Sal Buscaglia was an assistant professor of accounting when he was first approached about coaching women's basketball.

It was one of those offers he could refuse.

Hilbert College, a small community college near Buffalo, N.Y., where Buscaglia taught, did not have a women's basketball team. Or a gym. But he always dreamed of being a basketball coach -- not an accounting professor -- so he jumped at the opportunity.

Buscaglia still has the score book from his first game -- a 107-17 loss.

"I never want to forget my roots," he said.

It was a humble beginning for a basketball coach who last month earned his 600th career coaching win.

Now, Buscaglia, 55, paces the sidelines at Robert Morris in his seventh year coaching the Colonials women's basketball team. He said his 600th victory -- a 79-50 home win Jan. 14 against Fairleigh Dickinson -- is as much about his players as it is about him.

"It forces you to reflect on all the young ladies that really should be credited for reaching that success," he said. "It's a reflection of who I've coached."

That career -- now in its 32nd year -- has included stops at four schools. And at each one, Buscaglia could stake claim to being the greatest women's basketball coach in school history.

He founded the program at Hilbert and led the school to eight consecutive National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament appearances. His only losing season was his first.

At Buffalo, he coached the Bulls as they made their transition from Division II to Division I. The Bulls won 23 games their first year as a Division I team and had five 20-plus win seasons in Buscaglia's eight years there.

He left Buffalo to coach at Manhattan, where he owns the school record for best career winning percentage.

It was at Manhattan where Buscaglia registered his most memorable win. In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game, the Jaspers beat Siena, 65-57, and advanced to the NCAA tournament. His ultimate coaching goal was to lead a team to the NCAA tournament, and he did it with his son, assistant coach Charlie Buscaglia, at his side.

Sal Buscaglia still remembers his son telling him, with time winding down, "I told you I'd get you here."

In his office, Buscaglia has a picture of him and his son cutting down the nets.

But of all of his coaching stops, Buscaglia said, he is happiest at Robert Morris. He inherited a team that had finished 14 consecutive losing seasons, and within two years the Colonials were competing for the Northeast Conference championship. He led Robert Morris to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2007 and '08, the only two in school history.

"I really enjoy working here," Buscaglia said. "That's the truth. I just really enjoy working for the people I'm working for."

So he said it is fitting he posted his 600th career victory at Robert Morris.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said.

Despite his accomplishments, his drive and intensity have not diminished. He starts coaching a game wearing a tie and a blazer, and by halftime, the jacket is on the floor and the tie is barely looped around itself.

And he's emotional on the court: If one of his players makes a mistake, he might fall to his knees and cover his face in a towel.

"Everything he does, he puts his all into it," said junior forward Monica Jones, a Woodland Hills graduate, adding that he's the same way in practice.

With three NCAA tournament appearances, 17 20-plus win seasons and 604 wins, Buscaglia said his biggest goal now is to get back to the NCAA tournament and perhaps shock a high seed.

He wants to coach at Robert Morris for the rest of his career, and when he is done he would like to turn things over to his son, Charlie.

"That," he said, "would be my dream."

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