College Coach in a Pro Town

Last week Boston College named Steve Donahue their next men’s basketball coach. As great an honor for Donahue as it is, I hope he knows what he is getting himself into.
The demands of coaching and recruiting in the Atlantic Coast Conference will be immense – going up against schools like Duke, University of North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest – schools that are in the college basketball hotbed of America. (For example, despite the fact that Charlotte had the Hornets, and now the Bobcats, Charlotte fans care much more about ACC basketball than they do about professional basketball.) A few years back when both the BC men’s basketball and the football team were ranked in the top 10 in the nation, they didn’t get the respect that they really deserved.
Let’s face it, Boston may have more than 100 colleges and universities in the area, but when it comes to sports, the city is by far more of a pro-town than a college-town. This past weekend, the Boston College Men’s Hockey team won the NCAA Championship, and yes, they got a fair amount of respect, but I still feel as though the average sports fan in Boston could care less what the hockey team did, which is too bad.
One of the few ways things will work for Donahue is if he is can get a large non-conference opponent such as a UCLA, or a Texas to come in to Boston and play BC not at Conte Forum, but at the TD Bank North Garden. By bringing in a high-caliber opponent, BC can tell recruits and fans that they are serious about Men’s basketball and will do what it takes to gain fans in the Hub.
Also, the ACC can help, by allowing BC to play some of their bigger opponents such as Duke and UNC at the TD Bank North Garden. These strategies should help BC attract more fans. Personally, I hope Coach Donahue succeeds at BC, because I think he seems like a good coach, but he may have to confront a lot of difficulties in the professionally based town.