Historical Association #9 1st season 1999-2000

[Wayne23]

Historical Association #9 1st season 1999-2000

I’m Dan Mean and I’m Damn Mean! I just accepted the head coach job at Boston University, hereafter known as BU.

Yes, I am definitely a tough guy. If you play for me, you play your hardest at all times. I will forgive errors but I will NOT forgive a lack of hustle- ever. I want your best effort, on the court, during practice, in the classroom, and in your personal life. Stay out of trouble, get good grades.

Just a little about me. I spent ten years coaching high school ball here in Boston. We won the state championship 7 times, including the last 5.

At that point Northeastern hired me as their #2 coach. I worked a lot on player development, helping guys to improve their skills. I worked mostly with big guys because they tend to be clumsy and uncoordinated for a while, until they get used to living in those big bodies. After three years I was moved up to #1 assistant.

I’m ambitious and I have a lot of confidence. My goal is to coach at a Div. I powerhouse. I expect to do well at BU, maybe not this year but definitely next. And I expect to quickly move on to a better school, or to put BU in a tougher conference. I’m 35 years old, and I’m in a hurry to move up the ladder.

Personal life? I’m married, but we go our separate ways on most things. She’s a real estate agent, and right now she makes more money than I do. We have two daughters, ages 4, and 18 months.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We buy the National Basic report.

6/26: 6 scholarships. I’m going for the best players I can get, but I’d like to go 3-3 or 4-2 either way, regarding guards or big guys. I’ll recruit mostly in New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and for really good students, throughout the country. We’ll look at LOTS of players.

I’ve talked to all of the guys coming back to the team, and to the two incoming freshmen; I took the trouble to go to the homes of the ones who are not on campus- most are, with summer jobs, summer school, or whatever. The returnees all know me, but I wanted to be sure they knew that the new sheriff in town has very high expectations. They seemed okay with that. We’ll see. I’ve met the two freshmen but don’t really know them.

My message to everyone- come to the first practice in shape and ready to work, practice your shooting ball handling, and everything else. Make sure that grades are a serious priority.

I cut two guys. One had a reputation as a party guy, and I could tell from our talk that he was not going to be the kind of kid I want. The other one let me know he wasn’t interested in playing for me. Good! Let’s cut the deadwood early.

I never mentioned that BU is 59-81 for the last 5 seasons. Last year we were 11-16. So I would look great with a .500 season, which is my goal.

7/31: We have some decent recruits showing at least a little interest.

8/21: We offer to 4 PGs, 2 PFs.

9/18: Weak schedule but all but one game on the road. I’ll be happy with 5-4, and not terribly upset with 4-5.

We have some interested recruits but no one has committed yet.

The semester has started, and so have 2 hour a night, 7 day a week mandatory study halls with tutors and at least one coach present.

9/25: Damn! Lost the three showing the most interest.

10/2: Lost another one.

1st day of practice. We’re picked 4th in the 10 team Patriot League. That would be great!

10/9: 2 more say no.

10/12: World population hits 6 billion.

10/23: We get one! PG, #396.

Practices are going great, mostly. When you push hard, the guys who want it badly enough get better and get stronger. The others don’t. Glad to say most of my guys, 8 or 9 are stepping up.

11/6: 9 man rotation to start:

Junior Zac Evan is at PG, backed by junior Alex Rilk, who is a surprise.

Senior Dal Wats is at SG with frosh Ad Shin backing up.

Senior Ferd Shaw starts at SF, subs at PF. Sophs Kris King and Maro West sub at SF.

Seniors Ted Hamm and Cal Holt split the rest of the time at PF and all of the time at C, with Hamm starting at PF, Holt starting at C.

Let’s see what happens!

[Wayne23]

11/12: Tragically, Glass-Steagall is repealed.

11/20: We split two road games. PF Ted Hamm looks like he’ll be our leader. We need to take better care of the ball, especially PG Zac Evan. I’m working on it.

Our only recruit, so far, signed.

Our next game is our only home game until Dec. 29. Ridiculous!

11/25: Elian Gonzalez becomes a political pawn.

12/4: 3-3. We won the home game easily, which encourages me regarding conf. play. Ball handling is our biggest problem, #332 in TOs, #34 steals allowed. Not good. We’re working on it every day.

12/25: We go to conference play 5-4, RPI #247. +1.9 PPG, +6.1 RBs, -3.6 TOs, +2.6 blocks, -0.6 assists, -4.0 steals. Ball handling remains a huge problem. We don’t have a go to guy, either. SG Dal Wats leads us with only 11.9 PPG. We have guys getting 11.8 (Ted Hamm, maybe our best player overall), 10.0, 8.7, 6.4, 6.3, 5.8. That puts us at #305 in scoring. What saves us is we’re #30 in PPG allowed.

12/31: Yeltsin resigns, leaving Putin in charge.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2000: 6-5, 1-1, RPI #221.

1/15: 8-7, 3-3, RPI #218. Winning at home, losing on the road.

1/29: 11-8, 6-4, RPI #165. In a 3 way tie for 1st. +1.1 PPG, +5.3 RBs, -2.7 TOs.

2 recruits we offered to did not hit our SAT score.

I have not been coming down real hard on my guys, especially after losses. I tend to hammer harder after wins. We’re doing better than I expected. I don’t think we’ll win the conf., but I can see us finishing in the top three.

2/12: 13-10, 8-6, RPI #175. In a 2 way tie for 2nd with 4 to play. 1 back of 1st.

2/26: 15-12, 10-8, in a 4 way tie for 2nd, #4 seed. RPI #205. +0.2 PPG, +5.1 RBs, -2.6 TOs.

[Wayne23]

3/3: We play #5 seed American, 13-15, 10-8, in the quarter finals. Lost by 6 there, won by 14 here. We need to take care of the ball.

3/4: 60-62. Very tough loss. 25, 10 for PF Ted Hamm, 10, 8 for C Cal Holt, 12 for Dal Wats, and all three graduate in May. We had the ball last, brought it down, and did what we’ve done all year, we turned it over.

I desperately need to sign some recruits. All I have is a PG at this point.

Will we get invited to a tournament. Very doubtful. I’m betting our season is over.

15-13, 10-8, RPI #223.

3/12: As expected, our season is finished. 15-13, tied for 2nd in conf. I’m happy with that. Now for some serious recruiting!

3/26: We get an SF, #124. Still hoping to land four more.

4/3: #6 seed Virginia wins the title.

4/4: Awards: Ted Hamm makes Patriot 1st team. That’s it.

4/9: I can’t believe the offers! Mississippi, Oregon ST, UTEP, Pepperdine.

4/10: I visit all 4. I’m going to Pepperdine. Probably not the best of the four, but I don’t want to climb too quickly. I can coach successfully in the West Coast Conf. I’ll work my way up to the top conferences in time.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. No.

15-13, 10-8, RPI #223.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We buy the West Gold.

6/5: 2 slots for transfers.

6/12: No luck.

6/26: 6 scholarships.

After a long, ridiculous drama, Elian Gonzalez is sent home.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, an SG, 2 PFs, and a C. They’re all showing a little interest.

9/18: Palmetto Shootout vs. Mississippi.

9/25: Got one, lost one. Got a PF, #59.

10/2: We get 2, lose one. PF #77, PF #87. We need guards!

1st day of practice. We’re picked 3rd.

10/9: We lose a guard.

11/6: 9 man rotation to start:

Senior Dana Dane starts at PG but frosh Ben Parr gets equal time.

Senior Stan Nils starts at SG, backed by junior Deek Brad.

Junior Marc Dark returns at SF, with soph Cory Sims subbing.

Walk on junior Des Pett starts at PF, subs at C. Senior Tom Lock subs at PF.

Senior Quin Wyat is at C. He is probably our best player.

11/7: The race for POTUS is a virtual tie. Eventually, W will be awarded the job.

[Wayne23]

11/20: We split 2 road games. SG Stan Nils is scoring lots of points, but the rest of the team isn’t doing a lot. We have not come together as a team yet.

Our 3 recruits sign but we’re still looking to sign 3 guards. We have none at this point.

Our home opener than off to the Palmetto where we’re the #7 seed.

11/25: We win the home game and play Mississippi, the #2 seed. They’re 2-1.

66-61. I didn’t think we were ready for an SEC team. 18, 7 for SG Stan Nils. 15, 5 for C Quin Wyat, 12 RBs for PF Des Pett. Good bench play. +7 TOs. We forced a lot of TOs (22).

#6 seed Duquesne, 3-0, in the semis. On paper it’s close. Their guards score a lot of points.

11/26: 93-86 in double OT. Hell of a win! 29, 7, 4 for Nils, 13, 10, 4 for Wyat, 13, 10 for sub PF Tom Lock, 13 for SF Marc Dark, 8, 7, 5 for PG Dana Dane. 20 TOs, but they had 21.

Never expected to get to the title game here, but we did! We play #4 seed George Washington, 4-1. On paper we match up pretty well.

11/27: 73-71 in OT. Back to back OT wins and the title! 32, 5 for Dark, 13 for sub guard Ben Parr, 10 RBs for Lock. 23 TOs, but they had 21. Nils had a poor game, 3-15, but he hit the winner in OT.

5-1, RPI #34. I don’t think we’re this good, but we’re definitely better than I thought we’d be.

I suspend little used frosh Tom Melo for two weeks. He got into it with another player, and when I brought him into the office to discuss it he played Mr. Tough Guy. I'll bounce him from the team next time.

12/4: Ranked! #22, RPI #25. 7-1.

12/25: 10-1, RPI #38. +7.8 PPG, +5.0 RBs, +2.9 TOs. Granted it’s been weak competition, but I never expected to do nearly this well. Nils leads us with 20.8, Wyat gets 13.0, 8.2, Dark averages 12.1, Pett gets 7.8 RBs.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2001: 11-2, 1-1. We lost to a mediocre team on the road. Not happy, and we’ll work hard at practice.

1/15: 15-2, 5-1, #22, RPI #24. In a 3 way tie for 1st.

1/29: 18-3, 8-2, #18, RPI #28. Tied for 1st with Brigham Young. +6.5 PPG, +3.0 RBs, +3.6 TOs.

2/5: Damn! 3 game losing streak. The good news is (1) We’re only 1 back of 1st, and (2) the rest of the conf. schedule is pretty soft.

2/12: 20-5, 10-4. #19, RPI #38. In a 3 way tie for 1st with 4 to play.

2/26: We end the regular season at 24-6, 13-5, #18, RPI #30. #2 seed in the conf. tourney. +5.3 PPG, +2.3 RBs, +3.9 TOs. Nils leads us with 19.7. I still don't believe we've done this well. Hope it continues in the post season!

[Wayne23]

3/6: We play #7 seed Portland, 15-14, 10-8, in the quarters. Beat them twice. We need to stop their backcourt.

Tom Melo is acting up again. I decide to go “three strikes you’re out.” Instead of kicking him off the team I give him his 2nd two week suspension.

3/7: 70-71. They hit a 27 footer at the buzzer for the win. Tough one. 27, 7 for Nils, 17, 5 for Dark. Only 9 TOs (+8), and +2 in RBs. We shot only 34.8%, and we let them shoot 49%. If there’s something to point to, that’s it. Still, a tough loss. I won’t be tough on the guys though. They feel bad enough. I’d rather kick butt after a win, or if we play sloppy, or lackadaisical ball.

Let’s see how high we get seeded in the NCAA tourney. A first round loss in the conf. tourney won’t help.

24-7, 13-5. #19, RPI #34.

3/12: #6 South, way better than expected. We play #11 Rice, 21-10. We beat them by 15 in the Bracket Breaker. But they’re tough outside.

3/17: 78-63. 15, 8 for Wyat, 15, 5 for Dark, 13 for Nils. We led most of the way.

#14 seed Montana, 19-13, shocked #3 seed, #12 ranked North Carolina. We play them in the 2nd round. They have a very balanced attack and use a lot of players. Always fresh legs in the game.

3/19: 67-79. They opened up a 20 point lead early and we never got back in it. 21 for Nils in his last game for us, 10, 11 for Wyat in his last game. Dark had 16, 5.

4/3: #1 Florida wins it all.

4/4: Awards: Stan Nils is West Coast Conf. POY and 1st team. Quin Wyat is Def. POY and 1st team. I am Conf. COY.

4/9: Some good teams are chasing me, but I’m staying for at least one more year.

4/16: We get 2 PGs, thankfully, #129, 147.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. No.

25-8, 13-5. Great first season here at Pepperdine!

[Wayne23]

5/1: West Coast Gold again.

I cut Tom Melo loose. He wasn’t going to ever play much, and he was a lot of trouble.

6/5: No one interesting in the transfer pool.

6/26: 5 scholarships. We want 3 bigs.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, 2 PFs, a C.

9/11: Well, you know. MANY warnings, some quite specific, were ignored. were ignored.

9/18: We get 3, 2 Cs, #24 and 57, and a PG, #248. 2 to go!

Sunshine Shootout vs. Indiana ST.

9/25: We lose 2.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We’re picked 7th. We’ll do better than that.

10/7: U.S. and allies attack Afghanistan.

10/9: Got a PG, #177. Lost a big guy.

11/6: 10 man rotation. The guard positions are completely up for grabs:

Senior Deek Brad starts at PG. Soph Ben Parr and frosh Curt Brey sub.

Junior Cory Sims is at SG. Frosh Scot Robi and Ike Jeph sub.

Frosh Tim Hail is at SF with frosh Yaro Bori subbing there and at PF.

Senior Marc Dark is at PF, subbing at C.

Senior walk on Des Pett is at C.