Boston College basketball emphasizes shooting, athleticism in rebuild

As we countdown to the start of the 2025-26 Syracuse basketball season on Nov. 3, The Juice Online will be doing a team-by-team opponent analysis of every single ACC opponent. Today, we analyze the Boston College Eagles, who the Orange will play on Jan. 17.

After Syracuse's matchup against Florida State on Jan. 13, the Orange head back on the road, en route to Chestnut Hill, MA, to take on Boston College.

Recapping the 2024-25 Boston College Eagles season

Little went right for the Eagles in the 2024-25 season under fourth-year head coach Earl Grant. Boston College finished second to last in the ACC with an overall record of 12-19 and a conference record of 4-16. At one point, the Eagles lost 10 of 11 games in ACC play, with their lone win coming against Florida State.

The Eagles did have opportunities for other wins, such as a triple overtime game against Syracuse at the JMA Wireless Dome that they ultimately lost, 95-86 on Feb. 8. They followed that up with another heart-wrenching double-overtime loss at home against Notre Dame. Their 17th place finish in conference meant that they didn’t qualify for the ACC Tournament, and their season ended with a blowout 93-67 road loss to Pitt.

Analyzing the Eagles roster

A huge positive for BC is that they are going to experience a lot of continuity, relative to other ACC teams. They are returning last year's lead scorer, junior Donald Hand (15.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg), as well as other key pieces like Fred Payne (6.9 ppg) and Kany Tchanda (0.4 ppg).

Moreover, they came out of the portal a net winner, acquiring Chase Forte from South Dakota State (17.9 pts) along with Butler’s Boden Kapke (4.1 ppg), Baylor's’ Jason Asemota (1.6 ppg), and Missouri’s Aidan Shaw (2.6 ppg).

Their freshman class is comprised of three-star prospects Akbar Waheed III (guard), Jack Bailey (forward) and Caleb Steger (guard), along with international prospect Marko Radunovic (Montenegro). 247 Sports rated their incoming class as 68th in the country as a composite rank.

Radunovic is an intriguing addition, having previously suited up for KK Podgorica Bemax of the Montenegrin First League, the top professional basketball division in the nation. He also competed in the U20 European Championships, averaging just over 10 points per game.

BC was picked to finish last in the ACC

Overall, Boston College is coming off a very poor season statistically, ranking near the bottom in every metric, and there seemingly is little hope for this season as well. Boston College was ranked dead last (18th) in the preseason ACC poll released earlier in the week.

Still, Hand received a note for Preseason Player of the Year, and Grant’s portal additions of Forte, Asemota, Shaw, and Kapke showed that the BC staff placed an emphasis of getting longer and more athletic. On top of that, Grant is looking to Waheed and Steger for improved perimeter shooting, as he wants the Eagles to take up to 40 percent of its shots from downtown.

There is certainly a lot to improve on, but with the aforementioned continuity, there may still be some hope in Chestnut Hill.

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