Former Tigers assistant taking over at Boston College

Clemson coach Brad Brownell will see a familiar face come conference play next season.

Former Tigers assistant coach Earl Grant will be the next head coach at Boston College. The news was first reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports. Grant was 127-89 in seven seasons at College of Charleston, leading the Cougars to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018. Charleston had three straight 20-win seasons under his watch from 2016 to 2019.

Before taking over at Charleston, Grant spent four seasons at Clemson as an assistant coach.

A highly-regarded recruiter, Grant helped bring K.J. McDaniels to Clemson. McDaniels went on to average 17 points per game and win ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors as a junior, before declaring for the NBA Draft. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 32nd overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Grant was also a member of Clemson’s coaching staff in Brownell’s first season with the program. The Tigers picked up a win over UAB in the First Four, bringing Clemson its first victory in the Big Dance since 1997. Clemson exited in the next round, falling 84-76 to No. 5 seed West Virginia.

This year’s Clemson team is a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play No. 10 Rutgers on Friday night at 9:20 p.m.

“Earl is an outstanding coach with a unique gift for connecting with young people,” Brownell said when Grant was hired at Charleston.

Grant takes over a Boston College program that has been in the cellar of the ACC for years. The Eagles haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2009 and finished 2-11 in the ACC this season.

Jim Christian didn’t make it through the entire 2020-21 season before being let go. Across seven seasons, he compiled a 78-132 overall record and a 26-94 record in the ACC.

Before heading to Clemson, Grant helped take Winthrop to the NCAA Tournament as an assistant in three consecutive seasons. He was at Wichita State for three years as an assistant on Gregg Marshall’s staff.