Boston College Basketball 2019-2020. Where Do The Eagles Go From Here?

After yet another disappointing, big questions remain about the future of the program

For the second straight year and eighth time out of nine years Boston College finished the regular season with a losing record. This was a year with highs and lows, so let's take a look at some of the talking points now that the off season has begun

Jim Christian's Future. This is arguably the biggest talking point this spring, and one many fans are going to watch diligently. Five out of six years he has finished below .500, and has yet to make the NCAA tournament or win a post season tournament game (NIT/NCAA) with the Eagles.  Injuries were certainly something to consider this year. BC lost arguably their top player when Wynston Tabbs went down for the year over the summer, and then on top of that they lost their second best player Nik Popovic for about a third of the season. 

But it's hard to argue that fan enthusiasm around the program is at an all time low. Conte Forum has been empty almost every game, and when it is filled it is mostly with fans of big programs.  Does Martin Jarmond pull the trigger and bring in a new name to try and shoot some adrenaline into the program? Or does he give Christian one more go round and see if he can turn it around. 

There are certainly names BC could look at if they decide to go in a different direction. John Beilein, Bill Coen (Northeastern), and Bobby Hurley have all been names that could be bantered about. 

The Facilities: One of the biggest issues surrounding this program is the lack of ACC caliber facilities. What the basketball team needs is a boost similar to the football program. Both programs fell behind in the ACC facilities arms race, but football's Fish Field House brought them back to respectability and the impact it has on recruiting should start to really pick up. Now it's time for the basketball team to get the same treatment. There have been rumblings about a new facility for years, and if BC is going to bring in a new coach they are going to need to commit to improving their facilities in order to attract any sort of upper tier candidate. If Jarmond pulls the trigger on Christian, it wouldn't be surprised if an announcement on new facilities to come around the same time or soon thereafter. 

Looking ahead: The Eagles are going to lose three rotational players to graduation: Jared Hamilton, Nik Popovic and Derryck Thornton. While they aren't a Jerome Robinson/Ky Bowman caliber player, all three were contributors this season. But next year's depth is encouraging. Jay Heath looks like he belongs in the ACC, CJ Felder had some moments and should improve and Steffon Mitchell took a big step forward. On top of all that the Eagles will bring in DeMarr Langford a Top 100 recruit, Justin Van Der Baan a promising center and Makai Ashton Langford a former four star recruit that is transferring in from of Providence.  Most importantly of all Wynston Tabbs should be ready to go, giving BC a legit scoring option, and a potential All ACC player 

One of the issues BC had at the end of the season was depth. Next year we could expect a starting five of: Heath, Tabbs, Mitchell, Jairus Hamilton and Felder with rotational players of DeMarr and Makai Langford, Rishwain, Van Der Baan and Luka Kraljević.