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I was struck yesterday with the announcement that Matt Farrell, a point guard from New Jersey, had verbally committed to Boston College. Apparently, young Mr. Farrell selected BC over offers from Dartmouth and Monmouth. Clearly, Mr. Farrell must be a very bright young man to attract the interest of such demanding academic schools as BC and Dartmouth but it's also clear that BC's basketball program has clearly fallen upon lean times when they are reduced to beating out the aforementioned schools for talent. I'm not taking a shot at Mr. Farrell as I'm sure he's a fine young man and a good basketball player but, if any school in the Big East, received a commitment from a player who selected their school over Dartmouth and Monmouth they would be less than impressed.

As we all know BC is a member of the ACC, an excellent academic school and located in one of our nation's great cities. That said they are recruiting at a level that is easily exceeded by every program in the Big East (yes even DePaul). What this conference is on the verge of accomplishing is nothing short of amazing. Will the ACC sign more top 100 recruits? Yes, of course but the question should be will they sign more per capita to which the answer is no. Every program in the Big East has upped their game and the best incoming class could very easily be that of one of the new members (Xavier). How remarkable is that my alma mater (Marquette) has signed four 4-star players and that is only the FOURTH best incoming class according to recruiting experts.

This league is clearly poised to reclaim the legacy of what Dave Gavitt created and once again become the nation's premier college basketball conference. Will it happen this year? Probably not as I think any objective observer would point to the ACC. However, what provides the most hope is that the depth of the Big East is only growing stronger as schools such as Seton Hall and DePaul, who have struggled of late, are beginning to attract high caliber recruits. This is going to be a fun ride and I can't wait!

It's hard to compare anything regarding BC. Donahue is looking for very particular recruits to play in his system. He currently has two players on his team that are quite frankly All ACC talents and while they are picked to finish in the middle of the ACC this year, it would surprise no one if they finished in the top 5-6. They will be good.

FriarJ wrote:It's hard to compare anything regarding BC. Donahue is looking for very particular recruits to play in his system. He currently has two players on his team that are quite frankly All ACC talents and while they are picked to finish in the middle of the ACC this year, it would surprise no one if they finished in the top 5-6. They will be good.

I was thinking the same thing about Anderson & Hanlan, but Mulligans' point about the big picture I think is still in tact. Having one or two good years on the trail doesn't necessarily create a new trend for BC, or SHU for that matter. Another point about BE dominance on the trail this year is that some schools are getting good players simply because a big chunk of the is finished recruiting. One of my fav recruits for 2014 Jaquil Taylor most likely would have committed to Prov if Bentil hadn't first instead he "settled" for Purdue. Same thing with 4* Josh Cunningham who I think Creighton would've nabbed if they hadn't gotten the #1 player out of Denver in Harrell and already had LG3 in the fold.

Big East is Strong!

TheHall wrote:

FriarJ wrote:It's hard to compare anything regarding BC. Donahue is looking for very particular recruits to play in his system. He currently has two players on his team that are quite frankly All ACC talents and while they are picked to finish in the middle of the ACC this year, it would surprise no one if they finished in the top 5-6. They will be good.

I was thinking the same thing about Anderson & Hanlan, but Mulligans' point about the big picture I think is still in tact. Having one or two good years on the trail doesn't necessarily create a new trend for BC, or SHU for that matter. Another point about BE dominance on the trail this year is that some schools are getting good players simply because a big chunk of the is finished recruiting. One of my fav recruits for 2014 Jaquil Taylor most likely would have committed to Prov if Bentil hadn't first instead he "settled" for Purdue. Same thing with 4* Josh Cunningham who I think Creighton would've nabbed if they hadn't gotten the #1 player out of Denver in Harrell and already had LG3 in the fold.

Big East is Strong!

I completely agree with the idea that the BE recruiting is great, beyond my wildest dreams, simply saying that BC is not a measuring stick on who to measure it by. They recruited under the radar kids in the BE as well. The passion is just not there for them to get the highly ranked NE kids.

FriarJ wrote:I completely agree with the idea that the BE recruiting is great, beyond my wildest dreams, simply saying that BC is not a measuring stick on who to measure it by. They recruited under the radar kids in the BE as well. The passion is just not there for them to get the highly ranked NE kids.

Donahue is actually doing a pretty good job considering, to your point. If he keeps it up maybe he'll get lucky and move up to a real bball conference coaching a program like say...Depaul. But your point about BC's traditional recruiting style, it actually has been the entire BE's M.O. over the years. BE schools rarely signed the one & doners or even top 30 talent. Currently there are only 2 McD's AA in the league (Pinkston & UCLA transfer Josh Smith). BE programs have traditionally done well with mostly under the radar players w/a light sprinkle of high profile players. Look at last year's BE POY Otto Porter...he was the definition of under the radar as a recruit.

Kris Dunn also

Also, DePaul is NOT recruiting at a higher level than BC.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/p-j-thompson