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Thursday, January 02, 2003

By Rich Emert

Frank "Happy" Dobbs has never backed away from a challenge. Maybe that's why he is excited about taking over the struggling men's basketball program at Oberlin College. He is also an assistant athletic director at the college.

	Frank "Happy" Dobbs

Dobbs, 40, is a graduate of Allderdice High School and best known for his playing career at Villanova. A talented guard and four-year starter, Dobbs helped Villanova to four appearances to the NCAA tournament, including two appearances in the Sweet 16 and trips to the Elite Eight.

After graduating from Villanova in 1984, Dobbs was an assistant coach at Dartmouth for four years and Boston College for three before taking the head coaching job at Brown University. He was there for eight years and was an assistant coach at Cleveland State under former Villanova Coach Rollie Massimino the past three seasons. He and his wife Karen have a son, Frank, 12, and a daughter, Alexis, 10.

Q: Why Oberlin?

A: It just sort of worked out. I live about 20 to 25 minutes outside of Cleveland, and Oberlin is about 25 minutes west of where we live. We didn't really want to move, but I was interested in becoming a head coach again. Oberlin is a good academic school, and I've been in that situation before at Brown. It just worked out.

Q: How is the program there?

A: The school doesn't have a rich athletic history when it comes to basketball. The team was 9-17 last season but had an ineligible player and had to forfeit those wins and ended up 0-26. I didn't start here until the first of July, so I didn't have much of an opportunity to recruit. We got off to an 0-7 start, but the players we have are working hard.

Q: What's going to be the toughest part of the job?

A: There are three things I've asked of the team. I want it to be as strong mentally in games as they are physically. I want us to get better every day. And I want us to try and create a winning philosophy throughout the program.

Q: Because it is Division III, do you coach any differently?

A: Basketball is basketball. Actually, I think the players at this level have better skills because they are not as gifted athletically or physically. Plus, the Division I player is on a scholarship. For them, playing college ball is more like a job. The Division III guys play the game because they love it. They know their basketball careers are going to be over after four years and they'll be out in the world doing something else.

Q: Is it tough recruiting for a Division III school?

A: The evaluation process is the big thing. Sure, you'd like to get the kid who has Division I talent but you're looking for just the best player you can get. I've been in this situation before at Brown, and you also try to sell a recruit on the fact he's going to get a good education and, in our case, have a chance to come in and maybe play some right away.

Q: Do your players have any idea how good a player you were?

A: They have some idea. I'm always talking about Pittsburgh and about the Steelers. We've got players from all over the country, but we do have guys from Ohio and dealing with Browns fans has been tough.

Q: After college, didn't you get drafted by the NBA?

A: I was picked in the eighth round by the 76ers. That was the same year Charles Barkley was their first pick. The 76ers happened to be loaded with guards at the time and had Mo Cheeks and Dr. J., and they made a guy named Leon Wood, a first-round pick. I had an opportunity to go overseas and play and would have gone but I didn't think it was lucrative enough, so I got into coaching.

Q: How did you end up at Villanova? Did you consider Pitt or Duquesne?

A: I probably would have stayed home if Tim Grgurich had stayed at Pitt, but he left and Dr. [Roy] Chipman came in, and I didn't know how long he would be there. The coaching situation at Duquesne also wasn't very stable. I was recruited by Duke, but Bill Foster left there to take the South Carolina job and I didn't have an opportunity to meet Coach K. I knew Rollie wasn't leaving Villanova and that's why I went there.

Q: Your younger brothers all played college basketball. What was it like growing up in that environment?

A: We were all very competitive. Collins ended up playing at Duquesne, Mark at Robert Morris and Chris at Carnegie Mellon. We used to have some good pickup games. Myself and Chris would take on Collins and Mark and we'd win most of the times.

Q: What do you remember most about your playing days at Villanova?

A: There isn't really one game that stands out. The thing was we had a real team spirit and guys who didn't care who got the glory. We just expected to win and didn't care who got the points, just as long as the team was successful. That's the way it's supposed to be with everybody contributing.

Q: What was it like playing for and coaching with Massimino?

A: We've had a good relationship over the years. The thing I like about him is that he tells it like it is. A lot of people don't like that, but that's the way he is. I've learned a lot from him ... about how to read people and the business of college coaching. I've established my own philosophy, but a lot of it comes from him. He gets a little excited, but a lot of the things he says to you as a player make a lot more sense the older you get. I've been fortunate to learn from him and from Jim O'Brien, who was the head coach at Boston College when I was an assistant there.

(Have an idea for a Where are they Now? E-mail it to emert196@attbi.com)