I was on board when NC State hired Tom O'Brien thinking he would be able to exceed what he did at BC. Now I am seeing BC fans are right. O'Brien is what he is -- he will beat the rival but lose plenty to the Dukes and Wakes on the schedule. Do you think new AD Debbie Yow will make a move if TOB doesn't win this season?
-- Mike, CharlotteCount me among those disappointed with O'Brien's Wolfpack tenure to date. Even with one of the most exciting dual-threat quarterbacks, Russell Wilson, NC State was all over the map last season, beating Pittsburgh and North Carolina but finishing 2-6 in the ACC. As a result, the Wolfpack posted their third straight seven-loss season (with a 2008 PapaJohns.com Bowl appearance wedged in there). Meanwhile, the BC fans Mike mentions who grew dissatisfied with O'Brien's perceived ceiling -- whom I considered to be spoiled at the time -- have been validated by the Eagles' continued success under Jeff Jagodzinski and Frank Spaziani.
SI's Stewart Mandel is a convert. I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with his budding bromance with Matt Ryan (his new Brett Favre?).
over 1 year ago
Brian Favat
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will we ever be happy with what donahue brings to the heights
just funny how our experiment with jags and spaz worked, will our TOB of basketball (Al Skinner), be followed by success as well?
“Will we ever be happy …” or should that read “Will I ever be happy …” Sounds more like a rhetorical question to me.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Will we ever be happy with what Donahue brings to the heights...
BCRaj… please read my comment on your “not to dwell on things” regarding Travis Taylor and your take on Brady Heslip. Man, are you a BC student or Alum?… because you sound more like Heslip’s father or Al’s nephew.
i do get all my clothes from eastern clothing of watertown
its a question. Do you think things take a step back after skinner or will we move forward?
i dont see donahue coming in and being the next jags or spaz.
I guess BCRaj didn't read my comment. After this why wouldn't you think Donahue will be successful?
I’m sure BCRaj watched Cornell dismantle a vaunted 24 and 8 Wisconsin team in the NCAA tournament 89 to 67… the same team that beat at the time Arizona, #21 Maryland, eventual national champion #6 Duke, #15 Ohio State, #4 Purdue, #5 Michigan State, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois etc. and were placed as a # 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. Wisconsin defeated 3 Top 5 ranked teams during the regular season. They didn’t lose to St. Joseph’s, Harvard for the second year in a row at BC, Rhode Island, and Maine. That’s right, I said Maine.
How did a #12 seed like Cornell beat a #4 seed like Wisconsin by a score of 89-67. It was probably the recruiting advantage Cornell had over Wisconsin. Wait a minute… I thought Duke, Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan State had all the McDonald All-Americans and a huge recruiting advantage over Cornell. But Wisconsin beat them all… I don’t get it. BCRaj must need a sledge hammer or a really big couch. BCRaj, if you don’t drink coffee… at least start smelling it.
In defense ...
It’s not like Donahue produced a quick turnaround at Cornell. He was there 10 seasons. Some think that he may have caught lightning in a bottle with Cornell’s Ryan Wittman (17.5 PPG), Louis Dale (12.8) and Jeff Foote (12.3) all graduating this year. Hopefully he can turn around BC quick with more weapons at his disposal — full scholarships, ACC basketball, etc.
Like I said below, we should give him the benefit of the doubt.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
by Brian Favat on Jul 22, 2010 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Skinner did have to go
Al did have to go. I figured it would be next year and not this year, but Al had run his course. His very successful assistants had moved on and Al’s lack of passion for recruiting was starting to show. This past year was easily his worst. He had some great accomplishments and some terrific players came through the Heights during his tenure; but that time has obviously passed and it was a good point for both to move on.
Count me in the party that wanted to bring Pearl on, so Donahue wasn’t my first or second choice—that being said, he’s got a lot of people who have bought into what he’s doing and who he is. I don’t think it will be an immediate turnaround by any stretch…I imagine we’ll stink pretty awfully for several years…but I do think in two to three years he’ll have us in the upper quartile of the conference consistently.
I think Al probably deserved another year (with Trap, Sanders, Paris, Raji, Southern and Dunn finishing their BC careers this season), but I agree that Al’s time at BC was winding down. Like Mike said, it was tough to see Coen and Cooley enjoying success at lesser programs when BC was struggling through two sub .500 seasons the past 3 years.
I always thought Bruce Pearl was a pipe dream — his Vols came within a point of a Final Four and it’s much easier to have success in the SEC than the ACC — and probably liked Donahue the most of the real candidates. It was time to make a clean break from the Skinner regime.
I think that Raj is most upset about losing players like Sanders and Ravenel (players he was high on) as well as Noreen, Heslip and every other recruit for the Class of 2010. I get that … but let’s give Donahue a chance to build something at BC. It’s still July, after all.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
by Brian Favat on Jul 22, 2010 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions
One extreme positive for Donahue so far is....
….that we are constantly seeing him being praised by a lot of the top recruits in the New England area. Guys like Naadir Tharpe, Alex Murphy, Ricky Ledo, Shaq Thomas and Kaleb Tarczewski. BC was rarely mentioned as realistic targets with these kind of players in the Skinner days and that seems to be changing.
Sure we might not get any of these specific guys, but to be in on recruits like that is a huge positive for Donahue. If he can show guys like this that he can have success in the ACC, maybe in the near future we will be able to land the top recruits in the New England area.
Donahue should also take a page out of the football recruiting playbook and develop pipelines with the Catholic and Jesuit high schools around the country. Don’t limit yourself just to New England.
There are a lot more options to go play at a Catholic, Jesuit school for basketball than there is with football, sure, but there isn’t another option to go play for a Catholic school in the best conference in the country.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Am I the only one who thinks BC won't be bad next year?
Despite all the defections, our top three scorers return … Trapani (14.1 PPG), Jackson (12.9) and Raji (11.4). I think the players — Reggie in particular — will benefit from a more fast-paced, open offensive system. Hopefully last year’s bench guys step up and perform better in Donahue’s new system, too.
With all that other ACC programs have lost in the off-season, I could see BC turning in a mid-level finish in the ACC this year.
The 2011-2012 season though is where I think we’ll see a drop-off and we’ll see BC go into straight rebuilding mode.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
by Brian Favat on Jul 22, 2010 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions
How the hell did a football post
turn into one about basketball?
Soaring to Glory: Come for the BC sports, stay for the asinine rants.
by SoaringtoGlory on Jul 22, 2010 11:20 AM EDT reply actions
I was wondering the same thing … ha.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
by Brian Favat on Jul 22, 2010 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions
how the hell...
Fairly simple…BCRaj started the comments section of this conversation about Tom O’brien and his difficulties so far at NC State with “Will we ever be happy with what Donahue brings to the heights” … just funny how our experiment with jags and spaz worked, will our TOB of basketball (Al Skinner), be followed by success as well?
by BCRaj on Jul 21, 2010 3:29 PM PDT reply actions
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