BC Finding Big Potential In The Post

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- The situation was custom-built for a big man who could run the floor. Georgia Tech was playing Boston College at Conte Forum, and the defending ACC champion opted to employ a small-ball set against the Eagles. Four guards were on the floor, and while the small, agile lineup was shooting the lights out of the gym from beyond the arc, it left a gap in the middle for an athletic big man who had both the size and shooting ability to compete with the smaller lineup.

Head coach Earl Grant noticed it, and three minutes into the game, he substituted Quinten Post into the game. The seven-footer instantly became the tallest player on the court and his BC teammates began feeding him. He started both scoring and rebounding with an obvious dominance, and as the game wore on, his pure advantage over the Yellow Jackets opened doors for the outside jump shots. BC trailed by as many as 12 but rallied to take a second half lead, and for Post, a long-awaited breakout centered him in the spotlight. The Eagles ultimately dropped the game, 81-76, but in a world where a game against a conference champion narrowly fell to four or five possessions, the emergence of a new option offers windows of opportunity for how this team can grow for the future.

That good relationship between a coach and a player grows out of the opportunity created by a confluence of journeys. For both Post and Grant, arriving at Boston College together in the same year came as the result of both falling into the right situation.

For Grant, identifying the need for a transfer player came after he took stock of his returning roster. He was newly-installed as the head coach in Chestnut Hill and knew one of the secrets to winning in the ACC required building depth among players capable of hanging and banging with the league's big, physical presences. He also knew BC lacked that depth and would need to rebuild the position after the upcoming season when 6-9 James Karnik, a fifth-year senior after receiving an extra year of eligibility from last year's COVID season, graduated.

It created an experience gap that he wanted to fill for both the immediate and long term future. Justin Vander Baan was a three-star prospect but only played 46 minutes last year, and even if he developed further in his second year of college basketball, BC had no incoming center in its recruiting class. Those needs led Grant to the transfer portal, where he could easily find a player who could offer depth to his two returning assets.

"I got the job and said, 'okay, let's do inventory of the roster over the first two weeks,'" Grant said last month. "We had a couple of guys who were in the transfer portal and who hadn't been around campus for a month. So mentally, we knew they would be recruited through the portal, and that's good for them because they could move on, but we were able to try and recruit someone that we would sell our vision to."

That led Grant directly to Post, who had just completed his second season at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs were NIT finalists a year ago as part of the 16-team bracket and memorably ended Kentucky's season with a win in the SEC Tournament. They finished 15-14 after the conference bracket but earned their way into the NIT by finishing fourth in the SEC with eight wins. The No. 4 seed in a bracket headed by Saint Louis, they beat the Billikens in the first round before upsetting second-seeded Richmond in the Quarterfinals. They later beat Louisiana Tech, another fourth-seeded Cinderella, in the Semifinals before losing to Memphis in the championship game.

Post played mostly in a reserve capacity for that team but found himself without a true position on the team. Ben Howland's style called for big, nasty, physical players in the post, and Tolu Smith, a 6-11 power forward, was a consistent presence who interchanged with Javian Davis. They were both rebounding machines who could eat up minutes in the middle, which in turn created an interesting situation for a player like Post, who decided to transfer after the rules allowed him to leave without sitting out a season or receiving a waiver.

"He was playing the power forward position at Mississippi State," Grant said. "He didn't play the center. They had two other centers that couldn't really shoot and dribble. They were under the basket banging, so he was always rolling out. That got him used to shooting a little bit and guarding like a forward in the SEC."

The situation created a cross-section that enabled Post to find a new home at Boston College. By recruiting Post, Grant found a 7-foot center who had power conference and postseason experience and who had three years of eligibility remaining. Post found a new home where he could grow and develop in a more natural position with a program where he would fill a need. The timing was nearly perfect, and it came together quickly as part of the offseason overhaul to lay a foundation for the Eagles.

"Last year was a really hectic year for the transfer portal because nobody had to sit out a year," Post said. "The main thing that would happen was a team would reach out, and it was really, really quick. BC was one of the first teams to reach out to me, and the staff stuck with me throughout the whole process. They were really interested in me, while some other teams would immediately switch focus to other guys. That really spoke to me."

"We were looking for a big guy with some experience," Grant said. "We looked at multiple guys, but with Quinten, there was the possibility that he could come in and have three years to play. I could build some future with him playing two or three years, and I wanted someone with experience at a high level. I thought playing at Mississippi State was attractive because every day, Ben Howland's teams defend and rebound and get opponents beat up."

Now entrenched in the BC lineup, Post is still coming off the bench, but the depth and equality at the center position has the Dutch import playing improved basketball. He scored in double figures in three of BC's first four games and earned his first start prior to playing 33 minutes against Rhode Island. He followed it up with an 11-point game against South Florida and two 13-point games against Notre Dame and Albany, all the while teetering on double-doubles with six or seven rebounds. Against UNC, he grabbed nine boards despite shooting 1-for-7 in an offensive setback, and he produced his second straight game with at least four offensive rebounds.

Nothing matched the performance against Georgia Tech, though, when he shot 10-for-14 in 23 minutes and added six offensive rebounds as part of a nine-board performance. He added two assists and a steal, largely dominating the paint at both ends despite registering four fouls. It was the perfect storm for the Amsterdam import who played for the Dutch national team at the FIBA European Division B U20 Championships in 2019 and who averaged just under 16 points and seven rebounds per game for Alba Berlin Youth Club in Berlin, Germany.

"BC is a really free style of play," Post said. "The center is going to get a lot of touches either in the low post or on the outside on the perimeter. That was really interesting to me, and I feel like I developed a lot over the summer. We worked really hard over [those months] and got reps. This is new for me here, so that experience gives me a lot of confidence to build upon moving forward."

"In Europe, they value skill, passing and shooting," Grant said. "They value guys stepping away from the basket, so he can do that, which gives him a unique skill set. And being at Mississippi State for two years, he developed a little bit of toughness. So now I'm trying to continue helping him with that toughness while swinging around the basket. He's 7-feet tall, so he can dunk it and rebound it and not just settle for outside shots. He's learned how to do both, and I think as a guy with more than one year of eligibility, he could have a really good career here."

BC returns to the hardwood tonight when it plays at Clemson at 6:30 p.m. The game can be seen as part of the ACC's Regional Sports Network coverage, which is on NESN locally in Boston.

Players Mentioned

James Karnik

Quinten Post

Justin Vander Baan

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