Starting point guard Dillon surprises fans in senior year
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Assistant Sports Editor
NEW YORK
Irish point guard Jimmy Dillon surprised everybody but himself this season with his marked improvement.
Last year, Dillon was a reserve who chalked up nearly as many turnovers as he did assists. Now a senior, Dillon holds a steady spot in the starting lineup for the first time in his career.
"You want to say you're surprised, and I know it surprised a lot of the public," Dillon said. "But myself, it's sort of not an honor, but a reward for all the hard work."
And he earned it. He improved his stats in every area of the game this year: shooting, rebounding and most of all assists. In Big East play, Dillon is shooting 47 percent and has one of the best assist to turnover ratios in the conference.
"Jimmy's a very good shooter, but we have very good shooters on our team, and I think he enjoys setting up his teammates," head coach Matt Doherty said. "He's just accepted his role as one to distribute the ball, play tough defense, play with a lot of intensity, and he's done a great job with it."
The improvement didn't come easily. Dillon strove to increase his strength by hitting the weights last summer, and competed in a league with fellow Philadelphia native Matt Carroll, a freshman guard for the Irish.
But gaining emotional maturity was just as significant in his development as was physical maturity. Last season, Dillon went through his toughest Notre Dame experience, a one-game suspension for throwing a soda bottle at a bus.
"It was Junior Parents Weekend, and I went out and did something dumb and took my suspension from it," Dillon said. "It was a home game against West Virginia, and I went home and sat there and realized I wasn't helping my team and being a part of the game."
The incident taught Dillon exactly what not to do, and he developed better composure both on and off the court as a result. As the team's lone senior starter, he also became the emotional leader.
"I see him as being the leader on the team," Carroll said. "If you look at the teams that have won national championships and had a lot of success, usually they are the teams that are real close on and off the court. And I think that's the way our team is."
The coaching change from John MacLeod to Doherty opened the door for Dillon's enlarged role for the Irish. While MacLeod had the helm, Dillon stood on uncertain ground, never sure of his place on the team. Under Doherty, Dillon plays 30 minutes per game (twice as much as last season) and directs the Notre Dame offense.
"Coach has showed some confidence in me to be a starter on this team and being a leader out there," Dillon said. "It's just different from last year because I wasn't sure how long I was going to be on the court. This year, I know he needs me out there to lead the team."
Dillon's poise allows him to act as an on-the-court coach, a role that may prove useful after graduation as he hopes to coach college basketball.
"It's important that you have upperclassmen who can be leaders because they've been through things that the younger guys haven't been through," Doherty said. "It's important to help motivate the team. I can only do so much. It's got to come from the players."
Winning is an attitude to Dillon, one he hopes the Irish will display in coming weeks because for him, there is no tomorrow.
"To myself, I've always known that winning's an attitude, and it hasn't been there the past three years, and this year with Coach's mind-frame and him having us believing that we can compete with teams ... it's a whole new ballgame. We had five wins over ranked opponents this year, and nobody around would ever think that would be possible."
Unlike the team's underclassmen, Dillon can't wait until next year for an NCAA Tournament berth. It must come now.
"My career is winding down," Dillon said. "You kind of look and say you don't want to take basketball for granted. A loss is a loss, and a win is a win. And if you don't give it all, you know that's something you start regretting."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, March 8, 2000
