Everything BC Men's Basketball Players Donald Hand Jr, Jayden Hastings Said at 2025 ACC Tipoff

The two veterans took the podium alongside head coach Earl Grant on Wednesday morning.

Oct 10, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Boston College player Donald Hand Jr. answers questions from the media at The Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Boston College men’s basketball took the podium at 2025 ACC Tipoff in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday morning.

The Eagles were represented by head coach Earl Grant, guard Donald Hand Jr., and forward Jayden Hastings.

Below is a transcript of what Hand Jr., and Hastings said.

Q. I think you're one of the premiere players in the ACC. You had a great year last year. Rebounded the ball well, scored the ball well, and Coach talked about Chase coming in. How much does him coming in facilitating and being another scorer open up some things in your game?

DONALD HAND JR: Yes, sir. Good morning. He's going to help a lot. He's very experienced. He led South Dakota to some big victories last year. We've been watching film together, and in practice we gel really well together.

So this year should be really fun. We know how each other play. He knows my spots. I know his spots. So I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Want to make sure I quote you here. It says, when I first committed to BC, I committed to change the culture and help BC basketball get back to the top. Where do you belief that culture is currently and where it's heading?

DONALD HAND JR: It's trending to the top. I still believe that. Me and Coach Grant talked about this a couple of times, and I truly believe this is our breakout year right here.

Yes, I would say about last week I was at church, and the pastor said, the storm doesn't last forever. Last year a lot of people seen it as a storm, and it wasn't a storm. It was like me, Fred, Jayden's first time in that position.

Now we know how it feels to be in big games, we know how it feels to play in tight games, and this year it will be a different outcome because we know how it feels. This is our breakout year, and I'll say it right here. Yes, we're not -- we're going to be top 5 in the ACC. I say it confidently.

Q. You just spoke about going through adversity, battling the storms in church with what your pastor said. What is it about Coach that allows you to be confident within his system but also allows you to play your game? Because a lot of time players go to different systems and are not able to flourish and kind of expose their true game. We saw last year you dominated on both sides of the ball, so him letting you play your game, how does that build your confidence?

DONALD HAND JR: It helps build my confidence tremendously. Coach, he always preaches confidence to his guys, and he said, if you work on it, he will never question a shot you take, and he just trusts his guys. Everybody he recruits, he trusts. He's a man of faith. Our whole team is big on faith.

When you have faith in God and have a great man like Coach Grant, it makes it simple to go out there and play basketball. I feel like I can say this is one of the best coaches in America, and like I said, we can't wait to show the world what we can do this year.

THE MODERATOR: You made history, you and dad, being the only father/son duo in the ACC to win a player of the week honor. Relationship with family, relationship with basketball?

DONALD HAND JR: One more time.

THE MODERATOR: Just your general comment about your relationship with family and how it relates to basketball.

DONALD HAND JR: Yeah, you know, it goes hand in hand. Growing up, I was taught basketball, but even like preaching to be a better man. It's just, I don't know, like we are taught to just share everything, share the ball. Yeah, honestly I don't have a response for that.

THE MODERATOR: That's fine. Just the idea that you said it goes hand in hand tickled me. Thank you for that.

DONALD HAND JR: Thank you.

Q. Jayden, you're one of the premiere big men coming into this year. What have you worked on in the offseason to better your game for this season?

JAYDEN HASTINGS: Good morning. Something I've worked on is just maximizing my gifts and talents, defensively guarding guards and being able to be stronger in the paint, offensively just keep working on my post game and just maximizing my role, working on lobs and just being the best me I can be.

Q. You heard your coach say they're ready now, and you just heard your teammate speak about this being a breakout year in his opinion. Why do you believe that those two things are true, that you are ready as a team and that this is a season to break out in a positive way for the Eagles?

JAYDEN HASTINGS: Good morning. I think that everything that is good takes time. I think we've had the time to work through the bumps and bruises, and I think that we know what we want from each other. We know what we want to achieve, and this is the breakout year.

This is the year that we can just put our head down and grind and get to the top 5 that D.J. said.

THE MODERATOR: You're known for bringing high energy on the court. We understand that you bring high energy off the court as well. Where does that energy come from? What's that born from?

JAYDEN HASTINGS: The energy comes from -- I remember an AU coach told me, Your attitude should be like you're the worst player on the team. So it's nothing about on the court. It's just about bringing energy. It's just about make your teammates smile. It's about helping your teammates make the next play after they mess up.

Just having that attitude as if that basketball really doesn't matter. It's about the intangibles.

THE MODERATOR: How do you make your teammates smile?

JAYDEN HASTINGS: Honestly I just look at them. They start laughing (laughing). Yeah, we crack jokes all the time. They're like my brothers, so anything and everything we do we're always laughing.