Matt Wolff Comes Back

The Terriers’ Comeback Kid

by Sam Perkins

BOSTON – Boston University opened the 2008 season with as much fanfare as the program has seen in its 100-year history. The crowd buzzed in anticipation of the most talented Terriers squad to take the floor in five years, as BU tipped off against the best opening-night atmosphere in school history: 4,624 fans packed the state-of-the-art Agganis Arena. BU celebrated its centennial by honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1958-59 Terriers, the most successful team in school history, and by retiring the jersey of Jack Leaman a captain on the 58-59 squad who went on to become a successful coach at UMass-Amherst).

There were stories galore in the season opener; the crowd was treated to a thriller, as George Washington edged the Terriers 63-58 in overtime. John Holland was terrific (22 points and 8 rebounds in what head coach Dennis Wolff called “The best game John Holland has played since he’s been here, in every area”), Corey Lowe was flat-out bad, and freshman Jake O’Brien burst onto the scene, showing a sweet shooting touch, and toughness in the paint that few outside the team expected.

“This was as good a first effort by a freshman forward that we’ve had here in a long, long time,” said Wolff.

Lost largely in the Terriers’ preseason expectations, Holland’s spectacular play, O’Brien’s debut, the electric environment, and the 100-year celebration, was the play of fifth-year senior Matt Wolff.

Wolff’s five points, eight rebounds, and four assists might have seemed pedestrian, but he got my vote for player of the game, doing a bit of everything to keep BU in the game.

Wolff has earned his status as a veteran: a team captain and the longest-tenured player on the roster. Yet it was Wolff, who has been around college basketball longer than anyone else in the conference (he’s the son of the Terriers’ head coach), who found himself fighting the same pre-game butterflies he felt as a green-around-the-gills freshman in what seems like a lifetime ago.

“I was just as nervous as the freshmen, I was excited about the game,” he reflected.

Who could blame him? It’s been three years since Wolff was himself, three long years of recovery from injury, three years of wondering whether he would ever get back, physically, to the player he was as a promising freshman.

“I haven’t played a full four years,” he reflected following the Terriers opener.

No one in the conference has fought more to simply get back on the court than Wolff over the past three seasons.

“I’m really proud of the effort that Matt has put in, and the attitude he has had, just to get back out on the floor,” his father stated during an interview a few weeks ago.

It’s been a long road for Wolff, who came to BU in the fall of 2004 having been named an All-Scholastic by the Boston Globe, and member of the Massachusetts high school Dream Team by the Boston Herald after leading Walpole High to two straight league titles and a Division II state championship.

In just the second game of his career, Wolff showcased his all-around game, scoring a career-high 17 points to go with 9 rebounds and 5 assists in a win over Fordham. Wolff enjoyed a solid freshman season, averaging 4.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while providing defense, shooting (.349 from behind the arc), and overall heady play off of the bench.

Wolff’s season, and career, came crashing down around him four games into his sophomore year, as he landed awkwardly pursuing a rebound, and tore his ACL.

What ensued was three years of rehab and setbacks. After rehabbing for a year in hopes of being ready to rejoin the team halfway through the 2006-07 season, Wolff re-injured his knee, which meant another round of medical procedures and rehab. Last season was largely a wash, as Wolff struggled to regain his feel for the game after two-years away from live action.

It’s been more than just the physical pain that has made Wolff’s comeback so daunting, as he has become far and away the most verbally abused player in the conference. Insults rain down on him nightly from not only opposing fans, but also the Terriers’ faithful.

Wolff was always an easy target for fans; that comes with the territory of playing for your father, but his lack of production while fighting his way back last season painted an even bigger target on his back. Wolff is never going to be a guy who scores fifteen points pet game; he probably won’t even average double figures, and many fans can’t understand how he play the minutes he does based on his sheer numbers.

But what Wolff does is lay everything he has on the court for forty minutes, and provide all the little things that a good team needs to win. Wolff’s hustle and heads up play were on display Friday, as he did a little bit of everything to keep the Terriers in the game.

“I feel like my role is what it is. I’m not going to be the leading scorer, I’m not going to be the leading assist man, but I’m comfortable in my role, I have a lot of pride in my role,” he reflected after the game.

Wolff seemed to be the first man on the floor after every loose ball, played hard-nosed physical defense, and set numerous screens, including one vicious pick that knocked Wynton Witherspoon of George Washington out of his shoes. Wolff also shined as the team’s leading distributor; he may have only come away with four assists, but he lost another half-dozen because of poor shooting by his teammates. He also did a magnificent job as a help defender in the low post in the absence of starting center Scott Brittain, frustrating high-flying Rob Diggs for much of the night.

“Matt made a million hustle-type plays,” said coach Wolff following the game.

When tempers flared late in the second half, Wolff was the first player into the shoving match to back up his teammates. But more importantly, he showed his true veteran leadership pulling his teammates away and getting their focus back to the game itself.

Wolff showed glimpses last night of being more than a role player. Physically, Wolff is a different player than he was last year, as he took the court in the best shape of his life at a ripped 6’6″ 215 pounds.

“My body is in better shape than I was coming in last season,” he said.

Wolff was the quickest and most athletic that he has been in his entire career at BU, and he showed parts of his game that he had never display. Where last season he was only good for one dribble and a hand off, it was Wolff who brought the ball up court and broke the Colonials’ press several times last night. And it was Wolff driving the paint and kicking out to an open man to jump-start the offense in the end of the first half.

No play better showcased the new Matt Wolff than when, during the overtime period, Diggs elevated for what looked like an uncontested two-handed slam, only to have Wolff fly in from the corner and reject his shot, something unthinkable from the Terriers guard-forward last season.

Wolff also displayed several hesitation moves and crossover dribbles while handling the ball, and the ability to change speeds while on the break, all of which were absent from his game last season.

While Wolff is never going to be the kind of player who changes a game on offense, he doesn’t have to be: The Terriers have scorers galore in Holland, Lowe, Brittain, Carlos Strong, and Tyler Morris. And BU needs a glue guy like Wolff to do all of the dirty work that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet in order to win, a role that he relishes.

“If it’s taking the open shot, if it’s going to the glass, and or trying to be a better defender, then that’s what I’m going to do,” said the senior.

Boston University hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2002, nor a conference championship game since 2003. It’s no coincidence that during those two season the Terrier’s were lead by point guard Kevin Fitzgerald, who like Wolff was never a statistical superstar, but who was arguably the most importantly player on some of the best teams in school history, running the offense, operating as a floor general, and doing all the “work in the trenches” that never shows up on paper. While Wolff isn’t a point guard, he is the closest thing BU has seen to “Fitz” in years, and whether fans like it or not, he will be critical in any run the Terriers make this year.