Soccer wins opener and other links

The Men's Soccer team got the season off to a good start, beating Quinnipiac 1-0.

BCI has the lowdown on the new SuperFan shirt.

BJ Raji is ready for a big season.

Former BC basketball player Jordan Daniels is dealing with the NCAA over eligibility issues. It all started with his preseason games at BC. Donahue is taking the blame for the misunderstanding.

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.

Stuff happens: Daniels leave basketball team

Jordan Daniels is leaving the BC basketball team. The public explanation is that he's headed back home to the West Coast. Most think he is leaving over playing time. I don't think it is a big deal either way.

At best this team was going to compete for an NIT bid and be middle of the pack in the ACC. Daniels was projected to be a significant contributor, either as a starter or coming off of the bench. With him gone, our new freshmen will get more minutes and most presume that Olivier Hanlan will start at Point Guard. Increasing the freshmen's minutes might cost BC a game or two this season, but it should pay benefits later in the year and certainly next season. If your building for the future, this is not a setback.

Many were taken by surprise by Daniels' decision. The only thing that surprised me was that more guys haven't left. Basketball lends itself to NCAA transfers and when you have one huge class -- like BC's current sophomores -- you are bound to have attrition. As the team dynamics shift, minutes adjust and new recruits commit, you will see other members of that same class leave. The major upside is this frees up another scholarship so that Donahue can normalize his roster with another incoming recruit.

By all reports Daniels was a good kid. I liked watching him play and appreciate some of his big moments last season. His style -- small, darting, ball hog/playmaker -- was what BC needed at times last year. On a team where people couldn't create shots or handle, Daniels did both well enough to keep us in some games. But he was limited defensively and his style was not going to let the guys grow and progress within Donahue's shooting and motion offense.

Daniels was good, but I don't think he was ever going to be an elite ACC player. This is another growing pain as the program develops, but won't make or break Donahue's tenure. What's important now is to get the new guards comfortable within the offense and find another good recruit.

The young guys get first big win

After the loss to Georgia Tech, Meter and I were talking about what went wrong. He simply said: "if they make two more '3's, they win." It was overly-simple, but he was 100% correct. For Donahue's teams to win, they need to make their three-point shots. However, against an elite team like Florida State, they also had to do other things. They did them tonight, giving Donahue the biggest win with this new batch of starters. Here are my thoughts. As always, leave yours in the comments.

Likes
-- Matt Humphrey providing leadership. The transfer concerned me early in the season. He seemed hot-headed and a bit of a ballhog. The past few games, he's been really good. He's playing great defense and is not afraid to drive to the basket.
-- Daniels driving. By threatening to penetrate, it gave him space. He obviously took advantage of the looks.
-- Varied defenses. We used 2-3, man-to-man and applied pressure at different times. It produced one of the best defensive efforts of the season.
-- Making foul shots down the stretch. We've seen so many games getaway from us. Most of you have to admit you feared a last minute comeback. But the guys made most of their foul shots late, giving BC enough cushion to hold on.
-- Going small. We used a small lineup for stretches against Georgia Tech and it produced quality minutes. Tonight -- against a bigger and taller team -- small ball worked again.
-- Lonnie Jackson's four point play. Didn't that feel like Jared Dudley?

Dislikes
-- Clifford's foul trouble. He's got to be more careful.
--Slow stretches in the first half. I am proud that they fought back, but you cannot put yourself down double-digits to a good team.

Win over Stony Brook gives another glimpse into team's potential

In normal years we wouldn't think twice about a win over Stony Brook. This year is a bit different. We have no identity and wins look like they will be hard to come by. But the best thing about these wins is that you are starting to see things come together. Here are my likes and dislikes. Leave yours in the comments.

Likes
-- Jordan Daniels as the main (only) point guard. Daniels has some real issues and it will be interesting to see if ACC teams exploit his size in matchups, but for now he's just what we need. He's got good handle. He can start the offense. He can penetrate. Improvement is needed on his shots and as the clock winds down, but Daniels can play.
-- Ryan Anderson near the basket. You can see how Anderson is going to improve as he thickens out. He moves well without the ball. He also has a good eye for rebounds.
-- Heckmann and Jackson's 3s. These guys made some big shots to change momentum and kill their momentum. Heckmann had a nearly perfect shooting night. As GMan said, having him come off the bench might be a nice dynamic.

Dislikes
-- Shot selection. There is still not enough penetration or driving to the basket. They dumped it to Clifford plenty but I think we need to see more dribbling/driving towards the basket to get some easy shots and more movement.
-- Offensive rebounding. We need more second chance shots. Plus these guys seem to have a bad habit of swatting and tipping it to a teammate instead of rebounding.