The men’s basketball program at Boston College is in for quite the rebuild these next few years. In just this offseason, the team lost 8 of its 13 scholarship players to the transfer portal, including 5 of their top 6 players overall. For the full recap of who we lost and who we kept, click here. To briefly recap this situation: it’s a rough time to be a fan!
But now that most of the roster has been determined for next season through transfers and recruiting, it’s worth taking a look at what the future of the program holds. Below we will analyze the scholarship situation for the team, what the roster’s strengths and weaknesses will be in the coming years, and how head coach Earl Grant’s path forward looks as he turns the program into his own.
First, here is a chart on how the 13 scholarship spots on the BCMBB roster will play out as it stands now.
*note: this chart is best viewed in a desktop format. To view a screenshot, click here.
Future Boston College MBB Scholarship Capacity
2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
---|---|---|---|
2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
Devin McGlockton (F) | Devin McGlockton (F) | Devin McGlockton (F) | Devin McGlockton (F) |
Gianni Thompson (F) | Gianni Thompson (F) | Gianni Thompson (F) | Gianni Thompson (F) |
Kanye Jones (G) | Kanye Jones (G) | Kanye Jones (G) | Kanye Jones (G) |
DeMarr Langford Jr. (F) | DeMarr Langford Jr. (F) | DeMarr Langford Jr. (F) | OPEN |
Jaeden Zackery (G) | Jaeden Zackery (G) | Jaeden Zackery (G) | OPEN |
Justin Vander Baan (C) | Justin Vander Baan (C) | Justin Vander Baan (C) | OPEN |
Quinten Post (C) | Quinten Post (C) | Quinten Post (C) | OPEN |
TJ Bickerstaff (F) | TJ Bickerstaff (F) | TJ Bickerstaff (F) | OPEN |
Brevin Galloway (G) | OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
Frederick Scott (F) | OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
James Karnik (F/C) | OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
Makai-Ashton Langford (G) | OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
OPEN | OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
1 spot | 5 spots | 5 spots | 10 spots |
Position of Need:
Boston College’s position of need for the future is very obviously at the guard position. The only guards on the roster at this moment with more than just 1 season of eligibility are JUCO sophomore transfer Jaeden Zackery and incoming 2-star freshman Kanye Jones. That is a severe lack of talent at a position that dominates the sport. The recruitment of a freshman or transfer guard could very well make or break Earl Grant’s early tenure at Boston College.
In the frontcourt the roster could still certainly use improvements, but they are nowhere near as urgent. If players like Gianni Thompson, DeMarr Langford Jr., and Quinten Post develop into quality starters like they should, then there is much less room for worry. Thompson and Langford were 4-star recruits (or a high-3 in Thompson’s case) that could very reasonably be stars at BC. Langford, Thompson, and Post at the 3, 4, and 5 have the potential to be a very tough line-up for any team in the ACC if they develop well and don’t transfer out. You obviously can’t count on every player panning out like that, but even so you still have reasonable depth with Devin McGlockton, TJ Bickerstaff, and Justin Vander Baan all with at least 3 more years of eligibility. The forward and center positions, while far from perfect, don’t look too bad right now.
Season-by-Season Expectations:
For this upcoming season, there is still a slot left if Andre Adams does indeed end up transferring out. Keep your eyes on BCI for developments in the transfer portal to see if Earl Grant is able to land a decent player for next year’s roster.
In 2022-23, 5 spots are immediately opening up in the offseason to allow for Coach Grant to bring in some more of his own players and really start turning the program into his own. In addition, there almost certainly will be transfers out after next year (as has become the new normal in the NCAA) and Coach Grant could be filling up about half of the roster with his own players next offseason, much like he did in this shortened offseason. By 2022, the roster will already be almost completely his own.
In 2023-24, no scholarship spots will open up as it stands now. In reality, however, we will likely see at least a grad transfer or two next year that allow an extra roster spot to open up, along with maybe a few undergrad transfers as well. But the 2023 offseason will be a huge test for Coach Grant to see if he can retain his experienced players and develop them into a winning team. BC could have seniors DeMarr Langford Jr., Quinten Post, TJ Bickerstaff, Jaeden Zackery, and more on this 2023-24 team. Along with junior Gianni Thompson and a few younger guys Grant brings in, look to this season to be the big test for the head coach’s capabilities to take Boston College’s program to greater heights. If this roster doesn’t perform well, or falls apart before they are able to get here, Coach Grant may not be the answer BC is looking for. This is the culminating season Boston College fans should have their eyes on right now before they fully judge new head coach Earl Grant.
In 2024-25, many more roster spots open up and recruiting will be at the forefront of the offseason. Will BC be able to fill its roster with good freshman? Will BC’s earlier recruits, who are now mostly juniors, start performing well? If 2023-24 didn’t tell us enough, this season will tell us more.
Recruiting:
While Earl Grant was able to at least snag a few decent recruits out of this cycle, his performance was understandably underwhelming as he had to take over with a completely new staff. His staff retained high 3-star recruit Gianni Thompson and managed to grab a couple decent-looking freshman in Devin McGlockton and Kanye Jones, so that’s a win in my book. Taking a look at the 2022 recruiting cycle, there are some decent opportunities for Coach Grant to make his first big splash...
Richard Isaacs Jr. is a 4-star PG from Mount Pleasant, UT that Boston College has offered, along with 21 other programs. He’s a bit of a longshot to grab for BC, but he’s the best PG they’ve shown serious interest in so far and that’s a position of serious need.
Dasonte Bowen is a high 3-star PG native to Worcester, MA and could be a local snag of a good player for Boston College. Two players on the current roster, Makai Ashton-Langford and DeMarr Langford Jr., also went to his school (Brewster Academy) and are from Worcester, so they could be key in recruiting Bowen. He has 17 total offers so far, and has shown serious interest in Iowa and Miami, but look to him as a good, attainable recruit for the Eagles.
Dasean Lecque is a 3-star PG from Phoenix, AZ that could be a sneaky good pick-up for BC. He’s only been offered by 4 other schools so far, and Arizona State is the only P6 school out of that bunch. Even better, 247’s internal rankings put him as a 4-star and a top-100 recruit in the class. Somehow he’s gone under the radar so far and BC has jumped at him early.
Alex Karaban is a 4-star SF from New Hampton, NH that Boston College has offered along with 18 other schools so far. He could be another local grab for the Eagles, but they must compete with local rivals like Connecticut and Providence as well as the national attention he’s getting from schools like Indiana and Iowa.
DJ Nix is a 3-star SF from Concord, NC that’s only been offered so far by Boston College, Appalachian State, and Washington State. While you can expect more offers to pile in as recruiting season develops, the early interest and the ACC’s stellar footprint in the region are great upsides for BC in this one.
Kyle Filipowski is a 4-star 6’11” PF from Wilbraham, MA that could be an amazing local addition if Boston College is able to get him. Some big schools like Iowa, Ohio State, Illinois, UCLA, and others are already on the offer table as well, making the competition stiff. But Earl Grant’s assistants, who know the local recruiting landscape well, could pull a big upset and change the program with this addition.
You can check out the full list of Boston College prospects here, and BCI will be certain to keep you updated with any major developments.
Conclusion:
This program is in a very rough spot right now. They haven’t had a winning record for years and they have a brand new head coach without a ton of experience. Not only will it be tough for the team to perform on the court, but the given situation will make it very difficult for this coaching staff to be able to recruit well, too.
That being said, there are some real opportunities here that could realistically slowly start pulling BC out of the ACC’s gutter. The primary focus for Coach Grant, in order to make BC look a bit better and make his job recruiting easier, has to be retention of the players already on the roster. This will be especially difficult because of the new transfer portal rules and how often kids are transferring nowadays, but the 2023-24 roster could absolutely be a pivotal one if Coach Grant is able to keep his top players here in Chestnut Hill.
BC fans shouldn’t expect a revolutionary turn-around right away, but a simply .500+ record is within reach in just a few years if this rebuild is done right. From there? The possibilities expand and maybe, just maybe, it will be fun to watch Eagles men’s basketball again. Maybe.