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Interim BC head coach Scott Spinelli had been on Jim Christian’s staff at BC for all 7 seasons prior to Christian’s firing earlier this month. During that time, the Boston College program had a lot of struggles, but some highlights included the recruitments of guards Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman, with which Spinelli had a significant role.
Coach Spinelli has had a journey through a lot of assistant jobs throughout his career so far. Since 1996 he’s been an assistant at Wyoming, American University, Loyola-Chicago, Nebraska, Wichita State, Texas A&M, Maryland, and Boston College. He also worked for a year as a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. Spinelli is a Leominster, MA native and a graduate of Boston University (ugh).
Why he’d be interested:
He’s already the interim head coach of the Eagles for the remainder of the season, assuming BC even plays another game, so the upgrade to full-time would be welcomed by him I’m sure. There are not going to be a whole lot of opportunities out there for him as a head coach of a major program after being a part of Jim Christian’s disappointing tenure, so BC’s top job would almost definitely be his best option. Not to mention the MA native probably wants to keep his family in place.
Why it could work:
Hear me out! While his time with Coach Christian on the Heights has been overwhelmingly disappointing, that may have been in despite of Coach Spinelli. Looking at his track record, Spinelli has been the primary recruiter for players like Khris Middleton, DeAndre Jordan, Alex Len, Jake Layman, Jerome Robinson, and Ky Bowman. He has a great eye for talent and for finding a diamond in the rough. None of those players were heralded coming out of high school, but three of them became NBA starters and the other 3 are still in the league in some capacity. All 6 made very positive contributions to their college programs. So while it’s tough to say that his pure basketball record is indicative of success, his recruiting record is certainly better.
Why it could flop:
You know why. None of us want Jim Christian 2.0, and someone who has spent the last 7 years as his right-hand man will absolutely run that risk. We also don’t know if the current players would even be able to rally around him, given that it looked like this team had given up on their coaches earlier in the year and Wynston Tabbs has already entered the transfer portal.
How likely is this hire?
Very unlikely. Pat Kraft is a new AD with little loyalty to this old staff. Spinelli’s recruiting record is promising, but retreading mistakes of old is exactly what Kraft will be trying to avoid in his first major hire. I firmly do not expect Spinelli to return as head coach, or even on the staff in any role for that matter.