War stories from the Hardwood

June is usually the month college basketball coaches take time off from recruiting, traveling, and dealing with the day-to-day business of their sport. But Dennis Wolff thought this year would be different. He was prepared for an extended period of inactivity on the heels of the decision by Boston University in March to fire its all-time winningest coach. During his 15-year tenure with the Terriers, Wolff compiled a 247-197 record, and he was coming off a 17-13 season. So Wolff was pleasantly surprised a few weeks ago when he was contacted by representatives from the National Association of Basketball Coaches who were putting together a group of coaches for their annual Operation Hardwood trip, in which coaches visit American troops in the Middle East. Wolff eagerly accepted the offer to become part of the first group of coaches to visit Afghanistan (Kuwait and Iraq had been visited on previous trips). Also in the traveling party was former Virginia and Providence coach Pete Gillen, American University's Jeff Jones, former South Carolina and Wake Forest coach Dave Odom, Manhattan College's Barry Rohrssen, University of California-Davis's Gary Stewart, DePaul's Jerry Wainwright, and deputy executive director of the NABC Reggie Minton. The trip began with a visit to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, an eye-opening experience for Wolff. ``We met a 19-year-old soldier from Staten Island who lost both his arms and legs in an IED [improvised explosive device] explosion,'' said Wolff. ``It was unreal for all of us to see these kids who would be like freshmen on our teams. It was a very moving experience.'' After visiting Walter Reed, Wolff and the other coaches traveled to Kuwait City. ``After spending the night in Kuwait City, we got up the next morning and got ready to make the trip to Afghanistan,'' said Wolff. ``It was a C-130. The plane had no markings. They issued us a helmet and a kevlar vest. The plane also didn't have any seats per se, just netting. It was the first time we recognized we were heading into something that none of us had ever experienced.'' But there were some normal activities in the war zone. At Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan, Wolff woke up to the sound of touch football, volleyball, and soccer games outside the barracks. But the conversations always centered around the missions. ``A lot of the guys talked about the presence of the British, and how the feeling was how they always `had our backs' covered,'' said Wolff. ``One of the prime groups over there was the British Special Forces, who had just been part of a raid that had taken in something like 41 tons of heroin, which they said was one of the largest raids in history. They told us the plan is to take those fields and convince the farmers to plant other crops.'' At Kandahar, the coaches also saw other landmarks, such as the old air traffic control tower that had been around since the Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1979. One night, the coaches took part in a ``Fallen Comrade Ceremony.'' ``Everyone was standing at attention as a body was brought out and saluted. It was an unbelievable, moving ceremony,'' said Wolff. ``It really brought the reality of what was going on to the forefront.'' The coaches caught another glimpse of reality when they were flying to the Bagram Air Base. As they made their approach for landing, the pilot suddenly veered to the left, turned around and landed in the opposite direction. ``They told us it was known as a combat landing because someone could be targeting the landing area,'' said Wolff. The maneuver took on added meaning days later when Bagram was the target of a mortar attack, which killed two soldiers and wounded six others. The basketball part of the trip was called ``Meet and Greet'' - where the coaches talked and played hoops with the soldiers. ``We met some soldiers whose job was to clear mines around the base,'' said Wolff. ``Later in the afternoon, we met some Green Berets and they told us about the history of the place. The Special Forces guys were older, most of them were college graduates. We got to talking about discipline in terms of players. They told us that their idea of discipline was someone who had the mental toughness of spending five days in a foxhole without coming out once, even to go to the bathroom. All of us walked away from these guys with a feeling that these are some ``bad'' men. I wouldn't feel comfortable with these guys coming after you.'' But even life in a war zone can have funny moments. That happened when the group was flying back to Bagram in a pair of Black Hawk helicopters. ``The Black Hawks were for the commander, so they had sophisticated systems on board which could detect incoming missiles,'' said Wolff. ``When that happens, the system is designed to set up flares as a diversion. The seating arrangement had some of us facing forward and some facing backward. So Pete Gillen is sitting up near the front facing backward and he has headphones, so he can hear what the pilots hear. He hears something and thinks that something has been shot at us and he starts yelling, convinced that some scud missiles are headed our way. It's nothing, but he had us going.'' Gillen, who had coaching stints at Xavier, Providence, and Virginia before moving to television commentary the past few years, served as the master of ceremonies during the Meet and Greet sessions. One night, the coaches heard questions from a soldier who said he was a Connecticut graduate. ``I told him that I had gone to UConn,'' said Wolff. ``He said that he had never heard of me. I told him that my daughter Nicole had gone to UConn and played on the women's team. He had heard of her. I said that's the story of my life. I fly 10,000 miles to get humbled by my own daughter.'' On their last full day in Afghanistan, the coaches got more involved in the war effort. ``We talked to a lot of the pilots and airmen,'' said Wolff. ``It was eye-opening. They asked us if we wanted to write anything on any of the bombs. A lot of guys who had lost friends and relatives on 9/11 did. So did I. We went out in front of the barracks and there was some cement barricades and there was some writing, marking down the years since 9/11. When the trip came to an end, the coaches said they had a different perspective. ``I was nervous going into this trip,'' said Wolff. ``But I was overwhelmed by what I saw. It was one of the most rewarding things I've done in my life. You learn that no matter what your political persuasion is, those soldiers over there are doing what our country's leadership has asked them to do. Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun @globe.com.