AD resignation shocked Buzz Williams

[Eldon]

Larry Williams is gonna pay for that purple monkey dishwasher comment.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Don't forget to post what you have for dinner tonight.

Sushi, most likely. 

I was merely responding to a question that someone put out, the ignore button works.

[Dawson Rental]

I never got that reference.    Arizona has plenty of man made reservoirs and natural rivers that would warrant having a bridge; albeit not a long bridge.  

The London Bridge is actually in Havasau City if I recall.  

Bridge for Sale in Mongolia or Kazahkstan would be more fitting as both of those are Semi arid, or Arid climates located on the Eurasian Steppe, which means their are few if any places for a bridge.

And Havasau City is actually in Arizona if I recall correctly.

So, if I wanted to sell you London Bridge, then I'd be selling you a bridge in.....

[Dawson Rental]

"he stepped down on Friday to pursue leadership opportunities outside of the university."

Seriously, does anyone not know that this is the code wording for being told he could resign or be let go?

That, of course, does not mean that LW's relationship with Buzz was the reason he was asked to move on.

[keefe]

Sushi, most likely. 

I was merely responding to a question that someone put out, the ignore button works.

Real sushi or like white guy sushi?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Real sushi or like white guy sushi?

Korean

[keefe]

Korean

Machigatta nai yo!

Step up to the plate, Chico, and go to a proper Izakaya or Onomiya where you can get Kanimiso to Namako to Shiokara to Uni! Barioishii desu ne! 

[The Equalizer]

"he stepped down on Friday to pursue leadership opportunities outside of the university."

Seriously, does anyone not know that this is the code wording for being told he could resign or be let go?

That, of course, does not mean that LW's relationship with Buzz was the reason he was asked to move on.

The other possibility is that he was caught interviewing for a job elsewhere. Michigan fired Bill Frieder on the eve of the NCAA tournament beacuse he was interviewing with ASU.

Not saying I know this is what happened--just saying the wording isn't inconsistent with Larry Williams looking elsewhere and MU saying "If your'e so intereted in that job, take it."

[mu_hilltopper]

Listen, if you don't like what I (or any other poster) am selling, don't buy it. It is the freaking internet and I am not a professional journalist. You are the mod on this board and on Cracked Sidewalks, figure it out yourself.  I put it out here in a way so not to divulge where this comes from, yet all this time later, after a complete collapse of a MU administration, you still aren't buying. Don't really care, other that I find it funny that you Doubting Thomases are incredibly still doubting. 

With that, I am out.

Hey, I apologize if you or anyone feels slighted.  Let's remember where we are.  The internet.  If you found someone buying everything being sold, you'd think them an idiot.  It's hard to wade through the various posts to determine what and who has veracity, and who is just repeating a theory so many times, they think it's fact.

[Lennys Tap]

The other possibility is that he was caught interviewing for a job elsewhere. Michigan fired Bill Frieder on the eve of the NCAA tournament beacuse he was interviewing with ASU.

Not saying I know this is what happened--just saying the wording isn't inconsistent with Larry Williams looking elsewhere and MU saying "If your'e so intereted in that job, take it."

This will come as a shock to everyone on Scoop, but you have your facts wrong. Bill Frieder wasn't fired for interviewing with ASU. He actually agreed to take the job with ASU before the NCAA tourney but offered his expertise to the Wolverines through the tournament's conclusion. Not surprisingly, the powers that be at Michigan declined and Steve Fischer took the team to the title.

The idea that MU fired LW because he interviewed for a job is silly, and if he already had one it would have been announced by his people, not MU.

[keefe]

This will come as a shock to everyone on Scoop, but you have your facts wrong. Bill Frieder wasn't fired for interviewing with ASU. He actually took the job with ASU before the NCAA tourney but offered his expertise to the Wolverines through the tournament's conclusion. Not surprisingly, the powers that be at Michigan declined and Steve Fischer took the team to the title.

The idea that MU fired LW because he interviewed for a job is silly, and if he already had one it would have been announced by his people, not MU.

Correct, Lenny. Frieder accepted the ASU job just before the Tournament yet expected to continue to coach the Wolverines! The Michigan AD was none other than Bo Schembechler who adjusted Frieder;s expectations about continuing to coach the Wolverines for the remainder of that season. Here is the Free Press account of the "Michigan Man!" event:

When Bill Frieder told his boss, Bo Schembechler, on the eve of the '89 NCAA Tournament that an offer had been made for him to coach at Arizona State, and that he'd be taking the job as soon as he got done coaching the Wolverines, Schembechler blew a gasket.

Bo fired Frieder, on the spot.

"A Michigan man will coach Michigan!" Bo famously declared. And in his eyes, Bill Frieder was only partly a Michigan man, now that he'd accepted another job, effective at the end of the season.

Assistant Steve Fisher was named interim coach, for as long as U-M would last in the tourney. Michigan won the Tournament.

The "Michigan  man" quote is legendary, and followed Schembechler to his death in 2006.

[GGGG]

Hunt opinion article on LW..

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/goldeneagles/departure-of-ad-larry-williams-might-be-best-for-marquette-b99164322z1-235958751.html

"So, it was easy to see where the Williams-Williams conflict came about. The AD was laying down arbitrary law to a successful coach who had never experienced administrative pressure to up the recruiting standards at a school where academic requirements already make it difficult to attract the bluest of chips.

Two very different personalities ignited friction. Weeks would go by without coach and AD speaking."

[Tugg Speedman]

Hunt opinion article on LW..

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/goldeneagles/departure-of-ad-larry-williams-might-be-best-for-marquette-b99164322z1-235958751.html

"So, it was easy to see where the Williams-Williams conflict came about. The AD was laying down arbitrary law to a successful coach who had never experienced administrative pressure to up the recruiting standards at a school where academic requirements already make it difficult to attract the bluest of chips.

Two very different personalities ignited friction. Weeks would go by without coach and AD speaking."

Hunt also wrote ...

At one point, Buzz Williams wanted to know what kind of basketball program Larry Williams wanted when there was little communication from either side. Did he expect really good students who were good basketball players, or generally average students who could keep Marquette at an elite level on the national scene?

At the same time, Buzz Williams was being recruited with lucrative offers by other schools. Powerful and influential Marquette boosters were concerned that Larry Williams' strict oversight of the program could drive Buzz Williams away.

Which brings us to the current situation in which Marquette has no permanent president or AD.


I read this as Pilarz and LW being shown the door because of the way they interacted with Buzz.  If so, this is wrong.  They were shown the door because the BoT has a different vision of the University than they were offering.

[AZWarrior]

Yes, decided not to do it yesterday and took the kids to see the Hobbit instead.  Long movie, but good.

Better than Hobbit I, I trust?  (I hope)

[Dr. Blackheart]

And now that Hunt brought this to the public, one can see the reason for this:

http://youtu.be/bs-o1OIqbHk

[MU82]

Yeah letting a former College star basketball player into a leadership position like say on a board of trustees would be absolutely insane! Good thing Doc Rivers isn't on ours...

By "star returning player," I meant that had Buzz left after last season, Marquette would invite Jamil Wilson or Davante Gardner into the interview process.

Which they wouldn't. Which no school would.

[Galway Eagle]

By "star returning player," I meant that had Buzz left after last season, Marquette would invite Jamil Wilson or Davante Gardner into the interview process.

Which they wouldn't. Which no school would.

Ok my bad, I take back my snarkiness

[tower912]

Several months back, we were told that Larry Williams had all the power, along with Pilarz.   A new direction was being charted.   Larry had strong donors in his corner who were pushing him to rein in Buzz.  That Larry was being encouraged to restrain the students and their cheers by big donors who were offended by the cheekiness of college kids.     What happened?    Is there a power struggle among powerful donors?   Is there a power struggle on the BoT?    How can we go from "Larry has all the power" to adios in such a short time?    Was the previous information inaccurate?    Or did the totality of the Larry Williams experience turn his former support against him?

[GGGG]

Several months back, we were told that Larry Williams had all the power, along with Pilarz.   A new direction was being charted.   Larry had strong donors in his corner who were pushing him to rein in Buzz.  That Larry was being encouraged to restrain the students and their cheers by big donors who were offended by the cheekiness of college kids.     What happened?    Is there a power struggle among powerful donors?   Is there a power struggle on the BoT?    How can we go from "Larry has all the power" to adios in such a short time?    Was the previous information inaccurate?    Or did the totality of the Larry Williams experience turn his former support against him?

Nobody really has "all the power" in an organization like Marquette.  Just because he had donors who wanted to shut some student chants down, doesn't mean that those same donors weren't disturbed over Buzz's unhappiness.  I think Hunt did a real good job of outlining what the basic problems were.  Buzz is a good guy who runs a clean program, yet that wasn't enough in the eyes of a number of people.

But the way those people went about it were wrong.  They hired a president who was a poor fit from the beginning, and he hired people who were bad fits as well.  I have made similar mistakes before - hiring good, competent people, but ones that don't mesh well with the culture of your organization.  It simply doesn't work.  That doesn't mean LW is incompetent.  He accomplished a great deal at Portland.  I think he's going to have a very successful career when all is said and done.  He just didn't fit at Marquette.  That's not entirely his fault.

[tower912]

I re-read the Hunt article after my last post.   First of all, it had to be a blow to bucky fans and some here to have Hunt rave about how clean a program Buzz runs.   Some boosters fear that MU will never win another championship because Buzz DOESN'T cheat?!?!   Wow.   But, yes, sultan, I guess the answer is somewhere in the 'wrong fit' category. 

[Tugg Speedman]

Several months back, we were told that Larry Williams had all the power, along with Pilarz.   A new direction was being charted.   Larry had strong donors in his corner who were pushing him to rein in Buzz.  That Larry was being encouraged to restrain the students and their cheers by big donors who were offended by the cheekiness of college kids.     What happened?    Is there a power struggle among powerful donors?   Is there a power struggle on the BoT?    How can we go from "Larry has all the power" to adios in such a short time?    Was the previous information inaccurate?    Or did the totality of the Larry Williams experience turn his former support against him?

This

See these lines from Hunt ...

But neither the former president nor Williams may have been the right guy for where Marquette is at the moment, or where the big-money donors want it to be.

...

So, it was easy to see where the Williams-Williams conflict came about. The AD was laying down arbitrary law to a successful coach who had never experienced administrative pressure to up the recruiting standards at a school where academic requirements already make it difficult to attract the bluest of chips.

...

In fact, there are Marquette boosters who actually fear the Golden Eagles will never win another national title because Buzz Williams doesn't cheat.


Tower, this board did what it does best ... get the sotry wrong.  Remember Hiroshima?  (another story this board got completely wrong).

Going back to Hunt, I think these lines better describe the situation between Buzz and LW ...

Two very different personalities ignited friction. Weeks would go by without coach and AD speaking.

At one point, Buzz Williams wanted to know what kind of basketball program Larry Williams wanted when there was little communication from either side. Did he expect really good students who were good basketball players, or generally average students who could keep Marquette at an elite level on the national scene?


The last highlighted part is key.  

Pilarz and LW took it amongst themselves to "rein in Buzz."  Buzz was not against a controversy free program.  The problem was Pilarz/LW could not define to Buzz what kind of program they wanted (one thing this board got right ... turn MU into SLU).  Then came the BoT new vision and Pilarz and LW were the wrong guys.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

Better than Hobbit I, I trust?  (I hope)

Worse. Another expensive video game. The 3D experience makes you feel like you're at a Disney theme park, not in Middle Earth.

And, of course, it's entirely different from the book. Which, in my opinion, would have made for a better movie.

[GGGG]

At one point, Buzz Williams wanted to know what kind of basketball program Larry Williams wanted when there was little communication from either side. Did he expect really good students who were good basketball players, or generally average students who could keep Marquette at an elite level on the national scene?
[/i]

The last highlighted part is key.  

Pilarz and LW took it amongst themselves to "rein in Buzz."  Buzz was not against a controversy free program.  The problem was Pilarz/LW could not define to Buzz what kind of program they wanted (one thing this board got right ... turn MU into SLU).  Then came the BoT new vision and Pilarz and LW were the wrong guys.

Hold on...how can you say that SP/LW "could not define to Buzz what kind of program they wanted," yet in the same sentence say that this board got it right about turning MU into SLU?  

My guess is that they wanted Buzz to keep winning like he had before, but they wanted less Jucos, less risks, etc. and then tied his hands through changing the housing arrangements for freshmen, etc.  That's not really SLU.  That's like Stanford of a decade ago.  But of course Marquette isn't Stanford and Milwaukee isn't Palo Alto.

[GGGG]

Tower, this board did what it does best ... get the sotry wrong.  Remember Hiroshima?  (another story this board got completely wrong).

I think you are forgetting what Hiroshima was.  Hiroshima was supposedly going to be this board's reaction to the news that MU was changing its academic requirements for continuing athletes (which they did), and apply them retroactively to current players (which I am not sure if they did or not.)

Hiroshima never happened because we get outraged over things that are not all that important like Todd Mayo's instagram account and Juan being named SOTG against IUPUI.

[Tugg Speedman]

Hold on...how can you say that SP/LW "could not define to Buzz what kind of program they wanted," yet in the same sentence say that this board got it right about turning MU into SLU?  

My guess is that they wanted Buzz to keep winning like he had before, but they wanted less Jucos, less risks, etc. and then tied his hands through changing the housing arrangements for freshmen, etc.  That's not really SLU.  That's like Stanford of a decade ago.  But of course Marquette isn't Stanford and Milwaukee isn't Palo Alto.

Key words ... "my guess."  Hunt suggests Buzz never got this question answered and this was a source of frustration.  This board feared the answer was turning MU into SLU.