It's no secret Boston College coach Al Skinner is fundamentally opposed to letting one player beat him.
But when BC met Providence last November, that's what Geoff McDermott did. The 6-foot-8-inch, 235-pound junior bullied Skinner's squad for an 18-point, 16-rebound double-double in a 73-64 upset that knocked the Eagles out of the Top 25. They didn't crack the rankings again until February.
McDermott will reacquaint himself with BC tomorrow when the Friars and Eagles square off at 6 p.m. in the nightcap of the second Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase at TD Banknorth Garden. Connecticut will face Gonzaga in the early game at 3:30.
McDermott is leading Providence in rebounding, blocks, and assists and is averaging 11.8 points per game, third best on the team.
"He had a lot of success against us," Skinner said. "We haven't really figured it out yet."
Providence coach Tim Welsh hopes they don't. "Geoff McDermott can beat you not by scoring," Welsh said. "That makes it difficult and that's why it makes him a great player. Geoff's not a guy that's going to go get 30 points. But he can dominate a game by the things he does out there."
The Friars (4-1) will have a couple of things in their favor. For starters, BC returned about 800 tickets. Providence, fresh out of the 3,200 tickets it was allotted, gobbled most of those up, Showcase officials said. The Friars also have been off for four days since a 30-point win over Maine, compared with the two days BC had to regroup after coming up with its first road win of the season, at Michigan.
The squad Providence beat last year featured Tyrese Rice, Sean Williams (who had 12 blocks in the loss), Jared Dudley, and Sean Marshall. Only Rice is back, but Welsh isn't buying the notion this is a down year for the Eagles (5-0).
"I heard that for six years now," said Welsh, "and every year they're either as good or better than they were the year before and they look very, very good this year."
They're up and coming
Conventional wisdom says Gonzaga lucked out when it landed Austin Daye, one of the nation's top recruits.Gonzaga coach Mark Few said it's not that simple.
"I think they're getting a lot of hype," said Few of the talented freshmen. "There's a lot of experienced guys on each of these teams that are making all the unselfish plays, all the plays that aren't glorified, for lack of a better term. There's no doubt about it - they're extremely talented."
For what it's worth, Daye is leading the 'Zags in scoring (13.8) and is pulling down five boards a night.
Gonzaga is 6-1 after last night's 70-65 overtime win against Saint Joseph's.
"Austin's a work in progress," Few said. "He's very gifted. He can score the basketball. But he's still a freshman. He's still learning the little nuances of the game, both on defense and on offense. So he has his great moments and he has his pretty tough moments, which is a totally normal learning curve. Sometimes we throw all these adulations on these kids and they're still a work in progress."
Tickets are available
About 1,500 tickets are available for the event. The three area teams were each given 3,200 tickets; UConn and Providence sold out theirs. "When you're trying to build your program to the point that your fan base cares enough to travel on the road with you, I think that's when you're hitting the right buttons of success," Welsh said . . . A handful of greats will be at the Garden tomorrow, including Walt Bellamy, Wayne Embry, Marcus Haynes, Bailey Howell, Meadowlark Lemon, Calvin Murphy, C.M. Newton, and Adolph Schayes. Hall of Fame president John Doleva stressed the importance of young fans seeing those faces. "There's going to be many young fans there Saturday that believe basketball history started with Michael Jordan or perhaps even the arrival of Kevin Garnett in Boston," he said. "This event gives us a platform to share the foundation of our game this year in our home state." The event also provides for 5 percent of the Hall's annual operating budget, Doleva said . . . The company that sponsors the Showcase, The Hartford, is the same company that sponsors the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award, which a couple coaches in the showcase think Rice has a chance of winning. "He's one of the top two or three point guards in the country," Welsh said of Rice, who is averaging 23 points and seven assists a game. "He makes everybody better."
