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We continue our look at the 2020-2021 Boston College men’s basketball team with the smallest class this season - the juniors.
MAKAI ASHTON-LANGFORD
Makai Ashton-Langford sat out the 2019-2020 season after transferring to Boston College from Providence, but is eligible to play in the upcoming season with the Eagles. Ashton-Langford, a 6’3” guard, was a role player for his two seasons with the Friars, averaging 13 minutes per game as a freshman and 17 as a sophomore. His shooting numbers weren’t impressive in his two seasons as he didn’t break 40% from the field, but he only took about four shots per game each season, so that didn’t seem to be his primary focus. In his final season at Providence, Ashton-Langford averaged 3.7 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.
It’s also worth noting that Ashton-Langford is a former top 50 high school recruit and was the #1 recruit in Massachusetts for the class of 2017. Whether or not he can live up to that high billing and exactly how he figures into BC’s opening night rotation remains to be seen.
WYNSTON TABBS
For how little we’ve seen of Wynston Tabbs, it’s hard to believe this is already his junior season. Tabbs began his BC career in style as a freshman, starting in 14 of 15 games and scoring in double digits all but four times. He immediately proved himself capable of playing big minutes at the college level, as he averaged more than 31 minutes per game and topped out at 39 minutes. Tabbs averaged just under 14 points per game to go with 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists and he looked like he could be a building block for the future not too long into his freshman season.
And then the injury bug hit. Tabbs missed the last 14 games of his freshman season and the entirety of the 2019-20 season with a knee injury. While he has been cleared for to resume activities last month and is expected to be a starter on opening night, there has to be some concern that his last live game action came on January 20, 2019. If he can hit the ground running and pick up where he left off before his freshman season was cut short, however, Tabbs can be a big part of this team, and someone who will once again be looked at to log big minutes throughout the season.