FRANKLYWNOW - Despite struggles, Dempsey proud of Bearcats

With his third year at the helm of the BU Bearcats men's basketball team, Tommy Dempsey has seen his fair share of struggles, several in this year alone. But despite all that, he's especially proud of the way this year's team handled every hurdle they faced.

The Bearcats finished the season just 6-26 (5-11), but from the get-go faced a lot of adversity. First, there was the suspension to sophomore guard John Rinaldi following legal troubles, then the headache that became Jordan Reed which resulted in the star junior's decision to transfer, and finally season ending injuries to Dusan Perovic and Nick Madray, leaving the Bearcats bench short both in numbers and in height. Add to the mix, a 14-game losing streak in the middle of the season, and it's even more impressive that they lost to Stony Brook in the America East quarterfinals by only five points.

Despite a limited number of ups and several more downs throughout the year, Dempsey is pleased with his team and still sees a bright future ahead.

"I thought the players responded to every hurdle that they came across," he said. "They rallied. They came together and they became a solid basketball team by the end of the year. So I thought those were some of the positives."

After his first three years at BU, Dempsey is 17-76.