The Angry White Boys doubleteam the angry man inside the Boston University
athletic department: men’s
basketball coach Dennis Wolff.
On a sunny Monday afternoon, we strolled through the Boston University athletic department in search of Dennis Wolff’s lair, afraid to see what we might find. Based on his sideline demeanor, we expected to find a fiery, screaming man with an intimidating presence. But instead, a gentle, kind man willing to bare his soul and his feet (Wolff chose a casual approach, wearing loafers with no socks) approached us, proclaiming, “You guys don’t look that angry!”
Apparently both parties had come to the interview with similar expectations, and both were let down (to add insult to injury, we even spotted a pink, heart-shaped rock on the table in his office).
Instead of lingering on the “disappointing, disjointed” season, Wolff looked forward to next year with some optimism. He revealed to us the out-of-conference schedule that includes the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden in New York City just after Christmas. There will be two first-round games, as well as a championship and consolation game. BU will play St. John’s University (the host school) while Hofstra University and St. Joseph’s University square off in the other first-round match-up. This holds special meaning for Wolff, as it was a tournament he went to every year as a kid. But that’s not all Wolff has in store for next season.
“[George Washington University] and UMass are going to come here,” Wolff said. “We’re going to go to St. Joe’s, we’re going to play Northeastern again — we’re starting that series up, and we still need to get one more game.”
Annual games against Holy Cross and Harvard University are also on tap. The games against GW and UMass, as well as the America East Conference Tournament, will be played in Agganis Arena.
The question still remains whether or not BU will play local rival Boston College, as BC has been rather difficult to schedule.
“We tried to get them to agree to play a game in Agganis, [but] they wouldn’t, even if we went up there three times or four times,” Wolff said. “I’m of a mindset that what we currently have [scheduled] is enough, whether we play them or not.”
In the past, BU has played guarantee games at BC, which involve BC paying BU to come play at BC, but BC has balked at the suggestion to journey down Commonwealth Avenue for a return game. This has been a minor sticking point for Wolff, as he’d like to develop a rivalry between the basketball programs to go along with traditions in the other sports.
It seems obvious to us that BC coach Al Skinner is afraid to play at BU and risk losing a game to a minor conference opponent, especially after BU came within six points of upsetting the Eagles in 2004 at Conte Forum.
With the graduation of seniors Kevin Gardner and Shaun Wynn, as well as the departures of Tony Gaffney, Bryan Geffen and Brendan Sullivan, there are many holes to fill on the roster for next season.
“We’ve signed two already,” Wolff said. “We signed a 6-foot, 9-inch Canadian, Scott Brittain, and we signed a kid from Maine whose team won the state championship, Carlos Strong. We are still actively recruiting two other guys and we’ll have a third scholarship. I think what we’d like to do is have someone … transfer in and sit out a season.”
Wolff ruled out the possibility of another junior college transfer for next season. But with Corey Hassan’s contribution this year, we have high expectations for the incoming freshmen, though Wolff is slightly more reserved.
“I think we’re going to have to expect them to play some,” he said. “The recruiting is an inexact science — you just don’t know. Scott Brittain has played a lot of basketball and a lot of international-type stuff for the Canadian Junior Team — he’s going to be ready to contribute. Physically, Carlos Strong has some abilities that some of the other guys that we have in the program right now don’t have.”
Wolff is looking for major contributions from some key returning players.
“I think Corey Hassan is one of the better players in the league right now,” he said. “Matt [Wolff] had proven himself to be someone that could’ve given us good minutes at the wing. We have some kids who have ability. Ben Coblyn had moments this year where he looked like a good player, but he also was in and out with injuries. He could never really get a roll going.
“Between Ben and [Ibrahim Konate] and Omari [Peterkin], we’ll have some post presence,” he added. “We’ll have more depth on the perimeter; Marques Johnson’s improved, [Brian] Macon can play and I think Tyler [Morris] can play. And then we have Matt, Corey and Carlos, and we’d still like to sign another step-out post player that can face the basket and shoot a little bit and another wing guard.”
On the injury front, Matt Wolff has made significant progress in recovering from his partially torn ACL, as he has already begun running and shooting. Morris’s injury, a broken bone in his foot, will take longer to heal, but Wolff expects him back on the court in June.
The news regarding recoveries and incoming players, as well as his expectations for returning players help explain Wolff’s upbeat mood during the interview. This past season may have been very difficult but he doesn’t let it show. Instead, he remains hopeful and anxiously awaiting next season, which will be a very exciting year for BU basketball.
“We’re going to have a young team again,” Wolff said, “but I think we’re going to have a talented team.”
Josh Lerner, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
Chris Pasquale, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
