Boston College Basketball: Handing Out 2010-11 Season-Ending Grades

[Ed. note -- Edited and Front Page'd]

Boston College men's basketball came to an unfortunate end on Saturday morning by getting annihilated by Northwestern on our own court. While this may leave a bitter taste in our mouth, remember that this was supposed to a season of rebuilding with very low expectations. With that said, let's take a look at this season's roster and assess how this season went as a whole.

Head of the Class

John Cahill

What a story. A walk-on turned into a starter by the end of the season. In far less attempts than his teammates, he did manage to lead the team in 3 point percentage at 52.0, and a very memorable 12 points in a win against Virginia Tech. I'm torn between an actual grade and giving him an incomplete. However, since this is his last chance to get a grade, and considering he had no expectations since no one knew who he was at the beginning of the season, I have to give him my highest grade. Overall grade: A

Reggie Jackson

Our leader, and hopefully our leader again next season. Maybe if I write a rave review about him, he will return next season. There are not many negatives to say about Jackson, besides disappearing in the three biggest games of the season (3 for 11 shooting, seven points against Duke, 2-for-10 shooting, six points against UNC, 2-for-8 shooting, 8 points against Northwestern). However, he carried this team to countless wins throughout the season, and we can easily say we would not be as good of a team without him. This season's MVP, with stress on the valuable. You have a whole extra year to play in this new offense built for you to score and score and score, so please come back next year. Overall grade: A-

Danny Rubin

Very similar to Moton's situation (see below), except Rubin contributed a little more statistically (14 points against Holy Cross with 4 three pointers, 3 three pointers against Cal, Indiana, South Carolina and Maryland) and finished shooting 42 percent on the season. A few impressive performances, as well as taking up quality minutes throughout the season boost Rubin's grade above Moton's. Overall grade: A-

'B' Students

Joe Trapani

A lot of hope and pressure was put on Trapani's shoulders to be the second most productive player on this squad. Trapani pulled through, leading our team in rebounds (7.0 RPG) and blocks (0.8 BPG), and finishing second in scoring (14.8 PPG). He also finished with double digits in points in all but four games, and added four double-doubles on the year. The statistics were there -- except for the drastic drop off in free throw percentage -- and the presence on both the perimeter and under the basket were there. When dealing with intangibles, Trapani's senior leadership was constantly present, especially when the Eagles were trailing. Unless you were expecting 20 point, 10 rebound games every night, Trapani had a very solid senior season. Overall grade: B+

Gabriel Moton

Moton wasn't meant to play a lot of minutes as a freshman, but ended up seeing plenty of time as the season progressed. He never put up impressive stats in any game, but took up quality minutes without being detrimental to the team. That is all you can really ask for out of a freshman like Moton. I'm looking forward to see where he can go. Overall grade: B

Corey Raji

I was hoping Raji would come in here and make me completely forget about Rakim Sanders transferring. Occasionally, Raji did just that. Big double-doubles against Virginia Tech and South Carolina, and 18 points at Duke stand out as eye poppers on paper. As does his 12.1 PPG and 6.7 RPG. However, Raji completely disappeared some nights and really hampered how this team played. Everyone remembers his NCAA tournament numbers where he shot a combined 3 for 20 with 7 points. However, I can't let that miserable performance drag him down too much, as he still put up impressive performances earlier in the season. Overall grade: B-

Needs Work

Biko Paris

Quite the up and down season for Biko Paris. He had quite a few memorable games, including sinking six three-pointers in four different games and reaching double digits in points 17 different times. However, Paris somewhat disappeared during the month of February, including going a combined 2 for 17 against Clemson, UNC and Virginia. A more consistent effort from Paris could have skyrocketed his grade, but his occasional disappearance (although Reggie Jackson taking the ball downcourt has to be taken into account) does count against him, leading to a good, but not great season. Overall grade: B- / C+

Josh Southern

Boston College's most frustrating player by far. The only legitimate center on the Eagles' roster, Southern had expectations to come in and be a presence in the paint. However, the more Southern seemed to miss layups and travel, the more we saw Steve Donahue use Joe Trapani down low. The tallest player on the roster finished fourth in rebounding at a mere 3.8 RPG, and finished fifth in scoring at 6.6 PPG. His only high performance games were against Umass, Providence, Bryant, Bucknell and McNeese State. If Southern had played on a smaller school's roster, he may have been a force, but Southern seemed out of his element here. Overall grade: C-

Dallas Elmore

I could never figure out how many minutes I was going to see Elmore play. 32 minutes against Duke, scoring 10 points, or 20 minutes in our last three games combined. However, that 10 points was his season high, and he posted a career low in both PPG and RPG. Was only meant to be a depth player, but he was a poor one at that. Overall grade: C-

Cortney Dunn

Dunn did not play nearly as much as I expected him to. He played a good amount of minutes the first few minutes of the season, but never seemed to get into the flow of Donahue's offense. I would put an incomplete, but Dunn seemed to absolutely blow his chance at making an impact on this team by not making the transition out of the Flex offense and into the new offensive scheme. Overall grade: D (I feel bad, but he had his chances).

Incompletes

Chris Kowalski

Kowalski was 1 for 9 on the season with 2 points. Yep, incomplete.

Nick Mosakowski

Similarly, Mosakowski was 1 for 7 on the season with 2 points. Again, incomplete.

Peter Rehnquist

I want to give him an A for his dunk, but here's another incomplete.