NCAA Basketball Boston

The opening sees us in the Drummond living room. Willis and Kimberly are chilling out when the doorbell rings. Mr. Drummond heads to the door ... opens it up ... and in walks ... Boston College head basketball coach Al Skinner.

Coach Skinner is bent (for some reason Mr. Drummond calls him "Ted") because someone had been giving Dudley (they say it is his son ... but it may be ex-BC star Jared Dudley) some wine. That, it seems, is just the least of his worries.

Okay, okay, this really isn't Al Skinner. It is actor Le Tari who played the part of Ted Ramsey, father of Dudley Ramsey ... who was Arnold Jackson's best friend on Diff'rent Strokes. This is the classic "very special" episode where Dudley was "touched" by the guy who runs the bicycle shop.

But, dude was a dead on doppelganger for Al Skinner.

A Charlotte spokesman said Tuesday that Spears wanted to be closer to his home in Salisbury (NC) because of an undisclosed family medical issue.

Spears was the Eagles' third leading scorer last season ... averaging 9.6 points and 6.1 rebounds and starting 17 games.

Spears has two years of eligibility left and may be allowed to play next year. Typically, transfers must sit out one season before suiting up for their new school. However, the NCAA can waive that it if is deemed a hardship situation ... which his family situation certainly could be considered.

BC also will see fellow sophomore Daye Kaba transferring as well for undisclosed reasons.

"Academically it was never an issue at Harvard," he said. "He was definitely up to standards. He just sat down and did some thinking. He's a bright young man and very smart."

Photos: College Basketball Cheerleaders

Boston College's Tyrese Rice had a whale of a first half against the #2 UNC Tar Heels. Rice dumped eight three-pointers in scoring 34 points by the break. Right then, Rice had set his career high.

In the second half, Rice was forced to create his own shots off the dribble and added another 12 points. However, he looked a bit tired and struggled to get his shot off against a taller Marcus Ginyard.

Still, Rice's 46 points is the second most points scored this season (Houston's Robert McKiver went for 52 points earlier this week), the second most points scored in BC hoops history (the record is 49 set back in 1964) and is the third most scored by a player against the Tar Heels (Duke's Dick Groat poured in 48 against the Heels in 1952).

Through all that, the Eagles had a 58-40 lead just minutes into the second half. But ...

Two major developments are coming out of Chestnut Hill, MA today. One is the fact that North Carolina guard Ty Lawson has finally come back into the lineup for the first time in a month. He didn't start (Quentin Thomas did) but did come in and play a few minutes in the first half.

The other is Boston College's Tyrese Rice. Rice scored 23 points in the first seven minutes of the game ... and has 34 points in the first half. Rice has hit eight three-pointers thus far (again, it is halftime) and set his career high -- for an entire game!

North Carolina ... one of the best scoring teams in the nation ... has just 40 points at the break.

The odd thing is Lawson is having to guard Rice when he's on the floor. Lawson hasn't played since Super Bowl Sunday when he injured his ankle in the opening minutes against Florida State. Now he's asked to guard on of the best scorers in the ACC ... but when he's feeling it offensively.

Boston College leads the #2 Tar Heels 54-40 at the half.

We all have slips of the tongue and not all of us have a backspace key to quickly clean them up.

Enter ESPN's Brad Nessler who was calling last night's Tennessee-Kentucky hoops game. The broadcast was being brought back to them after a quick break to gloss over the video of Patriots' QB Tom Brady walking around with his foot in a boot. When Nessler got it back, he unearthed this:

"All right Reece, leave Tom Bradley alone. He deserves a day off with his girlfriend whether he's limping or not."

"Coach called us out after the Kansas game," (BC guard Tyrese) Rice said. "We took it to heart. We tried to prove that we could be better than people think we can."

Boston College scored 14 of the first 16 points and led 50-27 with 11:26 to play before McClinton hit a 3-pointer to start a 23-10 run that pulled Miami back into the game. He had 13 points in all over the five-minute span, including three 3-pointers.

Still, it wasn't enough. Boston College improves to 3-0 in the ACC ... keeping pace with North Carolina and Duke as the conference's lone unbeaten teams in ACC play.

#24 Miami drops just its second game on the season (the first was to Winthrop). BC travels to Virginia while Miami goes to Raleigh to take on struggling NC State on Saturday.

Who are the main men? Can you believe it: Tyrese Rice is just a junior. Rice is the first BC star that has been in the ACC the entire time ... and he knows that he's got a lot on his shoulders.

What are the team's strengths? Boston College came into the ACC with that Big East bravado of tough defense and physical play. Even though some of those parts are now gone ... there are plenty of role guys still around that will keep that going. Also, with Rice at the helm, they are one of the smartest teams in the league.

When will we see them struggle? Teams will try to make things difficult for Rice, and there isn't that much around that would make opponents pay for doing so. ACC Player of the Year Jared Dudley was Mr. Do It All last year ... but is gone [along with Sean Marshall] and there aren't too many guys other than Rice that has had to score.

Why should anyone care? I was skeptical at first, but BC has been a great addition to the conference. Al Skinner is one of the most underrated coaches in the nation. That trip up to Chestnut Hill is a tough one for anyone.

How stable is the program? Boston College won the Big East regular season title in their final year in the conference ... and has been a major player in their first two seasons in the ACC. Al Skinner has been rewarded for that with a long term deal, making him the top coach in the conference who hasn't won an NCAA Championship.

Where will they finish in the ACC? This team has taken a big hit in talent, so they probably won't challenge for an ACC title this year. However, the exposure that the ACC has given the Eagles and the Skinner extension means that this middle of the pack team will move back up soon.

Name you didn't know, but will: Shamari Spears was an unsung freshman last year, but will be relied on to do a bulk of the work Dudley did for the Eagles.

"Al Skinner has led our basketball program to a level of consistent excellence," athletic director Gene DeFilippo said in a release Tuesday. "He has established himself as one of the top coaches in all of college basketball. Our program is in very good hands, and we are pleased to have him continue as our head coach."

Skinner has done a masterful job at BC in a tough period. In BC's final season in the Big East [when everyone was gunning for them], he led the Eagles to 20 straight wins to begin the season. The next year ... BC's first in the ACC ... Skinner's bunch did damage in the league, winning a school record 28 games. Last year, the Eagles had the ACC's Player of the Year in Jared Dudley.

He also could be the adult version of Dudley from Diff'rent Strokes.

This will be a transition year for most of the ACC. Pretty much everyone took a hit this offseason, with only four teams really looking like locks for the NCAA tournament. There is little doubt that North Carolina will be the favorite ... but remember that this was the case last year ... and UNC was nearly the #5 seed in the ACC tournament. NC State, Duke and Clemson have the best shot at giving the Heels trouble for the title

1-North Carolina: Sometimes subtraction isn't a bad thing. The Heels lose Brandan Wright and Reyshawn Terry, but the rotation should be tighter and everyone more understanding of their roles. If UNC is going to make its title run, they better do it now before Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough bolt.

2-NC State: Brandon Costner is my pick for ACC Player of the Year. With JJ Hickson running alongside him in the paint, Costner is free to show his entire game [similar to how Wright helped Hansbrough last year in Chapel Hill]. This team is ready to break out and get back into the ACC's elite. At issue is finding Engin Atsur's replacement ... since he was so key in the success of the Pack last year.

3-Duke: With Kyle Singler and Taylor King coming in, expect Duke to go back to its gun-slinging ways. Last year's team wasn't normal Duke: they struggled to find their offense and were very inconsistent shooting. The big issue this year is ... well, what happens if they keep missing those threes? Josh McRoberts is gone and there really isn't anyone reliable in the paint to score or rebound.

4-Clemson: Can the Tigers get back that team that was scorching the early part of the season? Well, they have four returning starters and has one of the better frontcourts in the conference. They just need to get their minds right. This team has the talent ... they just need to tighten the bolts and clean the sawdust.

5-Virginia: Dave Leitao better thank God that Sean Singletary came back. The ACC player of the year candidate will be asked to do even more with JR Reynolds and Jason Cain gone.

6-Maryland: Gotta love those Terps! The head-scratchers are gone, with their understudies ready to take their place. The team will rely on James Gist and Greivis Vasquez to become leaders on and off the floor. However, this streaky team must find someone who can hit a shot.