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Men's basketball is making strides in rebuilding a championship caliber team

By Brian Fitzgerald

America East Conference men's basketball is a lot like New England weather: it offers drastic changes in a short period of time. And no one knows the league's topsy-turvy nature better than BU.

The Terriers were hot at the beginning of the season. A 74-70 victory January 5 over defending conference champion Hofstra put the Terriers in first place, with a 2-1 record. Then BU walked straight into a cold front, dropping three conference games in a row, to Drexel, Towson, and Delaware.

But Coach Dennis Wolff isn't worried. He's looking forward to hosting Vermont January 20 and Hartford January 22, two conference games for which he hopes to generate a large home advantage. The Hofstra and Drexel games were played during holiday intersession, so Wolff anticipates a more animated crowd in the Case Gym to greet the Catamounts and the Hawks. "These will be the first two home games with the students back," he says. "We're hopeful it will be a lively atmosphere."

	Billy Collins (SED'03) (below) and Jason Grochowalski (MET'04) (above) are young forwards who are playing like veterans. Photos by Tim Winn

Despite having a young team with no seniors, Wolff likes what he sees this season. BU could have mailed it in against Hofstra in the first half, when the Terriers were down 30-18. "We showed resiliency," he says. "This is a group that has character. At that point, the impression might have been that we were going to stop playing. But when we got back in the game, we were able to grab some momentum and hold onto it. This was a victory over a team that was picked to win the league."

It was a game that also marked Wolff's 100th win as a Terrier. Another victory will tie him with Mike Jarvis (1985-90) as the winningest basketball coach in BU history. "Being anywhere long enough to win your 100th game is something that I'm proud of," he says, "and it's more a reflection of the quality of players I've been able to coach."

One who comes to mind is Tunji Awojobi (CAS'97), the University's all-time leading scorer and arguably BU's best player ever. The Terriers were 18-11 in the 1995-96 season, and 25-5 the next season, the two years Awojobi cocaptained the team. BU lost the 1996 conference tournament final against Drexel, but gained its revenge the following year, beating the Dragons in the America East championship and earning an NCAA tournament berth -- the team's first in seven years.

However, the BU heat wave was followed by milder temperatures and then an ice age: 19-11 in the 1997-98 season, and then two losing campaigns (9-18 and 7-22). "These things are sometimes cyclical," Wolff says. "We had a very good run, but when that run ended -- after we lost the conference championship game to Delaware [in 1998], it was disappointing. The following year I thought that we would have a team that could compete again, but we had a lot of internal problems that prohibited us from winning."

BU had potential last season, but a 0-5 start demoralized an already fractured squad. "We got every bad break in the world," recalls Wolff. "We were already red-shirting two players [transfers Billy Collins (SED'03) and Stijn Dhondt (SED'02)], and then three more guys got hurt and missed the entire season. We were back on our heels the whole year."

One of the walking wounded was forward Jason Grochowalski (MET'04), who separated a shoulder in his fourth game and was out for the year. Technically still a freshman, this year he has been playing like a seasoned veteran. The Shrewsbury, Mass., native had a game- and career-high 22 points in the victory over Hofstra, and eclipsed his personal best in the loss to Delaware, when he scored 26 points. "I've been very happy with what he's been able to do," says Wolff. "He brings a high energy level to the game. But we've also gotten good contributions from a number of players. We're not depending on one guy night in and night out."

Can a team with no returning seniors win? The Terriers appear young and inexperienced, but looks can be deceiving. Collins and Dhondt, from Rutgers and Cuesta (Calif.) Community College, respectively, bring enough leadership ability to the table for Wolff to name them cocaptains this season. In addition, forward Paul Seymour (CAS'03) was last year's America East Rookie of the Year.

NCAA tournament appearances are special to any university, but even more so to a school that has been part of March Madness only five times: in 1958, 1983, 1988, 1990, and 1997. All it takes is a league championship, and a 7-22 BU team showed its mettle last year by going to the conference final. "To me, we're at the beginning stages of building it back up," says Wolff. "We're making the progress that I had hoped we'd make this year, and I'd like to think we're going according to plan."

19 January 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations