Al Skinner of Boston College is the leading candidate for ACC coach of the year. His Eagles are 18-6 overall and in first place with a 9-2 conference record, after adjusting well to the midseason dismissals of starting center Sean Williams and reserve forward Akida McLain. We recently caught up with Skinner and asked him about this year's team, his impressive playing career, the adjustment from the Big East to the ACC, his long-term future at BC and other topics.

DG: A lot of folks here in North Carolina see you on the sidelines and know you as the head coach at Boston College, but give us some idea of Al Skinner the person. What kinds of things do you like to do when you're not running the BC basketball program?

Skinner: Good or bad, there's really not a lot of hobbies. I still like to play (basketball) a little bit; I like to engage in that some. When I'm away from it, I actually like to just put my feet up, enjoy a little television, sit on the beach, take in a little sun. I'm pretty simple that way. I just try to unwind and relax a little bit.

DG: Here's another thing a lot of folks around the ACC don't know about you. A few years ago, your alma mater (Massachusetts) retired your jersey as a player. Some people probably can name Julius Erving as a former UMass star, but maybe they wouldn't be able to name Al Skinner. What was your style of play when you were lacing it up for the Minutemen?

Skinner: In college, I played a little bit of everything. I played some point guard when I was a sophomore. Overall, I played some one (point guard), some two (wing guard), some three (wing forward) and some four (power forward). I was mostly considered a forward, but I handled the ball pretty well. Coming out of New York City, I was a pretty good penetrator, a good athlete probably, and a pretty good defender. So I just kind of had an all-around game. I did a little bit of everything. I rebounded some, I scored some, I passed the ball some. I hopefully played some pretty decent defense, although I'm not sure my coach would agree with that.

Like I said, I was a pretty good all-around player, whereas Julius (Erving) was a very dominant player. When he was in college, it was 20-20 — 20 points and 20 rebounds (per game). I had double-figure rebounds, but it wasn't like that. It was a great experience for me. I had a chance to really develop as a player and just grow as a person. I'd like for all of my players to have some of the opportunities I had when I was in school. It was a terrific experience for me.

DG: I know you're a little bit younger than Dr. J, and that was in the days of only three years of college eligibility on the varsity. How exactly did your careers overlap?

Skinner: I was a freshman (at UMass) when he was a junior, and he left (for the pros) after his junior year, so we didn't get a chance to play together in college. But we did play together in the pros. We played together with the Nets, and also the 76ers. I was on the team that won the last ABA championship, with the Nets. Then he got traded to the Sixers, and a year later I got traded to the Sixers and had a chance to play with him there. So I was pretty fortunate to be able to play with one of the most exciting players ever to engage in this game. I feel very fortunate to have had the kind of career that I had, and to get a chance to play at the highest level and compete and play with and against the best. It was a very positive experience for me, and it worked well for me, and it really sort of laid the foundation for what my future was going to be.

DG: Back in the early 1970s, there were some interesting hairstyles. On the sidelines today, you have nice-looking suits and a clean, trim hairstyle. What was Al Skinner's "look" 35 years ago? Anything like Dr. J's famous afro?

Skinner: (Laughs.) Well, it was something similar, but not quite as large as Julius'. I made an attempt to get there, but I just wasn't as successful. You know, the long hair, the afro at the time, was the thing to wear, and the longer the better. I was a young man trying to make a little statement, trying to acquire an identity, so we were able to do that. Again, the experience I had playing, and some of the social issues that were made available to me and that I had a chance to experience, laid a nice foundation for what my future was going to be and some of the ideas that I presently have.

DG: I remember when Boston College joined the ACC, you were very clear that the Eagles were coming from a very good conference (Big East) and weren't going to be overwhelmed by anything the ACC had to offer. That said, are there significant differences between the two leagues, in terms of style of play, or media coverage, or fan support, or anything else that comes to mind?

Skinner: The one big difference is, every arena that we've gone into has been full, with a tremendous amount of support for the home teams. I think that has been a significant difference in the two leagues. Whether you're playing at Clemson, Florida State or Duke, it doesn't matter. Everybody talks about Duke's home court, but I haven't walked into a building yet that's been quiet. Everybody is very supportive of their teams — whether it's Virginia Tech, Virginia — and I just think it's a tremendous college environment. It's one that I think my team really enjoys, and one that we really appreciate.

DG: There's a certain sense of professionalism with your BC players, in the way they interact with us in the media, or when they're having very calm conversations with the officials on the court, or even just warming up before games. Is that by design, something you talk about and encourage, or is it just a reflection of the personalities of the players you've had over the last two seasons?

Skinner: It's a little bit of both. It's probably my approach to it. Also, remember that one difference between Boston College and a lot of other environments in the ACC is that we are in a professional town. So they get a chance to see the (NFL's) Patriots handle themselves, the (baseball) Red Sox handle themselves, the (NBA's) Celtics handle themselves, the (NHL's) Bruins handle themselves. They are able to rub elbows with those individuals, and recognize and appreciate the way they carry themselves on and off the floor. So those are the people that they emulate. Because of that, we probably do some of the things that are similar to what a lot of the professional teams here do.

DG: What's it like to be such a prominent college program in a city that probably always will be about pro sports first?

Skinner: What I think it does is, it allows you to keep it in perspective. I think we get our due when we earn it. People come around, and we get the attention that we need. It's what you've earned. When you earn it, you get it. If you're not earning it, then they (in the Boston area media) just leave it alone, which is fine with me. I'm comfortable with that, and my players are comfortable with that. We're in a town that's got some Super Bowl champs and some World Series champions, and the Celtics with their history, so it helps to keep it all in perspective, what we're trying to do and what we're trying to accomplish. We know it doesn't take one game, like our Florida State game, to make a season. We've gotta earn ours over the course of the year.

DG: Gary Williams of Maryland sometimes talks about feeling like he's — in his words — "in Alaska," because he's so far from the geographic center of the ACC here in North Carolina. Obviously, Boston is even farther away, and some people have thought that the Eagles have been overlooked at times in various polls and voting and other things. How has that process gone for you over the last two years?

Skinner: Well, it's like anything else, and I believe this. You've gotta kind of earn your way. There is a tremendous amount of history in this league, and there are individuals that have earned that. Well, we've gotta earn ours, and that's what we're trying to do. Eventually, I think, there becomes an appreciation for what you do and what you accomplish. But you've gotta go out and accomplish something before you can ask someone to recognize it.

DG: With this year's BC team, given what you've dealt with in terms of injuries and dismissals (Sean Williams, Akida McLain), are the Eagles ahead of where you thought they'd be right now?

Skinner: No. I think we're fortunate to be in a good place (18-6, 9-2 ACC) right now. We had to regroup there for a little bit, and it looks like we were able to do that. So we're just going to continue to move forward. The core of our team is in place, and these guys recognize that they've won a lot of basketball games, and they're going to continue to attempt to do that.

DG: What are the points of emphasis moving forward for your team?

Skinner: We've gotta make sure, defensively, that we have a good understanding of what we're trying to do. We do have to pay a little more attention to detail than maybe we have been in the past. If we can do that, then it gives us a chance to continue our success.

DG: Your senior forward, Jared Dudley, is one of the leading candidates — if not the leading candidate — for ACC player of the year. We see what he does for the Eagles on the floor, and his statistics are amazing. From your perspective, what makes Jared so valuable, and what would you emphasize as his best traits?

Skinner: Well, let's understand something. We're (9-2) in the league, after obviously playing against some quality opponents. Without (Dudley), we lost to — and not to knock this team, but they haven't played particularly well — a team like Duquesne. So I think that, right there, indicates the importance that he has to our club and the kind of success that we're gonna have.

DG: Regarding the dismissals of Williams and McLain, how do you draw the line between demanding respect and proper discipline and holding people accountable on one hand, but on the other hand keeping in mind that many young people make mistakes and wanting to give them a second chance or even a third chance?

Skinner: Well, everybody has to do what they're comfortable with. You do your discipline with what you're comfortable with, and what you're willing to accept, and what you think your team can tolerate. Each individual's tolerance is different. At the end of the day, you have to do what you're comfortable with, and hopefully everyone else will follow suit.

DG: How dramatically different is what you teach in practice defensively after you lose one of the best shotblockers in the country?

Skinner: It's not so much what we teach. It's not going to be anything different. It's just that, as a team, we have to appreciate that that's not an asset (Williams) that's any longer there. Again, we have to pay closer attention to detail. If we do that, then that's going to be important to us. I told them all along, it's important for us not to rely on that aspect and let that become an integral part of what our defense is going to be. That should be icing on the cake. That should not be the cake.

DG: Can you make it through the rest of the season with what looks like five guys (Dudley, Tyrese Rice, Sean Marshall, John Oates, Shamari Spears) who are going to play an awful lot of minutes, then two guys (Marquez Haynes, Tyrelle Blair) off the bench? Can you make it through with only seven?

Skinner: We're gonna have to. You have no choice. But as I told my guys, they're playing for a guy who played every minute that was available to him when he was in college. I never wanted to sit down. I never really asked to come out. I worked my tail off, and that's what I wanted. I'm not saying that you can't fatigue — everybody gets a little bit tired — but you've gotta go on and get back in the fight, and I think we have guys who are willing to do that.

DG: When one of your colleagues, Tom O'Brien, left Boston College to come to N.C. State, he mentioned that 10 years is a long time for any one person to be in any one place in any one job. You were the head coach at Rhode Island for nine years, and now you're in your 10th year at BC. You're 54 years old. Is there such a thing as a 10-year itch? Do you have a dream to coach in the NBA or elsewhere some day, or do you see yourself retiring with the Eagles?

Skinner: Well, right now, I'm just concentrating on my team. I think I'm going to be here for a long time. There's really no other university that I'm that interested in coaching at. I've had other opportunities, and obviously I've turned those down. As far as the professional ranks are concerned, that's always there, but that's not something that I'm looking forward to. Right now, I'm enjoying what I'm doing, and I'm very happy where I am, and I'm not willing to make a change. If the administration comes to me and says they want to look in another direction, then that's their decision and then I have to adjust to that. But right now, we're just going to make this work and try to do the best we can.