/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/30141709/20140312_jdm_sx1_068.0.jpg)
The Boston Globe's Christopher Glasper is the latest to pile on embattled Boston College men's basketball coach Steve Donahue. Glasper touches on one of the key performance criteria for the fourth year Eagles coach -- recruiting -- arguing that the school should move in another direction this offseason.
Thou shalt recruit is the first commandment of power conference basketball.
Outside of guard Olivier Hanlan, the 2012-13 Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, and finesse power forward Ryan Anderson, the Eagles simply do not have ACC-caliber talent.
Donahue has either been unable to land the type of players he needs to compete or in some cases has misevaluated them in his own backyard (Methuen's Georges Niang).
Glasper runs through the laundry list of local players that have taken their talents elsewhere as well as the program's thin roster of ACC-caliber players. All of that, however, is in the past. More than Donahue's failures in local recruiting and a thin roster of talent, Glasper only briefly mentions arguably THE key factor in deciding Donahue's fate: the 2015 recruiting class.
In 2015, the program will have to replace at least six graduating seniors and possibly a total of seven scholarship players, should Olivier Hanlan come out for the NBA Draft after next season. Currently, Donahue has secured a verbal commitment from just one player in 2015 -- New Hampton prep power forward Jeremy Miller. While Miller is a top 100 recruit per Rivals.com, the results simply have not been there to give Brad Bates the confidence that Donahue should be responsible for recruiting the very large 2015 class.
Boston College men's basketball scholarship chart:
2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Darryl Hicks* ![]() ![]() |
Darryl Hicks ![]() ![]() |
Darryl Hicks ![]() ![]() |
Darryl Hicks ![]() ![]() |
2 |
Garland Owens ![]() ![]() |
Garland Owens ![]() ![]() |
Garland Owens ![]() ![]() |
OPEN |
3 |
Will Magarity ![]() ![]() |
Will Magarity ![]() ![]() |
Will Magarity ![]() ![]() |
OPEN |
4 |
Olivier Hanlan ![]() ![]() |
Olivier Hanlan ![]() ![]() |
OPEN | OPEN |
5 |
Joe Rahon ![]() ![]() |
Joe Rahon ![]() ![]() |
OPEN | OPEN |
11 |
Dennis Clifford* ![]() ![]() |
Dennis Clifford ![]() ![]() |
OPEN | OPEN |
6 |
Alex Dragicevich ![]() ![]() |
OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
7 |
Eddie Odio ![]() ![]() |
OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
8 | KC Caudill ![]() ![]() |
OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
9 | Ryan Anderson ![]() ![]() |
OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
10 |
Lonnie Jackson ![]() ![]() |
OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
12 |
Patrick Heckmann ![]() ![]() |
OPEN | OPEN | OPEN |
13 | OPEN | Jeremy Miller ![]() ![]() |
Jeremy Miller ![]() ![]() |
Jeremy Miller ![]() ![]() |
* redshirt
Donahue lucked out a bit with a presumed medical redshirt for Dennis Clifford, else the program would have to replace a minimum seven scholarship players over the next recruiting class. As it stands, the program is still headed towards having a huge roster turnover in 2015-16, needing to replace at least six of the 13 scholarship roster spots. That class becomes even larger should players transfer or Hanlan jump early.
Over his four years on the Heights, Donahue simply hasn't shown enough success in recruiting to be left to fill those spots in next year's class. That's why it's imperative that the program make a change now to give the next coach time to balance out the scholarships and infuse the roster with some ACC-caliber talent.