Everything Earl Grant said during local Media Day

We’re about two weeks away from BC men’s basketball tipping off the 2025-2026 season.

On Thursday, head coach Earl Grant and a few players met with the media before an open practice in the afternoon. Here’s everything Coach Grant had to say as he enters his fifth year with the Eagles:

Opening statement

“Really excited about this group. Obviously, great summer, great fall. Had an exhibition a week ago against UConn, learned a lot about ourselves and excited about this journey we’re about to begin.”

On the excitement with this roster

“Yeah, we’ve got a hybrid. We’ve got a hybrid. You know, some guys who have been here that’s been battled and have seen a lot of good days, a lot of adversity…so we’ve got a blend with the returners who understand our culture, understand BC, have been in tight games where we won, tight games where we came up short, those are valuable experiences. So, 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. We did just that. We got some talented players to help us get the program in the direction we want it to go and we’re really excited about the team we put together.”

On being the second-youngest team in the ACC this season & if there’s a chip on their collective shoulder because of it

“Nah, not really, because I don’t really feel that we young. I think a lot of people have built their teams with, maybe, multiple grad transfers. For us, we have the majority of our team are third year or fourth-year players. I’m not overly concerned about what everybody else has or what they got goin. We’ve got practice today at 2:30. We’ve got a scrimmage game this weekend. We’ve been working hard. We’ve got great spirit.

“We’re concerned about our first game. That’s what matters. Everything else, that ain’t even promised to us, because tomorrow ain’t promised. So, we’ve got to do what we can do today. We’re staying in the present moment. Try to fall in love with the process and we’re just going to chop wood every day. That’s what we gonna do.”

On if he wanted the team to get more athletic in the portal & expectations for the transfers this season

“The way we did it was, 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 wanted to return 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 wanted to make sure we could build around who was staying and that’s what we did.

“We did get bigger. We did get longer. A lot more athletic. We’re deeper. We’re older. We’re better in a lot of areas. I’m not going to sit here and try to put the carriage in front of the horse, because there’s some work we gotta do. But, we got a better team.”

On the UConn scrimmage & what he liked & didn’t like

“Yeah, it’s a lot of things. Number one, I played every player that was eligible. So, I tried to balance staying competitive, having a chance to win with also developing the team for the season. So, there was a lot of positives there. I thought pound for pound we matched up physically, which was good. It was supposed to be a neutral game, but it was a true road game. It felt like a true road game in every facet. But, we experienced something.

“I was worried how can I play all of these guys? Then we had an incident the first 30 seconds to force me to play other guys. So, it actually made it easier for me to make the rotations to get different guys in. It was weird, but it was interesting. I was able to get some guys in early so we could play our whole team. But, looking back on that game, the thing I take away the most is, when we got up four, how do we push it to 10?

“We’ve got to be more mature. We’ve got to be better with our shot selection. We gotta be tougher on defense. We’ve gotta overcome the noise and maybe a call not going our way from the officiating. We were up. We were playing with good rhythm and I would have liked to have seen us have some maturity to stay tough and get it to 10. Expect to win.”

On Donald Hand Jr. handling being on everyone’s radar now

“I think with Donald, he’s wired to score. When we recruited him he was wired to score. He’s 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. I’d like to see him round his game out and become 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 people around me better.’ That’s the next phase for him.”

On players from the G-League committing to college programs

“That’s the second G-League player (London Johnson, Louisville) I’ve seen come into college. The first one was at Santa Clara about three weeks ago. You adjust to it. Play the game how it goes. That’s what’s happening, so, we’ll probably be looking at the G-League too. If everybody can take G-League players, then you have to look at all of the areas you can impact your program and add talent. So, both of those kids were going to be in the class of 2026. It’s different. It’s a game changer.

“I’m not going to sit here and make my opinion on how I feel about it right now, if you want to know how I feel, just go listen to Tom Izzo on social media. I think for the freshmen that are coming in your program, they come in with an idea of a chance to grow and develop. So, if you bring in a 24-year old, it kind of suffocates them. So, that’s a challenge. But, I think we all will adjust to it. I still believe you gotta have a hybrid model. You’ve got to have some freshmen that are stayable. That can weather the storm of a freshmen year maybe not playing as much as they want. If they do that, they’re going to get their rewards on the back end.

“But, you do have to plug older guys with them when you need to. So, I think it’s…it used to be…it never was a hybrid model for a me. We’ve gotten young kids, we develop them, we plug a transfer in from time-to-time. Over a period of time…23 of the 26 years of my coaching, we would build our program around freshmen we develop. Now, it’s starting to change, so we have to find a way to be a hybrid.”

On how this rosters fits his ‘pillars’ for the program

“I think the biggest thing is, we went into the portal…we wanted to make sure we added guys we could trust. I will never change my stance. We’re still in the business of developing young people. I’m not changing that. They need a degree. They’re going to really suffer if they don’t get a degree. When they leave out of those doors, they gonna suffer if they don’t have a degree. So, you’ve got to develop them there. You’ve got to develop their character. You gotta be honest with them. You gotta hold them accountable. You gotta speak the truth to them.

“So, we look for guys that we thought could do a good job academically, but also help us on the basketball court, compete and get to the NCAA tournament. We wanted guys that were team guys, that were very unselfish, that could look in the mirror and say ‘it’s not all about me. I’m a part of something bigger than self. That my teammates matter. The players before me matter. Other teams on the campus matter. Student body matter.’ We wanted to find some people that fit.

“So, I think we did just that. We brought in some unbelievable, high-character guys that are talented enough to help us win out of the portal. Then, the guys who are returning, the retainees, they’ve developed. I’ve seen them mature as young men and developed as people and as players. So, we always going to make sure that’s at the forefront of everything we do. The young man’s development is always going to be important.”

On having a lot of guards on the team and finding chemistry among them

“Yeah, we’ve got guards…it’s a hybrid between guards and wings. So, in the backcourt right now, we got three guys playing the point guard. Chase Forte, Luka Towes and Fred (Payne) can go back-and-forth from a two or a one, which will be a new development for him. He played all two last year. The only other guy that could maybe play the point is Akbar Waheed III, he’s a freshman.

“Then, we have a lot of wing players with obviously, Donald being the headline guy. But, we have some other wings. We’re bigger at the wing. We can move Donald to the two. We weren’t able to do that. We can move him to the two and put somebody taller than him at the three, so that’s a new element for us.

“I think the front court with Jayden Hastings and Boden Kapke, two guys that can play the center, they give us something different. Jayden’s a rim-protector. Good athlete, developed his offensive game. Boden give us more of that Quinten Post element who can play inside and out, maybe make a shot, can pass. I think that’s a great blend to have between the two of those guys.

“Aidan Shaw gives us more athleticism and length at the four…I think Jason Asemota can play four or three. So, we just…we gotta good team. We’ve got to figure out how to get guys to buy into their roles and be a star in their role. But, I think we’ll get there.”

On Hastings changing his approach

“What I’ve seen is he’s a third-year player. He ain’t a freshman. He ain’t a redshirt freshman. He’s a third-year player. So, some of his maturity in his approach comes from experience and time. When he signed at Boston College, we was actually recruiting Boden Kapke as well. So, we got Jayden instead. Now we got them both. We got them both as older guys, so that’s pretty refreshing.

“But, I think his maturity is just time and age and experience. He’s got minutes under his belt. He’s been in some tough games. So, with experience and time, you mature.”

On the message to guys with players being able to now bet on pro sports

“We haven’t…we talked about gambling a little bit because that was something that the NCAA emphasized. We talked about that some. We gave some examples of different players. We’re gonna have to spend more time educating them on that. Not just me to the players, but I think our athletic department as a whole. I think we’ve gotta spend more time educating them on that because there’s a lot of crazy things happening with gambling. Whether it be college athletes or…I just saw last night pro athletes got arrested for some gambling.

“So, it’s something that the NCAA and the FBI is paying attention to. It seems like every three or four years there’s a new emphasis they’re looking for, right? Right now it’s gambling. So, I think the players have gotta be careful and we have to continue to do our education as a staff and again, as a department to figure out what are they looking for? What gambling are they looking for? Why are people really getting in trouble? I know it’s sports wagering betting on games, but every day you see something different as it pertains to gambling.

“I think we’ve gotta try to continue to educate them, but we’ve gotta educate ourselves on what are the issues? Why’s it happening? Then make sure we get the information to the players.”

On if the game in general is conforming to any certain style of play

“I don’t know if there’s trends…I think analytics and artificial intelligence have made you pay attention to the numbers. I’ve always been a feel guy. I feel what I feel. I see what I see. But, now that we have more access to AI and analytics, I feel what I feel, but then I pay attention to the numbers a little bit. So, I may feel…’hey, we oughta be playing these five guys the most.’ But, if the numbers say ‘when you play these five together, your team is more efficient.’ Then I’ve got to look at the numbers. So, it’s kind of a balancing act.

“I think that’s a big one because you see a lot more three-point shots. Which, I do believe…I had a conversation with Joe Mazzulla about this because they shoot a lot of threes with the Celtics. Three times 30 is 90. Three times 20 is 60. So, if you can get good threes and you got guys who can make ’em, you oughta be taking more. So, I think that’s something you see a lot now in college basketball and in the pros, trying to get as many more quality threes as you can, which requires you to get a paint touch first either by passing to the big or driving it. Then you’ve gotta have unselfish players that make good decisions.

“I would say that’s probably a trend that I’m seeing more. I also see more position-less basketball. put five guys on the floor, don’t worry about their position. Can they dribble, pass and shoot? Put them on the floor.”

On Quinten Post succeeding with the Warriors & if he’ll use old film to see what Kapke can do in this system

“I’m happy for Quinten. Obviously, he took a chance on Boston College when we didn’t have a lot to sell him except hopes and dreams of the future. He bought it. I’m proud of him for taking a chance on Boston College. I’m proud of his development. I’m proud that he signed a real contract. He’s not a two-way player. He’s not in and out of the G-League. He’s a legitimate pro with guaranteed money. I’m proud that he has his degree from Boston College. So, yeah, I’m really happy for him.

“I think with Boden, they’re different players. So, I’m not really going to show him a lot of film on Quinten Post. I may show him an action that we ran that we’re doing now with this team. ‘Hey, here’s where you look for your spots.’ But, in terms of trying to compare them, I wouldn’t do that. He’s ahead of Quinten Post at the same stage. Quinten Post came in here averaging two points per game and everyone said ‘why are you taking him?’

“So, Boden’s a little more ahead of him in terms of his production at the highest level. So, I’m excited for Boden. The only thing I want to see him do is impact winning, have confidence, believe in himself, don’t try to prove anything to me or his teammates. Just impact winning and have a good attitude every day. We’ll help him be successful if he’ll just be coachable and have a good attitude every day.”