It’s usually the student who gets called down to the office over the P. A. system in high school, but one day back in 1994, it was the teacher.

That teacher was Dan Bazzani, and that call was one he and the Niagara Falls Wolverines are glad he answered.

On the other end of the line was Niagara Falls Superintendent Carmen Granto, asking Bazzani —who had finished a tumultuous 10-year stretch as the men’s basketball coach at the University at Buffalo a year prior—whether he would coach the Wolverines’ boys team.

“This was in late October, and the season was starting in a couple weeks,” Bazzani recalled. “I said, ‘Carmen, I’ll do it for a year, but then I’m done.’ I had no intentions of coaching again.”

That year turned into more than a decade, and produced a basketball program that is the standard of success in Western New York. Bazzani will be recognized for his career as a coach and player —a timeframe that spans more than four decades —when he is enshrined in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 29.

“If I went through all the thank yous it would take an hour,” Bazzani said. “It’s a humbling experience.”

Bazzani’s resume is as long as his list of thank yous. He was a three-sport star at the old Niagara Falls High School, receiving all-Niagara Frontier League honors in basketball. His college teams at UB went 49-18 during his four years playing there, including a 19-3 mark when he was a senior.

He coached Niagara County Community College to 197 wins in 10 seasons and took the Frontiersmen to three national tournaments, missing out on a national title in 1978 when a last-second shot rimmed out. He helped UB transition to Division I basketball and won 111 games with the Bulls, fifth-most in school history.

But it’s in the Cataract City that Bazzani’s coaching career reached its crescendo. When Niagara Falls and LaSalle high schools combined in 2000, Bazzani could choose talent from the whole city.

Even though the population is slightly more than 50,000, the ability level was staggeringly high. He compiled a 144-12 mark in six seasons at the new Niagara Falls High School, including a magical 2004-05 season in which the Wolverines won state and Federation titles. Playing an independent schedule that featured some of the country’s best teams, the Wolverines—featuring talents like Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, Rob Garrison, Tyrell Lynch, Greg Gamble and Miguel Respress —went 28-1, finishing the season ranked third nationally by USA Today. Bazzani was named the publication’s national coach of the year.

“I don’t know if there will ever be another team like that one in Western New York,” he said. “Look at those players, even I couldn’t screw that up.”

The run also captivated a community that’s seen its fair share of hard times.

“Every night the place was packed for our home games,” Bazzani said. “Everyone got behind it.”

Bazzani retired from coaching after the 2005-06 season, but remains at Niagara Falls as athletics director.

For ticket information, e-mail:

melissa.gearhart@hyatt.com

, call Gearhart at 855-4863 or visit:

www.GBSHOF.com

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