[PaintTouches]Why Ben Howland is the man for Marquette

[PaintTouchesSays]

Why Ben Howland is the man for Marquette

Marquette's next hire needs to be a home run. That's true for just about every school in the country with a job opening, and the Golden Eagles aren't exempt. A source told Paint Touches that the administration is looking for an experienced head coach who has "had elite success," which seems to throw out the [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=painttouches.com&blog=28348875&post=11574&subd=painttouches&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />

Source: Why Ben Howland is the man for Marquette

[Niv Berkowitz]

I agree that it needs to be Howland, what with all the shake-ups and vacancies w/the upper administration. I just don't see Smart taking this job. It's not realistic. Would any of you take a job like MU considering your boss and your boss' boss aren't even in place? Makes NO sense from a security-standpoint. Plus, you don't make that move if there's a chance on clashing personalities.

Holand's old enough to not have to worry about his next big paycheck, has a chip on his shoulder (hopefully) from UCLA, still has fire, is of the age that he's not going to really worry too much about the next administration, and knows that MU could be his road to getting back on top.

I'm firmly in the Howland corner. And not only that, I'm of the opinion that if we don't land Howland, we are all going to be sorelyyyyyyy disappointed with who we get.

I like Wardle as a person, but he ain't our next coach. Not yet anyway.

[Litehouse]

"When Steve Fisher took the San Diego State gig in 2009, he was 54 years old."

A little nit-picky, but Fisher was 64 when he took that job in 2009, not 54.

[GoldenWarrior11]

As always, very well-written article.

[GooooMarquette]

I agree that it needs to be Howland, what with all the shake-ups and vacancies w/the upper administration. I just don't see Smart taking this job. It's not realistic. Would any of you take a job like MU considering your boss and your boss' boss aren't even in place? Makes NO sense from a security-standpoint. Plus, you don't make that move if there's a chance on clashing personalities.

Holand's old enough to not have to worry about his next big paycheck, has a chip on his shoulder (hopefully) from UCLA, still has fire, is of the age that he's not going to really worry too much about the next administration, and knows that MU could be his road to getting back on top.

I'm firmly in the Howland corner. And not only that, I'm of the opinion that if we don't land Howland, we are all going to be sorelyyyyyyy disappointed with who we get.

I like Wardle as a person, but he ain't our next coach. Not yet anyway.

Agree completely.

[Tugg Speedman]

I agree that it needs to be Howland, what with all the shake-ups and vacancies w/the upper administration. I just don't see Smart taking this job. It's not realistic. Would any of you take a job like MU considering your boss and your boss' boss aren't even in place? Makes NO sense from a security-standpoint. Plus, you don't make that move if there's a chance on clashing personalities.

Holand's old enough to not have to worry about his next big paycheck, has a chip on his shoulder (hopefully) from UCLA, still has fire, is of the age that he's not going to really worry too much about the next administration, and knows that MU could be his road to getting back on top.

I'm firmly in the Howland corner. And not only that, I'm of the opinion that if we don't land Howland, we are all going to be sorelyyyyyyy disappointed with who we get.

I like Wardle as a person, but he ain't our next coach. Not yet anyway.

If Wardle can show he can recruit 4- and 5-star types (the last unknown) he could be the guy after Howland, no matter how long Howland stays (Wardle is still very young).

[Sharpie]

Paint touches with another solid article!

My gut says Howland. At first, I was hesitant with him after reading some of the articles posted about the behind the scenes stuff at UCLA but I think he'd be a gray hire.

Shaka would also be an impact hire as well as Marshall being a close third in my
mind. Any of the three, I'd be happy with.

I'd be surprised if it ends up being someone totally off the radar but you never know with these things and I'm just going to sit back and quit speculating and quit looking into every single tweet, article, and pun that is being thrown around because I haven't gotten a single thing done in the last few days. Haha.

All I know is that we are going to be alright and going to be trending in the right direction as far as I'm concerned. I feel Marquette will get the guy they want and I couldn't be more excited.

Buzz did a great job at Marquette and I'm thankful for what he did here but onto the next one. I have no need to mention Buzz in any post going forward as we are starting a whole new era at Marquette.

Forever warriors.

[VegasWarrior77]

I see a lot of SD St. out here and Fisher has done a fantastic job.  He also has a top ten recruiting class coming in this coming season.  They will remain very good!  Howland could do the same in Milwaukee.

[Ahoya06]

Howland/Shaka are my 1a & 1b. I'd be thrilled with either one. Marshall rounds out "Tier One" in my eyes.

[MU82]

A tad concerned after reading in SI about his lack of control at UCLA.

I also question whether he would change his coaching style now, as Paint Touches suggests he might. That style was built over decades.

And let's not forget that in the 5 years after going to three straight Final Fours, Howland won a total of 2 NCAA tournament games and had two seasons in which he missed the tourney entirely.

Finally, I'm not sure how many of today's kids would consider Howland to be the kind of "cool coach" they'd want to play for. His choice of assistants would be huge.

All that being said, I am open-minded. Howland would come in with a pretty impressive resume. Of the names that have been speculated upon, it is impossible to conclude he isn't one of the two or three best.

[Norm]

I've posted my reservations on Howland in other threads (style of play, UCLA chaos), but can understand if he is hired and wouldn't be upset (just think guys like Masiello, Smart and Marshall would be better fits). However, I don't necessarily buy into the claim that he wouldn't consider Marquette a stepping-stone job. If he has success here at MU in 2-3 years, my guess is he would look at the "bigger" schools out there, especially, say, if one opened up in Bloomington, Indiana. Howland wants to get back into the game, and he's always looked to move up the ladder, not sure if that would change at MU.

[chapman]

Well done, Strotty.

Let's go Bill, wrap this up!

[chapman]

I've posted my reservations on Howland in other threads (style of play, UCLA chaos), but can understand if he is hired and wouldn't be upset (just think guys like Masiello, Smart and Marshall would be better fits). However, I don't necessarily buy into the claim that he wouldn't consider Marquette a stepping-stone job. If he has success here at MU in 2-3 years, my guess is he would look at the "bigger" schools out there, especially, say, if one opened up in Bloomington, Indiana. Howland wants to get back into the game, and he's always looked to move up the ladder, not sure if that would change at MU.

Simple, blue bloods don't hire 60 year olds who were fired from other blue bloods.  If he wanted to leave, the only places with mutual interest would be "retirement jobs" closer to home, like SDSU if Fisher retired.

[Pakuni]

I've posted my reservations on Howland in other threads (style of play, UCLA chaos), but can understand if he is hired and wouldn't be upset (just think guys like Masiello, Smart and Marshall would be better fits). However, I don't necessarily buy into the claim that he wouldn't consider Marquette a stepping-stone job. If he has success here at MU in 2-3 years, my guess is he would look at the "bigger" schools out there, especially, say, if one opened up in Bloomington, Indiana. Howland wants to get back into the game, and he's always looked to move up the ladder, not sure if that would change at MU.

I wouldn't be surprised if Howland might want to move up if he were to have a few very successful years at MU, but I would be surprised if any blueblood program would be terribly interested in a 60-year-old coach.

[Eldon]

Reminder: We are not a blue blood.

[PE8983]

I'm on board with Howland - I would welcome a coach who will stress defensive play.  Not just a coach who talks about it being important and doesn't do anything about it (BW).

[LAZER]

To put Howland's 19-10 tournament record in perspective with some of the greats:

Rank   Coach, Schools (*=not active)   Yrs.   W-L   Pct.              1   John Wooden*, UCLA   25   47-10   0.825 2   Mike Krzyzewski, Duke   38   82-25   0.766 3   Larry Brown, SMU   8   19-6   0.76 4   Rick Pitino, Louisville   27   48-16   0.75 5   Roy Williams, North Carolina   25   62-21   0.747 6   John Calipari, Kentucky   21   38-13   0.745 7   Billy Donovan, Florida   19   31-11   0.738 8   Tom Izzo, Michigan State   18   39-15   0.722 9   Jim Calhoun*, (Northeastern, Connecticut)   40   51-20   0.718 10   Bill Self, Kansas   20   35-14   0.714 11   Dean Smith*, North Carolina   36   65-27   0.707 T12   Joe B. Hall*, Kentucky   19   20-9   0.69 T12   Al McGuire*, Marquette   20   20-9   0.69 14   Hank Iba*, Oklahoma State   19   15-7   0.682 15   Jerry Tarkanian*, (Long Beach St., UNLV, Fresno State)   31   38-18   0.679 16   Thad Matta, Ohio State   13   23-11   0.676 17   Rollie Massimino*, (Villanova, UNLV, Cleveland State)   30   20-10   0.667 18   Steve Fisher, San Diego State   23   23-12   0.657 19   Ben Howland, UCLA   18   19-10   0.655 T20   Tubby Smith, Minnesota   22   30-16   0.652 T20   Jim Valvano*, (Iona, North Carolina State)   19   15-8   0.652 22   Denny Crum*, Louisville   30   42-23   0.646 23   Gary Williams*, (American, Boston College, Ohio State, Maryland)   33   29-16   0.644 24   Bob Knight*, (Army, Indiana, Texas Tech)   42   45-25   0.643 25   Jim Boeheim, Syracuse   37   52-29   0.642

[Sir Lawrence]

He's 56.

[Niv Berkowitz]

A tad concerned after reading in SI about his lack of control at UCLA.

I also question whether he would change his coaching style now, as Paint Touches suggests he might. That style was built over decades.

And let's not forget that in the 5 years after going to three straight Final Fours, Howland won a total of 2 NCAA tournament games and had two seasons in which he missed the tourney entirely.

Finally, I'm not sure how many of today's kids would consider Howland to be the kind of "cool coach" they'd want to play for. His choice of assistants would be huge.

All that being said, I am open-minded. Howland would come in with a pretty impressive resume. Of the names that have been speculated upon, it is impossible to conclude he isn't one of the two or three best.

Dude had the #1 class in the country two years ago. I'd say he still has reach. Also, look at just about all of the blue-blood/top-20 jobs. Most of the coaches are 50+. That IS the great thing on Smart. But, if we hired Smart (not happening) or Syracuse's assistant, you KNOW that Smart's name will come up every year and whenever the Syracuse job opens, the coach'd be gone.

Another reason for Howland.

[MU82]

Dude had the #1 class in the country two years ago. I'd say he still has reach. Also, look at just about all of the blue-blood/top-20 jobs. Most of the coaches are 50+. That IS the great thing on Smart. But, if we hired Smart (not happening) or Syracuse's assistant, you KNOW that Smart's name will come up every year and whenever the Syracuse job opens, the coach'd be gone.

Another reason for Howland.

Good points about his recruiting and the likelihood of him staying longer than other candidates. I don't know much about UCLA and don't know how important Howland's assistants were to landing those classes, but it can't be denied that he brought in the high-ranked players. I guess "cool" will be in the eye of the beholder. If I'm a recruit, I think it's "cool" that Howland recruited and coached Love and all those other studs.

I'm not at all concerned about his age. My main concern is that he has some pretty serious issues at UCLA and that two of his last four years would be judged as bad by any serious basketball fan.