mike deane

[ChicosBailBonds]

I was at MU in Deane's first 2 years..to say he was the cat's meow is quite strong and an exaggeration.  Most of us weren't thrilled with the NIT Finals game, after seeing KO take us to the Sweet 16 in 1994.  Furthermore, watching the recruits he was bringing in - we all knew the program was going south fast.  So for those who thought he was awesome - they definitely didn't have a very good sense of what it takes to have a successful, high-level basketball team.  Furthermore, Deane said MU was an NIT type program, and didn't have the ability to be NCAA level again.  This is where Tom Creans should get his due, because Deane did torpedo the program.

Your memory is faded.  In year two, MU was 23-8 and 10-4 in CUSA.  Made the conference tournament finals in Memphis where we lost to Cincinnati 85-84 in overtime.  That was the year of the incredible double overtime thriller win at Louisville.  I worked in the athletic department at the time.  People were gaga at the time.  MU had beaten Louisville, Memphis, and Cincinnati in the last two weeks of the season until finally losing to Cincy in the CUSA tournament by one point.

We had a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and crushed Monmouth by 25 points.  Then we took on Arkansas, the 12 seed.  It was a day where we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and fell by 10 points.  That was a very good team that just played poor that day, but the Deane wagon was in full gear at that point after year two.  Your memory has faded.

Mike was walking on sunshine then.

The next year was the improbable run in St. Louis to win the conference title and get an automatic berth before the annihilation in Charlotte to Providence.  There were definitely some chinks in the armor that year, but the run to get us in the tournament had him loved by most again.

It wasn't until year 4 when things started to go downhill.

I like Mike a ton.  Funny as hell and definitely a character.  But your memory is tainted, he was quite the darling of Marquette his 2nd and 3rd year...a visit to Turners after the games showed how much Milwaukee was behind Mike at the time.

[only a warrior]

Walking on sunshine??? Still playing the old Katrina and the Waves cassette tape dreaming of the glory years in the ol' Athletic Dept?

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Your memory is faded.  In year two, MU was 23-8 and 10-4 in CUSA.  Made the conference tournament finals in Memphis where we lost to Cincinnati 85-84 in overtime.  That was the year of the incredible double overtime thriller win at Louisville.  I worked in the athletic department at the time.  People were gaga at the time.  MU had beaten Louisville, Memphis, and Cincinnati in the last two weeks of the season until finally losing to Cincy in the CUSA tournament by one point.

We had a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and crushed Monmouth by 25 points.  Then we took on Arkansas, the 12 seed.  It was a day where we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and fell by 10 points.  That was a very good team that just played poor that day, but the Deane wagon was in full gear at that point after year two.  Your memory has faded.

Mike was walking on sunshine then.

The next year was the improbable run in St. Louis to win the conference title and get an automatic berth before the annihilation in Charlotte to Providence.  There were definitely some chinks in the armor that year, but the run to get us in the tournament had him loved by most again.

It wasn't until year 4 when things started to go downhill.

I like Mike a ton.  Funny as hell and definitely a character.  But your memory is tainted, he was quite the darling of Marquette his 2nd and 3rd year...a visit to Turners after the games showed how much Milwaukee was behind Mike at the time.

More of the same from you.

Just trying to slight Buzz again.

Give it up.

[PJDunn]

Calling Chicos post negative towards Buzz is a joke.  He is absolutely right regarding Deane.  The Mike Deane bandwagon at MU was completely full during those years.  He was a fantastic game coach and recruited better than many give him credit for.  The well documented "chinks in the armor" certainly existed, but he did have a nice 3 year run. 

[mu_hilltopper]

PJDunn:  Notice the teal colored font on 2002MUAlum's post?

That means he's being sarcastic.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

He was an irascible, pompous jerk who acted like Bob Knight without the results.  

He absolutely was not a pompous jerk. Did you ever meet the guy?

[bma725]

Pompous might not be correct.  Jerk definitely is.

[AZWarrior]

He became dead to me when he stated that it was not possible to recruit top tier talent to Marquette.  That our academic admissions requirements made it too hard.  He seemed to be an effective game coach.  Off the court, I have no idea.  Though its fun to read about this stuff now.

[Boone]

I guess Athletics couldn't see what every MU alum I know could see. Deane was winning w/KO's players, while bringing in the likes of Polonowski, Bart Miller and Krunti Hester. W/those kind of players coming in, it was only a matter of time until the bottom fell out.

[NersEllenson]

Your memory is faded.  In year two, MU was 23-8 and 10-4 in CUSA.  Made the conference tournament finals in Memphis where we lost to Cincinnati 85-84 in overtime.  That was the year of the incredible double overtime thriller win at Louisville.  I worked in the athletic department at the time.  People were gaga at the time.  MU had beaten Louisville, Memphis, and Cincinnati in the last two weeks of the season until finally losing to Cincy in the CUSA tournament by one point.

We had a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and crushed Monmouth by 25 points.  Then we took on Arkansas, the 12 seed.  It was a day where we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and fell by 10 points.  That was a very good team that just played poor that day, but the Deane wagon was in full gear at that point after year two.  Your memory has faded.

Mike was walking on sunshine then.

The next year was the improbable run in St. Louis to win the conference title and get an automatic berth before the annihilation in Charlotte to Providence.  There were definitely some chinks in the armor that year, but the run to get us in the tournament had him loved by most again.

It wasn't until year 4 when things started to go downhill.

I like Mike a ton.  Funny as hell and definitely a character.  But your memory is tainted, he was quite the darling of Marquette his 2nd and 3rd year...a visit to Turners after the games showed how much Milwaukee was behind Mike at the time.

Sorry Chicos, yet another time I disagree..and we have virtually an entire page of previous history not exactly endorsing Deane.  Maybe because of your time working in the Athletic Department you enjoyed being around Deane, you clearly jumped on the Mike Deane bandwagon - only to see it bottom out -explains why you are cautious with Buzz.  That makes a lot of sense actually.  Having said that, it appears you got carried away in that moment, as to not realize that Deane was recruiting marginal, at best players, was to ignore that the program was headed for disaster.  Contrast that with Buzz's recruiting up to this point, and I think it is safer to be a bandwagon fan of Buzz..which as you know, I certainly am - though have been a fan of Buzz since the time he started coaching last year's team. 

And I did have plenty of interaction/observation of Mike Deane at Hegartys, and played golf and pick up ball with Mike Rice quite frequently.  I also coached at MU's basketball camps for 1 summer during Deane's time.  Deane was a mess, but certainly could laugh at/with the guy at times.  To some naive fans, Deane may have been the cat's meow, but most anyone with a long-term take/vision for the program realized he was a disaster.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Walking on sunshine??? Still playing the old Katrina and the Waves cassette tape dreaming of the glory years in the ol' Athletic Dept?

  They opened up for Bryan Adams and Journey probably 20 years ago at a concert I went to.  I think they played that song like 3 times since it was the only song they really had.

[bma725]

Having said that, it appears you got carried away in that moment, as to not realize that Deane was recruiting marginal, at best players, was to ignore that the program was headed for disaster

That's complete revisionist history.  

While it looks ridiculous to say it now, his 2nd class(in year 3) was very well thought of.  Alton Mason was a Top 100 recruit.  Bart Miller was a Street and Smith Honorable Mention All American(aka 100-150), he was considered the 2nd best if not the best player in Kentucky, one of the top players in the midwest, and he ended up choosing MU over offers from Stanford and Tennessee.  John Cliff chose MU over offers from DePaul and Iowa State among others.

Further, his third class included two Top 100 players in Brian Wardle and DeMarcus Minor, and would have included a third Top 100 kid had LeDaryl Billingsley not flaked out.

That it didn't work out makes it very easy to say he was recruiting marginal players.  But it ignores the reality of what was actually going on and the thought at the time.

[NersEllenson]

That's complete revisionist history.  

While it looks ridiculous to say it now, his 2nd class(in year 3) was very well thought of.  Alton Mason was a Top 100 recruit.  Bart Miller was a Street and Smith Honorable Mention All American(aka 100-150), he was considered the 2nd best if not the best player in Kentucky, one of the top players in the midwest, and he ended up choosing MU over offers from Stanford and Tennessee.  John Cliff chose MU over offers from DePaul and Iowa State among others.

Further, his third class included two Top 100 players in Brian Wardle and DeMarcus Minor, and would have included a third Top 100 kid had LeDaryl Billingsley not flaked out.

That it didn't work out makes it very easy to say he was recruiting marginal players.  But it ignores the reality of what was actually going on and the thought at the time.

Billingsly would have been a major recruit, but ultimately he flaked...so that would qualify as a near miss.  I do not recall what happened with Alton Mason and DeMarcus Minor - though I don't think they ever made it to campus?  Nor do I recall the reason why they didn't make it on campus.  Nontheless, my personal viewpoint at the time was as I've stated, and from my observation I wasn't too excited about the players that ultimately showed up on campus - Polonowski (fun to drink beer with though), Bargen (decent/Nebraska player of the year), Lovette, or Bart Miller.

[bma725]

Both Mason and Minor made it to campus.  Mason was declared academically ineligible after first semester and left school.  Minor received little playing time until Hutchins' injury, and then he got some minutes.  He ended up transferring after his freshman year.  Too bad, as both were good players.  Mason turned into a very good player at Arizona State, and Minor was All Big 12 at Baylor.

[mu-rara]

Deane was a great guy.  Bought dinner for our table at Marquette Day in Charlotte ('98?).  Funny as he**.

He was the toast of the town, as has been mentioned.  That's probably what brought him down.  No energy for recruiting.

Good game coach.   Not as bad a recruiter as some overstate. 

While I enjoyed him in the bar, and enjoyed his gameplans...It was time for Mike to go.  If the internet was as ubiquitous as it is now, he wouldn't have made it 2 years.  Can you imagine Mike Deane and a cell phone camera in Turner's.  Now that would have been funny.

[NersEllenson]

If the internet was as ubiquitous as it is now, he wouldn't have made it 2 years.  Can you imagine Mike Deane and a cell phone camera in Turner's.  Now that would have been funny.

+1 - - Hilarious...there would have been some great footage, and would have loved to be present if such video surfaced and Father DiUlio had to call him in for a talk.

[The Lens]

Pompous might not be correct.  Jerk definitely is.

With BMA calling him a jerk I figured it was time to weigh in...

In spring of '96 I was lucky enough to be elected student body Vice President (then ASMU, we changed to MUSG in the fall).  One of the things the President & I wanted to do was implement Midnight Madness. We wanted 18,000 fans at Midnight on ESPN in the BC.  What was so hard about that?  We also wanted general admission seating and gold tee's.  Project 1 though was Midnight Madness.

I sent Mike a letter and he responded within the week with a 3 page hand written letter explaining why MM would not work.  He detailed the post Sweet 16 pep rally & NIT pep rallies and their low turnout.  He talked about how these environments weren't the best encouragement for his players.  But he also agreed to meet with us.  We met at Mike in his office and expected to be ushered out in 5 minutes.  He ended up having us there for 45 minutes, at least.  We bounced ideas off each other.  By the end we agreed to a daytime pep rally in the Old Gym.  He made a few calls to key sponsors while we were in his office.  The meeting also produced the idea to start The Spirit Committee (thankfully renamed SAB).  It was modeled after IU's Student Athletic Board.  A certain poster who works for DirecTv was working for MU at the time and was a big help with set-up as he also went to grad school at IU.

Throughout the '96-'97 school year the Spirit committee did a few more things.  We handed out 500 Gold Deane's List T-Shirts before the Louisville game.  We made our recommendation to the Athletic Department that General Admission be implemented.  Our reasoning was Freshmen were losing interest right away in MU hoops as they would sit in row M of the 400s while hundreds of empty seats were in front of them.  No atmosphere = no returning fans.  We held a tailgate before a UW-MU Soccer game and Mike made an appearance.  With Mike all requests were considered, many were OK'd.

All of what was accomplished was 100% because of Mike's involvement.  He gave us instant creditability within the Ath. Dept.  He pushed that our requests would be made a priority.  He reached into his own pockets on more than one occasion to get something done.

Mike Deane is a lot of things but when I was a student at MU, he was one of the most cooperative and accessible figures on campus.  And a damn good bench coach too.

[NYWarrior]

Pompous might not be correct.  Jerk definitely is.

Mike Deane on the road ..... MU had just topped BC at Conte Forum early in the season and the university had previously arranged a post-game alumni gathering at the same facility.  Mike Deane was to be the featured guest and speaker -- fans were pumped, after all MU had won a roadie and optimism was high.

Of course, Mike Deane didn't show.  Instead he sent Father Kelly into the room to announce that the coach was ill and unable to attend. 

Later that night when fans returned to the team hotel and went to the bar guess who was already there?   Yup, Mike Deane.

[GGGG]

Your memory is faded.  In year two, MU was 23-8 and 10-4 in CUSA.  Made the conference tournament finals in Memphis where we lost to Cincinnati 85-84 in overtime.  That was the year of the incredible double overtime thriller win at Louisville.  I worked in the athletic department at the time.  People were gaga at the time.  MU had beaten Louisville, Memphis, and Cincinnati in the last two weeks of the season until finally losing to Cincy in the CUSA tournament by one point.

We had a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and crushed Monmouth by 25 points.  Then we took on Arkansas, the 12 seed.  It was a day where we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and fell by 10 points.  That was a very good team that just played poor that day, but the Deane wagon was in full gear at that point after year two.  Your memory has faded.

That loss to Arkansas stung more than any loss that I can remember as an MU fan.  (And I am including the last two years when I say that.)  I was living in Milwaukee at the time, and there was just this feeling of momentum and invincibility around that team.  If we would have won, we would have played Calipari's UMass team in the Sweet 16.

[ChicosBailBonds]

That loss to Arkansas stung more than any loss that I can remember as an MU fan.  (And I am including the last two years when I say that.)  I was living in Milwaukee at the time, and there was just this feeling of momentum and invincibility around that team.  If we would have won, we would have played Calipari's UMass team in the Sweet 16.

I agree.  That team was absolutely on a roll.  I was working the NCAA tournament in Milwaukee so none of us got to travel with the team, which was a rarity as usually we always did for the NCAAs.  We watched the game as a staff at the Bradley Center in a private room since that day there were no games at the B.C.   What a bummer on all levels.

Of course, if we would have won that game and gone on, who knows what would have happened.  Does LeDaryl Billingsley stay committed to Marquette.  Is Mike Deane around longer?  Is Tom Cream never hired. 

Dominoes

[The Lens]

Mike Deane on the road ..... MU had just topped BC at Conte Forum early in the season and the university had previously arranged a post-game alumni gathering at the same facility.  Mike Deane was to be the featured guest and speaker -- fans were pumped, after all MU had won a roadie and optimism was high.

Of course, Mike Deane didn't show.  Instead he sent Father Kelly into the room to announce that the coach was ill and unable to attend. 

Later that night when fans returned to the team hotel and went to the bar guess who was already there?   Yup, Mike Deane.

But this was progress for MU; for KO before him would have been up in his hotel rooming trashing the place.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I guess Athletics couldn't see what every MU alum I know could see. Deane was winning w/KO's players, while bringing in the likes of Polonowski, Bart Miller and Krunti Hester. W/those kind of players coming in, it was only a matter of time until the bottom fell out.

Sure they could see it, but the fans still loved the guy...that's whom I was referencing when I said the Cat's Meow....the fans.  I'd say Bill Cords saw it pretty quickly.  When Billingsley was lost, that was the beginning of the end in my opinion.

This is why I wait 4 or 5 years to evaluate coaches because only then are the players truly purged from the previous regime and it gives a full recruiting class under the new coach to matriculate all the way through. 

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Sure they could see it, but the fans still loved the guy...that's whom I was referencing when I said the Cat's Meow....the fans.  I'd say Bill Cords saw it pretty quickly.  When Billingsley was lost, that was the beginning of the end in my opinion.

This is why I wait 4 or 5 years to evaluate coaches because only then are the players truly purged from the previous regime and it gives a full recruiting class under the new coach to matriculate all the way through. 

I couldn't agree more.

In fact, if MU sucked royally this year, I wouldn't be calling for Buzz's head. I promise you that.

We have to give the guy a chance to succeed/fail for a 3-4 year span before we can really evaluate him, positively or negatively.

[Ready2Fly]

You guys are completely discounting the fact that Buzz has ALREADY brought in the second and third leading scorers on this year's team, one of which is the #4 ranked player in offensive efficiency in the entire nation. Another of his players has until recently (due to injury/illness)logged the most minutes off the bench. They will still be here in addition to the influx of talent next year. Did Deane make the second tourney runs with three of his own players contributing so heavily?

[NYWarrior]

You guys are completely discounting the fact that Buzz has ALREADY brought in the second and third leading scorers on this year's team, one of which is the #4 ranked player in offensive efficiency in the entire nation.

+1