Moving over 15 hours away from home for a job opportunity—even if the move means working in the field’s highest echelon—is never an easy decision.
But for Chrissy Roberts, the decision was made easier because it meant working with one of her closest friends—Joanna Bernabei-McNamee, Boston College women’s basketball head coach.
“I consider her family,” Roberts said of Bernabei-McNamee. “She is an amazing individual.”
The two first met at Eastern Kentucky and repeatedly tried to reunite on a coaching staff in the years that followed, according to Bernabei-McNamee. But their careers did not cross paths again until 2023, when Roberts joined Bernabei-McNamee’s coaching staff at BC.
“Sadly her mom passed away a couple years ago, and ironically my mom passed away—it just kind of gave us an opportunity to get back together as coaches,” Bernabei-McNamee said.
Enduring relationships, like that of Roberts and Bernabei-McNamee, form the glue binding together both of BC basketball’s coaching staffs.
From Chris Meadows Sr. and Roberts on the women’s side, to Anthony Goins and Corey McCrae on the men’s side, these assistant coaches are the latest in a line of ascendant Black ACC coaches.
“They make me excited to come into work every day,” Bernabei-McNamee said.
Unlike Roberts’ relationship with Bernabei-McNamee, Goins and McCrae said their relationships with BC men’s basketball head coach Earl Grant functioned more as a years-long mentorship.
It was Grant, in fact, who helped Goins land his previous job as an assistant at Clemson—a role Grant himself served for four years. Feeling thankful and indebted to Grant, Goins said joining his staff on the Heights was a natural fit.
“Sometimes people do things for you, and you always are extremely grateful, and then when you get the opportunity to repay that person, I think it’s important to do that,” Goins said.
McCrae also said his relationship with Grant swayed his decision to come to BC.
“I think Coach Grant sold himself to me even before the job opened because of how he carried himself as a head coach at the College of Charleston,” McCrae said.
For Meadows and Bernabei-McNamee, however, it was a small and seemingly insignificant interaction that paved the road for their current relationship. Meadows, who is in his second season working with the Eagles, first met Bernabei-McNamee during his daughter’s college recruitment process.
“I talked to Coach Mac during that process,” Meadows said. “And it was a brief interaction, but at that time, I remember telling my wife there was something different about her. Little did I know, years later, I would come back and connect with her.”
The ACC—a conference which has made imperfect but steady progress toward equitable hiring practices in recent years—currently includes a record nine Black men’s basketball head coaches.
While the women’s side lags behind with five Black head coaches, Virginia Tech’s Kenny Brooks made history in 2023 as the first Black head coach to win the ACC women’s basketball tournament.
In Chestnut Hill, Grant and Bernabei-McNamee’s assistant coaches are seeking to add to the ACC’s recent progress by shaping both Eagles’ squads into bona fide contenders in the storied conference.
“I’m going to do everything I can to help Boston College win its first national championship,” Meadows said.
The key to accomplishing such a lofty goal, according to Meadows, lies primarily in recruiting.
“It’s never in the back of my mind, it’s in the front of my mind,” Meadows said, his eyes widening when asked about his role in recruiting for BC. “It’s what I think about. It’s what I work for.”
Grant echoed this emphasis on recruiting, particularly praising Goins’ keen eye for prospective talent.
“Through the transfer portal, the first person that brought Quinten Post’s name to my attention was Anthony Goins,” Grant said.
As collegiate athletics evolve, advancements in NIL deals and collective money also play a large role in recruiting, Bernabei-McNamee said.
“An ongoing challenge with recruiting is NIL and collective money and trying to find players that fit what we need and also what we can give to them,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “And judging what players are going to be more academically driven, because that’s … a player that would want to be at Boston College.”
Although she coached at the mid-major level and played Division I college basketball herself, Roberts said recruiting and coaching at the ACC level poses a unique set of challenges.
“I’ve never coached at this level,” Roberts said. “Times have changed, kids have changed, coaching has changed.”
Player development—on and off the court—also plays a critical role in the programs’ future success, Roberts said, a responsibility entailing the coordination of community service, team bonding events, and more.
“When you look at player development, it’s just overall,” Roberts said. “It’s not just on the floor, but it’s off the floor—in terms of helping the student-athletes become better at their craft, but also becoming better people.”
Regarding scouting and gameplanning, Grant said Goins focuses on the offensive end and McCrae on special situations, but that he tasks both coaches with academic-related responsibilities.
“They also have responsibility as an academic coach,” Grant said. “Each one of those guys have four or five players that they’re responsible for as it pertains to academics—just making sure to help them stay organized, remind them of their appointments, and set them up with tutors when they need it.”
This holistic approach to coaching transcends on-court duties, according to Goins.
“They’re 18, 19, 20 year old kids that need someone to care about them every single day,” Goins said. “Because if that’s not happening, then the basketball piece is so far secondary.”
With all of these responsibilities on their plates, each assistant coach said their central focus lies squarely on the present.
“Your individual success will come if you focus on the team success,” Goins said. “I truly believe that, and have always believed that, even from my first opportunity to coach in collegiate basketball.”
But that doesn’t mean they haven’t pondered their future. Aside from Roberts, who said she’s noncommittal toward eventually returning to a head coaching role, each coach expressed interest in running a program of their own one day.
“I think anybody who’s competitive, as I am, and who loves the game as much as I do—that is definitely something that when the time is right, it will be something that I will welcome with the opportunity to excel,” Meadows said.
In the meantime, their roles at BC and exposure to their respective bosses are giving them the skills and experience they need for a potential next step.
“I think my time is coming at some point, but I have a lot to learn here,” McCrae said. “And I couldn’t be around a better teacher and a better person than Coach Grant.”
Relationships—which brought these coaches to the Heights in the first place—will be what ensures their next step is a success, according to Grant.
“I think they have the experience and the knowledge and the relationships throughout the profession to run a team,” Grant said.
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