As red-clad students poured out of the Case Gymnasium bleachers and onto the basketball floor early Saturday afternoon, Derrick Jackson walked slowly off the court, sat down, and leaned against a wall along the baseline.

As the celebration for Boston University’s America East championship grew – and as his teammates exited the gym for the locker room – Jackson sat motionless and solemnly watched as his junior season at the University of Maine ended as a third straight wait-until-next-year campaign.

“It was a little shocking, because the whole week I’d just been dreaming about that time, and our fans who were here running out on the floor,” Jackson said. “Us winning. I took it all in. I just wanted to make a memory, because we’re gonna be back in this game next year.

“And hopefully, it will be a reverse situation: Us celebrating instead of them.”

Jackson will have to wait a year to find out if his Bears can improve on their 12-18 record, and No. 5 tourney seed. In 365 days or so, he’ll know if he’ll end his career with an NCAA bid.

And for the next year, coach John Giannini will spend countless hours trying to figure out how to do one thing. Improve.

The biggest problems the Bears will face: They’ve got to replace versatile senior Errick Greene (16.4 points, 6.1 rebounds per game).

They’ve got to see improvement from the players they already have in the fold.

And they’ve got to find a way to defeat Boston University, which will lose only three reserves, and regain the services of potential America East player-of-the-year candidate Matt Turner.

“Put it this way,” Giannini said on Saturday. “I go into next year knowing less about our team than I have in any other year.”

The Bears will also lose the services of senior Todd Tibbetts (3.4 points, 16.4 minutes per game) and Jamar Croom, who played in only five games but served as a team leader.

The Bears have plenty of players who could develop in the off-season, and Giannini said it will be interesting to find out which Black Bears commit themselves to the task and come back faster, stronger and more skilled.

“I think [Justin Rowe, Rickey White, Freddy Petkus, Joe Campbell, David Dubois and Clayton Brown] have just gigantic off-seasons [in front of them],” Giannini said. “They can not be the same players they were this year, or we’re just not good enough.”

The fact that Rowe – a first-team all-league selection this year as a junior – is among the players Giannini points at in his group of “developmental” players is telling: He knows Rowe has a choice between being the sporadically dominant 7-footer he was this year, or a night-in, night-out force.

Rowe averaged 12.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.03 shots per contest.

Giannini will bolster his lineup with four new players – guards Ludmil “Udo” Hadjisotirov, a transfer from Boston College, and Thomas Hill, who will come to Orono from Westark (Ark.) College.

The Bears will fill two other scholarship positions with a guard and another player who may or may not be a backcourt man, Giannini said.

Giannini said on Monday that Hill’s team had advanced to the national tourney, and that Hill had been named to his region’s all-tournament team after scoring 25 and 18 points in two games for the 25-5 Lions. Hadjisotirov has been practicing with the Bears for the entire second semester and will become eligible to play at the semester break next season. Giannini said he has been impressive in practice.

“I’m not sure how [Hadjisotirov and Hill] will fit in, but I know they’re as good as the guards we’ve had in the past on our winning teams,” Giannini said.

Bangor’s Campbell emerged as a steady player for the Bears, averaging 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds a game and hitting 38 of 77 3-point attempts (49.4 percent). He and fellow freshman Petkus will be expected to improve their strength and quickness.

Brown, Dubois, White and Flavin each possess all-league potential at forward, according to Giannini. Brown averaged 10.3 ppg in a backup role this year, while White emerged as a defensive and rebounding force.

Jackson is the only player Giannini doesn’t expect major improvement from. The reason: Jackson has been among the league’s best at his specialty – hard-nosed, physical defense – since arriving in Orono.

Still, Jackson can improve his perimeter shooting, as he connected on only 27.0 percent of his 74 3-point attempts.