Brian: On Thursday, the big news out of Chestnut Hill was that Brady Heslip, the Eagles’ 6-foot-2-inch guard recruit from Canada, will enroll at BC in January 2010 and be joining the basketball team for the second half of the season. Heslip averaged 28 points and 4 assists for his Burlington, Ontario high school. It is unclear whether Heslip will redshirt or play during the second half of the season.
Heslip is one of three basketball recruits the Eagles signed back in November. What do you make of this move? As you know, Skinner initially decided not to bring in any freshmen recruits this year by design to save scholarships for next year’s class. Is this a desperate move by Skinner to somehow jump start the Eagles during the second half of the season? Your thoughts?
Jeff: If this move is all Skinner's doing then I would say that desperate might be the right word for it, but regardless of how desperate the move might be it is also brilliant. Players don't get redshirted in basketball half as often as they do in football but the basketball players could use the time to mature just as much as the football players need it. If Heslip is good enough to come and play this season then that is even better news and I don't envision any scenarios where he hurts the team.
I am not too concerned about whether Heslip redshirts or plays this year because I think he will help BC just by being in practice. Great teams don't only have a great starting 5 but they always have some depth even down to players who play only a few minutes in order to create intense practices and scrimmages when the first team plays the second team. Right now, if you imagined the first team for BC playing our second team, especially when Reggie Jackson was starting for the injured Sanders, I don't imagine a very competitive matchup in practice. Making practices more competitive will greatly help the Eagles.
Brian: Skinner has recently criticized the play of our guards, so hopefully the addition of Heslip makes players like Biko and Reggie better down the stretch. I'll have mixed feelings if he actually does get playing time this year given it will be one less year that he can play for BC. Skinner and the Eagles need to maximize the years they get out of their incoming recruits, if only because we are going to have a 6-man roster turnover in two years.
Big Finish
Jeff: A week after BC announced it would open the season with Weber State, Oregon State reportedly drops their opening day I-AA fodder Eastern Washington to play TCU in Dallas. Your thoughts?
Brian: This leads me to believe there may have been better scheduling opportunities, no?
Brian: Last bowl season, Boston College sold the fifth fewest total number of bowl tickets (1,400), and only beat out Oregon State (1,200), Tulsa (900), Nevada (163) and Fresno State (161). Any number jump out to you on that list?
Jeff: Virginia Tech only sold 5,300 for the Orange Bowl, the fewest tickets by far for a BCS team to sell.
Jeff: After sitting the bench since Butch Davis arrived, Mike Paulus is finally transferring and the ACC is Paulus-free. Happy?
Brian: Indifferent. UNC better watch out though since William & Mary is on the Heels 2010 football schedule.
Brian: BC won’t be bringing the band to San Francisco. However, SMU - appearing in their first bowl game in 25 years - will be bringing the spirit squad and even their live pony mascot to Hawaii. Your thoughts?
Jeff: SMU is doing it right. However, it is a little easier when it's a once-a-decade experience versus an annual one.
Jeff: Fenway Park will hold two open skate sessions for residents on January 3 and January 10. Pretty cool, huh?
Brian: Very cool. A very unique opportunity for residents to skate at Fenway Park.
Brian: Last one, since every college sports blogger and their little brother is talking about it, your thoughts on possible Big Ten expansion? Who you got as the Big Ten’s #1 target (after Notre Dame, of course)?
Jeff: Yes, it does seem like every team in the nation is the potential 12th member. I'll go with West Virginia. But that's totally just a random guess.