Fellow SBNation writer Conrad Kaczmarek of BC Interruption was kind enough to answer our questions about Steve Donahue's first two seasons at BC and about his feelings on the upcoming season. Let's see what he had to say.
Streaking the Lawn: Steve Donahue has had two season in Chestnut Hill. How would you rate his performance at the helm so far?
BC Interruption: It's been…okay-ish? I can't really complain because the situation he walked into was incredibly difficult and weird. He had a decent team in his first year and they made a solid run at the NCAA Tournament before getting semi-snubbed. Then, EVERYBODY LEFT. That team lost nearly all of its players and he had to bring in a bunch of new freshmen. Last year, the team was terrible. But that's because virtually every player was a freshman. Considering the circumstances, he's been solid. Unrelated to his actual performance and record here at BC, I really like Donahue as a coach. I believe in his theories and his system. If nothing else, I'm optimistic about the future of the hoops program under Donahue.
STL: What was your biggest loss from last season's team?
BCI: Matt Humphrey, I guess? He scored about 10 points a game for us before transferring to West Virginia this past summer. You'd think losing that much production would be a bigger loss, but since he shot just 35% from the field, it wasn't that big of a deal.
STL: Who is the newcomer that you think will make the biggest impact this year?
BCI: Olivier Hanlan. He's a 6-4 point guard and everything we've heard from Donahue has been outrageously positive. I haven't gotten to see him play in person yet, but lots of people expect big things from Hanlan.
STL: The Eagles were picked to finish last in the ACC again this year. Fair? Not Fair?
BCI: Totally fair. Now, I don't think that they will -- but it's fair. They finished last in the ACC in 2011-12 and until they give people a reason to say otherwise, people will continue to pick them to finish last. I believe that with the progression of the freshmen that we had last year, the Eagles will be a much improved team and manage to finish ahead of a team or two.
STL: Who does Virginia need to watch out for most this year?
BCI: Ryan Anderson. He was BC's best player last year and now that he's a sophomore, he'll be expected to be that much better. BC is a young, inexperienced team without any bluechip prospects -- but any team that has a quick power forward who can shoot threes will create problems for opposing teams.
STL: Which of Virginia's players gives you the most concern?
BCI: Probably Jontel Evans, whenever he gets healthy. Virginia doesn't play BC until January, so I assume the foot won't be a problem by then. Once of BC's biggest problems last year was their lack of ball-handling. A strong defensive point guard with quick hands could cause all sorts of problems for BC's backcourt. If the guards can't initiate the offense, the bigs can't get anything going either. BC's guards need to run the offense better and turn the ball over less -- Evans could make that difficult.