Weekly Kickoff: Birdball Continues their Historic Start, Basketball Preps for Transfer Season

Welcome to the Weekly Kickoff! Let’s take a look at what happened last week with Boston College Athletics and what we can look forward to this week.

Birdball continues their historic start

Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Boston College baseball once again lost their series opener to an ACC opponent and once again it didn’t matter. They won Saturday and Sunday’s contests to take the series over Georgia Tech, including a historic offensive output on Sunday that saw them score 24 runs. They have won all six of their 3-game series so far this season and it’s the fastest the program has ever reached 20 wins. Sitting at #14 in the nation, the potential of BC finishing as a ranked team and even hosting a regional in the NCAA tournament is becoming more and more of a reality every week.

Up next is the Beanpot semifinal against UMass on Tuesday, followed by a trip down to #18 Louisville to face their ACC sub-.500 squad over the weekend. Eagles fans should hope that BC wins at least 3 of the 4 games this week.

Men’s and Women’s Basketball gear up for transfer season

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

The women’s national championship was decided yesterday with LSU taking down Iowa and the amazing Caitlin Clark, and the men’s game is set to tip-off tonight between UConn and San Diego State (Go Aztecs!). With the conclusion of the basketball postseason upon us, that means transfer portal season is going to get into full swing. We’ve already seen a few players enter the portal and commit elsewhere across the country, but these next few weeks is when it really kicks into gear.

The women’s team once again is in complete disarray and needs to make an impact in the portal to maintain competitiveness. After a season that saw their roster already at its bare bones, two of BC’s best players (Taina Mair and Maria Gakdeng) are reportedly set to transfer elsewhere, and Ally Carman has announced her intentions to leave as well. It thankfully seems that their other star player, Dontavia Waggoner, enjoys her time on the Heights, but the overall trend this program has seen under head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee has been concerning to say the least. JBM seems to be a terrific coach on the hardwood, leading her team to some very impressive wins this season and having other successful seasons in the past, but she has seriously struggled to maintain a culture that encourages her players (and staff) to stay for an extended period of time. Here’s hoping she can figure something out this offseason to keep the Eagles afloat.

The men’s team is looking to make an impact in the portal as well, though with much less urgency. I’m hearing a lot of optimism about the return of Quinten Post for next season, which would be huge for maintaining what Earl Grant has been building. And the loss of both Langford brothers, while not great, is not devastating like we see with the women’s team’s lost talent. There have been some rumblings about BC adding Florida guard Kowacie Reeves, who would be a great addition for the strengths of Earl Grant’s coaching style, but we are still waiting for a more trustworthy confirmation to officially report on it. BCI will be paying close attention to what Grant is able to do in the portal to build a roster around Quinten Post and this promising rising sophomore class.

WLax crushes Pitt, preps for Notre Dame

BC women’s lacrosse breezed through their Red Bandana game against Pitt this weekend, winning 17-2 in the debut of their paisley jerseys. This isn’t much of an accomplishment seeing as the Panthers are dead last in the ACC, but it does feel good to see the team continue its domination against most of the conference. Their contest against Notre Dame on Saturday should be a bit bigger of a challenge, though the Eagles will still be favorites. They need this win to prevent the Irish from overtaking them as the ACC’s 3-seed.