Are the Boston College Eagles Ready to Soar in the ACC?

If there’s a single theme that will determine the fate of the 2008-09 Boston College Eagles men’s basketball team, it can be summed up in one word.

Youth.

A quick scan of the roster reveals three freshmen, seven sophomores, one junior, and a lone senior.

Fortunately for the Eagles, that senior just happens to be Tyrese Rice.

Rice, who earned first team All-ACC honors last season, will be counted on by his young teammates and his coach, Al Skinner. He will have to provide leadership throughout what’s sure to be a challenging journey through the Atlantic Coast Conference portion of the schedule.

A jack of all trades, Rice, the 6’1” Richmond, VA native, averaged 21 points, five assists, and a little over three rebounds last season, all while logging 38 of a possible 40 minutes per game. Does he sell concessions at halftime too?

The Eagles endured a long season last year. It was certainly not one they’ve been typically used to when the likes of current NBA players Craig Smith and Jared Dudley and classic glue-guy Sean Marshall patrolled the hardwood at Conte Forum.

The bright spots of the 2007-08 campaign for the Eagles were few and far between, as they finished the year with a record of 14-17, including a mark of 4-12 in ACC play.

Heading into this year, expectations (at least among media members) were for another season similar to last, as the Eagles were picked to finish 11th in the conference, beating out only the Virginia Cavaliers.

But like the late Al McGuire once said, “the best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores.”

So the lumps that B.C. endured last year should have a positive effect on players like Rakim Sanders, Josh Southern, Corey Raji, and Biko Paris, all of whom received the proverbial “baptism by fire.”

Those players, along with Vermont transfer Joe Trapani (eligible this season) and freshmen Reggie Jackson (hold the baseball jokes), Dallas Elmore, and Evan Ravenel, should all be ready to play the role of Tonto to Rice’s Lone Ranger.

But when your team consists of 10 players in either their freshman or sophomore year of eligibility, constructing an out-of-conference slate that would make John Calipari or Mark Few blush isn’t exactly the way to build confidence.

Scheduling a bunch of what should be “gimme” wins is. And from the looks of B.C.’s early season schedule, that’s just what Coach Skinner did.

To borrow a phrase from Dick Vitale, Skinner and the Eagles feasted on a steady diet of Hostess Cupcakes before the calendar changed, although there were a few games of note to whet the appetites of their fan base.

Boston College played in the Pre-Season NIT, and after two fairly easy early round victories over Loyola (MD) and St. John's, the Eagles advanced to the semifinals in Madison Square Garden to meet No. 9 Purdue.

The Eagles hung tough with Matt Painter’s talented Boilermakers before ultimately dropping a 71-64 decision.

Purdue’s defense was the difference, as B.C. made only 39 percent of their field goals for the game and shot a measly 21 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

Two nights later, Skinner’s team defeated Alabama-Birmingham to capture third place in the tournament behind 24 points from Rice.

The Eagles outscored the Blazers by 14 in the second half after trailing by eight at the intermission.

Boston College also earned hard-fought victories over Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, on the road vs. UMass-Amherst in a battle of in-state rivals, and against former Big East foe Providence.

The Harvard Crimson pay a visit to the Eagles on Jan. 7 to close out the out-of-conference portion of the schedule.

That being said, this is what we learned about the Eagle so far.

They have depth.

Ten players are averaging 10 minutes or more per game, and only two players average 30 minutes or more.

They have balanced scoring.

Four players (Rice, Trapani, Raji, and Sanders) average double figures in points, with Rice leading the way at just under 17 per game. The four combine to average 55 points each contest.

They gang rebound.

Raji, Trapani, and Southern pull down 20 rebounds per game between the three of them. And at 6’1”, Rice isn’t afraid to mix it up either, as he grabs himself four caroms each time out.

Whether those numbers are a product of their schedule or whether they truly show the growth and development of their young players, the Eagles will need to maintain that type of production as they embark on league play.

Fresh off a New Year’s Eve victory over Sacred Heart, B.C. currently sports a 12-2 record. They open up ACC play this Sunday with a visit to play the all-everything North Carolina Tar Heels.

Ouch.

If expectations for the Eagles were nonexistent, then the exact opposite is true of the Tar Heels.

After being on the wrong end of a good old fashioned butt-whoopping at the hands of eventual National Champion Kansas in last year’s Final Four, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green all put off the NBA for a chance to return to Chapel Hill and make another run at the NCAA title.

Combine that with Deon Thompson, a return to health for Bobby Frasor and Marcus Ginyard, and the arrival of one of the best recruiting classes in the country, and all coaches should have Roy Williams’s problems.

Carolina entered this season as the overwhelming favorite to win it all, and so far they haven’t done anything to dispel that notion. They’ve raced out to a 13-0 record that includes thrashings of Kentucky, Notre Dame (in the championship game of the Maui Invitational), and Michigan State.

And if Carolina needs any more motivation against the Eagles, they probably remember last season’s visit to Boston, in which Rice torched the Heels to the tune of 46 points.

The Tar Heels aren’t the only formidable team in the ACC.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Duke is loaded...again.

The Blue Devils only lost DeMarcus Nelson from a team that earned a No. 2 seed in last year’s NCAA tourney.

Sophomore Nolan Smith has unseated senior Greg Paulus for the starting point guard position. And so far, Duke has been better for the change. Smith possesses the necessary foot speed that Paulus lacks, which enables Duke to apply defensive pressure to create turnovers and ignite their running game.

Duke is hungry to make up for second and first round losses the past two tournaments, so Coach K’s team will be playing with a chip on its shoulder. That’s not good news for the rest of the league.

Wake Forest just might be the biggest team in the league with seven players that stand at 6’8” or taller.

Super frosh Al-Farouq Aminu (one of those giants) leads a much heralded recruiting class for the Demon Deacons. They’ve yet to taste defeat on the season and are sure to make some noise in conference play.

The Clemson Tigers, also undefeated and led by senior K.C. Rivers, have been a pleasant surprise so far with wins over Temple, at Illinois, and at Miami in conference play.

Speaking of Miami, the Hurricanes, fresh off last season’s NCAA tournament appearance, could make some noise too, although they’ve stumbled in two of their higher profile games, suffering losses to UConn and Ohio State.

With standout Jack McClinton in the lineup, the Canes should have a chance in most games.

Gary Williams and the Maryland Terrapins are trying to recapture their once lofty status as ACC royalty so far with mixed results.

The Terps lost to Gonzaga and local rival Georgetown, but they can boast about a beatdown of Michigan State and a victory over Michigan, one of the biggest surprise teams in the country.

The Virginia Tech Hokies, with A.D. Vassallo leading the way, have been a bit of a hard luck team, so far with a buzzer beater loss to Xavier and another last second loss to Wisconsin.

Still though, the Hokies have been a pretty consistent tough out since joining the ACC.

Of the remaining teams (Florida State, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, and Virginia), FSU appears the most capable of making some noise in the league.

While there won’t be too many nights off in the ACC for the Eagles, the schedule makers did them a favor since they only play Carolina and Duke (home) once each.

The most difficult stretch will occur in February, when over an eight-day span the Eagles travel to Wake Forest and then play host to Clemson and Duke. Those three games certainly will test the young team’s resolve.

Outside of North Carolina and Duke (and possibly Wake Forest too), the ACC appears to have a lot of teams capable of beating each other on any given night. Certainly that will make for a competitive and exciting conference season.

Whether Boston College can improve on last season and be a part of that mix depends on one factor.

Youth.