Cornell Transfer Greg Dolan Brings Experience to Men’s Basketball Roster

Graduate guard Greg Dolan has made an immediate impact as one of the new faces in the Loyola men’s basketball team’s backcourt. Starting in all of the Ramblers’ early games, the Cornell University transfer has already made an impact with the team, averaging 7.3 points, 3.6 assists and four rebounds.

The Buffalo, New York native said he’s been playing basketball since before he can remember and his earliest memories surround the game. His mother played in college, and he said both his father and all three of his siblings play. 

Dolan elected to stay close to home and attend Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where he majored in finance and real estate and was a member of the Big Red men’s basketball squad. In 68 games with Cornell, Dolan averaged 8.1 points, 2.4 assists and 2.7 rebounds. 

In his fourth-year season Dolan received a Second-Team All-Ivy League selection and led his team in scoring and assists averaging 13.3 points and 3.5 assists per game. Following the completion of his undergraduate degree, Dolan entered the transfer portal where he said he was contacted by several programs. 

He said he took all of the offers he received into consideration but ultimately chose Chicago and the maroon and gold after learning more about Loyola and visiting the campus.

“Loyola kind of checked a lot of the boxes that I was looking for in the type of masters degree I wanted to do,” he said. “You know, the type of role I could have on the team and getting close to a city or a place with a great fan base and great history.”

Dolan said when he entered the portal, he wanted to prioritize picking a school in a city and also wanted to move out of upstate New York. Chicago emerged as a good fit, although he said it has been much more Midwestern than he was expecting. 

Dolan said playing in the very competitive Ivy League prepared him to make the transition to Loyola and the Atlantic 10. He said the more unconventional system at Cornell was a good fit for him and upped his ability to improvise on the floor.

“It was much more action-based and, you know, kind of teaching us to think the game through more than like set plays, and I really enjoyed that,” he said. “Our coach gave us a lot of freedom to play with the ball in our hands and play with each other and for the team.”

He said the transition into Loyola’s more regimented system, which includes more set plays, hasn’t been too challenging as head coach Drew Valentine has implemented similar strategies and it has been fun for him to get used to his new team’s playstyle. 

“It’s kind of a fun challenge to take on and see what you can do for a year,” Dolan said. “And yeah, just the teammates and everyone, all the coaches have been very supporting of all the transfers this year and I think at a lot of places that sometimes isn’t the case.”

He added how playing at Cornell, where there weren’t strict set roles on the team, has set him up for success at Loyola where he has been playing multiple guard spots, both as the primary ball handler and as a more scoring-centric secondary guard. 

“I’ll certainly have the ball in my hands for certain possessions or plays but can also play off the ball as well,” he said. “So I’ve really enjoyed that and I think we have a lot of guys on the team who can do both, which is fun because it makes the team much more dynamic and tougher to guard.”

Dolan is working towards completing a masters degree in data analytics and said Chicago has provided him with opportunities to network and seek opportunities after he completes his education.

He said in his free time he has enjoyed hanging out with his teammates and getting to know them better.

“They’ve been really great and accepting of me and the other transfers,” he said. “I always enjoyed reading in my spare time, trying to pick up different books.”

Dolan said the team can often be found playing different board games and card games together and has particularly enjoyed playing chess with fellow former Ivy-Leaguer graduate forward Dame Adelekun, who played at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

He said he feels the experience of getting to know the team both on and off the court will help them as the season continues.

“Our goal is to just keep getting better and better by January and February,” he said. “So then, when March comes around, we’re well-prepared for what lies ahead of us.”

Featured image by Holden Green | The Phoenix