Boston College Athletics
Men's Basketball To Open Season With Exhibition
November 08, 1999 | Men's Basketball
BABC All-Stars at Boston College
November 8, 1999 -- 7:30 p.m.
Conte Forum (8,606) -- Chestnut Hill, MA
TONIGHT'S GAME: Boston College opens the 1999-2000 season with an exhibition game against the BABC All-Stars ... Tonight is the first of two exhibitions for the Eagles ... BC hosts Upstate New York AAU in its second exhibition game on Monday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m. ... The Eagles will host New Hampshire in the regular-season opener on Saturday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m.
67th SEASON: The 1999-2000 season marks the 67th season of varsity play for Boston College. The Eagles have an 860-701 (.551) overall record.
1998-1999 RECAP: The 1998-99 Eagles finished with a 6-21 record, including a 3-15 BIG EAST mark.
WHO'S BACK?: Boston College returns eight lettermen, including all five starters, from the 1998-99 season ... The 1999-2000 roster features two seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and five freshmen. One of the seniors, guard Dwayne Pina, has two years of eligibility remaining. One of the juniors, guard Xavier Singletary, is actually a newcomer. Singletary played two seasons at Howard University, before transferring to BC and sitting out last season.
GOOD NUMBERS: The Eagles return 81.4 percent of their scoring production from last season, including each of their top four scorers ... BC's returning players also accounted for 85.7 percent of last season's individual rebounding total.
ON THE PERIMETER: Boston College was an effective team on the perimeter last winter. The Eagles shot 33.5 percent from three-point range, ranking fifth among the BIG EAST's 13 teams ... BC was also effective in defending opposing teams' three-point attacks. The Eagles ranked third in the league in three-point field goal defense ... In 18 conference games, Kenny Harley ranked third among league leaders in three-point field goal percentage (.437), while Kenny Walls ranked 14th in the same category (.370).
THE COACHES
THE HEAD COACH: Al Skinner is in his third season as the Eagles' head coach. Skinner assumed the head coaching duties at Boston College on April 17, 1997. A 1974 graduate of the University of Massachusetts, he starred on the Minutemen's basketball team. He finished his collegiate career with 1,252 points. A team captain as a senior, he has subsequently been elected to the University's Athletic Hall of Fame. Following his collegiate career, Skinner played professional basketball for six years -- with the New York Nets (ABA and NBA), Detroit Pistons (NBA), Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) and Joventut (Barcelona, Spain) ... He had a 21-37 record in two seasons at the Heights. Prior to coming to BC, he enjoyed nine successful years at the University of Rhode Island. In his tenure at URI, Skinner had a 138-126 record, leading the Rams to two NCAA Tournament (1992-93 and 1996-97) and two NIT (1991-92 and 1995-96) bids ... Skinner has a career record of 159-163.
THE ASSISTANT COACHES: Skinner is joined on the BC bench by associate head coach Tim O'Shea, assistant coaches Bill Coen and Ed Cooley, and administrative assistant Pat Duquette. Three of the four -- Coen, Cooley and former BC star guard O'Shea ('84) -- came with Skinner from Rhode Island, while Duquette came to BC from St. Michael?s College.
MEDIA NOTES
ON RADIO: All Boston College (regular-season) basketball games can be heard on Boston's 50-thousand watt all-sports radio station, SportsRadio 850 WEEI (AM). Ted Sarandis returns for his fifth season as the voice of the basketball Eagles. The 1999-2000 campaign marks his 23rd season describing the bouncing ball. He holds the unique distinction of having called play-by-play for all four Division I institutions in Boston -- Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern -- as well as Holy Cross. In addition, the Boston native is host of the popular ?Ted Nation? talk show, heard weeknights from 7 p.m.-midnight on SportsRadio 850 WEEI. Joining Sarandis is Bill Newell. Newell is in his third season with the basketball Eagles. He previously spent four seasons calling the action for the Boston College hockey team. Newell has also served as the play-by-play voice of Harvard football ... Boston College basketball can also be heard on WZBC-FM (_________).
ON THE WEB: All Boston College basketball games can also be heard on the Internet at www.weei.com.
UP NEXT: Boston College will return to action on Monday, November 15 against the Upstate New York AAU. The exhibition game will begin at 7:30 p.m. ... The Eagles open the 1999-2000 regular season against New Hampshire on Saturday, November 20. Game time is 7:30 p.m. in Conte Forum.
