After a long and seemingly torturous offseason that saw BC lose both their head coach of 13 years and several returning players, the wait is finally over. The Steve Donahue era officially begins tonight as the Eagles host the St. Francis NY Terriers.
So what do we know about the visiting Terriers? Like BC, St. Francis will be breaking in a new coach as Glenn Braica, the Terriers' long-time assistant took the reigns for Brian Nash, who resigned last April. The Eagles played the Terriers in the second game of last season, winning 72-44 behind 19 points from Tyler Roche and 18 from Reggie Jackson. This season, the Terriers return three starters to a team that finished 11-18 (8-10 NEC), including leading scorer Ricky Cadell:
"Three starters will return to the fold, two of them, senior guards Ricky Cadell and Akeem Bennett, have added All Northeast Conference honors to their resumes. In fact, St. Francis is the only NEC program to return two players with All-Conference accolades under their belts. Cadell was a Second Team All-NEC selection as a sophomore in 2008-2009 and is the leading returning scorer on the circuit. Bennett also garnered Second Team honors in his initial campaign a season ago after transferring from Western Oklahoma State College."
For their part, St. Francis sure knows how to flatter a guy:
"The 2010-2011 season will begin with a road trip to Atlantic Coast power Boston College on November 12 and South Florida of the Big East on November 15."
"Atlantic Coast power." Has a nice ring to it. I guess any ACC program is a power when you play in the NEC. Kenpom thinks the Eagles win by 20. With due respect to the St. Francis program, it will probably take a near-perfect game tonight to take down BC.
Other game-day links:
Donahue ready to put Eagles in Motion ... Boston Globe
Steve Donahue takes reins of Eagles' program ... Boston Herald
And, because it's never to early to look towards the future, ACC Early Signing Period Primer, Part I ... ACC Sports Journal