The BC basketball season may be over, but Earl Grant is still going to be right in the thick of March Madness coverage locally.

Grant is joining Dan Roche each Sunday night throughout the tournament during Sports Final on Channel 4 in these parts. Grant made his first appearance on Sunday after the bracket was revealed.

ON THE TOP SEEDS
“Obviously, I think they picked it right. Those teams had exceptional seasons. Starting with Houston, they played a really great, tough, physical game throughout the year, holding most of their opponents to under 60 points. I think they’ll fair well in the NCAA tournament. Purdue has a big guy underneath the basket, Zach Edes who’s 7’2” he’s a problem for every team that they face. I think they have a huge advantage there. Then, Alabama has been playing great basketball throughout the season, so I think they’ll have a great run as well. They score a ton of points. Kansas - Bill Self hasn’t coached the last two games - he’s been out with some kind of health issue, but they had a great year. They have athletes and play at a high tempo.”

ON PROVIDENCE AND UCONN
“You know, UConn’s been explosive this year. Hurley’s done a good job in the time he’s been there, I think this is year three or four. He’s got big guys underneath the basket that really kind of can control the paint. They have aggressive guards, experienced, aggressive guards. Guards win in the tournament, so they’ll be a dangerous team. Then, Ed Cooley’s done a great job at Providence, you know. They’re playing against a really talented, dangerous team in Kentucky, so it should be a good matchup and I think both those teams will at least advance in the first round and then have an opportunity to make a run in March.”

ON THE ACC TEAMS
“Well, I mean, there’s only five, I thought it maybe should have been six. I thought Clemson had an exceptional year as well. Miami has a player of the year in (Isaiah) Wong, he’s an exceptional player, averaged 20 points a game, very explosive. Virginia is built for March because they play a very half court, slow tempo. They try to really control the game and keep it low scoring, so I know those guys will have a good run as well. You look at NC State, they made a big shift. NC State and Pitt made a big shift from last year moving into this year with some transfers, they really have a good inside-outside punch. I think all those teams will fair well. Duke’s won nine in a row. They won the ACC Championship. A lot of times, they have four freshman on the floor, all five star players, so I think the ACC will be well-represented in the tournament.”

ON CINDERELLA TEAMS
“My biggest cinderella team is Utah State. Utah State won 28 games, that’s the same coach and program when he was at UMBC - Coach (Ryan) Odom - they beat Virginia in that cinderella year, so I think maybe it’s time for him to get another cinderella run. Boise State is good. Coach Rice, he’s a Gonzaga guy…he’s built that program up in his eighth year, I think he’ll make a good run as well.”

ON WHO HE LIKES TO WIN IT ALL
“I don’t have anyone in particular I want to win it. I think that Houston is a very dangerous team, very experienced that’ll have a chance to play in the Final Four. I like their brand of basketball, I could see them having a chance to win it, but I don’t have a dog in the fight.”

ON YEAR TWO AS HEAD COACH OF BOSTON COLLEGE
"Obviously, year one we wanted to build a foundation. Year two we wanted to see progress and growth. I thought we had great growth in our program. We were able to beat four ranked We were able to allow our students and all of our fans to experience a court storming in the game against top-seven Virginia at the time. We won a game in the ACC tournament. We started two freshman, so I think we’re moving in the right direction. Really looking forward to continuing to build and getting to the point where we can break through and get to the other side and have a chance to play in the NCAA tournament."

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEW FACILITY
“It’s unbelievable. It’s a state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar facility. It’s going to have the weight room, it’s going to have the nutrition center, new locker rooms, practice court giving us a chance to have our own space. I think it’s going to make a tremendous impact on our program and our players will be able to experience that this summer. That’s very exciting for our program and very important for our future.”

ON THE TRANSFER PORTAL
“You want to build a program with guys you’ll be around for multiple years. Obviously, you want to take a freshman into his senior year and have that pride of building together, but it’s shifted. The transfer portal is here now, it’s real. Guys can leave without sitting out, without penalty, so we’ll have to try and use it to help our program. But, at the same time, we’d like to keep as many of our guys around for three or four years so they can graduate and really have pride in the program while we build something special together.”