ACC Basketball News & Notes: Changes at Boston College

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The Boston College Men’s basketball program is undergoing a facelift this offseason. A new head coach by the name of Earl Grant is on campus to try and change the fortune of a program that has struggled in recent years. Grant comes from the College of Charleston where he had some success with the Cougars leading them to three 20-win seasons in the Colonial Athletic Association. That included top-four finishes in each of the last five seasons. Grant is familiar with the league he is now involved with, having spent time with the Clemson Tigers for four years. Grant inherited an Eagles program that went through a very difficult 4-16 campaign that would lead to the release of Jim Christian as the head coach.

Grant has also had to deal with players that have decided to leave the program through the transfer portal. Two members of last year’s team, forward C.J. Fielder and guard Jay Heath have left the team and are looking for new opportunities with new schools. Grant has already been hard at work finding players to replace them on the roster. Two have been added as transfers. They are Brevin Galloway who will come to Boston College as a grad transfer. T.J. Bickerstaff will arrive at BC as a sophomore transfer.

Galloway comes to Boston College after having spent the past four years at the College of Charleston. He was preseason 2020-21 All-CAA second team and was named team captain. Galloway’s season was cut short after just four games because of a season-ending injury that was suffered on December 11 versus South Carolina State. The injury was sustained in the second half of that game after he scored 13 points in the first half. His best game of the early year came two nights earlier. Galloway dropped 27 on Marshall which also included six 3-pointers against the Thundering Herd. Galloway played in all 31 games as a junior with 30 of them being starts. He was the team’s second-leading scorer with 11.3 a night. He led the team and the conference in steals with 69, averaging 2.2 a game. He was also second on the team in assists with 55. He scored in double-figures on 19 occasions. His knowledge of the Grant system should be of big help to the Eagles as they get ready for next season.

Bickerstaff comes from Drexel where as a sophomore he averaged ten points a game. As a freshman, he appeared in 33 games, all off the bench. He averaged five points and four rebounds a night. Bickerstaff led the team in free throw percentage at .826. He logged fifteen minutes a game and had 16 steals for the Dragons. The team went 12-8 a season ago. Bickerstaff played in all twenty games for Drexel averaged 24 minutes a game along with the ten points. T.J. pulled down five rebounds a night. The 6-9 forward should help the Eagles with some length and some inside punch.