Buzz Williams hires two assistant coachesWritten by: NY WarriorRosiak breaks the news in a blog loaded with great information (http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/04/24/mu-hires-two-assistants.aspx) -- Buzz Williams hired two assistant coaches today:
- Tony Benford from Nebraska (by way of Arizona State and New Mexico)
- David "Aki" Collins from Fairfield (by way of Marshall, Howard and Colorado)
From the Nebraska athletics site a few key points on Tony Benford:
- Native of Hobbs, NM
- Played collegiately at Texas Tech
- Collegiate assistant coach since 1993
- Assistant coach and later associate head coach at Arizona State (eight seasons in Tempe)
- Assistant coach at Nebraska since 2006
From the Fairfield athletics site a few key points on Aki Collins.
- Native of Brooklyn, NY
- Played collegiately at Morehouse College and Clark College
- Assistant coach at Fairfield since 2006
- Assistant coach at Marshall for three seasons
- Assistant coach at Colorado for three seasons
Welcome to Marquette, gentlemen.
The net: Buzz Williams hires a pair of coaches with recruiting chops, with relationships in different parts of the country, and gets the added benefit of Benford's extensive experience as a top assistant at major programs.
According to Rosiak, Williams has one more assistant to hire -- perhaps one with a heritage and relationships in the Midwest. We shall see.
BTW, it looks like Scott Monarch (http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/04/catching-up-with-program.html), who's name did not come up in Rosiak's blog, might be the director of basketball operations (or a similar type of role).
http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2008/04/buzz-williams-hires-two-assistant.html