It’s no secret Boston College men’s basketball was entering the 2024–25 season with a lot of unanswered questions. They had lost 88 percent of their scoring and six rotation players from last year, after all.
But Donald Hand Jr.—one of the two rotation players that did return to BC—did his best to make up for that loss in scoring. The redshirt sophomore caught fire for a career-high 22 points along with 10 rebounds to help BC (1–0) defeat The Citadel (0–1) 69–60 on Monday night in Conte Forum.
“I’m happy for him,” BC head coach Earl Grant said. “He’s kind of paid his dues. He’s kind of been loyal, been around the program, kind of like an elder statesman at this point. …He’s in a new role, and he stepped up.”
Hand only played in two games his freshman year before tearing his ACL. But he gradually saw his minutes increase as the season progressed last year.
Now, he’s the focal point of BC’s offense.
“[Grant] always told me my time was going to come,” Hand, who hit three 3-pointers, said. “He’s always preaching ‘the breakthroughs on the way.’ And when the time came, I was ready.”
Graduate transfer Chad Venning added 15 points and five rebounds in his first game as an Eagle, replacing center Quinten Post. Sophomore Elijah Strong also stepped up, tallying 11 points—nine coming in the first half.
Despite the win, BC allowed the Bulldogs to stay within fighting distance for a while, something that has been a lingering issue throughout the Grant era.
“We just got to stop fouling and tighten up some screws on defense,” Hand said. “We’ll do that starting tomorrow. So that should make a big difference when you play somebody else.
The Eagles committed 21 fouls on the night and turned the ball over 14 times, allowing The Citadel to cut BC’s lead to just 63–54 with five minutes remaining in the game.
But BC also got to the foul line, totaling 22 free throw makes. Hand and Venning combined for six free throws in the final three minutes, converting all six—Hand making four and Venning two—to secure the Eagles to victory.
After a slow start, BC managed to extend its lead toward the end of the first half and at the start of the second half—something Grant has preached as important during his tenure. But the Eagles could never pull away completely.
“The middle eight [minutes] of the game are super important,” Grant said. “We were on the verge of really opening that game up, and that was good to see.”
BC ended the first half on a 10–3 run to take a 37–28 lead, and opened the second half on a 7–0 run.
But with four transfers and three freshmen on the roster, BC didn’t appear smooth to start. Finding who to go to on offense was a struggle, causing Grant to deploy a ten-player rotation.
With 5:15 remaining to go in the first half, The Citadel had made it a 23–21 game on a Cam Glover driving layup.
“We just kind of had some jitters trying to get to the game and play,” Grant said. “Half of the team hadn’t played in this building.”
Dion Brown, a transfer from UMBC who averaged 19 points per game last season, is expected to take on a lot of scoring for the Eagles. But the junior started the game on the bench due to a broken nose he suffered in practice a few days ago. Grant said his 18 minutes were a reflection of how much he had been practicing.
“He’s been special for us in our scrimmages and our practices,” Grant said.
Chas Kelley III, one of the other returners from last season, had a quiet night, finishing with zero points in 19 minutes. The junior guard rounds out BC’s starting backcourt along with Hand but was far less effective—partly due to early foul trouble.
“Chas is a good kid, he’ll be fine,” Grant said. “He helped us close out that game.”
Regardless, Grant remains confident in his new group, despite some obvious growing pains. Seven different Eagles scored, and BC held The Citadel to 38.5 percent shooting from the field and 12.5 percent shooting from behind the arc.
“Need to be more sound,” Grant said. “But that’s what I kind of expected for a new group.”
