Joe Trapani, but that comes with a major asterisk since his America East All-Rookie Team honors had nothing to do with his BC career.

Stars have served Skinner well. Each year he took his scheme and adjusted it to the talents of his best players. He also let the under recruited, late bloomers lead the team emotionally and through example. Despite our occasional frustrations with how the team deferred to these different stars, the program worked. BC kept finding and installing great players and kept winning.

The current mix of players breaks that model. The six sophs (and even Reggie Jackson) are a different breed of BC recruits. They are not McDonald's All Americans, but all had solid offers from major conferences. None were as unheralded as Bell or Dudley. They also all came in together. Prior to that BC had small classes that saw usually just one star emerge. These guys have a bond that prior classes didn't. They also will share the load in ways previous teams did not.

I don't mean to limit any of the guys we have returning. I think more than one will get all league honors before their BC careers are over. You could argue that Sanders and Jackson were overlooked this year. But there is no one yet who has shown the consistency to be considered a star. Some of the clutch moments are a good foundation for stardom. You need a pile of game changing moments to be considered a star.

I actually think the team concept will take BC further than any of the previous Skinner years. Next year Al will have one of the most experienced, versatile and deepest teams in the ACC. Not dominant in any facet, but good enough in all. And most importantly, unless there is a late flyer or some one has a change of heart, BC will not be bringing in any significant recruit. Barring transfers and a little more Ravenal and Ellmore sprinkled in, what you see is what you get for BC basketball. Can they do it? I think so. In a way, I think they outgrew Rice this year. Friday's struggles were a learning tool and a transition. These guys now have the off season to bet better, work together and show that there is more to BC than just a star system.

Tim Floyd stuff and other links

Tim Floyd doesn't have the greatest reputation in college basketball. The man is known for doing what it takes to get recruits, whether it be signing their friends as a package deal or hiring family members. But we BC fans shouldn't cast the first stone as Preston Murphy had prior relationships with Southern and Sanders. He's been great as Director of Ops and is seen as a rising coaching talent, but having an in with Al and two highly touted recruits didn't hurt his chances for getting the job three years ago.

Floyd thinks the game will be physical. All this physical talk is funny to me. First, I don't think we are nearly as physical as we were a few years ago. I also don't think we have ever been as physical as some of the old Big East teams or Bob Huggins teams or even the Washington State teams that USC faces annually. But let the Trojans think that. It can't hurt.

Vega is moonlighting back on the BC beat and had a nice article on Sanders. Rhode Islanders are paying close attention to Sanders' first shot at the big stage.

Spaz confirmed my prediction from yesterday -- he is unlikely to name a starter until summer.

BJ is in Detroit today meeting with the Lions. I hope he goes No. 1 overall, but I don't think Detroit is going to take a risk like that after what they've been through the past decade.

Finally this is one last image from the ACC Tournament. Matt really is a good sport.