Spring Break
Out for the year, Dyson does his best to stay involved
Marc Gauthier
Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: Sports
In the first half of UConn's win over Purdue last week, coach Jim Calhoun took out Kemba Walker after he committed a turnover. He walked over to the bench after receiving one of Calhoun's notorious glares.
Walker was about to take his seat, when Jerome Dyson stood up and walked over to the freshman point guard.
Dyson, in his tan, three-piece suit, put his arm around Walker and gave him some advice.
"I just let him know that he's in the game for a reason," Dyson said. "Coach has a lot of confidence in him and he just has to go out there and not play like a freshman.
I was telling him different situations where he could take his man off the dribble, 'cause he's so quick and fast, I feel sometimes he can beat anybody out there to the bucket."
When Dyson injured his knee against Syracuse on Feb. 11, he wouldn't play another game this season. He was done.
But then again, Dyson isn't one for giving up easily.
After he decided he wouldn't play another game, Dyson took on a new role for his team.
He became an unofficial assistant coach.
"I've just been trying to keep people motivated," Dyson said. "After those first two losses to Pittsburgh and the loss to Syracuse, we just had to get everybody on the same page and let them know that I'm not coming back. It's going to be a different team from here on out. Different players are going to have to do different things on different nights."
On game nights, Dyson shows up to the gym, wearing a different suit each time, and gets his teammates ready for the task ahead.
It's tough for Dyson to come into each game knowing that he won't hear his name in the starting lineup or that he won't get a chance at a monstrous slam-dunk that sends the crowd roaring.
But with all the bad comes the good.
"It definitely hurts not being out there and not playing," Dyson said. "But it's great to watch them have so much success without me 'cause everyone was talking about how bad our team would be and how bad of a loss I was."
When he's not helping his fellow teammates, Dyson is keeping up with his rehab, working out and himself back into basketball shape.
To date, Dyson is right on schedule with the rehab program. He continues to see his physician, Dr. Joyce at UConn. He works out his knee on the bike everyday, and says he's feeling good.
"There's not that much pain in it anymore," he said. "I've been walking on it for a while and you know, during games I take off the brace. I'm gonna be doing rehab even after I'm back able to play. All summer I'll be at UConn trying to get stronger and stronger."
As Dyson continues to strengthen his knee, he'll continue to coach his teammates.
But in hindsight, there's one thing he wishes he could have done to make his team better.
"If we could have had everybody going like this," he said, "I think I would have taken an injury a little bit sooner."
Walker was about to take his seat, when Jerome Dyson stood up and walked over to the freshman point guard.
Dyson, in his tan, three-piece suit, put his arm around Walker and gave him some advice.
"I just let him know that he's in the game for a reason," Dyson said. "Coach has a lot of confidence in him and he just has to go out there and not play like a freshman.
I was telling him different situations where he could take his man off the dribble, 'cause he's so quick and fast, I feel sometimes he can beat anybody out there to the bucket."
When Dyson injured his knee against Syracuse on Feb. 11, he wouldn't play another game this season. He was done.
But then again, Dyson isn't one for giving up easily.
After he decided he wouldn't play another game, Dyson took on a new role for his team.
He became an unofficial assistant coach.
"I've just been trying to keep people motivated," Dyson said. "After those first two losses to Pittsburgh and the loss to Syracuse, we just had to get everybody on the same page and let them know that I'm not coming back. It's going to be a different team from here on out. Different players are going to have to do different things on different nights."
On game nights, Dyson shows up to the gym, wearing a different suit each time, and gets his teammates ready for the task ahead.
It's tough for Dyson to come into each game knowing that he won't hear his name in the starting lineup or that he won't get a chance at a monstrous slam-dunk that sends the crowd roaring.
But with all the bad comes the good.
"It definitely hurts not being out there and not playing," Dyson said. "But it's great to watch them have so much success without me 'cause everyone was talking about how bad our team would be and how bad of a loss I was."
When he's not helping his fellow teammates, Dyson is keeping up with his rehab, working out and himself back into basketball shape.
To date, Dyson is right on schedule with the rehab program. He continues to see his physician, Dr. Joyce at UConn. He works out his knee on the bike everyday, and says he's feeling good.
"There's not that much pain in it anymore," he said. "I've been walking on it for a while and you know, during games I take off the brace. I'm gonna be doing rehab even after I'm back able to play. All summer I'll be at UConn trying to get stronger and stronger."
As Dyson continues to strengthen his knee, he'll continue to coach his teammates.
But in hindsight, there's one thing he wishes he could have done to make his team better.
"If we could have had everybody going like this," he said, "I think I would have taken an injury a little bit sooner."
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