Luke Murray takes the reins at Boston College for the first time Tuesday night, with the Eagles opening the season against Wagner in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
It’s a fresh start for BC’s new head coach, who spent the last five seasons as an assistant at UConn and arrives with a remade roster. Murray has brought in 13 new players, including 11 transfers from nine conferences, as he begins his first season guiding the program.
“I think we're going to build a good basketball program,” Murray said. “The product on the court is going to be a good one.
It's a fun group of kids showing a lot of progress over the last couple months. Excited to get going.”
Among the pieces expected to matter right away is Money Williams, who put up 20.6 points, 4.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game last season at Montana. Williams also earned 2026 Big Sky tournament MVP honors.
BC is also leaning on Zak Smrekar and Luke Hunger. Smrekar, a freshman from Slovenia, started both of the Eagles’ preseason scrimmages, while Hunger arrives from George Washington after averaging 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds last season.
Murray’s first-year target is straightforward: get Boston College back to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles went 11-20 overall and 4-14 in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2025-26, and Murray said the path will depend on depth.
“Size at the five (center) is something we're lacking a little bit,” Murray said, noting the roster will need to hold up over the full season. “We'll have to rely on the depth of the team throughout the course of the year.
For us right now it's about building eight, nine, 10 and not having much of a drop-off. At the moment I'd say we're comfortable with seven or eight.”
Before landing at BC, Murray also spent one season as an assistant at Wagner in 2010-11.
The Seahawks bring their own overhaul into the opener. Wagner finished 14-17 overall and 8-10 in 2025-26, and the Northeast Conference coaches picked them fifth in the nine-team league this season.
Wagner’s rotation will feature transfers Tajae Jones from Siena, Cam Estevez from Fairfield and Taj Bryant from Sacred Heart. Estevez, who averaged 3.6 points per game last season, said the group shares one mindset.
“Everybody has the same goal in mind,” Estevez said. “Everybody is hungry. We have a lot of people who came from (other) Division I schools trying to prove a point.”
Wagner coach Dwan McMillan, who had the interim tag removed in the offseason, pointed to the glass as the defining issue for his team.
“That's the No. 1 thing,” McMillan said. “We want to control the paint, control the boards. We hang our hat on the defensive end.”
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