BC: DeFilippo Shows His True Colors and Donahue Signs 2012 PG

Well, I realize I am a little late to the party getting my two cents in on this, but obviously the big CBB story over the weekend was an article in the Boston Globe where BC AD Gene DeFilippo revealed that BC was (according to him) the influence which caused Pittsburgh to join Syracuse in the ACC rather than UConn. "We didn't want them in," DeFilippo stated, "It was a matter of turf. We wanted to be the New England team."

In the interest of full disclosure I'll state that I am by nature prejudiced against BC for two reasons:

1. I grew up in Storrs, CT as a fervent UConn fan who hated BC before they left the Big East and even more after they left
2. I just graduated from BU, and was a big fan of the Terriers hockey team, major rivals to BC on the ice

These two reasons only serve to amplify my dislike for BC in this particular moment. I'll come out and say it that until now, I had absolutely no interest in UConn joining the ACC. The Big East (excepting the C-USA stowaways) has a much more Northeastern USA feel to it than the ACC does. UConn is joined by many local schools such as Providence, St. John's, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Syracuse and even Villanova. UConn even has great history with further afield schools like Pittsburgh, WVU, Notre Dame and Georgetown. If I had my way, the Big East would still be the pre-2005 schools minus Miami and Va. Tech. Maybe with UMass now that they're a 1A school and Temple (The Big East in my mind is best centered around NYC, Philly and Boston).

But if the Big East is going to mean playing East Carolina, Air Force, Houston, SMU and Central Florida, among perhaps other geographically disparate schools, I no longer want UConn to be a part of it and if joining the ACC is necessary to continued relevance then so be it. UConn, BC, Pitt, 'Cuse, Maryland, UVa. and VTech in an ACC North would definitely be an idea I could get behind (if divisions were adopted in basketball) but I would miss playing the basketball only schools from the BE. It is a jaded basketball fan in me that accepts UConn leaving behind the Big East for the ACC, but in these desperate times I further hate BC for their AD's inferiority complex (no championships in hoops or BCS bids) putting the Huskies' future in jeopardy.

On a lighter note, Steve Donahue got BC's first 2012 commit by signing PG Joe Rahon from Torrey Pines, CA. He is the fifth signing from what is turning out to be an unexpected pipeline state for the Eagles' second year coach. Rahon selected BC over several Power 6 schools on the west coast (USC, WSU) and mid-major powers such as SDSU and St. Mary's. He should eventually develop into a solid drive-and-kick point guard with the right size to play either guard position.