BC basketball buoyed by three additions

Boston College basketball coach Steve Donahue, already looking ahead to next season, has added three players, including a transfer from Notre Dame.

In October, BC landed recruit Garland Owens, an athletic 6-foot-5-inch wing from Rockville, Md., and last week, the Eagles signed Darryl Hicks, a 6-3 guard from Trinity High in Louisville, Ky. In addition, BC will have 6-7 guard Alex Dragicevich, who averaged 6.6 points and nearly 21 minutes per game for the Irish in 2011-12.

“We weren’t that deep this year,’’ said Donahue, whose Eagles (16-17, 7-11 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their last three regular-season games to capture the No. 8 seed in the ACC Tournament. “We never went more than seven or eight deep on our roster.

“We needed more depth and athleticism and some versatility if we want to keep playing the way we’d like to. And we feel we can continue to do so with the versatile players we got in addition to Alex Dragicevich.’’

Owens, who considered offers from Seton Hall and Texas-El Paso, prepped last season at Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, Va., where he averaged 12 points and five rebounds per game while playing with four other Division 1 recruits.

“I chose Boston College because of the coaching staff — they really made me feel at home and they really made me feel like part of a family,’’ Owens told NationalRecruitingSpotlight.com. “They played similar to the way I played in high school [at Magruder High in Rockville, Md.] and it’s a great offense for me because I can use my athleticism to get up and down the court.’’

Said Donahue, “Garland is more of a wing, but he’s really athletically gifted and versatile. He can play on the perimeter, but at the same time he can guard the 4s, so he’s got a lot of versatility.’’

Hicks, who chose BC over Arizona, Cincinnati, Florida State, and Indiana, was considered one of the Bluegrass State’s best college prospects. He averaged 16 points and 5.3 rebounds as a senior; the year before, he averaged 12.1 points to help the Shamrocks win the state title.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for since I’ve been in high school, and I’m excited that I committed to a great school,’’ Hicks told Louisville’s Courier-Journal after he signed his letter of intent last Wednesday. “I’m speechless because I never thought this day would come.’’

While sophomores-to-be Olivier Hanlan and Joe Rahon are likely to continue sharing time at point guard, Donahue said he saw Hicks as more of a perimeter shooting threat.

Donahue, meanwhile, was impressed with the work Dragicevich has done, remolding himself during his time away from the game.

“He’s worked extremely hard to improve himself,’’ Donahue said. “He came here a little bit slow, and what he has done is absolutely changed his body, cutting his body fat from 16 percent to 10 percent.”