Orlando Vandross had finished his first year as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Massasoit Community College in Brockton in 1997 when he received a phone call from Dennis Wolff, the head men’s basketball coach at Boston University.

Wolff, after his third year at BU, asked Vandross to interview for an assistant’s position with the Terriers. Instead of inviting Vandross to BU’s campus to conduct the interview on his turf, Wolff simply shared dinner and several hours of conversation with the Brockton native.

A week later, Wolff called again. But this time, he offered Vandross a job.

“I’ll never forget it,” said Vandross, sitting in BU’s athletic offices one day after the Terriers ended their regular season with their 23rd win in their last 24 games. “You can’t go from a junior college to a Division I job. It’s very rare. A lot of things have to happen and bounce your way.”

And to this day, Vandross, 34 and Wolff’s top assistant, said he still doesn’t know what it was that he said during the dinner to impress the head coach.

“I’ve been here seven years, and I’ve never asked him that,” he said.

Wolff, though, said it was Vandross’ strong character that brought him to BU and has kept him here for seven seasons.

“He came highly recommended by a very close friend of mine,” Wolff said. “Orlando has unbelievable human qualities which translate into him being a very good coach.”

After a season in which BU won a program-record 23 regular-season games and advanced to the postseason for the third straight year, Vandross appears prepared to assume a head coaching job. Where and when that will happen, even Vandross can’t say.

But what is clear is that the local kid from Brockton High School who has made a living in the game he loves has laid the foundation for what could be a lengthy coaching career.

“He’s ready to be a head coach if he chooses to,” Wolff said. “There’s really no area [in coaching] that Orlando isn’t good at.”

Basketball, however, wasn’t Vandross’ first love – it was football. And that isn’t hard to believe, because his baby face, shiny scalp and welcoming smile can’t hide his solid build and linebacker-like shoulders.

Playing more pigskin than hoop in his elementary and junior high school days, Vandross said he didn’t take to basketball until his freshman year of high school.

“In the mid-80s, Brockton High was one of the dominant teams in Eastern Massachusetts,” he said. “I was on the freshman team at the time, and I would go to the varsity games and would actually visualize and see myself out there on that court to see if we could win a state title.”

Vandross’ vision came to life the following year, when he made the varsity team and Brockton High beat Rumeal Robinson (who played nine NBA seasons) and Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School to win the state championship.

“Those types of experiences made me fall in love with the game and want to stay with it as much as possible,” Vandross said. “But I think the major attraction was in my freshman year where I was just like, ‘This is what I want to do – I want to play ball.'”

Vandross said he was a coaches’ guard – a point guard. He might not have been the most athletic player, but he said he knew how to run a team and could make plays when necessary.

The point guard’s skills were sharp enough for him to ball after Brockton High. After a year of prep school at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, Vandross originally committed to James Madison University. But in a twist of fate, coaching and personnel changes that happened before Vandross arrived at James Madison redirected him to American International College, a Division II school in Springfield.

At AIC, Vandross was a four-year starter during what he called “great years” under head coach Jim Powell, who would speak of Vandross’ character to one of his close friends – Dennis Wolff.

“In a blind way, [ending up at AIC] kind of worked out for me,” Vandross said.

It could have all turned out differently had Vandross acted on his initial feelings after his freshman year, when he said his team’s 5-22 season caused him to consider transferring to Northeastern University.

“All I had known my whole life, since high school, was how to win,” said Vandross, who had to endure a 10-game losing streak in his first year. “Going to a school like AIC was interesting, ’cause these guys didn’t know how to win. Your personal agenda is not the main thing. It’s our agenda, you know, ’cause you live and die with us, on and off the floor.”

Instead of transferring, Vandross instilled in his teammates that winning attitude and saw them reach their potential. After one losing season, Vandross (third all-time in school history with 597 career assists) helped the Yellow Jackets win 55 games in his final three years.

Vandross said he knew during his sophomore season that the team had turned the corner after AIC’s semifinal victory over Assumption College in the Northeast-10 Tournament. The second-year point guard led his squad to an 84-76 win over Assumption, a school Vandross said was highly ranked at the time.

“Beating [Assumption] gave me the impression that we were headed in the right direction,” he said. “It was what I always envisioned we could be doing based on our talent.”

He graduated from AIC in 1992 with a degree in marketing and said he worked several odd jobs for a few years, including being a stock broker and hating staying “chained to his desk.”

But during that time, Vandross was also working part-time at a local Boys and Girls Club, where he coached a youth travel basketball team and realized his coaching talent. After a year as an assistant coach back at Brockton High, Vandross moved on to Massasoit before he got the phone call that brought him to BU.

Seven years later, Vandross, who lives with his wife Deirdre in Brockton, is still sitting in the first seat on the Terriers’ bench, with his clipboard on his right knee, keeping track of the opponent’s offensive plays so he can make suggestions during timeouts and halftime.

The player inside Vandross, though, still lives. The assistant coach said he can’t sleep the night before a game, and before this season’s Feb. 22 battle with Northeastern, Vandross pulled Wolff aside and said, “This is a game I wish I could personally play.”

“That feeling before a game,” Vandross started, “It’s never gone away.”

While Wolff, who is known for his sideline tirades, paced the bench and gritted his teeth in frustration as he watched the Terriers play themselves into a 10-point halftime hole against the Huskies, it was Vandross who remained glued to his chair, collected as he observed the action unfold.

“[Wolff] brings a lot of energy and intensity,” Vandross said. “What I try to do is relax, ’cause I think better that way. Also, as a bench, I don’t think we can all be reacting that way. We need to help Dennis coach this game.”

The relaxed Vandross, who always pops off the bench during timeouts to advise and motivate the guards, did help Wolff coach – and win – the game against Northeastern. BU torched the Case Gymnasium nets in the second half, outscoring the Huskies 54-30 en route to a 14-point victory.

BU senior guard Kevin Fitzgerald said Vandross’ steady approach helps keep everyone, even when they’re losing, in the game.

“He just has a certain coolness to himself that can keep people level-headed and make sure that they don’t let their emotions get the most of them,” Fitzgerald said.

Vandross learned to stay calm during tough times by watching his father, David Vandross, succeed though adversity. Vandross’s father grew up in Charleston, S.C., a place Vandross said still had ties to slavery.

“He’s a fighter and he’s not going to roll over,” he said of his father. “Eating, clothing, shelter – he had to get it done.

“How you handle adversity is so important,” Vandross added. “When it’s not going right, the kids really look to you more than ever. The most important player in my life has definitely been my father. He told me that you can’t give up or else you’re not going anywhere.”

Vandross said his most difficult times at BU were his second and third seasons, when the Terriers had a combined record of 16-40.

“It hasn’t always been like this [season] at BU,” Vandross said. “This job will test your will. How bad do you want to win and how bad do you want to get this done?”

But through his help recruiting and coaching, Vandross helped BU rebuild its program over the past four years. The Terriers have won 20 games or more in each of the past three seasons, advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2002.

“Going in the tunnel at the NCAA Tournament, and UCLA is right across from you and Oklahoma State is right here and you can come in and say, ‘You know what, we’ve done something special,'” he said. “Those memories make me realize why I do this.”

It’s also obvious that Vandross does his job because he appreciates the relationships he builds with his players.

“Orlando is an amazing person,” Fitzgerald said. “I had a special bond with him coming in as a freshman and being a point guard. He helped me understand my role and what I should do to get better and how to approach every day and even life. He’s made me a better basketball player and even a better person.”

Vandross is also the team’s comedian, his audience being the players during practice. Vandross said he loves watching comedies – Coming to America and My Cousin Vinny are among his favorites.

“That’s my man right there,” said BU junior guard Chaz Carr. “O’s a character. When things are not going well, he’ll put a smile on my face.”

Carr said Vandross’ best-known stunts are his imitations of not-quite-highlight-reel-worthy plays made by BU players in the team’s previous game.

“Say like [sophomore guard] Shaun Wynn came down the lane and threw a crazy running shot or something,” Carr began, “O will reenact it while we’re stretching and do funny things like that.”

Vandross has played a big role in the Terriers’ recent success, and after Wolff signed a 10-year contract extension in 2003, there is a strong possibility that “O” could be around for just as long.

“When you have an opportunity to coach in your hometown and your family can come see you play, you can’t put a price tag on that,” Vandross said. “It’s unbelievable.”

But Vandross is keeping an open mind, and he made it clear he wants his chance to be a head coach.

“I’ve done every job in that office, except be head coach,” he said. “There’s nothing that I haven’t done. I would like to have a shot. Here? Who knows. But I know one thing, and that’s that I think I’ve done a decent job and been loyal that anywhere Dennis goes, I think I have a job with him.

“And if we leave here,” Vandross added, “It’s going to be for something sweet. But if we do leave, that’s going to be a difficult time.”

Difficult because of how much Vandross has seen and accomplished in his seven years. Wolff may have said that Vandross was ready to be a head coach, but he added that it wouldn’t be so easy to let a friend like that go.

“He will always have a place with me on any staff anywhere,” Wolff said. “Any success that we’ve had here can be directly attributed to Orlando’s input into the program. I couldn’t imagine running the program here without him.”