Boston College Athletics
Men's Basketball Set For Exhibition Opener
November 04, 2000 | Men's Basketball
BOSTON COLLEGE BASKETBALL
EXHIBITION GAME NOTES
November 5, 2000 -- 6 p.m.
FRESH FACES: The 2000-01 Eagles will feature five fresh faces -- three freshmen and two new walk-ons. The freshmen are forward Andrew Bryant and guards Ludmil "Udo" Hadjisotirov and Ryan Sidney. The walk-ons who earned a spot on the roster are senior guard John Ekweozor and sophomore guard Adam DeMong.
THE TEAM: Boston College returns nine lettermen from last year's team, including four starters and seven of its top eight scorers. While Troy Bell paced the 1999-2000 team with an 18.8 ppg average, swingman Xavier Singletary also finished with a double-figure scoring average at 12.0 ppg. Other starters returning are sophomore forward Uka Agbai (6.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg in 1999-2000) and junior forward Brian Ross (3.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg).
BY CLASS: The 2000-01 Eagle roster features five seniors, two juniors, six sophomores and three freshmen.
THE VETERANS: Seniors Jonathan Beerbohm and Kenny Harley are the two most experienced "BC" players on the 2000-01 team. In three years at the Heights, Beerbohm has played in 87 games, making 16 starts. Harley has played in 88 games, starting 64 times, between 1997-2000. However, senior Xavier Singletary is actually the most experienced player when one factors in his two years at Howard University. Singletary played in 50 games at Howard, before seeing action in 29 games as an Eagle last winter. His 79 total games falls short of Harley and Beerbohm's career totals, but his minutes played total -- 2458 -- surpasses both of his fellow seniors (Harley 2018, Beerbohm 1577).
THE JUNIOR DUO: Juniors Brian Ross and Kenny Walls have both gained valuable experience in their first two seasons with the Eagles. Ross has played in 53 games in two years, averaging 5.9 points per game for his career. Walls has played in 57 games, and averaged 9.6 points per game.
SEEING DOUBLE: When Kenny Walls is racing up and down the court for the Eagles, don't be surprised to see a spectator with a great resemblance to #21 on the sidelines. Indeed, Kenny's twin brother, Lenny, is also a student-athlete at Boston College. Lenny is a starting cornerback for Tom O'Brien's football Eagles.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: Sophomore guard Troy Bell earned All-BIG EAST first team honors in a preseason poll of the league's 14 head coaches. Last winter, Bell captured BIG EAST Rookie of the Year honors after establishing the league record for freshman scoring (averaging 20.1 ppg in league contests). Bell has fully recovered from successful arthroscopic surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee. The surgery was performed on March 3, 2000.
INSIDE FORCE: Sophomore forward Uka Agbai may have caught many opponents -- and other observers -- off guard last winter. That probably won't be the case this year. As a rather unheralded freshman, the powerful, 6-foot-8-inch, now 245-pounder competed against the BIG EAST's best big men -- and more than held his own. He finished the season averaging 6.6 points and a team-high 5.0 rebounds per game. He scored in double figures seven times and twice registered double-digit rebounding totals (one double-double).
A PEEK AT THE FRESHMEN: Bryant came to BC from Denison (Texas) High School, where he earned All-State (Class 4A) first team honors in 1999-2000. Hadjisotirov, who hails from Sofia, Bulgaria, played the last two years at the Winchendon (Mass.) School. This past summer, he returned to Bulgaria to play with his country's junior national team. Sidney earned All-State Class A first team honors as a senior at Ann Arbor (Mich.) Pioneer High School.
WALK-ON LOWDOWN: Senior guard John Ekweozor joined the Eagles after serving as the women's basketball team manager during the 1999-2000 season. Ekweozor, who hails from Newton, Mass., is a 1997 graduate of Newton North High School. DeMong, a Glen Ellyn, Ill. Product, is a 1999 graduate of Glenbard West High School.
DWAYNE PINA: Senior guard Dwayne Pina, who had one season of eligibility remaining, will miss the Eagles' 2000-01 season because of a cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a structural or functional abnormality of the heart muscle that causes a weakening of the heart and results in its inability to pump blood efficiently. Pina played in 78 games in three seasons.
THE COACHING STAFF: Al Skinner and his staff enter their fourth season at the Heights. Skinner, who was recently inducted into the University of Rhode Island Hall of Fame, has a 12-year career record of 170-182. Skinner is assisted by Tim O'Shea, Bill Coen, Ed Cooley and Pat Duquette.
BIRTHDAYS: Five Boston College players will celebrate birthdays during the month of November, including four prior to the team's first regular-season game. Sophomore Andrew Dudley will turn 21 on Nov. 9, sophomore Troy Bell will turn 20 on Nov. 10, freshman Ludmil Hadjisotirov will turn 20 on Nov. 13, and senior Xavier Singletary will turn 22 on Nov. 16. Junior Brian Ross will turn 21 on Nov. 30.
OUR FOES: Boston College's first exhibition foe features several players who may be familiar to Eagle fans. Among those suiting up for the BABC Alumni are Wayne Turner (Kentucky), Casey Arena (Maine), Derrick Battie (Temple), Randell Jackson (Florida State) and Luther Clay (Rhode Island).
COMING UP: The Eagles will host the SportSource/California All-Stars in an exhibition game on Monday, November 13 at 7:30 p.m. The team opens the regular season with a home game against St. Peter's on Sunday, November 19 at 2 p.m. The Peacocks finished the 1999-2000 season with a 5-23 record, including a 2-16 record in the Metro Atlatnic Athletic Conference.
