Men’s hoops coach Dennis Wolff fired

After 15 seasons, 247 wins, two NCAA Tournament appearances, three NIT appearances and five regular-season America East Championships, Dennis Wolff is no longer the head men’s basketball coach at Boston University.

BU Director of Athletics Mike Lynch announced Wednesday that the university fired Wolff just four days after the Terriers were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament by the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

After the first-round loss, Wolff went to New York on a recruiting trip. He was asked by the department to return to Boston and said once he got the call, he knew what the meeting was going to be about. In addition to Lynch, Executive Director of Athletics Jack Parker was at the three-person meeting. The administrators asked Wolff to resign, and when he declined, they fired him. Afterward, Wolff told the administrators, ‘This isn’t going to be received well in the basketball community.’

‘We didn’t have a winning season last year, and I might have been able to grasp it a little better last year as opposed to [after] a winning season with injured guys and appearing to make progress,’ Wolff said.

‘I don’t know if I would ever use the word strained,’ he said of his relationship with the Athletics Department. ‘The reality of it was that everybody wanted to have a winning program, and we had had three losing seasons. I think some of it started in those few years prior when we won 20 games, but got upset in the conference tournament.’

Wolff was both the longest-tenured and winningest coach in program history (as well as losingest coach), compiling a 247-197 record in his 15 years of coaching the Terriers and owns a 277-215 record overall in 17 seasons as a head coach.

‘ ‘We greatly appreciate the contributions that Dennis has made during his 15 years at BU,’ Lynch said in a press release ‘-‘- the only statement BU’s administration has chosen to make on the matter. ‘To a man, his student-athletes competed hard on the court, earned their degrees in the classroom and represented BU well in the community. We wish Dennis nothing but the best in his future endeavors.

‘This decision was not made quickly or easily. However, after a thorough analysis, I believe that a change in leadership is in the best interests of our men’s basketball program.’

In addition to Wolff, who signed a 10-year contract extension in 2003 that would have followed him into the 2013-14 season, assistant coaches Sean Ryan and Will Seward (both in their second seasons at BU) and Director of Basketball Operations Thomas Joyce (first season) were all let go. Associate head coach Orlando Vandross, who completed his 12th season on BU’s staff, was not released.

According to Lynch, the nationwide search for Wolff’s replacement is well underway but no end date for the process has been set. Associate head coach Orlando Vandross has been retained by the university. There was no comment as to what his official role/title will be.

Under Wolff, BU won three consecutive regular-season conference titles (2002-04) and made four straight postseason appearances (2002-05). From 2002-05, Wolff orchestrated four 20-plus-win seasons in a row, three conference titles and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. It was easily his most impressive stretch of coaching at the university.

‘I had hoped to be able to end my career at BU,’ Wolff said. ‘But that’s the nature of the business. I guess in the scheme of things, to be fortunate enough to live in one place and coach one team for 15 years is a good thing.’

Despite his aspirations to remain at BU for the remainder of his coaching career, Wolff did have multiple opportunities to take positions at schools in better conferences, namely St. Bonaventure University and Fordham University.

‘I had a couple of opportunities to go, and they offered me a long-term contract, and I thought we were all totally on the same page about everything,’ Wolff said. ‘Things have changed, obviously, and with that comes the coaching change.’

Despite leading the Terriers to their first winning season since 2004-05, a Wolff-coached team hasn’t reached the conference championship game since 2002-03 and prior to the start of the 2006-07 season, had lost first-round conference tournament games in three consecutive seasons.

Most recently, Wolff headed a team that went 17-13 and finished in third place after being picked to finish first in the preseason polls. The 2008-09 Terriers, however, were struck with crushing season-ending injuries to two of their top five scorers just before the start of conference play on Jan. 8. Following the injuries, BU was still able to complete a successful regular-season campaign, only to collapse in the final three minutes of the second half against UMBC.

Wolff said he’s going to take time to gather his thoughts, but it’s his wish to remain in coaching in some capacity.

As for his legacy at BU . . .

‘I’d like to be remembered by the people that I worked with as a good colleague and a good member of the community,’ Wolff said. ‘I’d like to think that we had a competitive program that was run the right way for a pretty lengthy period of time. Did it meet everyone’s expectations in every area? I’m sure not, and I’m sorry that there was disappointment in some of those areas.’

Prior to coaching at BU, Wolff’s only other Division I head coaching job was at Connecticut College (1980-1982), and he served as an assistant at St. Bonaventure University (1982-85), Wake Forrest University (1985-89), Southern Methodist University (1989-90) and the University of Virginia (1990-1994).

Wolff was named the America East Coach of the Year in 1997, 2003, 2004, the NABC District I Coach of the Year in 1997 and 2004 and the New England Division I Coach of the Year in 1997 and 2004.

Please continue checking www.dailyfreepress.com and www.dfphoops.blogspot.com for more information regarding this story, and stay tuned for a feature in the coming weeks.