Long before Jeff Wulbrun set out to rebuild the University of Denver men’s basketball program, he slept on an air mattress for a couple of months in the football locker room at UC Berkeley.
The year was 1986, and Wulbrun had just quit a steady job coaching and teaching at a Southern California high school to take a volunteer coaching gig with the Bears. To get by, he sold a case of his 1984 Donruss baseball cards.
That netted Wulbrun $5,500 and proved to be the seed money for a decades-long career in college hoops. This winter, his third at DU, the longtime assistant-turned-head coach has the Pioneers tracking toward their first season over .500 since 2016-17 behind the play of Division I’s leading scorer, Tommy Bruner.
“Tommy and I have a lot of similarities, and one of the common values is that we bet on ourselves in certain situations,” Wulbrun said. “I did that at the time (as a very young coach), and my mom had a hard time understanding how and why I could quit a teaching job at a really nice high school to go to Cal and not make any money.”
After proving himself at Cal, Wulbrun went on to coach at Illinois State, Virginia Tech, UAB and Stanford, with a break in the middle to raise his family, coach high school basketball and sell real estate.
University of Denver Pioneers head basketball coach Jeff Wulbrun works with his team during practice at Hamilton Gymnasium at DU on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
DU’s his first head coaching gig, and he’s made the most of it so far. After inheriting a program that went 2-19 the year before his arrival, his Pios went 11-21 in 2021-22 and 15-17 last year.
“I’ve always been at places where we’ve rebuilt the program to somewhere it hadn’t been in a long time, or to where it had never been before,” Wulbrun said. “That’s kind of who I became as a coach. I like the challenge, and when I interviewed here, the rebuild was an appealing part of it.
“We’re fighting for relevance, we’re fighting for respect. I’ve had my sleeves rolled up since I took the job, after both of those things.”
Bruner, the centerpiece of Denver’s rise over the past couple of seasons, took a zig-zagged path to Denver just like his coach. The point guard, who is averaging 25.3 points in addition to a Summit League-best 4.5 assists, is on his third college stop after playing two seasons at South Carolina Upstate, one year at Jacksonville and then transferring to DU last winter.
The fifth-year senior’s opportunity in crimson and gold was a welcome reprieve after his time in Jacksonville didn’t work out. Bruner notes “I didn’t like the situation I was in there,” as he saw that season derailed by injury when he tore two ligaments in his foot.
“A lot of players who go to multiple schools, it doesn’t always work out,” Bruner said. “So I’m super fortunate and blessed to have my last stop work out for me, because it’s not always like that in the transfer portal. I wanted to be somewhere where if I was a product of the environment, it would be a good thing, and that’s how I landed here.”
Tommy Bruner (0) takes a breather during practice at Hamilton Gymnasium at DU on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Bruner’s helped take Wulbrun’s rebuilding job to the next level after the coach’s first season at DU saw the Pioneers snap a 42-game road losing streak. This year, notable milestones included beating South Dakota State for the first time in seven years and winning at North Dakota State for the first time in six years.
Along the way, Bruner and Wulbrun have become close, a player-coach relationship underscored by the duo’s biweekly meetings throughout the offseason.
“We’d meet in my office, we’d go to lunch, we’d walk around campus,” Wulbrun said. “Our conversations didn’t have a lot to do with basketball. It was all about his growth as a person. … We talked a lot about being a leader, and how you can’t have off-days (in that role), and he took that responsibility to heart.
“And we also spent a lot of time talking about responding to adversity. I think Tommy realized there were times his frustration got the best of him a year ago, and he was determined to improve that.”
Bruner’s more level mindset has been complemented by better talent around him and is resulting in the 22-year-old stuffing the stat sheet, despite being the central focus of opposing defensive gameplans.
Touko Tainamo (25) stands with teammates during practice at Hamilton Gymnasium at DU on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Touko Tainamo, DU’s other main returning contributor from last winter, took a leap forward in his game thanks to his experience playing at the World University Games in China over the summer. The 6-foot-9 Finnish forward is averaging 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds, second-best in the league.
And beyond Bruner and Tainamo, DU added impactful newcomers in guard Jaxon Brenchley from Utah, center Isaiah Carr from Grand Canyon, guard Isaiah Addo-Ankrah from Texas-San Antonio and guard Tyson Garff from Salt Lake Community College.
Wulbrun says Brenchley, who is averaging 10.5 points, “is everything we hoped he would be,” while Carr is the program’s first 7-foot player and “is and will become even more of an elite rim protector.” And along with the three-point sharpshooting of Addo-Ankrah and the sixth-man contributions from Garff, suddenly Bruner has a lot more help. DU believes it has the potential to be the first team in program history to make the NCAA Tournament.
To do that, they’ll have to get hot and win the Summit League tournament, which begins March 8 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“This is the perfect time right now, as we hit the homestretch of February, to start playing our best basketball,” Brenchley said. “If we want a shot at making the tournament, that’s what we have to do.
“It’s all about the team that in March puts together the best three-game run (in the league tournament). We believe that can be us.”
Jaxon Brenchley (23) stands with teammates during practice at Hamilton Gymnasium at DU on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Bruner remains the catalyst to those hopes. He’s a threat to pop shots from outside and drive to the bucket, and along the way, he’s picking up a lot of fouls. He ranks fourth nationally in free throw attempts, and is hitting at an 82.3% clip from the stripe.
“If you go under him on defense, he’ll shoot it behind the arc,” Brenchley said. “If you go over him, he’ll get downhill and get to the basket. If you converge, he’ll find one of us for an assist. He’s really diversified his game.”
Off the court, Bruner’s running his charity, Be Different, which is currently working on refurbishing a park in Aurora. And on the court, he’s peaking: Bruner dropped a DU modern-record 49 points in the Pioneers’ dramatic double-overtime home win over South Dakota on Jan. 25, in addition to the game-winning steal that set up Addo-Ankrah’s buzzer-beating three.
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DU (13-11) hasn’t won since that game, but looks to get back on track against South Dakota in Vermillion on Thursday. Bruner knows his chance to be the first Pioneer to win a national scoring title is within his sights, as is a strong finish to another stepping-stone campaign under Wulbrun.
But he’s “not worried about what (DU) did in the past, or what they can do in the future.” He wants to cement Wulbrun’s rebuild now.
“I’m worried about this year,” Bruner said. “Win 20 games, get to the tournament. That’s the goal, that’s the plan. There’s really nothing else to be excited for beside that. If we do it, successful season. If we don’t, unsuccessful season.”
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