What to do with Wojo?

[panda]

He has two years left on his deal and I’m unaware of what the buyout entails. I think there is a higher probability of the school extending him once again than firing him. The optics for either decision don’t look great given the universities budget short falls, but the relationship Wojo has with the school should entrance them to give out another extension.

Can they afford to not do either and let him be a lame duck coach on the recruiting front? Will the school have the courage to move on from the most tenured coach at Marquette since Al?

Excluding an incredible run throughout the second half of the season, I think the pressure will be massive on the school to move on from Wojo and not waste more years on a program spiraling into mediocrity.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Wojo has a contract through 2023-24.  So three years after this one.  I have no idea what the buy out is though.  Regardless it wouldn't look good to pay it given the school's financial circumstances.  And I doubt that will happen anyway.  He will be given a pass....again.  "It's a young team."  "It was an extraordinary year."  Blah, blah, blah...

I would encourage him to move on.

[panda]

Wojo has a contract through 2023-24.  So three years after this one.  I have no idea what the buy out is though.  Regardless it wouldn't look good to pay it given the school's financial circumstances.  And I doubt that will happen anyway.  He will be given a pass....again.  "It's a young team."  "It was an extraordinary year."  Blah, blah, blah...

I would encourage him to move on.

My mistake on the year.

Either way, this is normally extension time for a coach as the school/coach wants to promise recruits he’ll be there for the players four year career. It becomes easy to recruit against when there’s instability at a program.

Marquette needs to have serious discussions about this and the effect it will have on the future of the program.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Extend him if necessary but lower the buyout so it becomes essentially a series of one year contracts.

[brewcity77]

I think extending him with a lower buyout is the way to go, regardless of this year's success or failures. I think the best case scenario is this team backing into the tournament and making a shock Sweet 16 run that gets someone in the ACC to come calling (Boston College?).

Honestly, I feel like we're in a cycle of mediocrity. Wojo will keep getting to the tournament two out of every three years with a low seed and always have us convinced that there's enough talent that we'll be really good in a year or two. Except that year or two will never actually arrive.

[tower912]

He isn't going to be fired this year, barring scandal.    He is what the BOT wants, he earned bonus points in how he got in front of supporting his players during the BLM, he has managed the COVID stuff as an adult, he has represented the university well, he has recruited well.     

But eventually, the results of all of his good work needs to show up on the floor.     

[vogue65]

What to do with the Marquette short term tactical thinking?
Stratigic thinking is a learned skill.  Knowing the definition, understanding the concept is the easy part.  Actually executing a stratigic plan is another matter.

When I was living in Quantico, VA back in the sixties they built Dulles Airport in the boondocks.  There was NOTHING there, and it was far from D.C..   I had worked on a United airlines project while at Marquette, I was flying on 707's, I still didn't get it.   Building something worthwhile takes time and many here don't understand long term strategy.

Villanova has been building their program for decades.   Marquette is just starting, yes, Wojo has had a few false starts with Wisconsin in state recruiting, he has learned his lesson.

My takeaway from last night was watching the Villanova second string play.  Jay Wright was giving us a look at the future.   All things being equal, I think our first line would beat their second line. 

Opportunistic short term thinking has put Marquette in its current position.  Only long term stratigic thinking will solve the problem.   Plan #2, magical thinking, bring back Buzz or Buzz #2.

[panda]

What to do with the Marquette short term tactical thinking?
Stratigic thinking is a learned skill.  Knowing the definition, understanding the concept is the easy part.  Actually executing a stratigic plan is another matter.

When I was living in Quantico, VA back in the sixties they built Dulles Airport in the boondocks.  There was NOTHING there, and it was far from D.C..   I had worked on a United airlines project while at Marquette, I was flying on 707's, I still didn't get it.   Building something worthwhile takes time and many here don't understand long term strategy.

Villanova has been building their program for decades.   Marquette is just starting, yes, Wojo has had a few false starts with Wisconsin in state recruiting, he has learned his lesson.

My takeaway from last night was watching the Villanova second string play.  Jay Wright was giving us a look at the future.   All things being equal, I think our first line would beat their second line. 

Opportunistic short term thinking has put Marquette in its current position.  Only long term stratigic thinking will solve the problem.   Plan #2, magical thinking, bring back Buzz or Buzz #2.

This post was an absolute roller coaster ride of crazy!

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

If we make the tournament this season he should be given an extension. If we make the tourney this season,  we will be earning high seeds for the next few years as DJ, Justin,  and Garcia grow.

[Badgerhater]

Not bad enough to fire.
Not good enough to keep around.

Mediocrity.

I don’t want to ignore MU hoops but it has been easy to do the past few years.

[MarquetteDano]

If we make the tournament this season he should be given an extension. If we make the tourney this season,  we will be earning high seeds for the next few years as DJ, Justin,  and Garcia grow.

We have seen this before though.  What are the chances those 3 will be on the team next year? Or 2022-3?

[vogue65]

We have seen this before though.  What are the chances those 3 will be on the team next year? Or 2022-3?

They don't come from the Wisconsin basketball underground.  I am very optimistic that they are keepers.  The question is, is Marquette really a winner? 

[MarquetteDano]

They don't come from the Wisconsin basketball underground.  I am very optimistic that they are keepers.  The question is, is Marquette really a winner?

Love the optimism. Hope you are right. Just dont make excuses when you are proven wrong.

[We R Final Four]

Excluding an incredible run throughout the second half of the season, I think the pressure will be massive on the school to move on from Wojo and not waste more years on a program spiraling into mediocrity.

I don’t think the pressure on the school is “massive”, or will be by any stretch.

[vogue65]

Is Marquette a university with a basketball team?
Is Marquette a basketball team with  a university?
Does Marquette identify with UNLV, University of Southern Mississippi, the University of South Florida or Duke, Northwestern, Princeton, or Bucknell?
Perhaps before WOJO moves on I should move on.

[brewcity77]

If we make the tournament this season he should be given an extension. If we make the tourney this season,  we will be earning high seeds for the next few years as DJ, Justin,  and Garcia grow.

An extension with a much smaller buyout so his contract was basically a series of one-year deals. I'd be all for that extension.

[vogue65]

An extension with a much smaller buyout so his contract was basically a series of one-year deals. I'd be all for that extension.

You think the prospects advisors would miss the termination for convenience ploy?
This thinking is back to short term sharp practice.   How about a longer term strategic plan.

[Silent Verbal]

You think the prospects advisors would miss the termination for convenience ploy?
This thinking is back to short term sharp practice.   How about a longer term strategic plan.

What the heck are you even talking about?  Next year will be Wojo’s eighth season.  Only Crean has had a longer tenure at MU since Al.

[CountryRoads]

If we make the tournament this season he should be given an extension. If we make the tourney this season,  we will be earning high seeds for the next few years as DJ, Justin,  and Garcia grow.

This post sort of epitomizes the endless loop of mediocrity we’ve been in under wojo. Always just “one more year” away from wojo filling in the missing pieces around the core players. Player development is not always a linear process either. Take promising top 100 recruit Haanif Cheatham for example. Thought we had a good one there but unfortunately his best ball was played in his freshman year and he was completely lost by the time he left MU. To Wojos credit though, he does have several players who have developed nicely (Anim, John, etc).

Isn’t the talk of “extending” wojo kind of irrelevant also? I would think MU is smart enough to always “extend” Wojos contract so that it won’t make for a competitive disadvantage on the recruiting front. Nothing more, nothing less.

Would agree with Brewcity on the lower buyout, but that seems like the obvious thing to do and the competence of the people making that decision should be seriously questioned if that is not the case.

[vogue65]

I see it as TEAM development, not player development.

[#UnleashSean]

I see it as TEAM development, not player development.

When would we be getting some of that team development?

[Daniel]

The problem is you want to see an inexperienced head coach grow each year, learning from the past mistakes etc. You want to get better.  Buzz was smart to bring in ex head coaches to help as assistants.  That was good.  Wojo should do the same.  Why not? 

We need to see movement in the right direction.  As a squeaky-clean rep of the university, he excels. 

[vogue65]

What the heck are you even talking about?  Next year will be Wojo’s eighth season.  Only Crean has had a longer tenure at MU since Al.

I'm talking about his playing in the Wisconsin basketball underground and getting screwed.
Marquette is a national university, in my view it should be more an international university, and should not depend on Wisconsin recruits.
I see that WOJO learned his lesson, no attribution neededd.  So lets go forward and play our new hand and build a national program.

[Galway Eagle]

If we make the tournament this season he should be given an extension. If we make the tourney this season,  we will be earning high seeds for the next few years as DJ, Justin,  and Garcia grow.

Garcia has one year left because he's so thin. Wasn't it pretty public Carton wants to go pro after this year no matter what?

[GoldenWarrior11]

I was actually surprised by the number of football coaches that were fired this year.  I thought, given the pandemic, most schools would be looking to tightening the spending and look to avoid any unnecessary costs (i.e. coaching buyouts).  There have been seven official firings thus far (there were nine last year).  There were 16 basketball firings in the Spring, even during a pandemic, which was also higher than I would have imagined.