Donald Hand Jr. was the ACC’s Most Improved Player last season, averaging nearly 16 points and six rebounds per game. After his team finished 12–19, Hand is seeking even more forward progress—this time for his entire team. And he’s convinced he’s going to find it.
“This is our breakout year—I’ll say it right here,” Hand said. “We’ll be top-five in the ACC. I’ll say it confidently.”
It was another offseason full of turnover for the Eagles—a pattern that has become common since head coach Earl Grant’s tenure began in 2021. Part of that is the nature of college athletics today. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Eagles won just four conference games last season, and a record like that could be driving players out.
Chad Venning and Roger McFarlane graduated, while Dion Brown transferred to St. Louis University, and Elijah Strong headed to NC State. Venning, Strong, and Brown were the second, third, and fourth leading scorers for the Eagles last season.
While those pieces won’t be back, several key players chose to stick around, including BC’s best player, joined most notably by guard Fred Payne and center Jayden Hastings. Four transfers, a few with serious breakout potential, round out Grant’s reinvigorated roster.
Read more about BC’s roster and schedule, as well as some predictions for this season, in The Heights’ 2025–26 men’s basketball preview below.
Grant’s View:
Here’s what head coach Earl Grant had to say about this season.
On being the second-youngest team in the ACC this season:
“I don’t really feel that we’re young. I think a lot of people have built their teams with maybe multiple grad transfers. For us, the majority of our team are third-year or fourth-year players, so I’m not overly concerned about what everybody else has or what they got going.”
On BC’s use of the transfer portal:
“To have those guys back is very refreshing, but we knew we needed to go out and add some players to the returners to give us a boost, and we did just that. We went and got some talented players to help us get the program in the direction we wanted to go, and we’re really excited about the team that we put together.”
“We really went early about who we wanted to prioritize in terms of returning to Boston College. We made it very evident early on that we want to retain some players. When we went into the portal, it was a little bit—I wouldn’t say ‘easier’—but it wasn’t as complex because before the portal opened, we had a good idea of who was staying.”
“We did get bigger, we did get longer. We’re a lot more athletic, we’re deeper, we’re older, we’re better in a lot of areas. I’m not gonna sit here and try to put the carriage in front of the horse, because there’s some work we got to do. But we got a better team.”
On expectations for Hand as he comes off a breakout season:
“He’s wired to score. When we recruited him, he was wired to score, and he got the ability to do that. His next phase now is to stay aggressive, continue to look to score, but then really figure out how to make the guys around him better. Use his magnetic force to get some of our big guys some shots at the rim, his teammates some open threes. So I would like to see him round out his game and be a complete player, where he can score the ball, he can rebound the ball—both of those things he can do, defend at a high level, but then also say ‘hey, I can share the ball too. I can get some assists. I can make the people around me better.’”
On Hastings’ development:
“He’s a third-year player, so some of his maturity and his approach has come from experience and time. You know, when he signed at Boston College, we actually were recruiting Boden Kapke as well. So, we got Jayden instead, and so now we got both of them as older guys. He’s got minutes under his belt, he’s been in some tough games—so, with experience and time, you mature.”
On 3-pointers:
“I had a conversation with Joe Mazzulla about this, because they shoot a lot of threes … three times 30 is 90. Three times 20 is 60. So if you can get good threes, and you got guys who can make them, you ought to be taking more.”
The Roster
Returners
Hand headlines the list of returners.
He started every game last season, leading BC in scoring while picking up four double-doubles and scoring over 20 points nine times. He put up a career-high 31 points against Florida State, helping the Eagles to a 77–76 win.
Hand is a major threat from 3-point range, where he is a career 36.2 percent shooter. That demands attention from opposing defenses, forcing them to spread the floor and opening up the court for his teammates.
His 37.1 percent mark within the arc leaves something to be desired, but Hand’s track record shows that he is capable of improving that number and becoming a lethal weapon from anywhere on the court.
Redshirt sophomores Payne and Hastings, other major contributors for the Eagles last season, will be suiting up for BC again this season.
Payne played in 30 games, making one start. In 18 minutes a game, he averaged 6.9 points but showed serious scoring potential as he put up double figures in nine games, including 18 versus Missouri State and 17 on the road at Virginia.
Payne slotted in at the two-guard spot last year, but Grant may rely on him to take on more of a playmaking role this season and move him over to the point guard position.
“It’s really not that big of a transition for me,” Payne said. “I’m blessed to be in the position to start and play for an ACC program.”
New Faces
Transfers
Chase Forte, a 6-foot-4 graduate transfer who averaged 17.9 points and 3.1 assists last year at South Dakota, is the standout in this year’s transfer class. Forte was the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and an all-conference selection for the Coyotes, leading the conference with 1.9 steals per game.
Forte can get under defenders and draw fouls, as he ranked fifth nationally in free-throw attempts last season with 253. He also ranked in the top 50 in the nation in total steals, grabbing 62.
Forte is used to doubt, as he started his collegiate career as a walk-on. The perseverance he has learned is something he is bringing with him as the Eagles begin this season voted to finish last in the ACC.
“I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder,” Forte said, “They voted us last, and I just don’t believe we are last in the ACC.”
Boden Kapke, a 6-foot-11 junior center who played the last two seasons at Butler, also has the potential to make his mark this season. He saw limited time with the Bulldogs, but was a consensus 3-star recruit coming out of high school, and brings height that is otherwise absent on BC’s roster.
Aidan Shaw is a 6-foot-9 transfer from Missouri, where he averaged 3 points and 2 rebounds over three seasons. Shaw saw his minutes cut in half last year on a much-improved Tigers team, but he brings raw athleticism and defensive ability that led to him being a top-60 recruit in the Class of 2022.
Shaw has valuable experience, as he has played in 92 games during his career, including 47 SEC matchups. If Shaw can convert those appearances into consistent production, his final year of college basketball could be his best yet.
The final transfer coming to the Heights is Jason Asemota, a 6-foot-8 Baylor transfer from nearby Lynn, Mass. Asemota averaged just 1.6 points on 6.3 minutes last year, but the Class of 2024 four-star has breakout potential.
Depending on what lineups Grant chooses to run, Shaw and Asemota could both see early starts during the season. The two will probably compete for the starting forward spot. Shaw’s experience should help him to win the offseason battle, but do not be surprised if Asemota’s ability leads to him being in the first five by the time the year is up.
Freshmen
Marko Radunovic, a 6-foot-6 international signee from Montenegro, leads off this year’s freshman class. Radunovic is coming off a year playing professional basketball for KK Podgorica Bemax, a team from Montenegro’s top basketball league.
Radunovic struggles shooting from the outside, but more than makes up for it with his aggression and finishing ability, giving him the potential to break into Grant’s rotation as a freshman.
Caleb Steger and Akbar Waheed III are the last two guards on the roster. They were both high-level scorers in high school, averaging 18.3 and 18 points, respectively. Steger brings a high-end three-point ability—he shot over 40 percent in high school—while Waheed thrives when he is able to get downhill and attack in the paint.
Freshman Jack Bailey is a 6-foot-10 forward who was named a National Prep All-American, averaging 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds during his senior season. He brings additional height to BC’s roster as he looks to make his mark alongside Hastings and Kapke in the frontcourt.
Key Games
Nov. 3 at FAU
The Eagles begin their season on the road against Florida Atlantic, a 2023 Final Four contender that faltered slightly last year and fell in the opening round of the NIT. This will likely be a tough game for BC, regardless of which way you slice it.
Dec. 10 at UMass
The Eagles face in-state rival UMass for the first time since 2014, hoping to pull out their first win over the Minutemen since 2010.
Jan. 6 vs. NC State
One of BC’s most exciting conference games is a home matchup against NC State. Perhaps unfortunately for the Eagles, though, it’s taking place over winter break, meaning the home crowd may be even more sparse than usual.
Feb. 3 at Duke
BC faces Duke on the road this year after last year’s matchup in Chestnut Hill quickly became an opportunity for Northeast-native Cooper Flagg to show off his talent, and the Blue Devils beat BC 88–63.
March 7 vs. Notre Dame
The Eagles finish off their season with a Holy War matchup as the Irish pay them a visit in a game that could have ACC Tournament implications.
Predictions
Cobb
The performance from last year’s squad is bleeding into the media’s expectations for the Eagles, who were picked last in the ACC for a second consecutive year. But I think this Eagles team will surprise a lot of people.
It’s an improved team, in a make-or-break year for Grant’s time at BC. Forte and Payne are both defense-first guards with the ability to score. They picked up three long, athletic Power Four level players from the portal. And Hand’s breakout from last year shows no signs of slowing down.
I expect this year to be an improvement from last season, and similar to the 2022–23 year—Grant’s second on the Heights—when the Eagles went 16–17, with a slight improvement in record due to the soft out-of-conference schedule. If a few players can truly break out, they could easily challenge the 20-win mark that Grant has reached once during his tenure.
It’s tough to guess how the Eagles will fare in a much-improved ACC, but I think they will go 17–14, 10–3 in the non-conference and 7–11 in ACC play, with the potential to grab a few more victories in postseason play.
Stefanoudakis
BC won’t be top-five in the ACC. But the fact that the Eagles’ star player is comfortable enough to make that statement should be a sign of hope for BC fans. It shows a winning culture that could really help this team out.
A lot of BC’s losses last season were a result of the Eagles falling apart late in games or losing to opponents they probably should have beaten. Those are things that are solved by cultural shifts, not necessarily the addition of skill. If Hand’s attitude is representative of the Eagles’ lookout as a whole, BC can limit those types of losses this season.
This Eagles squad will be similar to that of the 2023–24 season, the last year of Quinten Post’s BC career. The Eagles might be pretty good—not great—and have one player, Hand, that opposing defenses know they have to stop.
I predict a sub-.500 team with a 14–17 overall record and 6–12 in conference games.
A season of upsets would be welcomed with open arms in Chestnut Hill, where mediocrity has plagued its basketball program for as long as any current student has been here. But until the Eagles can prove that they can get over the hump of losing to bad teams (Dartmouth last season, for example), having too high hopes will inevitably lead to disappointment.
