Hours after Pat Chalmers left Boston University to become the head men's basketball coach of Penn State, rumors began to swirl over candidates to become the next head coach of the Terriers. Many of these options had BC ties, most notably Al Skinner and Joe Jones. Most people agreed that Skinner wouldn't be a great fit at BU -- mainly because he's old -- so it was only a matter of time before BU swooped in and stole Steve Donahue's right hand man.
According to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports, Jones accepted the job tonight:
Sources told CBSSports.com that Jones was informed of the news on Tuesday. The other finalist was BU assistant Brian Daly, who spent the last two years on Pat Chambers’ staff.
BU athletic director opted to go with another coach with Villanova ties. Jones and Chambers were both former Jay Wright assistants.
Congratulations to Jones. This job makes a lot of sense for him. Boston U. had a successful year in 2010-11 winning the America East Conference, before getting their doors blown off by Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. Will this hire re-ignite a long dormant hoops rivalry between Boston College and BU?
BC and BU have only played twice since 1980 with BC winning both contests, including a BC win against the Terriers in the 1980 NIT. The Terriers had an RPI of 129 last year, which is higher than the following BC non-tournament opponents -- St. Francis (NY), Yale, Holy Cross, UMass, South Carolina, Bryant, and Providence.
Given last year's results it appears BC's RPI or SOS wouldn't hurt if they played BU, which begs the question: Would you like to see BC and BU play yearly?