By NICK PETRALIA

Overview

Boston College finished last season with a 12-19 overall record and a 4-16 ACC record, placing them second-to-last in the league. Their record would keep the Eagles out of the ACC Tournament. Head Coach Earl Grant heads into his fifth season at BC with a 61-72 record in his time on Chestnut Hill. Coming into the season, expectations from the national media about BC’s upcoming season are gloomy. Publications like CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated have the Eagles finishing last in the ACC standings. The annual ACC Preseason Poll even ranked Boston College last. The team, however, does not lack confidence. Star Donald Hand Jr. stated that he believes the Eagles will surprise people this season and finish in the top five of the ACC.  

Who’s Out?

Photo: John Sexton

The Eagles lost six players who played significant minutes last season. One of the more major losses this offseason was Chad Venning, who started 26 out of BC’s 32 games last season at the center position. Venning led the team in blocks (1.5 BPG) while averaging the second most points on the team (12.5 PPG) and playing the second most minutes (26.3 MPG).

As well, the Eagles lost most of their guard depth in the offseason, with the departures of Dion Brown, Joshua Beadle, and Roger McFarlane. While Brown played below the expectations many had for him after averaging 19 points per game at UMBC before transferring to BC (averaged 7.5 PPG last season), Beadle and McFarlane each provided sparks for the 16th-place team in the ACC, including Beadle’s game-winning step-back 3-pointer to beat Boise State in the finals of the Cayman Islands Classic.

Chas Kelley and Elijah Strong, who had been at BC for two and three years, respectively, also departed from the team. Strong, whose most famous moment for the Eagles came in 2024 when he scored 10 points to help the Eagles defeat Providence in the first round of the NIT, averaged 9.6 PPG and 4.1 RPG last season. Kelley  hit the game-winner vs. Florida State last season as a part of BC’s miraculous comeback win and averaged 4.4 PPG while leading the team in assists with two assists per game.

• Chad Venning: Graduated
• Dion Brown: Transferred (St. Louis)
• Joshua Beadle: Transferred (Coastal Carolina)
• Rodger McFarlane: Graduated
• Chas Kelley: Transferred (Georgia Tech)
• Elijah Strong: Transferred (South Carolina)

Who Stayed?

Photo: John Sexton

BC basketball social media accounts made three separate posts to announce the returns of Donald Hand Jr., Fred Payne, and Jayden Hastings. Hand led the Eagles in scoring (15.7 PPG) and rebounding (6.1 RPG) while shooting 88.1 percent from the free throw line. The redshirt junior guard was named 2024-25 ACC Most Improved Player of the Year after increasing his point total by 11 and rebounds by more than four per game from the previous season. Hand also earned three ACC Player of the Week honors and was named an All-ACC Honorable Mention after scoring over 20 points in nine games and recording a double-double in four contests. He also received one vote for 2025-26 ACC Preseason Player of the Year.

Payne averaged 6.9 PPG while leading the team in steals (0.9 SPG), assist/turnover ratio (2.06/1), and a steal/turnover ratio (1.44/1). The redshirt sophomore guard started one game last season, but was extremely impactful off the bench, especially on the defensive end.

Hastings, who was the backup center behind Chad Venning for most of the season, averaged 4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game last season. Hastings was 10th in the ACC in blocks and scored a team-high 18 points against No. 11 Clemson in the penultimate game of the season.

Three more players also returned to Chestnut Hill for the upcoming season: Luka Toews, Kany Tchanda, and Nick Petronio. Toews appeared in 24 games, averaging 1.6 points and 1.3 assists in 8.6 minutes per game. The sophomore guard earned the trust of Earl Grant late in the season, averaging just under six points and three assists in increased minutes over the final four games. Tchanda also played a limited role last season, appearing in 11 contests. The 6-9 sophomore finished the season with a total of four points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. Petronio redshirted last season, but was a 2023-24 Class A All-NEPSAC selection out of Milton Academy before he came to BC.

Who’s New?

Photos: Maddie Townsen

The Eagles added four transfers this offseason: Chase Forte, Aidan Shaw, Boden Kapke and Jason Asemota. Forte averaged 17.9 points and 1.9 steals per game last season at South Dakota. The graduate transfer guard led the Coyotes in scoring, assists, and steals last season on his way to being named the 2024-25 Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-Summit League. Forte ranked fifth nationally in free throw attempts (253) and was 44th in total steals (62).

Shaw averaged three points per game in his three seasons at Missouri while shooting 64.2 percent from the field. The 6-foot-9 forward from Kansas’s athletic ability is what made BC’s coaching staff eager to add Shaw to a team that desperately lacked size going into the offseason.

Kapke is another big the Eagles grabbed out of the transfer portal. The nearly seven-footer out of Minnesota averaged 4.1 points per game while shooting 27.3 percent from behind the three-point line. BC coaches hope to mold Kapke into a Quinten Post-type player: a center who can shoot the ball efficiently from deep and protect the rim. Earl Grant even said that Kapke is further along in his development than Post was when he first arrived at Chestnut Hill from Mississippi State.

Asemota, like Shaw and Kapke, was recruited to Boston College based on his potential. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 1.6 points in 6.3 minutes per game in his only year at Baylor last season. The Eagles hope that the former four-star recruit can develop with more opportunities to play this year.

BC also welcomes four freshmen for the upcoming campaign: Jack Bailey, Akbar Waheed III, Caleb Steger and Marko Radunovic. I would not expect to see much of Bailey, Waheed, or Steger this season. Bailey, a 6-foot-10 forward out of New York City, is a four-star recruit coming out of Blair Academy, where he earned National Prep All-American honors. Waheed, a consensus four-star guard from Maryland, averaged 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists per game at Georgetown Prep. Steger, a guard from Dallas, Texas, averaged 18.3 PPG and 5.8 RPG at Jesuit Dallas and was ranked in the top 40 shooting guards in the class of 2025 by 247 Sports.

Radunovic, however, may be part of Grant’s rotation. The forward from Montenegro averaged 10 points, four rebounds, and one steal per game with KK Podgorica Bermax in the Montenegrin First League. He also represented Montenegro at the U-20 European Championship B Division.

• Chase Forte: Transfer (South Dakota)
• Aidan Shaw: Transfer (Missouri)
• Boden Kapke: Transfer (Butler)
• Jason Asemota: Transfer (Baylor)
• Jack Bailey: Freshman (Blair Academy)
• Akbar Waheed III: Freshman (Georgetown Prep)
• Caleb Steger: Freshman (Jesuit Dallas)
• Marko Radunovic: Freshman (Montenegrin First League [pro])