TRUST THE PROCESSthe heights basketball preview 2015

GARLAND OWENS: BC’s Power Generator, C6

ELI CARTER: The Point God, C8

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: An Inside Focus, C2

A.J. TURNER:

THE HEIGHTS NOV. 12, 20152 BASKETBALL PREVIEW WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

ALEC GREANEY HEIGHTS EDITOR

THIS MUST BE THE SEASON THAT ERIK JOHNSONGETS HIS TEAM TO BREAK INTO THEPAINT AND BELIEVE

IN HIS SYSTEM

Bring the ball up the court. Set a couple screens to get Kelly Hughes or Nicole Boudreau open. Get

one of them the ball. Pray she makes it. Repeat.

That’s the formula Boston College women’s basketball has run with the past couple years.

It makes sense, since relying on threes is one of the easiest things you can do in basketball. Not to say making them is easy—reliable shooters must have steady hands, strong legs, and innumerable hours logged in the gym. But if you don’t have size, if you don’t have strength, if you don’t have the skill to break through some of the best defenses in the country, putting up 3-point shots beyond the arc is just about the only option you got. And hey, you get an extra point for doing it.

Fortunately for the Eagles, they have the “Splash Sisters,” a self-proclaimed name by the trio of Emilee Daley, Bou-dreau, and Hughes. Last season, the three combined to shoot 37 percent from 3-point range and made 197 of the team’s 240 threes, a fi gure that placed the team at 12th in the country and fi rst in the ACC.

Th e 3-pointer is what allowed BC to upset No. 15 Duke last season—39 of the Eagles’ 60 points came from the triple, while the Blue Devils made just two of 11. Their explosiveness will put BC’s competition on upset alert again this season, but it’s not what will get them over the hump of mediocrity. After BC broke its own 3-point record for each of the past several years, head coach Erik Johnson wants his team to start taking a more challenging path.

“I hope we don’t break it,” Johnson said, laughing. “We were too homogeneous last year. We were one-dimensional.”

After three years of specialization in the Johnson era, that one-dimensional off ense is fi nally ready to expand. Enter Mariella Fasoula, the 6-foot-4 freshman from Greece, and fellow center, 6-foot-3 Katie Quandt, who are on a joint mission to control the paint.

Quandt started off a little slow in her fi rst year on the Heights last season, but eventually came into her own. She started the last seven games for BC, averaging 24 minutes, 7.3 points, and 4.0 rebounds a game in that stretch. When Quandt wasn’t on the court, however, the Eagles relied on Karima Gabriel and Alexa Cou-lombe—both 6-foot-2 forwards—to play as undersized fi ves.

Because of its lack of size, BC strug-gled with several aspects of its inside game—the most notable, getting boards and points inside. Th e Eagles outrebound-ed their ACC opponents in just two of 16 games, and at times had fewer defensive boards than their opponents had of-fensive.

With the addition of Fasoula, BC gets a center with experience playing for the Greek national team. She will likely need some time to fully adapt to the college game, but at the very least, she provides a frame that will allow the Eagles to improve inside. At best, she has the potential to be a go-to player and top rebounder in the post for BC for several years to come.

Meanwhile, BC has also improved its ability to drive. Sophomore Martina Mosetti and freshman Stephanie Jones, both quick and solid point guards, will split time bringing up the ball. Two play-ers who redshirted last season, Kailey Edwards and Ella Ewobajo, are both slashing forwards that Johnson is excited to see take the court at BC, which should address another glaring weakness for the Eagles last season: getting to the line.

BC took about four fewer foul shots per game than its opponents last season, and took 200 fewer total shots from the

line than the average team in the ACC. Th ese numbers are even harder to swal-low because of BC’s shooting ability—the team shot 72.1 percent from the line last season, good for fi fth in the ACC.

“If the opponent is shooting way more foul shots than you are shooting, that’s a problem,” Johnson said. “But that’s a product of settling for shots.”

Make no mistake, this is still a 3-point-shooting team. Ever since Hughes fi rst laced up her Under Armour high tops, the Eagles became a team that loves playing beyond the arc. Now, they fi nally look ready to try a little something new, something that could allow them to exceed expectations for the second year in a row.

While the ultimate goal is to get back to the NCAA Tournament, a trip the Eagles haven’t made since 2006 (the fi rst year BC competed in the ACC), a WNIT berth is certainly not a far stretch. BC last reached that tournament in 2011 by going 20-12 and 5-9 in the ACC. Th e thing is, an invite to the NCAA isn’t even as far of a reach as you may think. Although the tal-ent-abundant conference has made for a more challenging schedule, it does widen the tournament window—the top eight teams in the conference made the NCAA Tourney last season, and the lowest seed, Miami, fi nished 8-8 in-conference and 20-13 overall. With three more ACC wins last season, BC would have been in the

conversation. You might want to get ready to start talking about them this year.

“My biggest goal since I’ve gotten here, that realistically I haven’t thought was possible until now, is to make the NCAA Tournament,” Boudreau said. “I think with this team, that we’ve come together, and I think it’s really possible.”

While he watches his team prac-tice, Johnson doesn’t stand still. The head coach paces

back and forth in the middle of Power Gym, wearing down the half court line as he surveys his team. Th e overall image isn’t unlike the one we painted last year: a coach watching his team hustle through its various drills without the need for constant encouragement. Th e coaching staff had previously needed to provide the energy for the team, Johnson said last November, but now the girls were taking it upon themselves.

Everything isn’t the same, though. Last year’s team was supposed to be the one that pushed itself and built up a positive, competitive culture, not the one riddled with off -court issues and punishments midway through conference play.

“I was shocked that we had off -court issues last year,” Johnson said.

In reflecting back on the suspen-sions he doled out—Lauren Engeln was removed from the team, while Boudreau and Kat Cooper were each suspended

for one game—Johnson’s fi rst thoughts dart to UConn. Of course, every women’s basketball coach at the D-I level—or any level, really—should be thinking about the Huskies. They’ve gone undefeated in four seasons since 2000 and have won the NCAA championship more times than not in those 16 seasons. Th ey’re in a league above the rest with Notre Dame, Stanford, and Baylor—a quartet that has fi lled almost two-thirds of the Final Four spots in the last eight years.

But it’s not even the talent of those squads that Johnson envies the most—it’s their overall focus and work ethic. “Th ere’s no baloney,” he said. “You know, when you’re building culture, you want to minimize drama. We have to start as a coaching staff to set that tone. If kids are going to act in certain ways that clearly defy it, hey, suspensions are things that have to follow.”

But the drama—or at least the drama visible to the outside world—didn’t come from the two younger classes, which combined for 64 percent of BC’s minutes and 76 percent of the starts in conference play. Rather, they were all players that had several years of college experience. Engeln, a transfer from UConn, was a fi fth-year senior. Cooper, who lost most of her sophomore year to a knee injury, was a redshirt junior. Although Johnson never referred to a frustration with playing time as a factor in the team’s shortcomings

last season, both had seen significant cuts to make room on the court for theunderclassmen—Engeln saw her minutes slashed by two-thirds and started just fi ve of 22 games compared to 31 the year before, while Cooper got just half theminutes and three versus 25 starts.

With the arrival of a second true cen-ter this year, it’s likely Gabriel also would have had her playing time reduced, which would explain her transfer to Cal State Fullerton this summer. Cooper also trans-ferred this summer—to Oregon—and Engeln maxed out on her eligibility.

Th en there’s Boudreau, the only re-turning player who faced punishment last year. She’s also the only four-year starteron the roster, someone that BC needs on the court as much as possible, and one of the few players left that came in toBC with Johnson. Th e pair are both pas-sionate and strong-willed—traits they’ve recognized about themselves.

“Last year, I didn’t wanna ask for help,”Boudreau said. “I kinda just wanted to do it on my own.”

Th is year, she doesn’t have to. Cou-lombe—or Mama Lex, as she’s known on the team—will serve as a co-captain this season. And although she doesn’t fi ll upthe statline in the same way her partner does on a given night, her teammatesknow how much she cares. Th at makes them listen.

“She keeps me grounded a lot,” Bou-dreau said. “We’re kind of like the angel and devil—we have two diff erent skillsets, and she balances me out. She makes it a lot easier for me.”

Meanwhile, Johnson has also realized the need to take a step back.

“I had to take a hard look at myself and the ways that I was building relationshipswith them, building trust, gaining buy-in,”he said. “I accept responsibility, too—thisis happening on my watch.”

In casting down the suspensions, John-son made it clear that the rules aren’t merely suggestions for how his play-

ers should act. He has fi rm beliefs about what his team should value, and thosearen’t going to change. But this past yearhas made him more open to discussions with his team. Rather than just telling his players what their values should be, he has tried to get them to embrace their valuestogether with his own.

“If kids are going to act in certain ways that clearly defy [the rules], hey, suspen-sions are things that have to follow,”Johnson said “[But] what you’re seeing now is a group that’s like, ‘we’re not going down those roads.’ And they’re policing each other.”

Th ey also seem to be fully behind their coach, individually echoing the same buzzwords he preached: “accountable,” “responsible,” “toughness,” “team.” Both Fasoula and Quandt praised his abilityto be a great coach on and off the court, citing examples of dinners at his house,mini golf outings over the summer, andindividual coff ees to see how his playersare doing.

“I think it’s more of just the little gestures that he does,” Quandt said. “Hedoesn’t have to be all extravagant to show that he cares.”

It has been Johnson’s goal to makehis players see how much he cares. Th at, along with aligning their values, is what he believes will truly keep them boughtinto the process. If he’s wrong, if he can’tget his girls to buy in for a full season, if he again has to dole out suspensionsthis year because of off -court issues, hemay never become the coach that makesBC competitive in the ACC. But if this is the year they stay committed (and they keep dropping threes), this will be thefi rst team in the Johnson era to receive a tournament invitation.

72.1%72.1% OF FREE THROWS MADE

44 FEWER FOUL SHOTS MADE THAN OPPONENTS PER GAME

1212THTTH RANK NATIONALLY WHEN SHOOTING FROM 3-POINT RANGE

2/16 GAMES IN WHICH THE EAGLES OUT REBOUNDED OPPONENTS

A GLANCE BACK AT THE 2014-2015 SEASON:

“WE’RE A GOOD FREE-THROW SHOOTING TEAM. BUT IF THE OPPONENT IS SHOOTING WAY MORE FOUL SHOTS THAN YOU

ARE SHOOTING, THAT’S A PROBLEM”

ARTHUR BAILIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

ARTHUR BAILIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

BREAK INTO THEPAINTBELIEVE

IN HIS SYSTEM

THE HEIGHTSNOV. 12, 2015BASKETBALL PREVIEW KELLY HUGHES

SISTER

After a preseason scrimmage against Harvard University last week, an SID handed Boston College women’s bas-ketball head coach Erik Johnson the box score. His team

had just played a great game, but something was not right. Even though the Eagles scored 77 points and won by 30, there was one thing missing. Next to Kelly Hughes’s name was a zero. This had to be a mistake—his leading scorer did not make a single basket.

“She scored zero points and I didn’t know it,” Johnson said. “No one on the team knew it.”

Most players will let you know they are not having a good game. Most players will have a poor attitude and let out their frustration. Their body language will instantly tell you they are disappointed.

Hughes is not like most players. During the scrimmage, Hughes played 30 minutes, and coming off an injury, it was expected for her to be a little rusty. But Hughes was not even getting the ball. She was struggling to get shots off. When she did shoot, the ball was not going in the hoop. The star player was not shining.

Yet her body language was 100 percent positive. Scrimmage stats, which are not available to the public, were the only indication that Hughes was having an off-day. If you were in the crowd, you would have assumed she was having one of her best games.

“She’s out there cheering for her teammates, fist bumping, set-ting other people up, defending, grabbing rebounds,” Johnson said. “It just happens that she didn’t make any shots. Kelly doesn’t care whether she scores, she just cares that we score.”

Hughes’ humility, faith, and determination on the court are contagious. It’s her attitude that keeps the team going during tough games and allows them to fight confidently. She is the definition of a team player—someone BC desperately needs to build a team dynamic focused on togetherness.

Hughes knows what it means to rebuild. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy ripped through her hometown of Point Pleasant, N.J., causing major destruction. Three years later, New Jersey is still in the process of rebuilding due to the countless efforts of restorations teams. The Eagles are trying to do a little restoration of their own.

Last year, strong ACC teams knocked around BC women’s bas-ketball week after week. BC boarded up and prepared to ride out the storm. The team stood mightily during the first half of each game but failed to maintain a strong front while its opponents surged in the second half. In six of BC’s 11 league losses, the team was lead-ing or within 10 points of its opponents at halftime. After going 13-16 overall and 5-11 in league play in 2014-15, the team hopes to improve. With the addition of four new players—two freshmen and two redshirts—combined with a new team culture centered on unity, the Eagles are prepared to rebuild with the resources they have.

The BC team is lucky, however, when it comes to making the repairs it needs. While the Eagles may have a few holes in the defense that need to be patched up and a few more plays to hammer into the offense, they have a strong foundation in Hughes. With her on the Eagles’ side, the team can build itself back up and prove they are stronger than the storm.

The team has all the necessary tools to get the job done: a knowl-edgeable coaching staff, a motivated team, and plan to remodel. The coaches are prepared to lead the team to success—they just need the team to trust the process. The team has the size and skill it takes to win. With key players leading the way, there is no doubt that BC will be a force to be reckoned with this season, especially with splash sister, Kelly Hughes, on its side.

Hughes was key in the limited success the Eagles had last season, especially against league opponents. Her stellar performance outshined the woes the team suffered. She

knows it takes more than one person to have success on the court—it

takes an entire team. In the 2014-15 season, Hughes led the team in field goals, 3-

pointers, free throws, and rebounds. She was sixth in the league in 3-pointers made and scored a career high of 424 points. In February against Wake Forest University, she scored a commanding, season-high 32 points, 21 of which were beyond the arc, propelling the team to a 75-74 win. In that game, Wake Forest overcame a 10-point deficit to obtain a six-point lead with less than four minutes in the game. Hughes nailed one final 3-pointer and Nicole Boudreau made a layup and sunk two foul shots to give BC a big win at home. Hughes’ resume is unrivaled on the BC squad, but it is her humble attitude that stands out the most.

She would much rather talk about her team’s success and experiences than her own. You can rattle off all of her accomplishments and statistics, but it will not change her attitude. Her personal achievements are not important to her. It is all about the team, making her perfect for Johnson’s plan.

“The highlight of my career is beat-ing Duke,” Hughes said. “I’d rather have a big team win opposed to any of the individual accolades.”

But ask anyone else and they will not hesitate to tell you how great of a player she is, how important she is to this team.

“She’s an absolute stud,” Johnson said.

Hughes is the type of player who can make heads turn. Her shooting game is the first thing that you notice as she drains shots from 30 feet out. Hughes may be able

to make shots from all over the building, but she’s more than just a shooter. She has incredible game sense and passing skills.

But it does not matter how her game is going—Hughes’s biggest concern is the team.

“She is the one who’s asking her coach, ‘How many fouls are there? How many timeouts are left?’” Johnson said.

Johnson needs a selfless superstar who is more concerned about the team than herself. When one player stands out from the rest, it can be difficult to achieve a sense of togetherness. As a selfless superstar, Hughes brings her star performance to the court without outshining her teammates. She does not want the team to rely on her own personal success. She constantly supports her teammates, motivating them to generate their own power. By remaining positive even when she’s struggling during a game, Hughes puts her team’s success above her own. Although Hughes is a standout player, pad-ding her resume with stats is the least of her concerns because stats do not win games.

A standout player cannot prevent a second half slump. A stand-out player cannot close out six league wins. It did not work last year and Johnson knows that. In order to guarantee this season is not a repeat of the last year’s woes, the Eagles need focus on unity follow Hughes’ example.

Hughes is willing to give it all for her team. She puts her team first and contributes her success on the court to the players standing beside her. Hughes wants her team to have just as much personal

success in order to strengthen the team as a whole. To do this Hughes takes on the role of the silent leader.

“I’m not the most vocal person on the team or the most hype person on the team,” she said. “I try to lead by example and by stay-ing composed.”

Stepping onto the court and playing against the country’s best

teams can be daunting for young players. Hughes uses her composureand versatility to assist them anywhere on the court. Whether it is taking over the point guard position for a possession or going low toassist the forwards at the post on defense, Hughes will be there.

“That’s been a great gift as a coach to have when your best scoreris also a really good defender,” Johnson said.

Her versatility will allow the Eagles to adopt a new type of game this season.

In 2015-16, the Eagles hope to keep the defense on its toes in orderto compete with top ACC teams. With an array of strong guards onthe outside and sturdy shooters on the post with a great inside pres-ence, BC is ready to execute an inside-outside game. Combine thiswith Hughes’ offensive presence, and BC will be ready to contend with any defense.

As an all-purpose player, Hughes is vital for the Eagles if they wantto achieve their goals this season. Hughes, of course, has adopted the team goal as her own personal goal. Even with last year’s limitednumber of team victories, the Eagles are aiming high.

“Our big team goal is to make the NCAA Tournament, especially for our seniors, Nicole and Alexa,” Hughes said. “We really want to have them end their careers on a high note, and that would be witha NCAA Tournament berth.”

Hughes might just be the key player to help the team achieve its goal this season.

She knows that the coaching staff ’s efforts will not guarantee a NCAA bid, nor will the individual achievements on the court. The team knows it will have to battle day in and day out to reach their expectations.

For Hughes, it’s simple—it’s all about “togetherness, together-ness, togetherness.”

KELLY HUGHES MAY BE ALL ABOUT HER TEAM, BUTTHE EAGLES NEED THEIR SUPERSTAR FROM BEYOND THE ARC TO

MAKE A PUSH FOR A POSTSEASON BID IN 2015-16.

VICTORIA JOHNSON HEIGHTS STAFF

KELLY HUGHES TEAMSUPERSTARPOSTSEASON BID

ARTHUR BAILIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

ARTHUR BAILIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

3

THE HEIGHTS NOV. 12, 20154 BASKETBALL PREVIEW A.J. TURNER THE HEIGHTSNOV. 12, 2015 5

OF THE FRANCHISE FRESHMAN A.J. TURNER REPRESENTS BC’S ONE-WAY TICKET TO NATIONAL

PROMINENCTOM DEVOTO ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

FASTFACTS:

Andre Turner remembers the night vividly.His son, A.J. Turner, was a star basket-

ball player at Algonquin Middle School in Clinton, Mich., preparing for one of the biggest games of his young career. Algonquin was matched up against its biggest rival, Seneca Middle School, of Macomb, Mich. Only a short stretch of open roadway on Route 97 separated the two schools, between which there was a great deal of animos-ity on the hardwood.

Seneca was coached by Jermaine Jackson, Turner’s former AAU coach, and many of the Jaguars’ players had been on one of Turner’s teams at some point in the past. When Al-gonquin played Seneca, though, friendships no longer meant much to those involved. This game was getting a lot of buildup—too much, perhaps, for a game of middle school basketball.

The pregame buzz on the sidelines and around town was that Seneca had the perfect plan to shut Turner down. Jackson’s methodi-cal, superior squad would physically dominate the opposition from start to finish. No one expected Turner to perform well against the stronger, better players from Seneca, let alone for Algonquin to come out victorious.

But Turner thrives on doubt—he has practi-cally made a living proving people wrong.

“A.J. went bananas that game,” the elder Turner said. “That was one of the first times I really thought, man, this kid is gonna be some-thing special.”

Turner was in eighth grade back then. A little over five years after his big breakout game, not much has changed—well, except for his hair.

An immediately-recognizable mop of curly brown locks, dyed a shade below blonde at the tips, sits unsteadily upon the Mt. Clemens, Mich. native’s cranium. Shaved meticulously at the sides, the style probably adds a few good inches to the freshman’s already-large 6-foot-7 frame. Over the years, Turner has ex-perimented with just about every hairstyle out there—braids, high top, mohawk, the “South of France” look popularized by Nick “Swaggy P” Young—so this style was just next in line.

“I’m just going with the flow right now,” Turner said through a trademark smile. “I know my teammates seem to like it a lot.”

A cross somewhere between the hairstyles of New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beck-ham, Jr. and Orlando Magic point guard Elfrid Payton, Turner’s ’do juts out in every which way from the top of his head. It commands attention and respect. It demands to be noticed, demands to be observed, demands to be appreciated.

As the college basketball nation will soon find out, his on-court ability demands the same.

Boston College is a Power-Five school starving for overall athletic excellence. The Eagles have always been good in

most sports, including basketball—though some might not believe it now—but BC has always struggled to reach the pinnacle in athletics. Turner has the potential to turn the trudging tides of rebuilding very quickly, making head coach Jim Christian’s multi-year construction project come to fruition a few years ahead of schedule.

A similar phenomenon happened at BC 15 years ago. By the year 2000, the Eagles were reel-ing, having rattled off three consecutive sub-.500 seasons following the departures of star guard Danya Abrams and head coach Jim O’Brien. New skipper Al Skinner was left with a depleted roster, since most of O’Brien’s recruits followed him to his new job at The Ohio State University.

BC needed a spark, and it eventually came from an unexpected source: a relatively unknown recruit named Troy Bell.

Bell went on to lead BC to two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, becoming one of five players to win Big East Conference Player of the Year multiple times. Bell’s teams launched

BC from its place mired in mediocrity to a genuine competitor on the national stage. NCAA basketball pundits still question how local Midwest schools allowed the Minnesota native to get away.

It’s far too early to tell, but Turner is the type of prospect who could have the “Troy Bell Effect”

for this program. But while Andre was right about that eighth

grade wunderkind becoming something special down the road, it didn’t happen overnight.

Like Bell, Turner was not getting heavily pur-sued by major collegiate programs. He had some difficulties on the court early in high school, and he was relegated to the JV team in his freshman season. Sensing that this struggling freshman was still chasing a Division-I dream, some coaches told Turner’s parents that he would be better off focusing on his high school diploma rather than a scholarship offer.

But Turner couldn’t give up the dream. He wouldn’t give up the dream.

“That’s what really motivated me,” Turner said. “From that point on, [playing Division I] was my

ultimate goal.” Andre and A.J. stepped up the hours they spent

in the gym, honing in on the weaknesses they identified in his game. During this period, the pair would head for the courts soon after A.J. came home from school, not returning until midnight on some occasions. The hard work paid nearly immediate dividends, as the offers started coming in less than a year later—first from the University of Dayton, then from a number of schools from the MAAC. It didn’t take much longer before BC expressed interest in Turner.

Even though BC’s recruitment of Turner started

under former head coach Steve Donahue, Christian knew pretty quickly that Turner was a prospect he couldn’t let slip away.

“He’s a perfect fit for the way I play, and for BC,” Christian said. “You have to try to find guys who think they can thrive in your system, and obviously have the talent to play in this league. I think he has both.”

In addition to his talent, Turner is mature for his class, on paper and in person. The fresh-man turned 19 years old during the first week of school in September. He looks and acts like an upperclassman, way too comfortable for someone in his first semester at college. Turner does have a leg up on his peers when it came to attending school and living away from home, though. After a few years attending De La Salle High School in

Warren, Mich., Turner transferred to the New Hampton School in New Hampshire—Hanlan’s alma mater.

Leaving the house at age 16 was a shock for both A.J. and his parents—Andre and his wife, Tracy, ba-sically had to send their oldest child away to college a few years earlier than originally expected. The first few months were tough for all of the Turners, but especially Andre.

“It was horrible,” Andre said. “I remember that ride home—it was the longest, saddest ride ever. The days following, it was very tough because for me, every day, A.J. and I were always doing

something together. Waking up and going in his room and him not being there, it was rough for all of us.”

Turner often got homesick dur-ing the month-long stretches that he couldn’t go back to the Detroit area during the basketball season, and it killed him to not have his parents at most of his games for the first time in his life.

The feeling of homesickness eventually subsided—partially due to Andre and Stacy’s frequent phone calls , and partially be-cause Turner was making a name for himself on the court in New Hampshire. Everyone appreciated the strides that Turner was tak-ing athletically, academically, and socially.

He got a taste of dormitory liv-ing a couple years before his BC classmates. He got comfortable with the East Coast, which Andre now calls his son’s “home away from home.” And, perhaps most importantly, Turner completed the transition from a fringe-Division-I prospect to a bonafide, four-star gem.

Despite his slim frame, Turner plays fast and physical, allowing him to excel at both guard posi-tions, as well as small forward, what appears to be his natural spot in the lineup. Turner’s incredible athletic ability, coupled with his innate unselfishness and his elite shooting touch, make him a good fit for the three smaller positions on the floor.

While both A.J. and Christian struggled to come up with a pro comparison for his versatile style of play, Andre has always seen flashes of an NBA legend that he grew up watching—former Chicago Bulls great Scottie Pippen, maybe one of the most versatile players in NBA history.

“Scottie Pippen was a hybrid, and A.J. can do a lot of the same things that he did,” Andre said. “He could play the point or the two, and he could check the point or the two.”

Turner’s high school mixtapes show him throwing down emphatic dunks and draining shots from well behind the college 3-point line with ease. He finishes well in transition and his jump shot is

pure, at its most effective when he shoots spot-up from the wing. When the defense steps out to guard his deadly jumper, Turner has no qualms with driving to the hoop and banging bodies with players much bigger than him. The freshman has surprisingly good handles and court vision for a taller player—combined with an explosive first step off the dribble, Turner is a dangerous triple-threat with the ball in his hands.

The face of BC’s future does not come with-out its imperfections and blemishes. Based on the Eagles’ preseason scrimmage against Bentley University, if there is one thing that Turner could improve heading into the season, it’s his defense. Too often, the freshman found himself getting beat off the dribble and left out of position—frankly, though, this assessment applied to all of the Eagles

against Bentley. His defensive struggles could very easily be

chalked up to his first collegiate action, but as a weak defensive team to begin with, the Eagles will need Turner’s A-game to help lock down some of the ACC’s more talented scorers. More importantly, they’ll need Turner’s assistance in grabbing rebounds on each end of the floor, as he will most often be the second tallest player on the floor for BC.

Turner promised to deliver well-rounded con-tributions to a team looking to establish an identity in yet another retooling year. He prides himself on being the kind of guy who can offer a little bit of everything—exactly the type of player needed by a team lacking in just about every category. Off the court, Turner wanted to bring underclassman leadership to the biggest incoming class that BC has had since the just-graduated Class of 2015.

“I know the freshman guys need some leader-ship, and obviously they can get that from guys like Dennis [Clifford] and Eli [Carter],” Turner said. “But I think it’s easier coming from another freshman that’s going through the same struggles as they are.”

If Turner is struggling right now, though, he doesn’t seem to be showing it. Even before his freshman basketball season has started, Turner exudes a certain level of comfort without straying too far from the humility that got him to where he is today. He has a suave, smooth style about him, an inherent nature that makes his everyday tasks look easy. Turner has a great rapport with his teammates—notably roommate Jerome Robinson, the other jewel from Christian’s second recruiting class—and he feeds off their energy.

Turner’s not short on confidence, either. Part of that can be attributed to how welcoming the BC community has been to him, but it mostly comes from his ability to adapt seamlessly to new, chal-lenging situations. Just under two months since he arrived on campus for the first time, Turner had already crowned himself best-dressed and best NBA 2K player on the team, edging out Carter and Robinson, among others, in each of those categories.

Oh, and don’t get Turner started on the hair.“I think I have the best hair in the ACC, defi-

nitely,” he said. Yet, when Turner says these things, they don’t

come out as cocky or arrogant. These remarks won’t be misinterpreted by friends, teammates, or fans as selfish. His fun-loving personality forbids one from taking his comments out of context. He’s just a kid, after all—goofing around, cracking jokes, enjoying himself with his friends.

At the same time, Turner knows he means more than that to a lot of people at BC. Whether he realizes his on-court potential or not, Turner rep-resents the Eagles’ and Christian’s one-way ticket from the conference cellar to national relevance. He might joke and kid about the fact that he’s the best, but the fact of the matter is that that’s exactly what BC needs him to be.

This Saturday, wJhen BC takes on St. Francis Brooklyn in its season opener, it will be a notable day of firsts for many involved.

For the first time, A.J. Turner will run out of the tunnel from the bowels of Conte Forum into the bright lights on the main stage, the thump-ing drum of the pep band beating concurrently with his excited heart. For the first time, Turner will hear the familiar, booming voice of public address announcer Andy Jick bellow “A … J … Tuuuuuuuurner” after he connects on his first basket. For the first time, Turner will look up to the seats beyond the sidelines in Conte to see Andre, Tracy, and his younger sisters, Jazmyn and Jada, fresh off the flight from Michigan, leaning on the edge of their seats. For the first time, BC fans will get a peek at the future of the franchise in real game action.

And for the first time in a long time, with Turner on the floor, BC will take one big step forward in the process of building a winner.

STRENGTHS:

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AND NICK YOUNG

GRADUATED FROM

NEW HAMPTON SCHOOL (N.H.), OLIVIER HANLAN’S ALMA MATER

TURNER IS BC’S FIRST RIVALS

150 RECRUIT SINCE RAKIM SANDERS

IN 2007

ENJOYS THE MUSICAL STYLINGS OF TAYLOR SWIFT

AND JUSTIN BIEBER

ELITE SHOOTING TOUCH FROM OUTSIDEGOOD COURT VISIONFINISHES WELL IN TRANSITION

NEEDS WORK AT ON-BALL DEFENDINGSHIES AWAY FROM CONTACT AT THE RIM

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POSITION: FORWARD

HOMETOWN:MT. CLEMENS,

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NUMBER: #11

RRUU ENNTJAA RENNRUUUUTUJ.J. T.A.J. TURNERA.J. TURNERN RRA.J..J. RREENNRRUUUTT.J.J.JA.J. TURNERA.J. TURNER.. .

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THE HEIGHTS NOV. 12, 20156 BASKETBALL PREVIEW CLIFFORD AND PERPIGLIA

There’s 12:53 remaining in the first half of a January game in Coral Gables, Fla. Boston

College men’s basketball is trailing the Miami Hurricanes by five when back-up point guard Steve Perpiglia checks in for Olivier Hanlan. Head coach Jim Christian likes to give Hanlan an extra minute or so of rest ahead of select media timeouts before reinserting his star guard into the game. Perpiglia will presumably trot back to the bench at the first dead ball under 12 minutes, and he’ll stay there. Fifty seconds at Cameron Indoor here, a minute and a half against New Mexico there. The 5-foot-9 walk-on doesn’t complain.

“Usually it’s literally like 45 seconds and you’re out,” Perpiglia said, flashing his familiar, Chip Skylark-esque grin. But that day, the basketball gods had different plans. Fifty-three seconds rolled by without a whistle. An extra minute flew past, and a deep lactic burn rippled through his thighs. Then another 60 seconds—60 hot, dizzy, delirious seconds—ticked off the clock. By this time, it felt as though someone had jammed a bottle cap down his trachea.

When center Will Magarity took a foul with 9:58 to go in the half, Perpiglia was spent. “I was exhausted,” he said. “I had never played for three and a half minutes straight. I looked at coach Wu [Bill Wuczynski],

and I was like, ‘I’m so tired—but that was awesome!’”

Perpiglia committed two fouls and coughed up one turnover in just under three minutes. He had a neutral net rating.

Entering the 2015-16 campaign, the senior doesn’t have a single career statistic in double digits. In three years and 41 total minutes wearing maroon and gold, he has racked up four points on eight field goal attempts, shooting 0-for-4 from behind the arc, with two rebounds, five assists, and a matching quintet of turnovers. He hasn’t shot an in-game free throw since the spring of 2012, when he was a senior captain at Malvern Prep in Pennsylvania averag-ing 12 points, six assists, and over five rebounds per contest. Each of his single-game averages in high school eclipses his career totals at BC.

On the opposite end of the spec-trum there’s Dennis Clifford, a 7-foot-1 hulk of a man, the fifth-

year center who has

battled h i s w a y

through a flurry of knee complications to return to the court and anchor the Eagles’ interior defense. Whereas Perpiglia saw 29 minutes of action all of last year, Clifford logged the same number in an early-season bout with Dayton, a 65-53 loss in Puerto Rico. And yet, both see themselves—and each other—as vocal leaders.

If he’s not on the court partici-pating in live drills, and he often isn’t, Perpiglia is scanning the play with laser focus, ready to bark out orders like Ron Weasley in a game of Wizard’s Chess. It’s Year Two of the Jim Christian Era, and the coach looks to his seniors to hold the team accountable.

“We have a lot of young guys,” Perpiglia said. “It puts a lot of pressure on the older guys to be leaders and be vocal during practice.”

Clifford, who opted into his final year with the Eagles instead of look-ing for a fresh start elsewhere with his fifth year of NCAA eligibility, doesn’t want to leave the program in poor condition when he hangs up his sneakers. He felt an allegiance to Christian’s program.

“He’s special to me because there’s not many guys who do that,” Christian said. “I think that, to me, is probably the best story on our team.”

After a summer of strenuous training and near-constant pickup games, Clifford feels like he has finally smoothed out some of the rough spots

in his game. “My rhythm and

ELDER STATESMENDENNIS CLIFFORD AND STEVE PERPIGLIA, BC ’S ODD COUPLE, ARE

STICKING WITH THE PROGRAM AND TAKING THE REINS

being a part of the offense was really thrown off just from not playing for awhile,” he said, alluding to the knee operation that sidelined him for all but two games in 2013-14.

It happened again and again last season. Clifford would muscle his way to the offensive glass or slide along the baseline for a nifty bounce pass from a slashing team-mate. Then, right as he was about to jam the ball home, some pesky little guard from the other team would swipe down and dislodge the ball from the big man’s grip. A sure two points for the Eagles had turned into a mad dash the other way.

An extra eight months of live scrimmaging has helped Clifford get back to where he was freshman year, and the coaching staff has worked with its bigs all summer to improve their finishing skills. There’s one drill where a coach tosses the ball off the backboard and Clifford has to collect the rebound at its highest point with two hands. Then, it’s a free-for-all where two managers with pads have full license to clob-ber, shove, and smack the center as he tries to cram the ball through the net. That’s right: Layups don’t count.

This year, as the lone returnee who averaged over 17 minutes per game last season, Clifford will be counted on to shoulder the lion’s share of minutes at center for Chris-tian’s guard-heavy squad.

“I think, as long as Dennis can breathe, we’re going to need

him on the court,” Perpiglia said, turning to Clifford.

“We’re gonna need you for a lot of min-

utes.”He’s right.

Sophomore I d y D i -

allo and fresh-

m a n Johncarlos

Reyes are behind Clifford on the depth chart,

and both are too raw to see meaningful ACC minutes.

That ’s where Perpigl ia comes in. “Sometimes you’re just there to be a coach and be a veteran guy, kinda pulling people around. I’m always try-ing to help Idy and J.C. out,” he said. “The younger kids some-times need some direction. Instead of one of the coaches coming up to them, I’ll just go over and tell them how it should be done or how Coach wants us to execute that play.”

With the body of, as Clifford puts it, “an NBA guy,” Diallo has long arms, a quick second jump, and terrific shot-blocking instincts. But his sus-ceptibility to frequent mental blips has made him something of a lightning rod for criti-cism from the coach-

ing staff.Reyes, a fresh-

man with a soft touch and interior finesse, moves at

the pace of a beached whale trying to wiggle its way back to the water when Christ ian has his team sprint-i n g t h r o u g h defensive posi-tioning dril ls . That’s not what you want when Duke comes to town.

All this inex-

perience behind Clifford, of course, means one thing: The Eagles will be playing a whole lot of small ball. Barring a total surprise, 6-foot-5 junior Garland Owens will begin the season as the nominal starting power forward for Christian, and the four-out-one-in approach carries with it some theoretical positives for Clifford. There should be more space for him to post up on offense with four shooters dotting the pe-rimeter, and positions one through four should be able to switch most ball screens on defense.

But there are some drawbacks, too. “I think it’s tough on the re-bounding end,” Clifford said. “Es-pecially in the ACC, every team has two guys who are basically the twin towers.” Owens should be able to hold his own despite the sizable height deficit—he’s fought admirably at the four in limited minutes under both former head coach Steve Do-nahue and Christian. But if weaker and less experienced types like A.J. Turner get extended runs next to Clifford, the big fella could have his work cut out for him under the rim. There will be games this sea-son where the opposition munches boards, and it won’t necessarily be Clifford’s fault.

Things could also get murky before shots go up, especially early in the season when the NCAA offi-ciating committee looks to hammer home its 25 new rule changes.

Referees have been told to keep a close eye on low-post contact, and if Clifford heads to the pine with two quick fouls, his team has virtually no recourse.

For his part, Perpiglia doesn’t think the rule changes will have a lasting effect. “They come in every year and they have their ‘points of emphasis,’” he said. “By the time the conference season hits, I feel like they don’t enforce those rules as strictly.”

More importantly for the senior from Philadelphia, he’s got a new protege in Gordon Gehan to tutor on sideline celebrations. When former walk-on and current senior Drew Ja-cobs left the team before last season, Perpiglia felt like he was all alone on Bench Antics Island. He had lost his shenanigan companion.

“When Drew was there we had a lot of different stuff,” Perpiglia said. “We had a 3-point telescope. We sometimes did a rowboat with the 3-point fingers. I always messed around. I even had a pizza tosser thing.”

During a film session two years ago, Donahue was breaking down a good offensive play from the night before, and he made sure to keep the clip rolling until the camera zoomed in on Jacobs and Perpiglia at the end of the bench. To the surprise of no one, they were performing an origi-nal “3-point robot” routine.

Perpiglia has created his fair share of fun memories on the basket-ball team, but that doesn’t mean the program itself has been steady—far from it.

Players have come and gone throughout the years. Some gradu-ated. Some gave up and got the hell out of dodge the moment things turned south. Joe Rahon suits up for St. Mary’s College this season, and Ryan Anderson will be playing for Sean Miller at the University of Arizona.

Still others stuck it out another year before hitting the reset button. Lonnie Jackson is at Boise State University. K.C. Caudill (Nicholls State University) and Will Magarity (Davidson College) sought greener pastures, too.

“Those guys had different per-sonal ambitions, and it led them to other places,” Perpiglia said.

But Clifford and Perpiglia stayed. Now, they’re the only seniors re-maining—graduate transfer Eli Carter is a welcome addition to the team, too—and both are looking to point this ship in the right direction in their final year as Eagles.

“Now that there’s a select few of us, we’ve come together,” Clifford said about the remaining Donahue holdovers. “There’s only one com-mon goal.”

GRIFFIN CONNOLLY HEIGHTS STAFF

DENNIS CLIFFORD AND STEVE PERPIGLIATAKING THE REINS

THE HEIGHTSNOV. 12, 2015 7BASKETBALL PREVIEW GARLAND OWENS

FORCEGARLAND OWENS FLIES AROUND THE COURT AS A VITAL SOURCE OF ENERGY FOR BC BASKETBALL.

JACK STEDMANASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR

The locker room in Greens-boro Coliseum was quiet. Only a few voices could

be heard as Dmitri Batten pointed over toward Garland Owens, who was sitting alone on the far end of the room.

Boston College had just lost to the University of North Carolina in the second round of the 2015 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament, and Batten was discussing his role dur-ing his one year with the Eagles.

“Coach [Jim Christian] told me when I fi rst came he wanted me to build a culture,” Batten said. “With Garland coming back next year, I look at him like my little brother, so I feel like he’ll bring the intensity next year.”

Batten was the high-tempo guy for Christian’s team last year. He played fast on offense and even faster on defense. It became a big part of the team’s identity: while the Eagles lacked the pure skill to win games, they could outwork and play alongside the elite ACC teams deep into the second half.

On road trips, Owens often roomed with Batten, who shared his insights on the game—especially from a defensive standpoint—with the sophomore. The two had a lot in common. They were from roughly the same area—Owens is from Maryland and Batten is from Virginia—and knew similiar people, leading Owens to bond with and learn from the fi fth-year graduate transfer.

Still in touch with his former teammate on a regular basis, Owens is ready to take over where Batten left off .

“I have a bigger role this year, and [Batten] pretty much told me that last year,” Owens said.

With seven freshmen on the roster and only one other returner who played meaningful minutes last year, the slate is clean for this team. As Christian rebuilds from scratch, a lot of trust is involved in this process. It’s going to be a long one, as it’ll take the freshmen a while just to acclimate to the col-lege game, let alone the level of play

in the ACC.For Year Two of Christian’s

tenure, the process is more about team culture than results. Before the thought of scoring enough points to win a game enters anyone’s mind, a team must sustain a high energy level at all times. Players have to drag each other to the gym, instill confi dence in one another, and not get too down—and there will sure be a lot of downs. Owens is the guy Christian needs to make this happen.

In his fi rst two years, Owens has learned under Olivier Hanlan, who took Owens under his wing and helped him the most in transition-ing to BC as a freshman.

With seven young bas-ketball minds to mold, Owens is getting his

biggest opportunity to utilize what he learned from Hanlan and Batten’s leadership. He sees the freshmen having fun in the gym, and it brings back memories of two years ago, when he was one of those guys.

From speaking to the freshmen off the court, it’s clear that Owens is a crowd favorite. Matt Milon im-mediately brought up Owens when asked who brings the most energy to the team. When asked who was the funniest on the team, A.J. Turner and Jerome Robinson both said Garland without hesitating.

“He’s just a goof,” Turner said.In practice, he’s always moving,

even when play stops around him. He never misses an opportunity to show off his freakish leaping ability and go for a dunk. If Owens has the ball in his hands and a coach halts the drill, he’s going to fi nish anyway. It’s not just any finish, though. Owens is going to get air-borne, swing his arm back, and go for the windmill fi nish only seen in a dunk contest.

He might miss badly, but he’ll laugh it off with his teammates anyway. After a brief moment of levity, though, it’s back to practice. For all the goofy energy that Owens brings to the team, there’s an equal amount of ferocity that emerges when it’s time to get to work.

“I think if you asked the guys on our team who’s probably played the hardest in the preseason, Garland would be that guy,” Christian said. “He competes hard—sometimes too hard.”

Christian uses the word catalyst to describe the junior forward. In the most scientifi c of terms, Owens is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction, or in basketball terms, Owens is the spark plug for his teammates.

It’s more than just being a spark plug, though. Owens is the generator, the source of power that continually fuels the components plugged into a game. Unlike a piece of fl int that lights the fi re only once, Owens is a non-stop electrical hum, a constant presence on the court. It’s fi tting that his teammates call him “G,” because there’s a lot of force coming from his 6-foot-5 frame.

“Th at’s just how I try to bring energy, just flying around,” Ow-ens said. “Because when you fly around, things happen. A tip dunk,

off ensive rebound putback—that gets you going, that gets everyone around you going. It brings energy, and we feed off that energy. We can continue to go.”

Th is snowball eff ect will be key for a team that is as young as this. While the freshmen aren’t com-pletely lacking in confi dence at this point, they have yet to be thrown into the ACC fi re pit. When the game is moving at a million miles an hour around them, it’ll be easy to fall behind. Enter a player like Owens, who is not only going to be seen fl ying around the court, but heard, too.

He is, by far, the loudest on the team. Whereas Cliff ord is the elder statesman of BC and Eli Carter is a leader by example, Owens is a vocal leader.

Clifford, Owens, Steve Per-piglia, and Darryl Hicks are the only holdovers left from Steve Donahue’s tenure, and they’ve stuck together to be leaders on this team.

Owens is using all these experi-ences to help out the freshmen, but he still has to focus on his game as he looks to take a starting role this year.

On the court, Owens’ big-gest impact is on defense, where his vocal and high-

energy style of play counts the most. This year, however, the switch from playing the three to the four—a position he has never played—is going to put added de-fensive duties on Owens.

He will be tasked with guarding bigger men, and that means he’ll be doing his work in the paint. It’s no longer running with guys on the perimeter, it’s battling for position down low. At it’s simplest, defense is the same at any position, in that the main goal is to prevent the other player from scoring. But the positional switch brings a whole new set of defensive positions, as you have to look out for new screens and make new switches, all while going up against 6-foot-1, 250-pound monsters that can eat you alive.

On the other end, though, Owens might have the advantage.Off ensively, he’s gifted with tre-mendous ups and likes to live abovethe rim. Th e speed and athleticism should be in his favor against more traditional power forwards, most of whom will have a hard time keeping up with him.

For a player that has only aver-aged 3.7 and 3.4 points per game, respectively, and started six games in his fi rst two seasons, the switchis a big one, but Owens has comea long way since his freshman yearunder Donahue. He is more confi -dent than he ever has been.

He recalls how, in his fi rst year, BC was a passive team that never went out and attacked. Christian has wholeheartedly changed that,creating a team that relies on personalities like Owens as the nucleus. With a new culture, andanother brand new team, Owens is looking forward to making some noise.

“It’s kinda cool, a lot of dudes don’t know about us, because theydon’t know what we have,” Owenssaid. “It’s defi nitely an underdogapproach that we embrace.”

Owens, who grew up a half hourfrom College Park, knows some ofthe players on the basketball teamat the University of Maryland. Th e Terrapins have made a dramaticswitch from an average program to top-fi ve team in the country, and Owens looks at that team asan example of where he wants BC to go.

Maryland is a success storyin rebuilding. Building things ishard. It takes time, manpower,and a lot of effort. Building a team, in particular, is one of thehardest things to do, as you aren’t just putting steel beams togetherwith big cranes, you’re putting people together.

Dmitri Batten was told tobuild something last year, and now he’s passing the baton.

Garland Owens is the foreman now, and he’s doing that job with a little bit of goofi ness, a lot ofconfi dence, and a constant fl ow of energy.

GARLANDOWENS

VITAL SOURCEENERGY

JIM CHRISTIAN

CAREER HIGHS

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d o w n i n N e w Brunswick.

Carter broke onto the scene as an impact fresh-man in the Big East. He led Rutgers in scoring with 13.8 points per game, finishing 19th in the conference and fourth among fresh-men, behind only St. John’s duo of

newcomers, D’Angelo Harrison and Mo Harkless, and Providence’s LaDontae Henton. Th e shooting guard even emerged as a leader on his own team, pacing the Scarlet Knights in minutes played.

And he made highlight reel plays. Not the type that might make the SportsCenter Top 10, but the ones they’ll show when they recap Rutgers’ wins.

Th ough the success wasn’t all the way there for the Scarlet Knights—they fi n-ished just 14-18, 6-12 in the Big East—the potential clearly showed.

Th en came the 2012-13 season, a year that will go down as the most infamous in Rutgers history, and one that nearly broke Carter’s will.

It began on Feb. 16, 2013, with an actual break.

While going up for a rebound late in a 75-69 loss to rival DePaul, Carter—again Rutgers’ leading scorer with 14.9 PPG, 11th best in-conference—fell hard on his right fi bula. Th e bone fractured, which was enough to keep him sidelined for the rest of the season. Carter still has no idea exactly how it broke. All he knew was the pain.

But that grew into emotional pain after ESPN’s Outside the Lines investigated Rice, his head coach, the man who Carter credits with teaching him how to play basketball, about claims of bullying.

The beleaguered head coach had already gotten suspended three games earlier in the season and fi ned $50,000 for alleged abusive behavior. In April, how-ever, videos obtained by ESPN that were sent to Rutgers Director of Athletics Tim Pernetti revealed that the cases of abuse far exceeded what was originally thought. Rice hurled racial and homophobic slurs at his players, not to mention hurling basketballs at their heads. It resulted in his immediate removal from the head coaching position.

To this day, Carter defends Rice. Despite the video evidence, he believes a lot of the talk was exaggerated. “Th at’s not his reputation with me,” Carter said in response to his relationship with Rice. “What anyone else says is their opinion.”

But Carter was forced into phase two of the process: the comeback.

Because of the circumstances regard-ing the firing, members of the Scarlet Knights were free to transfer to whichever school would take them without being forced to sit out a year. Between that and Rutgers’ departure from the crumbling Big East to the less prestigious American Athletic Conference, Carter took that opportunity.

Although Spinelli again tried to recruit him, this time at Maryland, Carter headed to Florida to join Billy Donovan, whose

Gators were coming off their 15th consec-utive 20-win season. Instead of stepping into an active role in Donovan’s off ense, Carter’s lingering leg injury sidelined him for the year after only seven games.

Th at turned out to be the best thing for him.

With starting point guard Scottie Wilbekin set to depart after the 2013-14 season, Donovan worked tirelessly with Carter to switch from the two to the one. Each day during his rehab, Carter focused on bringing the ball up and acing his pass-ing skills.

Carter also began to understand what it took to be on a winning team at the NCAA level. During the Gators’ march to the Final Four, they lacked that one-man show, something Carter had been both at Rutgers and in his high school days. Th ough Wilbekin won SEC Player of the Year, he didn’t dominate the court without help the way BC’s Olivier Hanlan did last season—Florida had four players average between 11 and 13.8 points per game. Carter then realized perhaps the most crucial skill to playing the point: trusting your teammates and covering for their mistakes. And most importantly, how not to be the primary scoring option.

Once Carter returned to full health, the results were … average, to say the least.

Finally ready to play after almost 18 months, Carter averaged a respectable 8.8 points per game but only two assists. SB Nation’s Andy Hutchins described him as “a square peg in a round hole” because of the combination of his physical limitations and his fi t in Donovan’s system. And after a trying 2015-16 season, Donovan bolted for the Oklahoma City Th under coaching position.

So once again, despite his reformation, Carter needed a fresh start.

Thus we arrive to today, where Carter sits at the fi nal stage of his career-long process: conquer. Th is

is the point where your hard work and ability to care translates into the reward. You can extrapolate that into wins on the court—he has had plenty of them in his high school and college careers. But Carter prefers to turn that into the eff ect he can bring to the next generation.

Th at’s why he was fi nally sold by Spi-nelli’s long-standing recruiting process. Several schools made the push to claim the highly coveted graduate transfer. Georgetown, UNLV, and Seton Hall—the latter a school 20 minutes south of his childhood home—to name a few. But this time, Spinelli wouldn’t be denied. “He tells me every day that I should’ve been stuck with him before,” Carter said.

Carter loved the idea of his role in Christian and Spinelli’s second year of the

grand master plan to rebuild BC basket-ball to a respectable level—it’s really one where he can’t lose. For his own career, Carter will have an opportunity to shine in the country’s most competitive confer-ence, the ACC, while running an off ense that, according to Christian, is perfectly suited to his style of play.

In that sense, Christian sees him playing a Hanlan-esque role. Despite his transition to the point, Carter’s new head coach understands that he will likely be the team’s primary scorer. He’ll also be the team’s lead facilitator, trying to get into the lane as fast as possible and dishing out to the 3-point line to give guys good, open shots.

“Not good shots,” Carter corrected himself, “but great shots.”

Excuse me, great shots. But for Carter and Christian, his

bigger role will be in helping BC’s seven freshmen learn that patented process—care, comeback, conquer.

He has already begun to do that with the Eagles’ promising young stars: A.J. Turner and Jerome Robinson. Th ough Turner will likely play small forward this year, the two crave Carter’s attention to detail and style of play. He works well with the young players, showing them everything he has learned from his many travels. And they appreciate the fact that he could’ve stayed at a school with a lot of recent success and the pieces to win now, but instead chose to come to BC.

“Eli had to know the situation he was coming into, so it shows that he was com-fortable coming here and playing with us,” Turner said. “It shows that he trusts in the system.”

Whether that translates into wins re-mains to be seen. But Carter has already showed both his teammates and the sparse crowd at Conte Forum his ceiling from BC’s scrimmage against Division-II Bentley University.

Carter demonstrated his shortcom-ings in the beginning of the fi rst half, not pressing on defense and making several turnovers that looked forced and were without conscious decision-making. Similar to the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, who often gets criticized for lack of hustle on defense despite his natural abilities, Carter makes passes and shots that are diffi cult look easy. Because his dribbling skills aren’t as sharp as they could be, that equates to a player that can look clumsy and lazy.

But then he got into the fl ow of the game. Carter began to drain shot after shot, often from beyond the 3-point line. He has no fear in driving to the net and will put up (and make) heavily contested shots. At one point, following a timeout, Carter showed off his more fun side, knocking down a turnaround 3-point jumper from deep. The shot was so impressive that Steven Daniels and John Johnson, two of BC football’s defensive stalwarts in attendance, got up immediately and started screaming and hollering in support.

He fi nished the day with 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting. If he can do that in the way he did it—with hands in his face and quickness to the rim—Carter will have no problem adjusting to ACC play.

It wouldn’t even be close to the hard-est thing he has faced. And even if he struggles, chances are he’ll come out on top. He always has.

C ’S JOURNEY TO BOSTON COLLEGE HAS BEEN SIMPLE. ALL IT TAKES IS THREE STEPS.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN SPORTS EDITOR

There’s usually a process to how things are done.

Follow a recipe to make the best dish. Listen to your coach to perfect your shot. Abide by the syllabus to get an A. (Ideally.)

For Eli Carter, his entire playing career has followed a process—a fairly simple one at that. It takes only a couple of steps to sum up how he has gotten to this point.

Care. Comeback. Conquer.He doesn’t use those words, per se.

But those steps have created a three-part symphony that symbolizes the guard whose travels have taken him along the Eastern Seaboard. They compose the perfect harmony, beautifully humming to glimmer into the ear. Boston Col-lege men’s basketball head coach Jim Christian brought in Carter, a fi fth-year transfer, fi rst from Rutgers and then from the University of Florida, to teach those same lessons to his crop of seven green freshmen.

But if Carter follows that scheme himself, he can become the missing piece on the court for an Eagles team that will largely spend the 2015-16 season looking for answers for their future.

Hell, why not? Th at blueprint has got-ten Carter this far in his basketball career. Especially when it probably shouldn’t have gotten very far at all.

Quick, what comes to mind when I say: New Jersey? Perhaps it’s a thick accent screaming at a Gi-

ants game in the Meadowlands. Or the mindless hours you’ve spent watching Snooki galavant on a beach under an orange-tinted sky with a bunch of shirt-less men. Or the fact that the state ranks as the country’s third-richest, with a per capita income of $36,027, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

That’s the place I remember, the one where I spent my childhood sum-mers wading in the cool Atlantic Ocean water of Spring Lake and Long Beach Island—two of the state’s prime shoreside destinations. But it’s far from the New Jersey where Eli Carter grew up.

Carter grew up in Paterson, N.J., a city of almost 150,000 that sits only 40 minutes outside of New York. Paterson citizens have a per capita income of less than half the state average, $15,876, while its poverty rate is almost triple (29.1 vs. 10.4), making it one of New Jersey’s most fi nancially disadvantaged areas.

Th ere wasn’t a lot to do in his neigh-borhood, but a kid has to get out of the

house. So he chose to focus on sports. “We had nothing else to do,” Carter said with a shrug.

On the streets, he fi rst turned to football, a sport he admits he was pretty good at—in fact, everyone from his neighborhood knew him as a danger-ous and speedy wide re-ceiver.

But it was in basketball where he really shined. It wasn’t a family member who introduced it to him or anything. His dad, Dale Sterling—with whom he lived in nearby Willingboro, N.J., after the age of 12 when his mom, Valarie, passed away—was a star soccer player. Carter simply had that natural feel for the game.

Unfortunately for Carter, that natural talent didn’t help him when the games got organized. He enrolled in the Life Center Academy in Burlington, N.J., as a fresh-man, with the goal of playing basketball. Yet he spent two frustrating years on the junior varsity squad, failing to impress his coaches or college scouts.

Instead of blaming others for his in-ability to make the jump to the varsity lights, Carter searched for that fatal fl aw. But it wasn’t a lack of ability. It was just a lack of eff ort. He now laments the fact that he didn’t care enough back then to make a bigger impact for the sake of his team.

Nevertheless, he remembers the mo-ment when his attitude changed, and is forever grateful that it did. “Once I really noticed I was kinda good at it, I could maybe make some money from it,” Carter said. “Get out of the neighborhood, stuff like that.”

So began the care stage of the pro-cess.

Carter opted for a fresh start, trans-ferring to St. Anthony’s High School in Jersey City, N.J., to play under Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Bob Hurley. The 27-time state champion wasn’t going to give his newest player the easy route into getting his name called—it took Carter until the end of his junior campaign to crack the starting fi ve. But once he did, he made sure Hurley wouldn’t regret it.

In his senior season, Carter averaged 15.2 points, six assists, and fi ve rebounds, earning All-Hudson County honors and leading the Friars to the NJSIAA Non-Public North B championship. He signed a letter of intent with St. Bonaventure University in Western New York, making that dream of getting out of the neighbor-hood a reality.

But Carter wanted more. And he felt he had the responsibility to stay home so his family could see him shine.

Ironically, he did that by spending a prep year at New Hampshire’s Brew-ster Academy. There, he helped the Bobcats—one of New England’s best basketball programs—to a 31-3 record. He earned several off ers from prime pro-grams: Penn State, Creighton, Cincinnati, Oregon, and Texas A&M (where current BC assistant Scott Spinelli recruited him), to name a few.

None was more important than the call he got from Mike Rice to join his Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

CHAPTER ONE:CARE

CHAPTER TWO:COMEBACK

CHAPTER THREE:CONQUER

THE HEIGHTS NOV. 12, 20158 BASKETBALL PREVIEW ELI CARTER

JOHN QUACKENBOS / BC ATHLETICS

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