[Rosiak's Blog] Why Jake Thomas got a scholarship

[ToddRosiakSays]

Why Jake Thomas got a scholarship
               



I only found out in passing a few weeks ago that walk-on guard Jake Thomas, a Racine St. Catherine's graduate who transferred in from South Dakota during the off-season, had been awarded one of two vacant scholarships at the disposal of Marquette Golden Eagles coach Buzz Williams.

               

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/129541808.html
               

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It was my understanding that Thomas got a scholarship because Buzz saw him looking forlorn while sitting on the bleachers at The McGuire Center. He somehow magically found out he hadn't called his parents and offered him the full ride.

[Canadian Dimes]

Williams said he had no intention of making the news public when he did it, and only talked about it after I brought it to his attention and asked about it during a recent interview session.

"I'm not trying to make it out like, 'Look what I did.' It's the right thing to do, and let's move on."

The irony...after Tommy Naismith announced to the world that he wiped a kid's nose.

[NersEllenson]

I will say the timing of this, and the quote from Buzz - certainly seem pretty ironic.  I really wonder if this was pure coincidence or a veiled shot??

[Jam Chowder]

I will say the timing of this, and the quote from Buzz - certainly seem pretty ironic.  I really wonder if this was pure coincidence or a veiled shot??

I think (and hope) that Buzz is above that type of petty crap. Just because some people here are still bitter about being ditched by their old prom date doesn't mean Buzz or the players give a rip. The success of the MU program speaks volumes more than any cheap shot comment might, and I'm sure Buzz is mature enough to realize that.

[bilsu]

I will say the timing of this, and the quote from Buzz - certainly seem pretty ironic.  I really wonder if this was pure coincidence or a veiled shot??

I actually thought it was a shot at Wardle. Maybe it is Crean or both of them.

[Canadian Dimes]

I think when Buzz said he was all about the players the day he was hired was purely coincidental too.

[MerrittsMustache]

I don't think it was meant as a shot at anyone, especially Wardle. Buzz knows that when you're the coach at a smaller program (like UWGB) you have to get your school's name out there and your own name out there. There were probably a lot of Yahoo who readers who had never even heard of UW-Green Bay or Brian Wardle before that article yesterday. Self-promotion is part of the gig.

If anything, it was Rosiak (and possibly Buzz) trying to get ahead of the story a year from now about how the evil, heartless basketball coach took a scholly away from the hard-working "traditional" player to give it to someone better.

[NersEllenson]

I think (and hope) that Buzz is above that type of petty crap. Just because some people here are still bitter about being ditched by their old prom date doesn't mean Buzz or the players give a rip. The success of the MU program speaks volumes more than any cheap shot comment might, and I'm sure Buzz is mature enough to realize that.

I agree - but just funny that the timing of all of these events came out in a 48-hour window:  Crean's Indiana gesture, Wardle at UWGB, and then a blog by MU trying to downplay the motive involved in giving the scholarship to Jake...

[Knight Commission]

Can someone explain to me why the scholarship wouldn't have been better used by Dwyane Wade's foundation or those other hundreds of students who truly need it?

[Hards Alumni]

Can someone explain to me why the scholarship wouldn't have been better used by Dwyane Wade's foundation or those other hundreds of students who truly need it?

Because that isn't how it works.

[avid1010]

Can someone explain to me why the scholarship wouldn't have been better used by Dwyane Wade's foundation or those other hundreds of students who truly need it?

You forgot to use teal.

[SaveOD238]

Can someone explain to me why the scholarship wouldn't have been better used by Dwyane Wade's foundation or those other hundreds of students who truly need it?

It definitely could have been.  I could use it...

[GGGG]

Can someone explain to me why the scholarship wouldn't have been better used by Dwyane Wade's foundation or those other hundreds of students who truly need it?

LOL...really???

[bilsu]

I agree - but just funny that the timing of all of these events came out in a 48-hour window:  Crean's Indiana gesture, Wardle at UWGB, and then a blog by MU trying to downplay the motive involved in giving the scholarship to Jake...

I wonder if Buzz's comments were not in respone to a question by Rosiak. I can see Rosiak asking why he did not handle it to get good PR like Wardle did? The response was Buzz's gut response that he does not do things for publicity.

[avid1010]

It definitely could have been.  I could use it...

Spend as much time working as Jake is going to spend being part of MU basketball, and you'll probably come out alright.  I won't even go in the direction of the fact that he "works" for a "profitable" program in order to earn that scholarship. 

[Chili]

Can someone explain to me why the scholarship wouldn't have been better used by Dwyane Wade's foundation or those other hundreds of students who truly need it?

Because that's not where the donors want the money spent???? Pretty simple, when you donate to the University, you may dictate where and how the money is used.

[Silkk the Shaka]

I don't think it was meant as a shot at anyone, especially Wardle. Buzz knows that when you're the coach at a smaller program (like UWGB) you have to get your school's name out there and your own name out there. There were probably a lot of Yahoo who readers who had never even heard of UW-Green Bay or Brian Wardle before that article yesterday. Self-promotion is part of the gig.

If anything, it was Rosiak (and possibly Buzz) trying to get ahead of the story a year from now about how the evil, heartless basketball coach took a scholly away from the hard-working "traditional" player to give it to someone better.

Spot on, especially paragraph 2.

[Brewtown Andy]

Rosiak wrote in there that he had to ask Buzz about it during a recent interview session.  So this is just one answer in a huge pile of answers that he was getting for season preview pieces that Rosiak will be working on over the next month.  There's no real reason to include this in that stuff, since it has zero affect on anything for 11-12, so Rosiak published it now.

Makes total sense.

[classof70]

I will say the timing of this, and the quote from Buzz - certainly seem pretty ironic.  I really wonder if this was pure coincidence or a veiled shot??

As one of the more uninformed, this series of posts are somewhat obtuse.  Can someone give me a more fulsome explanation of the underlying conspiracy that seems to be implied here?  What's the connection to Wardle or Crean?
Thanks in advance.

[pbiflyer]

Can someone explain to me why the scholarship wouldn't have been better used by Dwyane Wade's foundation or those other hundreds of students who truly need it?

Actually, I agree completely. Why wasn't this scholarship used on Wade? He has lots of free time and needs a degree. While we are strong at shooting guard, I bet he could work his way into a few minutes of the rotation.

[NersEllenson]

As one of the more uninformed, this series of posts are somewhat obtuse.  Can someone give me a more fulsome explanation of the underlying conspiracy that seems to be implied here?  What's the connection to Wardle or Crean?
Thanks in advance.

Read this story - some here have speculated that this was nothing more than a PR scam hashed in the mind of Tom Crean - and there is a thread discussing it on Scoop called "Tom Crean is such an Ass."

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/31815930

I'm not sure that Crean's gesture wasn't in fact sincere, and not just a PR piece - but some seem to think that's all it was.  Then the story on Thomas getting a scholarship came out...and Buzz was downplaying the significance of it..

[bilsu]

Read this story - some here have speculated that this was nothing more than a PR scam hashed in the mind of Tom Crean - and there is a thread discussing it on Scoop called "Tom Crean is such an Ass."

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/31815930

I'm not sure that Crean's gesture wasn't in fact sincere, and not just a PR piece - but some seem to think that's all it was.  Then the story on Thomas getting a scholarship came out...and Buzz was downplaying the significance of it..

I think Crean's jesture was sinceere. However, he could not resist turning it into a PR piece. As the Bible says you can get credit for your good works on earth or in heaven, but not both. It is much better to do good things and go unnoticed for it.

[77ncaachamps]

Buzz is not doing this for self-promotion.

Shoot, he doesn't even Tweet about himself because he doesn't have an account!

[Golden Avalanche]

Buzz is not doing this for self-promotion.

Shoot, he doesn't even Tweet about himself because he doesn't have an account!

Actually, there is an account created out of the school for Buzz and followed by some fellow MU coaches so it seems somewhat official. He has not sent out one tweet though.

It's also funny that Buzz pretty much knocks Thomas back to reality in the blog post, especially after all that discussion last week on what impact Thomas will have in the program.