香蕉秀

In听late December, Men鈥檚 Basketball Head Coach Earl Grant was crouched low on the sideline, watching his team run through a practice drill. It was the day before a big matchup with Virginia Tech, and Assistant Coach Anthony Goins stood at midcourt, instructing the starters on how to defend the offenses of their ACC rival. Grant projected calm, saying little from his crouch as his players ran through the drill, a silver whistle held loosely in his mouth with white string dangling. Even Grant鈥檚 choice of attire was unassuming: gray long-sleeved tee, baggy black gym shorts, gray New Balance running shoes.

Hired in 2021 after a successful stint at the College of Charleston, Grant is used to rebuilding programs. Consider him a construction foreman. Last year, in his first season at Boston College, he led the Eagles to a 13鈥�20 record, a losing campaign to be sure, but one that included hopeful signs of growth, including a 9鈥�7 record at Conte Forum. Grant鈥檚 controlled intensity is sort of like the process of rebuilding a team. It creeps up on you. It happens slowly鈥攜ou almost don鈥檛 notice the shift鈥攖hen suddenly it鈥檚 there. In the second half of practice, he took his place on the court, running a boxout drill. 鈥淕o!鈥� he called out, not screaming or yelling, more of an impassioned shouting. He shuffled quickly across the paint, demonstrating defensive positions for the zone.听

鈥淐J, you鈥檝e got to be ready to slide quick, now,鈥� Grant said matter-of-factly to forward CJ Penha, who transferred to 香蕉秀 after averaging over 20 points at Division II Trevecca Nazarene last season. The coach鈥檚 feedback emphasized the positive. He didn鈥檛 tell players what they were doing wrong but focused on what they needed to change or what they should do next. This is an important distinction. Even when Grant was giving commands, there was an evenness in his tone. 鈥淧rince, you need to get your hands up! Like this,鈥� he said to freshman guard Prince Aligbe, who nodded and threw them up in the air. Sometimes all Grant did was give hand signals.

The atmosphere in practice matched Grant鈥檚 persona. The players waited their turn, standing quietly at the baseline, spaced equally, relaxed and attentive. They offered each other soft words of encouragement as the team ran through its offensive sets.

This did not seem like a team that finished with a losing record last season and is facing its share of struggles this season. It looked like a team that knows it has a plan and is in it for the long haul, a team showing up every day, calmly taking its cue from Grant. The players were prepping for the intensity of the next day鈥檚 big Virginia Tech matchup, but back in his crouch, Grant projected calm and positivity. 鈥淗ere we go!鈥� he said, clapping.

鈥奛ow in his second year at 香蕉秀, Earl Grant has embarked on a much-needed overhaul of the men鈥檚 basketball program. He鈥檚 using the blueprint he used during his seven seasons as head coach at the College of Charleston, where his teams showed marked progress. In Charleston, Grant took over a program in 2014 with a history of success that had recently stumbled, posting a losing record the previous season. The team bottomed out in Grant鈥檚 first season, going 9鈥�24, but from there things took off. By his third season, the Cougars went 25鈥�10. The year after that, Charleston went 26鈥�8 and earned its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in nearly twenty years. In all, Grant compiled a 127鈥�89 record in Charleston, with three seasons of at least twenty wins.

A former standout Division II player at Georgia College, Grant was an assistant coach for fourteen years before taking over in Charleston, with stops at The Citadel, Winthrop, Wichita State, and Clemson. He saw different head coaching styles up close while serving as an assistant under head coaches Pat Dennis, Ray Marshall, and Brad Burnell. From militant to hard-charging and intense to fun-loving, these styles swirled around in his head when he began his first head coaching stint. 鈥淢y first two years as a head coach, I was like, Who am I? Am I that guy? Am I this guy?鈥� Grant said. 鈥淚 had to figure out what was most important to me.鈥� Once he did, success quickly followed. In addition to being named the Colonial Athletic Association coach of the year in 2017, Grant sent three players from Charleston to the NBA.

One of those players, Grant Riller, said he was amazed by his own improvement under Grant鈥檚 tutelage. 鈥淗e鈥檚 really good at skill development. And something about his aura just demands respect,鈥� said Riller, who is currently the second leading scorer for the Texas Legends in the NBA G League. Riller, who was part of Grant鈥檚 first recruiting class at the College of Charleston, said he still texts his former coach every year on his birthday.

In 2021, Grant was selected to lead a 香蕉秀 program that has had its share of ups and downs in recent years. In their three previous seasons, one of them Covid-shortened, the team had gone 14鈥�17, 13鈥�19, and 4鈥�16 . Head coach Jim Christian was let go with a handful of games remaining during the dismal 2020鈥�2021 campaign.

Boston College Deputy Director of Athletics JM Caparro was part of the search committee tasked with finding Christian鈥檚 successor. 鈥淲e wanted someone who had success building a program,鈥� Caparro said. One name jumped out. 鈥淕rant built the College of Charleston program from the ground up in short order,鈥� Caparro said, 鈥渁nd we had heard from many people how well he connects with the players.鈥�

In Grant鈥檚 first season, the Eagles posted a 13鈥�20 record, not quite the stuff of NCAA Final Fours but a definite improvement, with nine more wins than the previous season. To Grant, this was the first step on a long road. 鈥淚鈥檓 here on purpose,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 came here to build a program, to try to get this program to a place we can all be proud of. We are in year two of the building project.鈥�

As it happened, Grant鈥檚 hiring coincided with the announcement of a literal building project: the Hoag Basketball Pavilion, a huge state-of-the-art space attached directly to Conte Forum that will feature a 10,700-square-foot practice facility in addition to nutrition and sports medicine spaces and new locker rooms. Ground broke on the pavilion in July 2022, and the project is scheduled to be completed this summer. Renderings of the future practice space are spectacular, with gleaming hardwood, the latest tech in lighting, and walls of glass overlooking the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. In December, the whole thing was still a construction site. But if you looked hard enough, you could tell that something special was being built.

鈥奧hen you talk to Earl Grant, there are certain phrases you鈥檒l hear repeatedly. One is that humility precedes honor. There was more than enough humility the first half of 香蕉秀鈥檚 current season. Injuries and sickness plagued the squad. Seven-foot senior center Quinten Post and junior guard DeMarr Langford Jr. were out at the beginning of the season with foot and ankle injuries. Then freshman guard Donald Hand Jr. played in only two games before going down for the season with a torn ACL. For his part, Prince Aligbe sprained his ankle and missed almost a month.

The team managed to overcome the injuries for a time, getting out to a 5鈥�2 start, but then 香蕉秀 lost four games in a row, including an embarrassing performance at home against the University of New Hampshire in which the Eagles shot just 38.5 percent from the floor and 13.6 percent from behind the three-point arc, along the way to a 74鈥�71 loss in overtime.听

After the game, Grant had a sit-down with his players. 鈥淗e told us, don鈥檛 be weary and we will reap the harvest,鈥� Penha recalled. 鈥淓verything is big-picture with him.鈥�

鈥淚 think we expected to be a little bit better than we were the first few months of our current season,鈥� Grant acknowledged. 鈥淏ut adversity and setbacks and the disappointment and the failure are part of unbelievable growth. My players, and our support staff鈥攕ometimes you don鈥檛 realize that humility precedes honor. Adversity and discomfort are the best way to grow.鈥�

Following the stumble against New Hampshire, 香蕉秀 lost to Villanova but then beat Stonehill. Virginia Tech was up next, and a victory was the kind of thing that could start to turn the season around. The players closed out practice with a scrimmage on the day before the game. Voices got louder, but never out of control. There was an air of respect among players and between players and coach. 鈥淕ood poise,鈥� Grant said as he watched.

鈥奊rant attributes his ability to stay even-keeled during challenging seasons in part to his faith. It doesn鈥檛 seem like an accident that he鈥檚 leading the men鈥檚 basketball program at a Jesuit institution. It鈥檚 virtually impossible to have a conversation with Grant where a Bible verse or two doesn鈥檛 nonchalantly work its way in, even if it鈥檚 not noted as such.

Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, called the Holy City due to its tolerance of all religions, Grant lived near an orphanage. He recalled his interactions with children who lived there as a religious experience. 鈥淢y mother would always let the kids from the orphanage鈥攚hite, Black, Mexican鈥攋ump the fence and come to our house. She would open the door and let them into our house, saying, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e OK. They just want a little snack or something.鈥� And I鈥檇 think, 鈥榃hat if they steal something? Why are they in the orphanage? Are they bad kids? What鈥檚 going on?鈥� But then I鈥檇 watch my mom鈥檚 spirit. Those are good kids. And I have never forgotten that.鈥�

Grant spends many hours attending church services and reading the Bible. He belongs to multiple faith groups that meet in person or over Zoom, several of them groups of fellow coaches. But he doesn鈥檛 expect his players to share his zeal. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 force religion on the team,鈥� Penha said.

鈥淎ll kids aren鈥檛 spiritual,鈥� Grant said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檝e learned over the years. I鈥檝e tried not to go in and say, 鈥榟ere鈥檚 a verse.鈥� If I tell you to find peace in the storm, we can talk about how to do that, but I鈥檓 not going to say, 鈥榟ere鈥檚 what this verse is.鈥欌�� What he does expect is that he鈥檒l be able to reach his players with his messages of enduring, and even embracing, the struggle in order to emerge from it. With a team that went under .500 last season and was going through another difficult campaign at the moment, it was an important concept.

Plenty of coaches use anger in an attempt to motivate. Caparro has taken note of what Grant does differently. When a player comes out of the game, Caparro said, 鈥淗e鈥檚 not yelling at the kid. He鈥檒l immediately go up and huddle with them and talk closely. He鈥檚 teaching that kid in that very moment.鈥�

It鈥檚 an approach Grant brings to recruiting as well. 鈥淗e would just talk to me about life, and about basketball,鈥� said Aligbe, a four-star recruit from Minnesota who said the rapport with Grant during the recruiting process contributed to his final college choice. 鈥淗e always wants guys who have that underdog feeling, who are going to come in and give it all they鈥檝e got. He talks to us a lot about enjoying the process. It came down to how connected I felt.鈥�

Grant acknowledged that the season hasn鈥檛 gone perfectly but said that unexpected blips are all part of the process. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen all different kinds of seasons in twenty-three years of coaching,鈥� he said, 鈥測ears where you win fifteen in a row and years where you lose seven in a row, years where you get to the NCAA Tournament and years where you lose double the games that you win. I鈥檝e seen everything.鈥�

This is what I鈥檝e learned from trying to build programs over the years: A storm comes before great success. I talked about that when I interviewed for this job, and it鈥檚 interesting that we are here now, kind of in the storm. And I knew it was coming. Maybe I didn鈥檛 know some of the injuries or setbacks, but when we are trying to build, we always experience some sort of storm before we get to that success. And that gives me peace, in the storm.鈥� That鈥檚 what you鈥檙e going to get from Grant, no matter the win-loss tally. And there may be some small signs that the sun is peeking through the storm.

鈥奀onte Forum was buzzing on December 21 as 香蕉秀 tipped off against Virginia Tech, who sat at number twenty-one in the national rankings. The Eagles were hoping to start turning things around after the topsy-turvy beginning to the season and prove that they were on their way up. That was the plan, anyway. Virginia Tech came out hot, leading by as many as eight points early on and finishing the first half ahead by five. But 香蕉秀 clawed its way back in the second half, shooting 46 percent from the field, and tied the score as time ran out. In overtime, the Eagles got a second wind, outscoring Virginia Tech 11鈥�6 and pulling off a huge 70鈥�65 upset.

After the win, the 香蕉秀 players hollered and whipped towels around the locker room, and the head coach joined in a bit of their dancing. But when it came time for the postgame press conference, the Grant persona had returned. He sat stone-faced and returned to his usual principles. 鈥淚t was a challenge,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long journey. I tell the guys all the time, no one win or loss is going to define us. The guys have been showing up day in and day out, not making any excuses. They have showed that they want to continue trying to build a program. Today was just the fruits of our hard labor starting to show.鈥�

The win briefly pushed 香蕉秀 back over .500, but the Eagles went on to lose five of their next six games, many of them against tough ACC opponents. Just as 香蕉秀 seemed to be stumbling, however, the team once again found its footing, with convincing back-to-back wins against Notre Dame and Louisville. However the current campaign concludes for the Eagles, to Grant the plan has never been about just one season. And things appear to be continuing to come together. Grant has signed two four-star recruits for next season, center Jayden Hastings and point guard Fred Payne. Meanwhile, construction on the Hoag Pavilion is slated to be complete in July, meaning Grant will have a brand-new facility where he can continue his own construction project.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited about the pursuit,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited about the young men who are here who are going to be part of that pursuit and also the young men we have signed for next year. Based on what I鈥檝e seen, we are moving toward getting the program where it needs to be. We鈥檙e moving in the right direction.鈥漈ake a short walk down a hallway from the basketball coaches鈥� offices and once you get past the scaffolding, bare drywall, and plaster dust, you can get a vision of the practice court taking shape. The men鈥檚 team that will use it is also under construction, with daily work leading toward an ultimate goal.听