Boston College has hired Earl Grant of the College of Charleston to replace Jim Christian as head men’s basketball coach, BC Athletics announced on Monday afternoon.
“After a comprehensive national search, it was clear that Earl is exactly what we were looking for and what our basketball program needs at this moment and I am confident he will have tremendous success in Chestnut Hill, on the court and off,” BC Athletics Director Pat Kraft said in a press release.
The Eagles welcomed Grant to the Heights with a video narrated by former BC star and current Los Angeles Lakers forward Jared Dudley.
Jon Rothstein first broke the announcement on Twitter.
In seven seasons with Charleston, Grant led the program to a 127-89 overall record, an NCAA tournament appearance in 2018, and an NIT appearance in 2017. In three seasons, he brought the Cougars from 10th in their division with a 9-24 overall record to tied for first with a 26-8 record and an NCAA tournament bid. Grant also led Charleston to three straight 20-win seasons from 2016-2019.
Grant’s coaching career began in 2002 when he was hired and served for two years as an assistant at The Citadel. He was then hired as an assistant at Winthrop University under head coach Gregg Marshall in 2004. When Marshall moved to Wichita State in 2007, Grant followed and stayed on as an assistant coach. Grant transitioned to another assistant job at Clemson University in 2010 before he was hired as head coach by Charleston in 2014.
Grant was a 2019 finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, which honors a coach who not only achieves success on the court but also displays moral integrity off the court.
While at Clemson, Grant notably recruited future NBA players Jaron Blossomgame and 2014 ACC Defensive Player of the Year K.J. McDaniels. During his time at Charleston, Grant led one of just 21 NCAA Division I programs to have players drafted in both the 2019 and 2020 NBA Drafts. Jarrell Brantley and Grant Riller became the third and fourth all-time Charleston players to be drafted into the NBA.
“I look forward to representing such a prestigious academic institution, to coach in the top basketball conference in America, and do it in one of the best cities in the world,” Grant said in the statement.
Grant inherits a program plagued by losing season after losing season that is looking to regain relevance in the ACC. Under Christian, the Eagles posted just one winning record in nearly seven years, when the Eagles went 19-16 during the 2017-18 season. In six and a half years under Christian, the Eagles never posted a winning record in the ACC.
BC Athletics fired Christian mid-season after opening the 2020-21 season with a 3-13 record. The Eagles finished the regular season with a record of 4-16 and 2-11 in the ACC. The Eagles haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2009, and this season, they departed from the ACC Tournament in the first round.
“When we began our search for a new head men’s basketball coach, we set out to find a leader of young men, someone who shares our vision and our values, who could lead our program to championships while ensuring a world-class student-athlete experience and education for our players,” Kraft said in the release.
Featured Image by Robert Willett / The News & Observer via AP Photo
