New Bedford's Dwayne Pina still defying the odds
February 09, 2009 6:00 AM
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Don't try to tell Dwayne Pina he can't do something. He just might prove you wrong.
The former New Bedford High basketball guard and fourth-year assistant coach at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., took his hoop talents to Boston College in 1996, whether it wanted him or not. No recruiting, no scholarship, no chance to play there.
Wanna bet?
First-year Bryant head coach Tim O'Shea became as assistant at BC, coming over with Al Skinner when he moved to The Heights from the University of Rhode Island in 1997. He remembered Pina's climb to starting guard at BC very well.
"Pina started at Midnight Madness at Boston College in Al's (Skinner) first year," O'Shea said. "We had six scholarship players and we were going to play in the Maui (Invitational) that year. I said to Al that we needed five walk-ons just to practice. We held a practice at midnight and, of course, Al doesn't show up so it's my job to pick who we needed to get.
"Lo and behold, Pina shows up for tryouts and he's not bad, so he made the initial cut. We never intended for any of those guys to play. They were going to be practice dummies, guys to get out there so we could have practice, but there was something about Pina. He kept making plays and he was a very, very smart player.
"We weren't very good and I said to Al that I think Pina can play, and I kind of pushed the issue. Al got mad at me and told me to forget Pina.
"We finally put him in a game at Providence and we were struggling. Right away, Dwayne made a couple of plays. He really showed composure and we all recognized it. He started playing and actually started on a Big East team. To go from an unrecruited walk-on from the student body to earn a starting position in the Big East and have a decent career there was a remarkable thing."
Midway through his sophomore season, Pina was given his athletic scholarship and the playing time that came along with it. As a junior in 1998-99, he started all 27 of BC's games. Pina started his senior year behind new recruit Troy Bell, but wound up playing 25 minutes a game in the same backcourt as the future first-round pick and NBA player.
After BC, Pina came home to New Bedford, where he still lives, and took a job teaching at New Bedford High. For five years, he taught history and general science.
"It was a good experience," Pina said. "You get to see kids as freshmen and then see them graduate. It's similar to what I have at Bryant University."
In 2004-05, he was hired as a part-time coach at Rhode Island College and met Bryant coach Max Good while he was working out a couple of players. Good was impressed with Pina, and hired him for his Bryant staff four years ago.
Good left Bryant for the sunny climate of Los Angeles to be an assistant to Bill Bayno at Loyola Marymount - he became head coach there earlier this season when Bayno resigned due to health reasons. When O'Shea was looking to move back to his "home" Rhode Island, the former assistant coach contacted his former player.
"I called Dwayne to find out about Bryant and he said wonderful things about it," O'Shea said. "Knowing Dwayne as I did as a person, his thoughts about Bryant meant a lot to me. I told him, 'If I ever became the coach there, I want you on my staff.'"
Pina works with the perimeter players in practice, and does recruiting and scouting. It sometimes leads to a hypocritical situation.
"I went to BC because I thought I could play there," Pina said. "We're a low major program and some kids have hopes of playing in the ACC. When I talk to recruits, for me to say 'you can't play at that level,' that's the same situation that I was in.
"I try to keep them level-headed. There's nothing wrong with playing Division II, Division III or even at a low-level Division I school. I tell kids to go where you're wanted. Pick a school that wants you."
Since moving to Division I for this season, Bryant - which made the last four Div. II Sweet Sixteens and lost the title game in 2005 - has added a transfer from UMass, who will be eligible next year, and four new recruits.
"It makes a difference in recruiting to say we're Division I," Pina pointed out. "We signed four kids early that we wouldn't have gotten a sniff at if we were still Division II. Kids want to play Division I basketball. As for the school, Bryant sells itself."
It's much like what Pina has done all through his basketball career.
"He's a bright person, he has that BC degree and I think he has a great future in coaching," O'Shea said. "I believe someday he'll be a Division I head coach. I'm just grateful to have him now as an assistant coach. Everything Max said about him was true. He's hard working, he recognizes talent and he's great with the Xs and Os. He's everything you'd want in an assistant coach."
Where does Pina see himself in five years?
"I'd like to be on the floor with Bryant in the NCAA tournament," he said. "I'm making a living coaching basketball and everything else in my life is fine.
"Some day, I definitely want to be a head coach and have my own program, but I don't see that in the next five years."
Don't tell Dwayne Pina he can't do it. He might just prove you wrong - again.
Contact Bill Abramson at sports@s-t.com
