Tim Bergstraser believes he can pull off the improbable on Buchtel Boulevard. DU men’s basketball has just three winning campaigns in its 12 seasons in the Summit League and has struggled for wins and relevancy for just about the entirety of the program’s decades-long existence. The Pioneers basketball team, which lives in the shadow of DU’s nationally prominent hockey, lacrosse, soccer and gymnastics programs, introduced Bergstraser as its next head coach on Wednesday at Hamilton Gymnasium. In his opening remarks in a gym closer in scale to a large high school than a Division I program, Bergstraser proclaimed, “What we have here is enough” to consistently win and become perennial contenders in the Summit League. “People need to respect the DU logo,” Bergstraser said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of respect right now on the men’s basketball side when people look at DU. We’re going to make sure that narrative is flipped, and I’m going to have a lot in pride in that.” Bergstraser has a tall task ahead of him to accomplish that job. The Pioneers are coming off a messy separation from their previous head coach, Jeff Wulburn, who was put on season-ending leave on Feb. 21. No reason for the leave was given. And about a month later, the university announced that DU and Wulburn “mutually agreed to part ways.” That led DU to Bergstraser, whom the Pioneers hired as their 34th men’s basketball head coach following what athletic director Josh Berlo termed a national search. Bergstraser arrives in Denver with just three years of college head coaching experience, all of which came at Division II Minnesota State University Moorhead. With the Dragons, Bergstraser was 75-22 while leading the program to three straight 25-win seasons. That success included a pair of NSIC tournament titles and three NCAA Division II tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 run in 2024-25. Berlo described Bergstraser as “a proven winner.” “Tim lived within the Summit League footprint — he recruited against the Summit League, he competed against the Summit League, he knows what it takes to win in this conference,” Berlo said. “That is something we’ve aspired to do since joining the Summit League years ago.” Bergstraser’s first recruiting class will feature a handful of the same players from his MSUM Sweet 16 team. Since Bergstraser was named the Pioneers’ head coach on Monday, five Dragons entered the transfer portal and later announced their commitment to DU. Among them are guards JaMir Price, Carson Johnson and Cody Dandridge; and forwards Logan Kinsey and Shaun Wysocki. The self-described blue-collar coach who played center at St. Cloud State says he’s determined to find players who aren’t scared off by DU’s resource constraints. The program’s current roster features only four returners in guards Devin Carney, Keean Lloyd and Josh Lee as well as forward Loch Cunningham. “Some people might say facility-wise, maybe (Hamilton Gymnasium) is not as good as it should be compared to the rest of the league, and that’s just fine,” Bergstraser said. “That’s why this place is even more of a fit for me, because who I am and where I’ve come from, I don’t need all the bells and whistles and all that. And we’re going to find players who don’t care about that stuff either.” Bergstraser began his coaching career as a student assistant at St. Cloud State in 2013-14, after a trio of ACL injuries ended his playing career. He also served as an assistant at University of Wisconsin-River Falls, MSUM and Quincy (Ill.) before getting the head job at MSUM in 2022. “(The third knee injury) was a blessing in disguise, especially when I look back at how my journey’s unfolded,” Bergstraser said. “I transitioned to coaching as a student assistant, and that’s not what I wanted to do at the time.” That journey now has him in Denver, where the Pios last went 11-21 in 2024-25 and lost in the opening round of the Summit League tournament. Though DU came within one win of its first NCAA Tournament berth in 2023-24, losing in the conference tournament title, the program’s last winning season was a 16-14 record in coach Rodney Billups’ first year in 2016-17. Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.