People laughed at Boston College when the took Jerome Robinson, over a litany of mid-major offers. People laughed at Boston College when they took Ky Bowman late, out of Havelock, North Carolina. Two prospects, right in the middle of ACC and SEC Country who hold no offers from any school (outside of Boston College) in either of those two prominent leagues.
Now, NBA analysts are talking about Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman as NBA draft picks. You have Robinson who is averaging 18.2 points, 46% field goals, 47% from 3 and 3.2 assists per game. You have Bowman who is averaging 16.1 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game. These two have been the driving force behind the turn around of Boston College basketball, under Jim Christian.
The first year Christian took over the job, 2014-15, Boston College finished 13-19 (4-14 ACC). That season they had veterans set around NBA draft pick Oliver Hanlan. The following year, after they left, the full rebuild was on. Boston College went 0-14 in the ACC in 2015-16 and then 2-16 last year. 15-16 was Robinson’s first year, when he came to BC over Richmond, Lasalle and UNC-Wilmington. Last year was Bowman’s first year at BC, but he came in with a little more fanfare, toward the very end the likes of California, DePaul, Cincy, etc…offered the former UNC football commit.
How did these two guys fall so far under the radar, right in plain sight'
Robinson was a late bloomer. He played on all the right teams, Broughton High School is a traditional power who produces a lot of talent. They also carried (then) NC State Head Coach Mark Gottfried’s son at the same time Robinson was there. Robinson was a starter for AAU power Garner Road, playing on the Adidas circuit. He attended the right camps as he was a multiple time attendee of the NC Phenom 150 exposure camps. He just developed later in his high school career.
Kyran Bowman was an early commitment to UNC as a big time wide receiver. Always a major producer on the basketball floor, he decommitted from UNC during his junior year to focus solely on basketball. It took schools a little bit of time to catch on to him. He performed with Team Wall and was an alum of the prestigious North Carolina Top 80 exposure camp where he received rave reviews. The back end of his senior year he created a lot of buzz but Boston College was one of the first on him and closed it out.
It all seems the previous 3 years of the Christian regime was building for this season. Already Boston College has stormed out to an 11-6 record and 2-3 start in the ACC. They have only lost one game by a margin wider than 9 points, and Boston College started ACC play this year with a win over Top 5 team Duke.
Top 75 prospect Jairus Hamilton committed to Boston College yesterday
Yesterday, Boston College came into North Carolina and was able to win a major recruiting battle when Top 75 overall prospect, Jairus Hamilton, committed. Throughout the process Hamilton picked up offers from the likes of Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest, Arizona, Kansas, Ohio State and many others. This is a major win for Christian and his staff as it legitimizes his vision.
This turn around has as much to do with recruiting as it does with development. This raid of North Carolina can be directly attributed to Assistant Coaches Scott Spinelli for Robinson and Bowman and then Chris Cheeks for Jairus Hamilton.
The Boston College roster is turned over, and they did it with North Carolina talent. They came into a state where they saw there were many talented players who fell under the radar. These guys they felt they could win with even though they are right in the back yard of many other schools at their level. Boston College made the inroads and they closed the deals. Now Boston College has two players on their roster, both from North Carolina, who will get drafted.