The continued development of sophomore attackman Chris Gray has helped, too. He had 31 goals and a program-record 40 assists last season, earning Patriot League Rookie of the Year honors.
After the graduation of Jack Wilson, Gray has the ball in his stick far more often in 2019, and it’s led to an impressive start. Gray already has 17 goals and 22 assists; his 6.5 points per game rank fourth nationally behind Penn State’s Grant Ament (7.4), Loyola’s Pat Spencer (7.4) and Princeton’s Michael Sowers (6.75).
“A majority of our offense runs through him, whether in transition or offensive sets,” Polley said. “We expect that on almost every possession that he gets one touch because he’s so good at making everyone else around him better. … In practice, as a coach you see it and then the player sees it, and sometimes he can make a play and sometimes he’s a little too late. Frankly, Chris sometimes sees it before the coach.”
The blend of leadership and productive underclassmen has allowed Boston University to churn out another impressive start. The Terriers are one of the country’s more quietly consistent programs. They’ve had a winning record after six games in each of the last five years, and they’ve averaged 9.3 victories over the last three seasons.
Boston University, whose lone loss was Feb. 9 at Ohio State, is searching for its first NCAA tournament berth, something Polley is optimistic could come this spring thanks to his team’s leadership.
“The ‘15s were asked to come in and buy into this vision,” Polley said. “The goal was by the time they were here, we would be playing some [important] games, and it’s kind of come to fruition. I’m hopeful this group can get us over that next step and make a conference final or get an at-large bid and really cement us as one of the top 15 or top 12 teams that gets into the NCAA tournament.”