Katz: Marquette to pay $300K buyout to UNO

[CTWarrior]

Marquette University will pay a $300,000 debt that new coach Buzz Williams had built up with his former employer, the University of New Orleans, according to a MU spokesperson.

Williams left UNO last summer after just one season with the Privateers. When he left, according to UNO athletic director Jim Miller, he departed to be an assistant at Marquette without paying a $300,000 buyout.

Miller said this week that it was $100,000 a year, for the final three years of Williams' contract. Marquette spokesperson Michael Broeker said Friday that the Golden Eagles could have paid Williams' buyout as an assistant and aren't just doing it now because he has replaced Tom Crean as head coach.

Williams wasn't made available to comment.

Miller did make himself available to discuss the matter. He said that when Williams contacted Miller about leaving last year, the coach told him that he had this shot to go to a top 10 program. Miller said he told Williams that the school would not rescind the buyout if Williams left.

Miller said Williams left in July and the first payment was due in this past August. He said that Williams then filed a lawsuit against the school, stating that he had signed on to UNO under false pretenses during the post-Hurricane Katrina time period.

Multiple messages for Williams' attorney, Henry King, were not returned.

"They said that since we had lied about the conditions, he had signed a contract under false pretenses and shouldn't owe the money," Miller said.

"... We wanted to see who showed interest, and I read a Katrina disclaimer. We made sure everyone knew it wasn't an ideal situation, that we wouldn't get into our arena, that it was going to get worse before it got better. It's the first thing I said to every candidate."

Miller hired Williams, then a Texas A&M assistant, over Cal assistant Joe Pasternack to replace Monte Towe. Towe left New Orleans in 2006 to join fellow NC State alumnus Sidney Lowe with the Wolfpack the season after Katrina displaced the Privateers for most of the season to College Station, Texas, and an alternate gym near the New Orleans airport.

Williams took over for Towe two seasons ago, leading the Privateers to a 14-17 record, 9-9 in the Sun Belt.

Pasternack then took over for Williams and promptly led UNO to upsets over Tulane, Colorado and NC State, finishing 19-13 overall, 8-10 in the Sun Belt in his first season.

Williams was at Marquette this past season.

Miller said that once Williams got the job, the New Orleans AD hoped "that [Williams] could afford to pay us and he will." He said the two sides have gone back and forth over allegations, and that UNO was pushing for a trial.

"We were going to initiate discovery and depositions and all of that if he's got the time," Miller said. "But he owes us 300,000 bucks."

Talk of a trial may be moot if Broeker is correct and the Golden Eagles now plan on paying his debt.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=katz_andy

[lurch91]

I really don't like Katz now.  Can we pay him to not write about Marquette ever again? 

[lurch91]

Also, from Andy's Chat Transript:

Matt (Milwaukee): I noticed many Big East squads in your 08-09 Top 25 but no Marquette. Are you assuming defections by the players or factoring in the new coach? They basically have everyone important returning from a top 20 squad this year.

Andy Katz: Fair criticism. But I don't know what's going to happen with the draft with this crew and at the time I didn't know the coaching situation. Also, I'd like to see how Buzz Williams handles it first before passing judgment.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=20109

[rocky_warrior]

Let me correct Katz a bit

Marquette Indiana University will pay a $300,000 debt that new Marquette coach Buzz Williams had built up with his former employer, the University of New Orleans, according to a MU spokesperson.  IU will pay MU an additional $350,000 for the pleasure of obtaining the human propaganda machine known as Tom Crean.

[Norm]

The situation with Buzz leaving New Orleans is the main reason I haven't got too excited over the hire yet. I hope that feeling passes and I come to like Buzz, but I found it ironic that he emphasized character in his MU press conference, but left UNO high and dry after a year under fishy circumstances.

[Dish]

To me, the most interesting part of Katz's blog was this mention:

• The folks at Marquette believe that coaches are afraid to get into the Big East, and that limited the pool of candidates for the Golden Eagles' job.

Bring on my suggestion of our new conference...Catholic USA!

[Pakuni]

Regardless of what you think of Williams or the way he left UNO, this is a smart move by Marquette. They have the money (thanks, Indiana) and the last thing they need is to have their head coach/most prominent figurehead embroiled in some petty lawsuit with his former employer.
Hopefully this puts Williams' UNO issues to behind him and allows him to focus on the job at hand.

[LON]

Does the "ignore" button work with Katz

Stupid Vadger-loving twink

[Big Papi]

I take Katz with a grain of salt but here is what is interesting.  He has Providence just out of his top 25 but in consideration but MU completely out of the picture.  Than he states he doesn't know what to make of the MU situation.  Didn't know the coach and the coach had to prove his worth.  Draft status?  Interesting that he assumes other teams players stay when ranking them but doesn't apply to MU but then what about Providence? 

A team that didn't make the NCAA.  A team without a coach.  A team that can't seem to find a coach who wants the job.  A team that could fall apart with defections upon a hire and he has them under consideration.   

Its been very obvious for awhile that Katz and TC were good buds.  Katz would always pimp Crean for potential job openings because TC allowed it and wanted him to do that.  Now that TC is gone, Katz could care less about MU and maybe his badger red is getting in the way of his rankings.  Not that that matters at this point in time anyway.  Just interesting none the less.

[ChicosBailBonds]

To me, the most interesting part of Katz's blog was this mention:

• The folks at Marquette believe that coaches are afraid to get into the Big East, and that limited the pool of candidates for the Golden Eagles' job.

Bring on my suggestion of our new conference...Catholic USA!

I think they are right to some extent.  The Big East is both a benefit and a curse.  I think it's a tremendous benefit during the regular season, for attendance, for prestige.  For the NCAA tournament, wow...if you're not in the top 4 you're going to get a tough seed.  Getting into that top 4 considering the powers that are in this confernence...that's a tall tall order.

Bear in mind even in CUSA we only won the conference once and finished 2nd another time, with far less competition then we have now.

[mugoose]

katz is a badger. enough said.

as far i am concerned, he can ride in the same plane with crean when it goes down. oh, and aerosmith will be in that plane too.