When Dennis Wolff took over as coach of the Boston University men’s basketball team 12 years ago, he inherited a program that was reeling. The Terriers had undergone four straight losing seasons, going a combined 38-73.
After his introduction as head coach in 1994-95, Wolff has helped rebuild the once-downtrodden program to the modern-day, competitive squad it is today.
It took Wolff just two seasons to restore the Terriers to a .500 team and only three to make it to the NCAA Tournament.
And with the occasional sub-par seasons here and there, Wolff has maintained a level of competitiveness and sportsmanship in a tenure marked by success, particularly in the past four seasons.
Over that span, Wolff’s teams won over 20 games each season and qualified for postseason play in all four years — both firsts in BU hoops history — while amassing a whopping 85 wins.
Those wins especially, along with seven this season, have helped Wolff come one step away from his next accomplishment — winning his 200th game at BU.
“I am aware,” said Wolff of the milestone. “But I really haven’t thought about it a lot. I’ve been busy trying to get us straightened out and winning as many games as we can.”
Wolff, already the all-time leader in wins in BU men’s basketball, can get No. 200 today against the University of Hartford at The Roof. But don’t expect him to do any gloating, because, according to Wolff, it’s his players that have earned those victories.
“Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to coach good players who have won a lot of games,” Wolff said. “I’m very happy to have had good players, good seasons, and to be in the position almost every year to compete.
“And with that, you’re gonna have wins.”
Wolff said that when he does achieve the milestone, he’ll have to wait until after the season to cherish it.
“I often have a chance to reflect on [each season] afterward,” Wolff said, citing the time constraints that don’t allow him to do so during the season. “But I’ll always remain thankful for the opportunity BU gave me 12 years ago.”
That opportunity has translated to 199 career wins, with a shot at the magic number tonight.
Last time out, the Terriers (7-11, 4-3 America East) eked out a dramatic two-point win over the University of Vermont at Agganis Arena, courtesy of Corey Hassan’s floating runner in the lane with 2.6 seconds left. Meanwhile, Hartford (7-10, 3-4) edged Stony Brook University, 71-68, in its last time game to win for only the second time in their last eight games.
Now BU has the chance to net its third straight victory after possibly turning the corner against Vermont.
“I think these guys have played very hard, these games have all been eerily similar,” Wolff said. “I do think in the past couple games we’ve been rewarded for our effort, but I still think we can play way better offensively, and we’ll have to [in order] to win.”
Against Vermont, the Terriers struggled mightily on offense, shooting a paltry 25.4 percent for the game. To fix the problem, Wolff said he just wants his players to slow down.
“We have a bunch of young guys that are trying very hard, but them trying real hard has equated to not being as patient as we need to be,” Wolff said. “We’re in a big hurry all the time, we rush shots. We’ve tried to simplify things a little bit and get them to relax, and we’ll just keep encouraging them to concentrate and stay with the game plan.”
The problem the Terriers have, Wolff said, is not executing the plays — BU is getting looks at the basket — but rather finishing them.
“What we been doing is getting a lot of attempts in and around basket, and we just haven’t been able to finish them,” he said. “It sounds simple. We just have to play better and finish the plays.”
As for Hartford’s offense, the Hawks feature two of the top six scorers in America East in Kenny Adeleke and Aaron Cook. Adeleke leads the conference in scoring, pouring points in at 20.7 points per game, and Cook comes in at sixth, averaging an even 15 points per game.
Adeleke is also averaging a conference-leading 12.1 rebounds per game and ranks second with 1.82 blocks per contest. The senior center out of Queens, N.Y. transferred to Hartford from Hofstra University two seasons ago and was forced to sit out last year under NCAA regulations.
The 6-foot-9, 245-pound big man racked up over 1,200 points and 800 rebounds at Hofstra and hasn’t showed any signs of rust after a year away from competition.
“We need to make it difficult for him to score on the post, and most importantly box him out so he doesn’t get second shots,” Wolff said. “He’s the best offensive rebounder in the league, so we have to do a good job boxing him out.”
Cook, meanwhile, is the only Hawk to start every game this season. The senior guard is the Hawks’ main outside threat, hoisting a team-leading 118 3-pointers (making 42) this year.
The inside-outside combination is not something new to the Terriers — they saw Vermont’s version in Martin Klimes and Mike Trimboli Sunday — but it’s what’s standing in the way of their eighth victory, not too mention someone’s 200th.