Boston College Athletics
Q&A With Dennis Clifford
October 21, 2014 | Men's Basketball
How has your body reacted to the first couple weeks of practice?
"I feel great so far. I'm in better shape than I thought I was going to be in, just trying to adjust to practice and stuff like that. I think it's been great so far. I feel 100 percent."
How long have you been doing basketball activity?
"I started trying to get back into shape late last spring, that's when I started to feel much better. The first half of this summer was transitioning to doing on-the-court activity. The second half of the summer I was pretty much full-go. Ever since then, we haven't had any real setbacks and I've been going 100 percent."
Take us back to two years ago. How were you feeling that season?
"I got hurt at the beginning of my sophomore season. It was one of those things that we thought was going to get better and it just kept getting worse and worse. Hindsight is 20/20 but I was probably playing at 40 percent."
How difficult was last year?
"Last year was tough for the team and me. After my surgery, I thought I was going to be able to get back quicker than I was, but I think it was a product of sitting out so long that I wasn't able to get in shape fast enough. I wasn't able to get my body prepared so I ended up having to sit and watch the struggle."
What was the most difficult part of the healing process?
"That phase where - late last spring and early summer - some days I felt good on the court and then some days I had to sit out and rest, and do different things to try and prepare my body to go 100 percent. That was the toughest thing for me and that was a repetitive thing. When I got back, I wanted to go 100 percent all of the time and that wasn't the case. I had to take certain steps."
What changes have you seen in the team from the end of last season to right now?
"The coaching staff has changed the culture in a lot of different and positive ways. I think that has trickled down to the players on the team. Everyone is feeling better about themselves and each other. There's a lot of positivity in the locker room which is very good. I'm looking forward to a productive season."
What is a Jim Christian practice like?
"One thing that stood out to me is that the whole coaching staff is fired up for practice every single day. They bring it every day which is really awesome to be a part of. Sometimes you walk into the gym dragging a bit but when you see the coaches fired up, you're like `Alright, let's go. This is going to be a fun two hours.' And it ends up being like that."
Why do you wear #24?
"When I was in high school, I played AAU with a kid named Jamal Wilson. His favorite number was 24. He was shot and killed in my junior year so I wear it in honor of him."
What are you looking forward to the most in the next 24 days?
"The number one thing is probably just playing against someone else besides Will (Magarity) and Idy (Diallo). We just attack each other every day in practice and I just cannot wait until I face somebody else. The other side of that is actually playing with everybody on the team. Every day at practice, I'm with some of the players but I'm against the other half."
