The sideline of the Stan Sheriff Center basketball court is 94 feet in length and be assured that Chris Gerlufsen is quickly getting to know it well.

He might not know where to find our freeway on-ramps and off-ramps yet, but he has developed a feel for the new floor fronting the University of Hawaii basketball team’s bench.

Gerlufsen, as is quickly becoming his trademark, has relentlessly paced much of its length just two games into his tenure as the acting head coach of the Rainbow Warriors.

In fact, it would be a surprise after Sunday night’s 81-75 Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic loss to South Dakota if he hasn’t already begun to have worn a path there in a 1-1 start to the season.

If not, he will surely have a rut worn by the end of tonight’s finale against Pacific.

“I just can’t sit down,” Gerlufsen acknowledged. “I guess it is a competitive deal. (And) I like showing the team that I am involved in the game, that I am behind them and trying to give them some energy. That’s just how I’m built, I guess.”

In his previous stops, Gerlufsen said assistants were not allowed to roam the sidelines or even stand up much.

“I almost needed a seat belt,” he said.

The hurry-up pace also suits the mission of a man thrust into the head coaching position just five days ago, a mere two days before the start of the season, by the abrupt announcement of a medical leave granted his boss, Eran Ganot.

Gerlufsen was barely two months off the plane that brought him here from his previous job as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego and just getting to know the players when Ganot was sidelined by a so far undisclosed ailment.

Ironically, he might know as much about tonight’s opponent, the Tigers of UOP, as his own team after having opposed Pacific the past four years in the WCAC while at USD.

He was in charge of offense at previous stops and was brought in to handle a similar role with the ’Bows but has now had to take the big picture role while getting a quick grasp of his players’ abilities and trying to build a chemistry.

“This (situation) is book-worthy,” Gerlufsen said. “In my 22 years as a coach, I can’t remember anything like this, with all the bumps in the road that we’ve had.”

The closest, he says, was in 2006, when he took over The Citadel team for a game and a half when its head coach, Pat Dennis, was suspended for a game and a half.

But Gerlufsen lives by the “no excuses” mantra he has given his team.

“We just have to find a way to make this work,” he says resolutely.

As he searches for answers he relentlessly patrols the sideline alternately giving the players instruction and encouragement. When he stops, it is with animation to throw up his hands to make a point with the officials. Or, to demonstrate the defensive position one of his players had taken in arguing a blocking call with the officials.

He only sits down during timeouts and, then, it is just briefly to make his point before ushering his players back onto the floor.

One of these nights somebody ought to put a pedometer on him to see how much ground he covers in a game.

“I’m learning on the fly, but lovin’ it,” Gerlufsen said. “I’m just trying to represent Coach Ganot, the players and the school the right way.”

In the meantime, the ’Bows’ coach remains a man on the move.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.