Grant Working More Freshmen into BC’s Rotation During ACC Play
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Brevin Galloway was sidelined last Saturday against Virginia Tech. It was the Boston College men’s basketball grad transfer’s eighth absence of the season due to a nagging left knee injury that stemmed from his ACL tear at College of Charleston last season.
First-year Eagles head coach Earl Grant admitted after BC’s thrilling win over the Hokies that he wasn’t sure if Galloway would even be able to go at Louisville earlier that week.
Actually, Grant conceded that Galloway—who had just one point in 17 minutes in the loss to the Cardinals—probably shouldn’t have played.
But, in anticipation of potentially not having the sharpshooter available at the KFC Yum! Center, Grant delivered a message to his reserve players.
“I told the guys, ‘Hey, look. Somebody else gotta step up,’” Grant recounted. “Next man, you know. Andrew [Kenny], Gianni [Thompson], Kanye [Jones]. Somebody gotta step up.”
He continued: “At the end of the day, you’ve gotta defend and rebound and take care of the ball. That’s all we need you to do. And I thought all of those guys who went in gave us good minutes.”
That night, it was Thompson, a freshman from Newton who played his high school ball for the Brimmer and May School. Although the 6-foot-8 forward didn’t attempt a shot, he was on the floor for five minutes.
It was an outing that followed another five-minute showing at Clemson, where he checked in twice during the first half. And two weeks before that, he drilled a pair of 3-pointers in a blowout loss to North Carolina.
Thompson etched his name into the scorecard again Monday at Wake Forest, shooting 1-of-3 in seven minutes amid a lopsided defeat to the Demon Deacons.
But Jones has gotten even more run than his classmate.
After being inserted midway through the second half of BC’s comeback bid at Clemson for three critical minutes, Jones has been called upon to play double-digit minutes each of the last two games: 12 minutes against Virginia Tech and 13 minutes versus Wake Forest.
“Over a four-year period of time, you would hope that he would continue to mature and be a guy that understands how we’re trying to play and be a guy that can make some shots and defend,” Grant said of Jones, a 6-foot-4 guard from Orlando. “And just be somebody for four years that keeps getting better.”
Jones has a ways to go defensively—for instance, he picked up two fouls in his first 85 seconds of game time against Virginia Tech—but his quickness and shot making ability on the other end is apparent. He showcased that in the opener with 12 points versus Dartmouth and has contributed buckets in three of the Eagles’ past four matchups.
Grant noted after the Virginia Tech game that he always wants Galloway in the lineup. After all, he’s a leader on the court, stingy on the defensive end (especially when healthy) and is capable of heating up from anywhere at any time.
That said, he recalled a conversation he had with Galloway the day before BC squared off against the Hokies. They discussed how Galloway working through his injury afforded the younger guys on the team a chance to develop.
“Getting that playing time, I thought it was a blessing for them,” Grant said.
