Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Ben Solomon
2019-20 Preview Series: Rishwain's Showtime Starts in Boston
October 29, 2019 | Men's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
The freshman has the potential to become BC's next California standout
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Boston and Los Angeles - two cities that are about as different as they come. Whether it is geography, topography, culture, population density, or history; they are polar opposites. And rival cities, as fans of the NBA in the 1980's will vividly recall the battles at the Boston Garden and Great Western Forum in the NBA Championships.
In the early 2000's, Boston College basketball's starting lineup had a true California Soul. First, Craig Smith from Los Angeles came to Chestnut Hill. The following year, San Diego's Jared Dudley and Sean Marshall from Rialto made their way due east. The SoCal trio, all a few hours drive from each other on the 5 and 15 freeways, put the Eagles back in the national spotlight during their careers at the Heights. Â
This season, Julian Rishwain, a freshman from Sherman Oaks - just outside of L.A. - is poised to become the next Boston College player to shine while taking Horace Greeley's advice in reverse: Go East, Young Man.
"The ACC brought me here," he said with a smile. "The coaches brought me here. Boston is an awesome city. I wanted to stay close to home, but Boston offered me a combination of great basketball and a location in which I knew I'd feel comfortable.
I'm definitely very far from home, and it's a big change to be all the way in Boston - I know the weather, for sure, is going to be a big change. But I know I'll be comfortable getting into the warmth of a gym, shooting around late at night."
Rishwain arrived at BC as one of the top shooters in the class of 2019. An ACC-ready guard and potential impact player, the 6-5 guard was a three-star product from Notre Dame High School. He was a nominee for the McDonald's All-American game and earned First Team All-Area honors from the Los Angeles Daily News after averaging 20.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
"Julian comes from an unbelievably well-coached basketball program," head coach Jim Christian said. "He's a highly-skilled guy and is one of the elite shooters in the country. He has great size for the guard position but also has a great understanding of how to play, how to pass the ball."
Rishwain possesses prototypical shooting guard size and has the speed and intelligence to make plays in transition. His mentality embodies the true meaning of a basketball player, and the combination is why he landed on the radar of "basketball schools," especially locally in California. But Boston College ultimately won out because of its appeal to the guard position and its recent legacy.
"The system for guards thrive here," Rishwain said. "BC develops players. (Assistant coach) Bill Wuczynski came out to talk to me and the first thing that he brought up was Jerome Robinson. He was underrecruited and that related to me. He played unbelievably well in this system and he eventually led the ACC in scoring. If I can buy into the system and thrive like that, it would be perfect. I want to be a knockdown shooter and evolve my game from there."
He's still only a rookie and knows there will be growing pains, but the appeal of coming to BC and playing in college basketball's premier conference was too much to ignore.
"The speed of the game is at a completely different level," he continued. "As a team, we are looking to spread the floor with a whole bunch of weapons," Rishwain detailed, "We have the freedom to play with what happens in actual game settings. Coach Christian will stop us in practice to teach, especially for me since I'm new to the system, but I appreciate everything about the balance."
And Christian - the teacher - has solid reviews early on for one of his newest pupils: "I think he's going to be one of those guys people don't really know now. But in our system, the way he does things, people will really get to know him quickly."
In the early 2000's, Boston College basketball's starting lineup had a true California Soul. First, Craig Smith from Los Angeles came to Chestnut Hill. The following year, San Diego's Jared Dudley and Sean Marshall from Rialto made their way due east. The SoCal trio, all a few hours drive from each other on the 5 and 15 freeways, put the Eagles back in the national spotlight during their careers at the Heights. Â
This season, Julian Rishwain, a freshman from Sherman Oaks - just outside of L.A. - is poised to become the next Boston College player to shine while taking Horace Greeley's advice in reverse: Go East, Young Man.
"The ACC brought me here," he said with a smile. "The coaches brought me here. Boston is an awesome city. I wanted to stay close to home, but Boston offered me a combination of great basketball and a location in which I knew I'd feel comfortable.
I'm definitely very far from home, and it's a big change to be all the way in Boston - I know the weather, for sure, is going to be a big change. But I know I'll be comfortable getting into the warmth of a gym, shooting around late at night."
Rishwain arrived at BC as one of the top shooters in the class of 2019. An ACC-ready guard and potential impact player, the 6-5 guard was a three-star product from Notre Dame High School. He was a nominee for the McDonald's All-American game and earned First Team All-Area honors from the Los Angeles Daily News after averaging 20.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
"Julian comes from an unbelievably well-coached basketball program," head coach Jim Christian said. "He's a highly-skilled guy and is one of the elite shooters in the country. He has great size for the guard position but also has a great understanding of how to play, how to pass the ball."
Rishwain possesses prototypical shooting guard size and has the speed and intelligence to make plays in transition. His mentality embodies the true meaning of a basketball player, and the combination is why he landed on the radar of "basketball schools," especially locally in California. But Boston College ultimately won out because of its appeal to the guard position and its recent legacy.
"The system for guards thrive here," Rishwain said. "BC develops players. (Assistant coach) Bill Wuczynski came out to talk to me and the first thing that he brought up was Jerome Robinson. He was underrecruited and that related to me. He played unbelievably well in this system and he eventually led the ACC in scoring. If I can buy into the system and thrive like that, it would be perfect. I want to be a knockdown shooter and evolve my game from there."
He's still only a rookie and knows there will be growing pains, but the appeal of coming to BC and playing in college basketball's premier conference was too much to ignore.
"The speed of the game is at a completely different level," he continued. "As a team, we are looking to spread the floor with a whole bunch of weapons," Rishwain detailed, "We have the freedom to play with what happens in actual game settings. Coach Christian will stop us in practice to teach, especially for me since I'm new to the system, but I appreciate everything about the balance."
And Christian - the teacher - has solid reviews early on for one of his newest pupils: "I think he's going to be one of those guys people don't really know now. But in our system, the way he does things, people will really get to know him quickly."
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