Boston College

Welcome back for the next section on Select Seniors, where we discuss seniors from colleges in the NCAA. This is to recognize them and their hard work over the years. This week we have five seniors from Boston College.

Sam Holtze

Sam is a 5’10 guard from Manhattan Beach, California. Weighing at 150 pounds. He earned All-Mission League honors three times in high school and Maci-Cum Laude Honor roll all four years at Notre Dame HS. Sam was team captain and point guard. He averaged 10 points and 6 assists per game. As a freshman in college, Sam only saw action in two games. That action was only one minute each. As a sophomore he only appeared in one game. As a junior, however, he played in four games, making his first collegiate field goal which happened to be a 3-pointer. And he even grabbed a rebound against Central Connecticut. This year I look forward to Sam having more playing time and making more buckets then in the past.

Luka Kraljevic

Luka is a 6’10 forward and center. Weighing in at 228 pounds from Domzale, Slovenia. In high school he played in the U-20, U-18 and U-16 European Championships for his native Slovenia. He played in 26 total games in those tournaments. Averaging 9.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. His father appeared in 73 games for Slovenian National Team, and played in five FIBA European Championships. In his freshman year of college, Luka saw action in 31 games and even started one game. Averaging over nine minutes per contest. However, he missed three games in the ACC Tournament after suffering from a concussion at Florida State. As a sophomore, he appeared in only 22 games and start one. He also saw a season-high of 15 minutes of playing time against IUPUI. Lastly, as a junior Luka played 22 games, scoring a season-high six points. He made all three of his field goal attempts and grabbed three rebounds at home vs. Notre Dame. This year I hope to see Luka put up more points and appear in more games then normal.

James Karnik

James Karnike is a forward and center weighing 230 pounds. This 6’9 senior is from Surrey, British Columbia. At Orangeville Prep, he averaged 15 points and 13 rebounds per game. James helped the team in wining the 2016-17 OSBA championship. He represented Canada with the U17 National All-Star Team that competed in Europe. In 2017-18 he played in 30 games earning 29 starts, he was just a freshman in college. Averging 7.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, collecting four double-doubles. Sophomore year James reached double figures in 15 games with double-doubles. Averaging 9.3 points per game and 6.1 rebounds overall and 11.4 points and 6.6 boards in Patriot League play. James played in 22 games, starting 18 but missed 10 games in league play due to injury as a junior. He shot 57.2% from the field (119-of-208) while adding 21 blocks, which he had the 10th most blocks in the league. This year I look forward to James played more and bringing up that percentage of field goal makes.

Will Jackowitz

This forward from Wellesley, Massachusetts is 6’8 and 205 pounds. Will’s career hasn’t been very exciting. In high school he played basketball, golf, and volleyball. He was captain for his senior season. In his freshman year of college he played in two games but only for one minute. As a sophomore, Will played one minute and only in one game. Junior year he appeared in three games with a rebound against Albany. This year I look forward to him actually getting playing time and getting some points on the board.

Steffon Mitchell

This 220 pound forward from Shakopee, Minnisota has a height of 6’8. He finished his high school career as the all-time leader in points (1,985) and rebounds (800) at Shakopee. Steffon scored a school-record 754 points in his junior season and was named to the AP All-State Third Team. In college as a freshman Steffon saw action in 34 games, making 27 starts and averaged 33.2 minutes per game. He ranked seventh in the ACC and fourth among all freshmen in rebounding. Steffon led the Eagles in at least one statistical category, scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks, steals in 31 of the 34 games in which he appeared. He had  four double-doubles in scoring and rebounding his freshman season. Sophomore year he started 24 of 27 games which he was in. He was also the top rebounder on 12 occasions and blocked shots in 15 games. Steffon registered two double-doubles. This past year Steffon earned spots on the All-ACC and ACC All-Defensive Team. He ranked 4th in the ACC in rebounding, 2nd in steals, 14th in blocked shots, and 6th in assist/turnover ratio. Steffon scored double figures in 10 games. He also became the first BC player to be named to the league’s All-Defensive team, very outstanding. This year I think that if Steffon keeps up this great streak of improvement then the Eagles will have a great season.