Tony Bennett to...

[dennycrane]

My 2 cents...at the time, Bennett may have been the "safe" hire, whatever BS that means.  But I am ECSTATIC we didn't hire him.  He can't recruit, and his style of play is BORING, SLOW, and would have killed us in the BE.  Hope to see everybody on this thread back here in 2-3 years when Virginia is bottoming out (if they can get any lower) and Bennett gets canned.

PAC-10 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Name, School, Pos, Ht, Wt, Hometown (Last School)
DeAngelo Casto, WSU, F, 6-8, 229, Spokane, Wash. (Ferris HS)
DeMar DeRozan, USC, F, 6-7, 220, Compton, Calif. (Compton HS)
Jeremy Green, STAN, G, 6-4, 190, Austin, Texas (Bowie HS)
Jrue Holiday, UCLA, G, 6-3, 180, North Hollywood, Calif. (Campbell Hall HS)
Isaiah Thomas, WASH, G, 5-8, 180, Tacoma, Wash. (South Kent School, Conn.)
Klay Thompson, WSU, G, 6-6, 187, Ladera Ranch, Calif. (Santa Margarita HS)

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

How are you guys claiming that Tony Bennett can't recruit, as if Buzz Williams has some secret personality elixir that helps him get players. Are you telling me Tony Bennett couldn't compete with Bo Ryan for recruits? Or with Jerry Wainwright? Or Bruce Weber? Tubby Smith? Tom Crean!?!?! Who do you think Ryan would be more concerned about for top Wisconsin players...Buzz or an in-state basketball legend? Frankly, I think Buzz is extremely limited in the kind of student athlete he's able to recruit. Somehow, I have a hard time seeing the Novak's pushing Steve toward Marquette if Buzz Williams were at the helm.

I hope Buzz succeeds...nobody "hates" him...but winning one game in the NCAA with a team with 4 seniors and a junior in the starting line up does not make him a home run hire.

Tony Bennett would have been a home run hire...a grand slam, in fact. Buzz Williams was MAYBE a double, but really more like an infield hit considering the situation our coach was to inherit.

[Blackhat]

How are you guys claiming that Tony Bennett can't recruit, as if Buzz Williams has some secret personality elixir that helps him get players. Are you telling me Tony Bennett couldn't compete with Bo Ryan for recruits? Or with Jerry Wainwright? Or Bruce Weber? Tubby Smith? Tom Crean!?!?! Who do you think Ryan would be more concerned about for top Wisconsin players...Buzz or an in-state basketball legend? Frankly, I think Buzz is extremely limited in the kind of student athlete he's able to recruit. Somehow, I have a hard time seeing the Novak's pushing Steve toward Marquette if Buzz Williams were at the helm.

I hope Buzz succeeds...nobody "hates" him...but winning one game in the NCAA with a team with 4 seniors and a junior in the starting line up does not make him a home run hire.

Tony Bennett would have been a home run hire...a grand slam, in fact. Buzz Williams was MAYBE a double, but really more like an infield hit considering the situation our coach was to inherit.

How can we claim that?  Because he's got a little thing called a recruiting record and he has only landed one four star player in three years, the rest three and two stars. 

[muarmy81]

Beyond the "All Freshman" Team indicated above I think the point was made that in the past 2 years, even after their sweet 16 appearance, TB has only been
able to land 1 top 100 kid...indicating that he isn't a great recruiter.

And now he's working completely off of "his" kids and none of his dad's recruits are there anymore...results = NIT birth.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

How can we claim that?  Because he's got a little thing called a recruiting record and he has only landed one four star player in three years, the rest three and two stars. 

For chrissakes, he was in Pullman, Washington!! Buzz Williams has exactly ONE recruiting class to his credit and they haven't entered school yet. It could be up there with one of "Tom Crean's World Famous Vanishing Recruiting Classes" for all we know. But be sure to hitch your wagon to Buzz Williams. He's a no-brainer!

[Blackhat]

For chrissakes, he was in Pullman, Washington!! Buzz Williams has exactly ONE recruiting class to his credit and they haven't entered school yet. It could be up there with one of "Tom Crean's World Famous Vanishing Recruiting Classes" for all we know. But be sure to hitch your wagon to Buzz Williams. He's a no-brainer!

Buzz is in Milwaukee Wisconsin!!!!! a good city but not exactly a metropolis and he's from texas and is still able to pull in top notch local talent.   Washington State football squad had no problem getting guys to Pullman Washington just 7 or 8 years ago.   You can make excuses for TB all you want but he has NO RECORD of being able to recruit elite and in fact has one of the inverse.   

[Pakuni]

PAC-10 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Name, School, Pos, Ht, Wt, Hometown (Last School)
DeAngelo Casto, WSU, F, 6-8, 229, Spokane, Wash. (Ferris HS)
DeMar DeRozan, USC, F, 6-7, 220, Compton, Calif. (Compton HS)
Jeremy Green, STAN, G, 6-4, 190, Austin, Texas (Bowie HS)
Jrue Holiday, UCLA, G, 6-3, 180, North Hollywood, Calif. (Campbell Hall HS)
Isaiah Thomas, WASH, G, 5-8, 180, Tacoma, Wash. (South Kent School, Conn.)
Klay Thompson, WSU, G, 6-6, 187, Ladera Ranch, Calif. (Santa Margarita HS)

That's a tad bit misleading, though.
Because of Bennett's awful recruiting the previous two seasons, Wazzou had to give its freshmen a ton of minutes this season. Thompson played more than 33 minutes per game. That's Jerel McNeal/Wesley Matthews territory.
In between all the freshmen and five seniors on the roster this year, Wazzou had zero sophomores play more than 3 minutes per game and one junior.

Of course, while that meant plenty of minutes for young players, it also meant a sub-.500 record in a subpar conference and a one-in-done in the NIT.
Interesting what to some passes as a grand slam these days.

p.s. How Casto made the all-freshmen team is a bit of a head-scratcher. Kid averaged 4.4 points and 4 rebounds per game. I know the Pac-10 was bad this year, but was it really that bad?

[muarmy81]

For chrissakes, he was in Pullman, Washington!! Buzz Williams has exactly ONE recruiting class to his credit and they haven't entered school yet. It could be up there with one of "Tom Crean's World Famous Vanishing Recruiting Classes" for all we know. But be sure to hitch your wagon to Buzz Williams. He's a no-brainer!

I don't think he's saying the Buzz hire is a no brainer, rather that he's landed more 4 star recruits in 1 year than Bennett has in the past 3.

[79Warrior]

How are you guys claiming that Tony Bennett can't recruit, as if Buzz Williams has some secret personality elixir that helps him get players. Are you telling me Tony Bennett couldn't compete with Bo Ryan for recruits? Or with Jerry Wainwright? Or Bruce Weber? Tubby Smith? Tom Crean!?!?! Who do you think Ryan would be more concerned about for top Wisconsin players...Buzz or an in-state basketball legend? Frankly, I think Buzz is extremely limited in the kind of student athlete he's able to recruit. Somehow, I have a hard time seeing the Novak's pushing Steve toward Marquette if Buzz Williams were at the helm.

I hope Buzz succeeds...nobody "hates" him...but winning one game in the NCAA with a team with 4 seniors and a junior in the starting line up does not make him a home run hire.

Tony Bennett would have been a home run hire...a grand slam, in fact. Buzz Williams was MAYBE a double, but really more like an infield hit considering the situation our coach was to inherit.

I am not a fan of Buzz, I think he was a hasty hire. That said, it is not his fault DJ went down and the wheels came off the bus.

[bma725]

How are you guys claiming that Tony Bennett can't recruit, as if Buzz Williams has some secret personality elixir that helps him get players. Are you telling me Tony Bennett couldn't compete with Bo Ryan for recruits? Or with Jerry Wainwright? Or Bruce Weber? Tubby Smith? Tom Crean!?!?! Who do you think Ryan would be more concerned about for top Wisconsin players...Buzz or an in-state basketball legend? Frankly, I think Buzz is extremely limited in the kind of student athlete he's able to recruit. Somehow, I have a hard time seeing the Novak's pushing Steve toward Marquette if Buzz Williams were at the helm.

I hope Buzz succeeds...nobody "hates" him...but winning one game in the NCAA with a team with 4 seniors and a junior in the starting line up does not make him a home run hire.

Tony Bennett would have been a home run hire...a grand slam, in fact. Buzz Williams was MAYBE a double, but really more like an infield hit considering the situation our coach was to inherit.

Simple, some of us actually follow college basketball recruiting rather than just making off the cuff remarks with no factual basis.  Bennett has shown nothing as the head coach of WSU since 2006 to show that he is capable of recruiting the talent necessary to compete in the PAC-10, let alone the Big East.

He's been able to sign a grand total of one top 100 recruit while he was there and his roster is chocked full of 2 star players that had no offers from other high majors and have no business playing big time college basketball.  His prized recruit for next year is Xavier Thames, a three star player that peaked as a high school sophomore and has steadily been dropping on everyone's board since then.

Good recruiters can bring in talent no matter city or school they are at.  There are top 100 recruits this year going to places like like LaSalle, Akron, Georgia State and Charlotte...but Bennett couldn't get a single one.

Bennett may have been a home run hire as a PR move.  But as a recruiter, he's not good. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

That's a tad bit misleading, though.
Because of Bennett's awful recruiting the previous two seasons, Wazzou had to give its freshmen a ton of minutes this season. Thompson played more than 33 minutes per game. That's Jerel McNeal/Wesley Matthews territory.
In between all the freshmen and five seniors on the roster this year, Wazzou had zero sophomores play more than 3 minutes per game and one junior.

Of course, while that meant plenty of minutes for young players, it also meant a sub-.500 record in a subpar conference and a one-in-done in the NIT.
Interesting what to some passes as a grand slam these days.

p.s. How Casto made the all-freshmen team is a bit of a head-scratcher. Kid averaged 4.4 points and 4 rebounds per game. I know the Pac-10 was bad this year, but was it really that bad?

Thompson was also a top 50 recruit (by some anyway) which is why he played so much.  He's damn good.

It will be interesting to see how Tony does at UVa.  Recruiting to Pullman is really tough if you're doing it without cheating.

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

Simple, some of us actually follow college basketball recruiting rather than just making off the cuff remarks with no factual basis.  Bennett has shown nothing as the head coach of WSU since 2006 to show that he is capable of recruiting the talent necessary to compete in the PAC-10, let alone the Big East.

He's been able to sign a grand total of one top 100 recruit while he was there and his roster is chocked full of 2 star players that had no offers from other high majors and have no business playing big time college basketball.  His prized recruit for next year is Xavier Thames, a three star player that peaked as a high school sophomore and has steadily been dropping on everyone's board since then.

Good recruiters can bring in talent no matter city or school they are at.  There are top 100 recruits this year going to places like like LaSalle, Akron, Georgia State and Charlotte...but Bennett couldn't get a single one.

Bennett may have been a home run hire as a PR move.  But as a recruiter, he's not good. 

+1000000

Funny too that the guy bemoaning the lack of a "home run" hire for PR purposes was so quick to dismiss anything our former coach did as "PR"....

[Blackhat]

Thompson was also a top 50 recruit (by some anyway) which is why he played so much.  He's damn good.

It will be interesting to see how Tony does at UVa.  Recruiting to Pullman is really tough if you're doing it without cheating.

And UVA hasn't proven tough to recruit to?  If Bennett doesn't improve his recruiting I'll give him 4 years in the ACC tops. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

And UVA hasn't proven tough to recruit to?  If Bennett doesn't improve his recruiting I'll give him 4 years in the ACC tops. 

I don't know why it would be.  This is the place that got Ralph Sampson to play there, right?  Bryant Stith, Sean Singeltary, Curtis Staples, etc.  Unbelievable campus, nice weather, very good academics, some solid basketball history, ACC, 2 Final Fours, respectable NCAA appearances, etc.

Wazzu is in the middle of nowhere, crappy academics, terrible weather, not a major urban center within hours.

Between the two, I would think it's much easier to recruit to Virginia then Washington State.  Tony has struggled recruiting, but he hasn't had much to recruit to.  Now he won't have that excuse.  Will his recruiting improve?  Don't know.

[Pakuni]

I don't know why it would be.  This is the place that got Ralph Sampson to play there, right?  Bryant Stith, Sean Singeltary, Curtis Staples, etc.  Unbelievable campus, nice weather, very good academics, some solid basketball history, ACC, 2 Final Fours, respectable NCAA appearances, etc.

Wazzu is in the middle of nowhere, crappy academics, terrible weather, not a major urban center within hours.

Between the two, I would think it's much easier to recruit to Virginia then Washington State.  Tony has struggled recruiting, but he hasn't had much to recruit to.  Now he won't have that excuse.  Will his recruiting improve?  Don't know.

Pullman is a tough spot, no doubt.
But Bennett's old man recruited a Sweet 16 team when the program was down about as far as any could be (averaged 8 wins the previous four seasons). George Raveling and Kelvin Sampson recruited some pretty good teams to Pullman. And, though it's a different sport,  Mike Price recruited a couple of Rose Bowl teams to Pullman.
Tough, but far from impossible.

Virginia should be easier in one sense, but in the other he's going to be recruiting against Coach K, Roy Williams, Gary Williams, Bob Huggins, JT III, etc. for all that Virginia talent. The competition in the Pacific Northwest - and options for kids who want to play big-time hoops fairly close to home - is much more sparse.

[Blackhat]

I don't know why it would be.  This is the place that got Ralph Sampson to play there, right?  Bryant Stith, Sean Singeltary, Curtis Staples, etc.  Unbelievable campus, nice weather, very good academics, some solid basketball history, ACC, 2 Final Fours, respectable NCAA appearances, etc.

Wazzu is in the middle of nowhere, crappy academics, terrible weather, not a major urban center within hours.

Between the two, I would think it's much easier to recruit to Virginia then Washington State.  Tony has struggled recruiting, but he hasn't had much to recruit to.  Now he won't have that excuse.  Will his recruiting improve?  Don't know.

Going into it if Dave Leito can't get em I'll have a hard time believing Tony can.

[dennycrane]

Simple, some of us actually follow college basketball recruiting rather than just making off the cuff remarks with no factual basis.  Bennett has shown nothing as the head coach of WSU since 2006 to show that he is capable of recruiting the talent necessary to compete in the PAC-10, let alone the Big East.

He's been able to sign a grand total of one top 100 recruit while he was there and his roster is chocked full of 2 star players that had no offers from other high majors and have no business playing big time college basketball.  His prized recruit for next year is Xavier Thames, a three star player that peaked as a high school sophomore and has steadily been dropping on everyone's board since then.

Good recruiters can bring in talent no matter city or school they are at.  There are top 100 recruits this year going to places like like LaSalle, Akron, Georgia State and Charlotte...but Bennett couldn't get a single one.

Bennett may have been a home run hire as a PR move.  But as a recruiter, he's not good. 

Hilarious post. You read the player rankigs. How many players not on that list that Bennett recruited end up in the NBA? All conference team? On a Sweet Sixteen team?

Maybe Buzz Williams will be great. His recruits have not proven anything yet. You argument is premature.

[dennycrane]

Pullman is a tough spot, no doubt.
But Bennett's old man recruited a Sweet 16 team when the program was down about as far as any could be (averaged 8 wins the previous four seasons). George Raveling and Kelvin Sampson recruited some pretty good teams to Pullman. And, though it's a different sport,  Mike Price recruited a couple of Rose Bowl teams to Pullman.
Tough, but far from impossible.

Virginia should be easier in one sense, but in the other he's going to be recruiting against Coach K, Roy Williams, Gary Williams, Bob Huggins, JT III, etc. for all that Virginia talent. The competition in the Pacific Northwest - and options for kids who want to play big-time hoops fairly close to home - is much more sparse.

You think it was Dick who recruited those kids? I thought Dick could not recruit?

[bma725]

Hilarious post. You read the player rankigs. How many players not on that list that Bennett recruited end up in the NBA? All conference team? On a Sweet Sixteen team?

Maybe Buzz Williams will be great. His recruits have not proven anything yet. You argument is premature.

My argument is independent of Buzz Williams.  In fact I'm not even arguing that Buzz is a better recruiter than Tony, I'm simply saying Tony is a bad recruiter.

Tony Bennett's recruiting evaluated on it's own by multiple factors beyond just the rankings....like how the players have actually looked on the floor, and how he's doing in comparison to his PAC-10 competition that he had to face.  Rankings are only a minor part of it, the play on the court is what really matters, and by that measure or any other measure you can come up with, Tony Bennett's recruiting has been bad.  What Buzz Williams does or doesn't do has nothing to do with the argument.

[dennycrane]

My argument is independent of Buzz Williams.  In fact I'm not even arguing that Buzz is a better recruiter than Tony, I'm simply saying Tony is a bad recruiter.

Tony Bennett's recruiting evaluated on it's own by multiple factors beyond just the rankings....like how the players have actually looked on the floor, and how he's doing in comparison to his PAC-10 competition that he had to face.  Rankings are only a minor part of it, the play on the court is what really matters, and by that measure or any other measure you can come up with, Tony Bennett's recruiting has been bad.  What Buzz Williams does or doesn't do has nothing to do with the argument.

Explain how Bennett's bad recruiting took the worst program in the Pac 10 to the Sweet Sixteen. Do you realize how many negative streaks the WSU program broke against other Pac 10 teams? Bad recruiting?

You are spreading nonsense. Bennett does not recruit like Calapari. That by no means makes him a bad recruiter.

[muarmy81]

Explain how Bennett's bad recruiting took the worst program in the Pac 10 to the Sweet Sixteen. Do you realize how many negative streaks the WSU program broke against other Pac 10 teams? Bad recruiting?

You are spreading nonsense. Bennett does not recruit like Calapari. That by no means makes him a bad recruiter.

Those recruits that played on the Sweet 16 team were Dick Bennett's recruits...not Tony's.  Since 06' what have they done now that his old man's recruits aren't there?

[dennycrane]

Those recruits that played on the Sweet 16 team were Dick Bennett's recruits...not Tony's.  Since 06' what have they done now that his old man's recruits aren't there?

Is that so? Who do you think recruited them?

There appears to be several people on this board who know the Bennett's. They have claimed intimate knowledge as to the workings of the decision making by both Dick and Tony. They can ask Dick who handled the recruiting at WSU.

[muarmy81]

Is that so? Who do you think recruited them?

There appears to be several people on this board who know the Bennett's. They have claimed intimate knowledge as to the workings of the decision making by both Dick and Tony. They can ask Dick who handled the recruiting at WSU.

While I'm sure Tony helped with the recruiting while his dad was there let's look at the logic:

Tony + Dick = recruits that lead to Sweet 16

Tony = recruits that lead to early exit in NIT

Looking at the above equations I think many tend to believe that while Tony was involved with recruiting with his dad he hasn't been able to achieve the same success without his dad.  Was Dick the guy closing the deal or was there another assistant that left when the reigns were handed to tony?  Who knows, but now that Dick is missing from the equation you don't see much talent coming through Pullman.

[Pakuni]

While I'm sure Tony helped with the recruiting while his dad was there let's look at the logic:

Tony + Dick = recruits that lead to Sweet 16

Tony = recruits that lead to early exit in NIT

Looking at the above equations I think many tend to believe that while Tony was involved with recruiting with his dad he hasn't been able to achieve the same success without his dad.  Was Dick the guy closing the deal or was there another assistant that left when the reigns were handed to tony?  Who knows, but now that Dick is missing from the equation you don't see much talent coming through Pullman.

To add to that equation ...

Tony =  Zero members of the class of 2007 that played three or more minutes per game this year. One member of the class of 2006 that played three or more minutes oer game this year.
This year's freshman class appears decent, but his two prior classes - his first two without the old man in charge - were essentially wasted. In two years, he landed one player.
And yet we're crazy to question his recruiting chops? Hmmm.

[dennycrane]

To add to that equation ...

Tony =  Zero members of the class of 2007 that played three or more minutes per game this year. One member of the class of 2006 that played three or more minutes oer game this year.
This year's freshman class appears decent, but his two prior classes - his first two without the old man in charge - were essentially wasted. In two years, he landed one player.
And yet we're crazy to question his recruiting chops? Hmmm.

The older players were still better. Tony gets no credit for them according to you. Two of the '08 recruits that played were all Pac 10 freshman.

To bad you were not available for the search committees at LSU, IU and UVA. You could have let those schools know Bennett was such a bad recruiter.