For Coach And Player, A Tuesday Debut At Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Brevin Galloway never needed to stand in a hockey rink, but he still couldn't resist a smile as he looked over at the ice on the other side of Conte Forum. The South Carolina native was part of the Boston College Ice Jam event with the men's basketball program on October 26, but the half-court, half-rink atmosphere was a new thing for someone who grew up in the Palmetto State.

As he stood in the arena, he took stock at how far he'd come. He was a unique presence on the Boston College roster, a graduate transfer who was a 2020-21 All-CAA preseason selection with the College of Charleston. He was one of the CAA's best defenders, and a scoring threat who averaged double figures for the Cougars. But in mid-December, he suffered a season-ending injury and was forced to rebuild and prove himself all over again, this time in the ACC.

More than that, he was also the team's only link to head coach Earl Grant. As a former CofC guard, he was recruited to the Cougars by Grant and captained the team during his final season in the CAA. He was one of Grant's guys, and after his old coach jumped from the CAA to the ACC, he became the only player to join him in Chestnut Hill as part of the rebuilding effort undertaken with the Eagles.

"It's definitely been a wild ride for both of us," he said, "especially where we come from. We're both from South Carolina, both from small towns, so at this stage of our careers, I feel like [coming to BC] is very special."

Galloway is far from a token transfer and his arrival at BC speaks volumes independent of his previous relationship with his coach. A former three-star recruit out of Seneca High School in South Carolina, he set a single-season high school record with 81 three-pointers in 21 games while playing for T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson, S.C. He was a high school 1,000-point scorer and one of the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association's five best players in the state. The honors led him to participate in the North Carolina-South Carolina All-Star Game, and he finished his high school career ranked as high as fourth in the state recruiting rankings.

Galloway chose to stay home by committing to Charleston and its coach, Earl Grant, but he ran into adversity in his second season in 2017-2018 after he redshirted his freshman year. He missed all but seven games as an injury robbed him of potential minutes, and he didn't play after Christmas during a season that ended with the Cougars winning their first CAA Championship to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

He only finished the season with 30 minutes played, but he transformed over the next two seasons into one of the CAA's most lethal threats. He only averaged 7.9 and 11.3 points per game, but the numbers were good enough to place him second and third on the team in scoring. He had over 100 steals and 12 blocks with over 85 assists as a primary guard in Grant's system, and he both rebounded well and shot over 35 percent from beyond the arc. In total, he hit more than 100 field goals in 2019-2020 with an overall shooting percentage over 40 percent in both seasons.

Galloway started all but two of his 64 appearances over that stretch and earned 2020 CAA All-Defensive Team honors to become the team's top returning player last season. He was recognized on the Preseason All-CAA Second Team and named a captain, but he suffered a devastating, season-ending injury against South Carolina State after scoring 13 points in the first half, a performance that was on pace to break a career-high of 27 points that he scored two days earlier against Marshall.

"He was a part of some big wins against Power Five [teams], where he made a lot of threes and scored the ball," Grant said. "I've seen him in games against the ACC and Big East, and I've seen him function in hard places, and he will produce. He's getting back, and I'm glad he's here."

Making the decision to follow Grant into the ACC wasn't easy for Galloway, who loved playing for the Cougars and had an opportunity to return to their program, but he knew he would have a role with his general understanding of his coach's system. He also knew he could help his head coach because of the roster attrition that occurred in the offseason after BC made its coaching decision. With the advent of the transfer portal, players staying and leaving programs is more and more commonplace, and BC lost a handful of student-athletes off of its roster from last year.

Grant, therefore, had to rebuild his roster by both re-recruiting incoming freshmen and by convincing other transfers to come to BC. He signed T.J. Bickerstaff from Drexel and Quinten Post from Mississippi State, but it was Galloway, his former charge in Charleston, who was the lenchpin to establishing a foothold in the new program.

"His understanding of our system is outstanding," Grant said. "I'm sure he can help guys with their response to certain things, and I think he's really, really good. With his personality, he's a natural BC fit. We don't worry about him away from the court [when] he has all A's and B's [in his academics] and makes pretty good decisions. He'll be a good teammate."

"Playing with guys like this is going to make it easier because all I want to do is shoot the ball," Galloway said with a laugh. "I still don't want to dribble, but [my teammates] are going to make it easier on me. I feel like my role would be simplified compared to what I had to do in Charleston, so I feel like I'll have a bit more fun out there [on the court].

"We're getting ready," he added. "I feel like we've had our practices that prepared us and our scrimmages that prepared us. So I think we're ready for that game on Tuesday."

For Coach And Player, A Tuesday Debut At Boston College

Players Mentioned

T.J. Bickerstaff

Brevin Galloway

Quinten Post

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