Marquette basketball coaching search

[Oldcity]

I don't understand that line of thinking. Miller, Bennet, Grant, etc. were all uninterested. What else are they supposed to do if any of the high profile coaches aren't interested?

[don1481]

I don't understand that line of thinking. Miller, Bennet, Grant, etc. were all uninterested. What else are they supposed to do if any of the high profile coaches aren't interested?

Not panic, for starters...? To many alumni, a hasty hiring of Buzz Williams would signify a panic move by Marquette rather than one that makes sense. I know a lot of donors would feel duped by MU after shelling out all that money to build the Al McGuire Center only to not find a coach of a "reasonable" stature to run the team. MU has other high price tag projects that they're looking to begin soon - a new law school and a new engineering building to name a couple - and I wouldn't be surprised to find MU come up suddenly short in donations if they don't hire a coach deemed by the alumni as "quality."

 

There are still plenty of other coaches out there that MU could land - coaches that have done well at mid-majors and are looking to transition to a bigger/better conference would be better choices than Buzz Williams. It's just going to take a little more time than what MU was originally thinking/hoping.

[TooLiveBrew]

Plus there are always assistants at other programs that are more than qualified for head jobs of their own. To me, it's always hard to identify which would and which wouldn't be candidates.

 

Was Crean a name tossed around as a likelihood when he was hired off Izzo's bench? I don't remember.

[don1481]

Was Crean a name tossed around as a likelihood when he was hired off Izzo's bench? I don't remember.

 

Crean followed after the uninspiring Mike Deane, who left the program in not-so-good condition. MU alumni and fans were pretty much willing to give anyone a chance since in their minds, the program had hit rock bottom. Now, with MU being in a much better (from top to bottom, no disrespect to Memphis intended) conference and with comparatively better talent in the program than what Deane had coming through, in addition to the huge expenditure known as the Al McGuire Center, the expectations are much higher. And it's now up to MU to figure out a way to deliver or risk taking a fairly sizable hit to their alumni donations.

[TooLiveBrew]

Crean followed after the uninspiring Mike Deane, who left the program in not-so-good condition. MU alumni and fans were pretty much willing to give anyone a chance since in their minds, the program had hit rock bottom.

 

I know -- I'm asking if his name was mentioned as a possible candidate. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Mr QL]

Honestly Buzz Williams would be pretty horrible. He might be able to keep a couple Crean recruits to stay committed(James and McNeal will leave regardless if they think they can get drafted) but what else qualifies him? The fact he may be able to keep 1 or 2 recruits who aren't exactly going to make or brake the team if they decide to go somewhere else doesn't cut it for me and I'm sure most other people. There is no reason for Marquette to have to settle for Buzz Williams.

[don1481]

I'm asking if his name was mentioned as a possible candidate. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Yes it was. We at least had advance warning that Tom Crean was on MU's radar back in '99. Tom Crean back in '99 was hungry and approachable. Tom Crean in '08 is smug and tan.

 

[patrickgpe]

I think Buzz Williams is a hire that a school like UWM would make, which isn't an insult to UWM, I just think a school in the Big East, should be able to hire a coach that atleast had some sucess at a mid-major school as a head coach. I talked to some fellow Marquette alums and students at the games this weekend and they are fine with Williams because it may mean that we could keep McNeal and James and have a better chance of the recruits staying. I just feel that Marquette needs to look down the road further than this year or next when looking at a new coach.

[don1481]

I talked to some fellow Marquette alums and students at the games this weekend and they are fine with Williams because it may mean that we could keep McNeal and James and have a better chance of the recruits staying.

Really? I'm hearing from the alumni that I talk to that Williams could affect their donating. I agree with what you're saying that MU cannot afford to be short-sighted, though.

 

And honestly - I'm perfectly comfortable with losing James... where's he going to go? Europe?

[PeaveyFury]

I think the longer Marquette goes without hiring someone, the more likely it is that the hiring is going to be a huge disappointment, IMO.

[patrickgpe]

this is a few days old but this is from Woeffel, he brought up names yet to me mentioned.

 

link

 

here's someone who is flying under the radar -- for now:

 

Frank Haith.

 

Haith guided the Miami Hurricanes into the NCAA Tournament this season, beating Saint Mary's 78-64 in the first round before taking Texas to the limit 75-72.

 

Before taking over the Hurricanes' program four years ago, Hait was an associate head coach under Rick Barnes at Texas.

After Tony Bennett, my next choice for the MU job would be Ray McCallum, a former Wisconsin assistant coach whom Indiana U. officials should have promoted to interim head coach after jettisoning Kelvin Sampson.

Look for Jerry Sichting, a former MU assistant coach and current assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves, to pursue the MU job.

 

[dpapo]

A couple days ago, WTMJ posted a story on their website that was based on a story by Lance Allen. Basically, as of that time, Lance Allen was reporting that their were 4 finalists for the job.

 

Wright State's Brad Brownell, Chris Lowery of Southern Illinois, Bob McKillop of Davidson and Buzz Williams.

 

http://www.620wtmj.com/sports/17321564.html

 

This morning Todd Rosiak added the following on JSOnline,

 

"Two new names I heard over the weekend were Kentucky assistant Tracy Webster and Baylor coach Scott Drew. It's unclear whether either had been or is on MU's radar screen at this point."

 

He also mentioned that at the moment, Buzz Williams appears to be the front-runner for the job, however if an announcement isn't made by mid-week that might mean they are going in another direction.

 

"What Williams has working for him at this point would appear to be the school's desire for continuity and stability within the program, his familiarity with the remaining players and signed recruits and his ability to recruit.

If an announcement isn't made by mid-week, though, that likely would signal there's a movement afoot to try to talk to a few other candidates... Xavier's Sean Miller, Washington State's Tony Bennett and Virginia Commonwealth's Anthony Grant are all known to have not reciprocated interest expressed by MU late last week."

 

http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/04/06/all-s-quiet-on-the-coaching-front.aspx

 

As a UWM fan, I hope they hire Brownell so that he is no longer at Wright State, plus I think he would probably be a good choice as well. He has already had success as a coach and has an impressive resume. If Indiana had not hired Crean, he was someone Indiana was about to look at and consider.

 

http://wsuraiders.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/brownell_brad00.html

 

Lowery is also one of the "hot names" in college coaching right now, with an impressive resume as well.

 

http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/lowery_chris00.html

 

 

Of the 4 possible candiates mentioned, I would probably rank them as follows:

 

1. Brownell--Okay, UWM bias probably has me ranking him higher than Lowery, but they are still probably more like 1a and 1b.

2. Lowery--Similar to Brownell in that both have proven to be winners as head coaches. Both have impressive resumes and have shown that they can recruit well, though Lowery appears to be a better recruiter. So, if it wasn't for being a UWM fan, I would probably rank Lowery slightly ahead of Brownell.

3. Williams--Has shown to be a top notch recruiter. May end up being the candiate that is best able to take the Marquette program up a step, but also has the least experience as coach.

4. McKillop--Proven winner as a coach. Is the oldest of the candidate's at age 58. Just doesn't seem to be the best fit.

 

If you add Drew and Webster to the mix, then I would put Drew in the top 3 mix. Maybe as no. 1. He has had mixed success as a coach, but also got stuck with a really lousy situation at Baylor and has turned around that program. He also seems to be a really good recruiter. Just don't know enough about Webster, other than he played at Wisconsin and has no head coaching experience. Seems to be a good recruiter, but it's hard to see Marquette picking Webster over Williams if they are going to with someone without much coaching experience.

 

[patrickgpe]

I'm warming up to Brownell, he has turned around wright state and did a good job at UNC-Wilmington. I also like the fact that it was reported that IU was planning on going after him if Crean didn't take the job. As for Lowry, i think its a great hire, its just going to be hard to have him leave his alma mater I think.

[thevaccinator27]

dpapo wrote:.

 

Bob McKillop of Davidson

From my conversations with someone who know's McKillop's agent, he "has bigger and better things going on than Marquette". Take it for what it's worth.

[Oldcity]

Lowery has done pretty well at SIU. I wouldn't be disappointed with him.

[homer]

They hired Buzz.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=736536

[don1481]

I think I threw up a little in my mouth just now.

 

Why did they hire Buzz so quickly? This move smacks of desperation by MU to try and keep a semi-tenuous hold on a couple of 18 year old prima donnas.

 

Count me out of donating to MU anytime soon. I'm sure a lot of other alumni share my sentiments and concern.

[Mr QL]

How exciting. Not. Buzz Williams is seriously the best you can do? That's like the absolute bottom of the barrel. Is he even really that good at recruiting? The guys they have coming in aren't exactly a top class or anything from what I know. Why couldn't they waited?

[Oldcity]

I think it's pretty tough for us to say whether this is a good hire yet. I don't think that there was anyone interested who was easily a better choice than Williams. The only ones who were weren't interested. Tough to make a great hire when no great candidates are interested.

[danzig6767]

I think I threw up a little in my mouth just now.

 

Why did they hire Buzz so quickly? This move smacks of desperation by MU to try and keep a semi-tenuous hold on a couple of 18 year old prima donnas.

These kind of moves to keep things smooth in the short term can really backfire if Williams proves to be way in over his head. Think about it this way, Williams likely would have had a hard time getting a head coaching gig right now anywhere in Division 1 basketball, but Marquette hands him their job.

 

[Oldcity]

Think about it this way, Williams likely would have had a hard time getting a head coaching gig right now anywhere in Division 1 basketball, but Marquette hands him their job.

Again, how do we know this?

[bullox]

Count me out of donating to MU anytime soon.

Were you planning on throwing millions their way or what? All this talk of "donations this, donations that" leads me to believe that you might. Otherwise...meh.

 

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

I think I threw up a little in my mouth just now.

 

Why did they hire Buzz so quickly? This move smacks of desperation by MU to try and keep a semi-tenuous hold on a couple of 18 year old prima donnas.

 

Count me out of donating to MU anytime soon. I'm sure a lot of other alumni share my sentiments and concern.

Wow... not gonna lie, you're kinda coming off like the 18 year old prima donnas you speak of.

 

You ever met Buzz Williams? If you have and still feel this way, I'd like to hear it. I have, and I am convinced MU made the right call. There are just as many questions with a mid-major coach. Buzz is a great relationship bulider, which translates into recruiting prowess. No doubt he's gonna have to learn a bit on the job when it comes to X's and O's, but you can bet he'll have at least one veteran assistant to help him with that.

 

I've met and dealt with Crean, and I've gotten the chance to talk to Buzz. I can say that Buzz is the anti-Crean. He's just as hard of a worker (if not moreso), but is very respectful and genuine with people. I can guarantee you no one wiill withold donations once they've met and talked with him, especially the donors that matter.

 

Give him a chance, sure it's not a sexy hire, but neither was Crean.

[JoeHova]

wow, this sucks. It's not that Williams will be a bad coach, but I thought Marquette had a lot going for it. Guess I was wrong.

[aracko]

What a disappointment. Well maybe he is talented. There are alot of great undiscovered basketball minds, but I cannot imagine this is good for future recruiting. A 6 year committment? Marquette must be pretty sure.