Bzdelik accepts coaching job

Everyone has a dream job. For former CU-Boulder head basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik, that job is at Wake Forest.

The dream is now a reality.

Wednesday, Bzdelik, 57, officially accepted the head coach position of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during a morning press conference at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, N.C.

“This is my dream job, and I’m looking forward to the challenge, and I will embrace it with all I have,” he said Wednesday morning.

After going 36-58 in three seasons as the head coach of the Buffaloes and a 15-16 record in 2009 — good for eighth place in the Big 12 Conference standings — Bzdelik replaces Dino Gaudio as the 21st head coach in the history of the Wake Forest program.

Despite his poor record at CU-Boulder, Wake Forest Director of Athletics Ron Wellman was impressed with the job Bzdelik did, not only for the Buffs but also at Air Force and as the head coach of the Denver Nuggets –– the two positions he held prior to coaching in Boulder.

“He took a program that had many, many challenges to it, off the floor and on the floor, and he improved that program each and every year to the point where next year they have everyone coming back, they should be a contender for an NCAA Tournament berth,” Wellman said.

Though he’s now at his “dream job,” coaching at the same school his daughter Courtney attends, Bzdelik leaves the CU-Boulder program in a state of conflict as the NCAA’s late signing period for basketball began Wednesday.

The Buffs currently have no verbal commitments, no National Letters of Intent signed and no head coach to recruit for their 2010 class. But, they only graduate one senior from last season’s team, Dwight Thorne.

_Sports Editor Matt L. Stephens can be reached at sports@collegian.com. _