SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

[PointGuard]

Dec. 30, 2028: #12 Boston College Eagles (10-2, 1-0) vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-4, 0-1) at Hank McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, GA

PG Leonard Meliet

After the NC State game I was completely exhausted. If we hadn’t won, I wouldn’t have slept well, though. Fortunately we got the “W” and I slept until nearly noon the next day. We then flew from North Carolina to Georgia for our 2nd of 3 straight road games before we finish the trip next week in Florida. School’s on break so we don’t have to study. Coach Fed had us practicing hard instead.

Georgia Tech is a strange team. Over half their points are scored by bench players. Over half their rebounds have been recorded by bench players as well. I think Coach Fed is going to try to sub in one reserve at a time so that we have 4 (or at least 3) starters on the court throughout the game to counteract the strength of the Yellow Jackets’ bench.

Within the first 4 minutes we trailed by 10. Then midway through the half we were down by 16. We rallied to get within 4, but then Georgia Tech widened the gap and when the half ended we were down by a score of 43-35. We hit just 35% of our shots. C Courtland Reese scored 8 and pulled down boards. We’re going to try to tighten our defense but it’s risky since the refs were in love with their whistles in the first half.

We slowly chipped away at the Yellow Jackets lead in the 2nd half and with 12-1/2 minutes to go we took a 52-51 lead when SG Corey Graham drove, pulled up and hit a 12 foot jumper. The refs then did a number on us and we fell behind by 7 before rallying forge ahead at 68-66 with 4-1/2 minutes to go. The lead shifted back and forth and with a minute left the game was tied 71-71. Georgia Tech took a one point lead on a foul shot and then hit a 3 to make it 75-71. The gap was too large and we ended up losing 77-74. The Yellow Jackets scored 8 more points at the free throw line than us.

I was our leading scorer with 17 points, but Courtland Reese had a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Corey Graham tossed in 15 points. The Yellow Jackets’ C J.B. Murphy scored 21 points.

[PointGuard]

Jan. 4, 2029: #13 ranked Boston College Eagles (10-3, 1-1) vs Florida State Seminoles (6-6, 0-2) at Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, FL

1st Assistant Coach David Woodruff

Two of our centers have minor injuries that will limit their playing time tonight. Courtland Reese has a strained back and Greg Kidd has a sore wrist. Although we have confidence in Jason Caldwell at C, having Reese available only for limited duty is going to be a real negative.

Florida State is averaging 76.8 ppg and giving up 75.7 ppg. The Seminoles are a better shooting team than us, knocking down 46.5% for FG’s and 40.7% for 3’s. But they’re poor defensively so we need to exploit that. Their 2 ACC losses have both been on the road. Starters: PG Michael Milsap—18.6 ppg, 6.6 apg; SG Evan Martin—12.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg; SF Chris Price—11.8 ppg; PF Brett Blizzard—10.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg; C Ross Roy—6.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg. Bench—20.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 5.3 apg.

Most of the 12,100 seats at Tucker Civic Center are filled with chanting fans. It’s going to be a war in here. The Seminoles are 3 years away from being ranked #9 in the nation and getting to the Sweet 16, but they’re still stiff competition, particularly on their home court. In fact, they’re presently unbeaten at home this season. We need to prevent breakaways and slam dunks and get a substantial lead to quiet the fans and keep them from getting a lot of momentum.

Both teams hit a high percentage of their shots in the first half. We captured the lead early in the half and held onto it the rest of the way, finishing with a 47-38 advantage at the break. We dropped in 64% of our shots from the field. SG Corey Graham had a great half, scoring 14 points. Courtland Reese played but was ineffective, but Jason Caldwell had a strong half.

We missed the first 7 shots we took in the 2nd half allowing Florida State to pull ahead 48-47 after just 3 minutes of play. Neither team could pull away until we went on a 7-0 run to take a 66-59 lead with 6 minutes to play. We worked the shot clock to shave time of the game clock, forcing the Seminoles to foul. We closed out play with a 77-71 victory. So we had a successful road trip, wining 2 of our 3 games. Now it’s back to home for our next 2 games. We’re now tied for 4th place in the ACC, one game behind conference-leading Pittsburgh.

SG Corey Graham scored 24 points and PG Leonard Meliet added 13. For Florida State, PG Michael Milsap scored 22 points.

[PointGuard]

Jan. 7, 2029: Miami (FL) Hurricanes (10-6, 2-1) vs #13 ranked Boston College Eagles (11-3, 2-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Kelly O’Harrell and Bri Bonham, students

Kelly: Neither one of us is really a basketball fan. We came to the game because our boyfriends wanted to attend.

Bri: Yeah, this is just a chance for the two of us to talk to each other and spend some time on social media.

Kelly: But if we notice ANYthing about the game, we’ll pass it along to you.

Bri: The Eagle mascot and the cheerleaders have some good routines worked out for the introduction of our starters.

Kelly: The Hurricanes green and orange uniforms wanna make me barf.

Bri: You watch the uniforms. I’ll keep my eyes on Corey Graham…yum.

Bri: We missed the first 3 minutes of the game since we were talking to friends. But it doesn’t look like we missed much since BC is ahead 9-0.

Kelly: Yeah, looks like Miami isn’t very good at all. BORING! I’m going to go get a snack.

Bri: Welcome back, Kelly. Corey (Graham) just sank 2 free throws making it 20-8. He’s our top scorer with 6 points.

Bri: Just as soon as he gets back on the court, Corey scores 2 more points to make it 30-18.

Kelly: Our cheerleaders are pretty darned good. It’s more fun watching them than the game.

Bri: Finally its halftime. We’re ahead 45-26. Not much of a game. We’re all going to go walk around. Corey scored 10 points. Would have been our high scorer, but Danny Toliver played more and scored 11.

Kelly: The guys wanted to get back to our seats in time for the 2nd half to start. We went outside for a bit. Colder than my uncle’s meat locker. He’s a butcher. Nice to be back inside to get warmed up.

Bri: Hooray. Corey really looked good on the breakaway layin. So exciting.

Kelly: Leonard Meliet just made 3 straight 3’s. We’ve now doubled Miami’s score at 62-31.

Bri: OK, we can go home now. BC trounced the Hurricanes 88-64.

Kelly: My boyfriend told me to tell you who on our team scored the most. Bri’s fave Corey Graham had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. C Courtland Reese scored 13. PG Leonard Meliet fouled out by scored 12 points and had 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. PF Danny Toliver and SF Michael Millford scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

[PointGuard]

Mary St. James, Boston College Athletic Department Publicist

Boston College Eagles Soar!

After winning both games they played this past week, the Boston College Eagles are now 3-1 and tied for 2nd place in the Atlantic Coast Conference, a mere ½ game out of 1st place. The Eagles’ season record is 12-3. The Eagles success raised them to 8th in the Media Poll and 7th in the Coaches Poll. Boston College has the 2nd best NET ranking.

In addition, SG Corey Graham was named the ACC Freshman Player of the Week. This is the second time Graham has received that honor. Graham led the Eagles in scoring in both games this week and totaled 38 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals and a block in those games. He is now averaging 14.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg, and 2.3 apg this season.

[PointGuard]

Boston Herald

NCAA SHOCKER

Today the NCAA announced that they have completed an investigation into the basketball program at the University of Kansas. The NCAA found that the Jayhawks head coach Charles Kern and 2nd assistant coach Fred Williamson have a history of providing bribes to entice players to attend school at Kansas.

The Jayhawks have been one of the premier programs in college basketball. In the 2025-2026 season the team’s record was 29-5 and they were ranked #2 the polls and got to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. During the 2026-2027 season, Kansas’ record was 30-7, they were ranked 5th in the polls and they got to the Final 4. Last season the Jayhawks were 33-5, they were ranked #1 in the polls and they got to the Elite 8. This season they are presently 13-3 and 2-0 in the Big 12 and are ranked #3 in the polls.

The NCAA found that Ward Sykes, Jerome Cephas, Sherrell Vickers, Jarrad Brown, Marvin Hammond, and Courtney Roberts received bribes from the Kansas basketball program. Sykes played in the 2026-2027 season and averaged 17.0 ppg, 7.0 apg and 4.3 rpg and then went to the pros. Cephas also played just one season and averaged 19.2 ppg and 11.6 rpg during the 2027-2028 season and was the Big 12’s Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and 1st Team All-Conference, and nationally was named as a 1st Team All-American. He then turned pro. Brown and Vickers are freshmen this season and have played sparingly, but were highly rated recruits who are anticipated to be big contributors in the future. Hammond and Roberts are very highly rated recruits this year who have signed letters of intent to Kansas.

Due to the severity of the infractions, the NCAA penalized Kansas with a 4 year prohibition on recruiting and a 4 year ban on playing in post-season tournaments. The administration at Kansas has not yet made comment but announced they will hold a press conference on Wednesday this week. Sykes and Cephas did not return calls and have made no public statements.

Other basketball programs presently on probation by the NCAA are: East Carolina and Seton Hall. But there are rumors that the NCAA may soon be announcing the results of other investigations.

Jerry Resnick, who retired two years ago after a long and successful coaching career at Temple, said, “This is really disappointing. There’s really no excuse for it and I’m truly surprised that Coach Williamson did it. With the reputation and record of success that has long-characterized Kansas, the Jayhawks can get phenomenal recruits without having to resort to offering bribes. I’m glad the NCAA issued a severe penalty so that others will be deterred from doing anything like this. It definitely gives college basketball a bad name. I had a lot of respect for Fred but that’s all out the window now.”

[PointGuard]

Jan. 9, 2029: Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-4, 2-1) vs #8 ranked Boston College Eagles (12-3, 3-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

It’s been a little over a year since the NCAA came around checking our recruiting records and asking a lot of questions. While they never said they were done investigating, we never heard anything more. So we’ve got to assume they realized that we run a clean program, unlike what Kansas just got busted for. I couldn’t believe it at first when I heard the Jayhawks had bribed recruits. It just doesn’t make sense to have done that. I guess the pressure to stay on the top just got too great.

Anyway, I think we’re ready for the Demon Deacons tonight. They’re in the midst of a turnaround season after languishing at or near the bottom of the ACC standings the past few years. They picked up a good crop of recruits last year. Their defense has been tough this season and they have some sharp-shooters from beyond the arc…they’re hitting 42.5% of their 3’s this season. They have beaten North Carolina and Syracuse in ACC play this season but they got whipped badly when playing Pittsburgh on the road.

C Courtland Reese is back to full strength after having been hampered the past couple of games.

The game’s about to start. Let’s see how we do.

1st Half:

Both teams came out cold. But we carve out a small early lead and then expand that to 21-11 midways through the half. We got some great play from our reserves. We’re up 42-29 when the half ends. The biggest difference was that we forced Wake Forest to turn the ball over 13 times in the half.

2nd Half:

C Courtland Reese got into serious foul trouble early in the half. We expanded our lead to over 20 points and held onto that. We crush the Demon Deacons 82-58. We outshot Wake Forest 49% to 39%, edge them in rebounds 31-26, and hold a 21-9 turnover advantage. The win moves us into a tie with Duke for 1st place in the ACC.

C Courtland Reese and SG Corey Graham both score 15 points. We played our bench extensively and they score 33 points and grab 12 boards.

[PointGuard]

Jan. 11, 2029: #8 ranked Boston College Eagles (13-3, 4-1) vs Syracuse Orange (9-5, 1-3) at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY

Father Benedict Perry

I used to dislike having to occasionally travel with the team, but I’ve become a big fan of theirs as they’ve become more and more successful the past couple years. I attend home games and watch the Eagles road games on TV every chance I get. While I’m no expert at the intricacies and strategies of basketball, I enjoy the flow, the rhythm and the momentum that are major components of the game. I invited a couple priests I know in Syracuse to attend. One is a Syracuse fan and the other grew up in Boston so is a BC fan.

The two teams seemed even-matched during the first 10 minutes. But then the Eagles began to draw away and then momentum shifted dramatically in their favor as they exploded to a 33-18 lead with 6 minutes left in the half. Coach Aura adroitly rotated players in and out of the game to ensure he had fresh players who on the court were a step ahead of their exhausted opponents. The Eagles continued their dominance until the buzzer sounded ending the half with BC holding a 50-31 advantage even though starter Danny Toliver played just 3 minutes due to foul trouble. C Courtland Reese and PG Leonard Meliet both had scored 13 points.

The Eagles continued their dominance early in the 2nd half, but then momentum swung to the Orange and their fans. Syracuse began hitting their shots, and BC began missing theirs as well as incurring frequent turnovers. With 5 minutes left to play, Syracuse had trimmed the lead to 72-64. But the Eagles held on to achieve an 82-71 victory.

In the locker room after the game, Coach Aura praised his players on controlling the boards (36-22), outshooting Syracuse 52% to 42%, and most importantly, scoring 36 points in the paint compared to 16 by the Orange. C Courtland Reese scored 23 points plus pulled down 9 rebounds. PG Leonard Meliet hit for 19 points and had 7 rebounds and 6 assists. And SG Corey Graham scored 15 points.

After the game the guys celebrated when they found out that North Carolina scored a 75-71 comeback win on the road over Duke. Together with the Eagles win, that moved BC into 1st place in the ACC, a half game ahead of North Carolina and a full game over Duke and Virginia.

[PointGuard]

Janeka Aura

Omari’s team, Providence is ranked #15 in the polls. They traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to take on the #14 ranked Creighton Blue Jays. The game was close and exciting all the way, but the Friars sustained a tough 4 point loss. Omari played 28 minutes at SF and PF and scored 15 while hauling down 15 rebounds. Great game for our son.

We spoke with him after the game. He was disappointed that they lost to Creighton. But we congratulated him on playing hard and doing so well. Fred was particularly impressed by how well he worked the boards. It was one of his best games, and his efforts nearly carried Providence to an upset victory on the road.

Later he called to say the team was stranded in Nebraska due to a horrendous winter storm that has engulfed the entire Midwest. The team is safe, but there’s no estimate as to when they’ll be able to return to Providence. Even though the USA and the world have been talking for over 30 years about climate change (it’s no longer referred to as global warming) which exacerbated hurricanes, heat, drought, and fires in the summer and storms and cold snowy weather in the winter as well as sea level changes and flooding that have affected millions of people, governments continue to backslide of promises to modify activities in their countries that have created these situations. We all end up paying the price for political malfeasance as we struggle to try to lessen the effects.

[PointGuard]

Jan. 18, 2029: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-7, 2-4) vs #6 ranked Boston College Eagles (14-3, 5-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

We lost to Yellow Jackets 77-74 a couple weeks ago. SF Michael Millford said to me yesterday that even though that game was close and was on Georgia Tech’s court, the team wanted to exact some revenge.

Play was ragged by both teams in the first half. Our shooting was really cold in the first portion of the game. At the 9:42 mark we led 19-18 but we’d hit a low percentage of our shots. Our defense then totally shut down the Yellow Jackets for the next 8 minutes. Even though our offense was lackluster, we were able to move out to a 35-18 lead during that period of time. Our interior starters exhausted, so Coach Aura put in reserves for the last 2-1/2 minutes of the half during which Georgia Tech outscored us 8-3 to cut the lead at the break to 38-26. C Courtland Reese had 8 points and 11 boards in the first half.

Four minutes into the 2nd half we were up by 20 at 50-30. At that point the offenses for both teams caught fire. With 10 minutes left our lead was 66-42. We then cruised to a decisive 82-60 crushing of the Yellow Jackets.

Scoring in double figures were: PG Leonard Meliet with 22, SG Corey Graham with 17, and C Courtland Reese with 11 (he also had 13 rebounds).

[PointGuard]

Jan. 20, 2029: #6 ranked Boston College Eagles (15-3, 6-1) vs #3 ranked Duke Blue Devils (15-4, 5-2) at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC

Coach Fred Aura

Duke’s C Brian Taylor is an All-American and one of the leading contenders for the Norton Award. He’s averaging 17.1 ppg and 10.7 rpg this season. It’s Duke’s defense that has been particularly awesome this year, though…holding opponents to just 58.4 ppg (2nd best in Division I) and recording 7.0 bpg (also 2nd best). We haven’t shot well this year, but some way we have to keep them from shutting us down. We’ve been getting good production from Meliet, Reese, and Graham…we need them to come through for us. I’m just afraid that Taylor will get Reese into foul trouble, though. We’re a game ahead of the Blue Devils in the ACC standings, but they are ranked well above us in the polls. Overall, I think we match up pretty well against them, but playing on their home court is a definite disadvantage.

It was OUR defense that dominated in the early going of the 1st half. We carved out a small lead and held onto it until the very end of the half when Duke came back to take a 33-31 halftime advantage behind Brian Taylor’s 10 points.

Both team’s offenses gelled in the 2nd half. The lead shifted back and forth throughout the entire 2nd half, but with 3 minutes remaining we went ahead 71-67. Both teams scored so we remained on top by 4 with 1:30 on the clock. SF Keith Kolder hit one of two free throws at the 1:15 mark to make it 74-69. Duke hit 2 foul shots on their next possession. We worked the ball around and Winston Minahan got to the ball to Courtland Reese near the free throw line. Courtland drove down the lane, jamming home a basket and getting fouled as he scored. He sunk the free throw to put us up by 6 with 45 seconds to go. A cross court pass by Duke went awry to give us the ball back and forcing the Blue Devils to foul. SG Corey Graham dropped in both shots giving us an 8 point lead with just 27 seconds left to play. They hit a FG but we made 2 more FT’s to come away with a well-earned 81-73 victory. It’s the 2nd straight year we’ve beaten Duke on their home court. Duke’s home crowd tried to break us but our guys just wouldn’t give in. Team stats were close with the exception that Duke made 6 more turnovers than us. The win put us 1-1/2 games ahead of North Carolina and Clemson and 2 games ahead of Duke in the ACC standings.

Duke’s C Brian Taylor showed why he’s a star player by scoring 26 points and pulling down 9 boards with 1 steal and 2 blocks. But our C Courtland Reese scored 21 and had 9 rebounds and had 3 assists and 3 blocks. PG Leonard Meliet scored 13, SG Corey Graham put in 12 points, and PF Winston Minahan added 11 points on 5 for 5 shooting from the field and 1 for 1 at the line.