Best MU men's basketball coach since Al

[Silkk the Shaka]

Buzz. S16, S16, E8. Humiliated UW by stealing Vander. Walk-it-out on the sidelines against Louisville. Dance to Country Roads. Highly entertaining when he was "on." 5/6 years were thrilling.

Crean a close 2nd. Brought my favorite basketball player of all time to MU and the final 4 run was the best thing a freshman could have asked for.

I echo the sentiments expressed by some others that I hope in  10-15 years this is a no-brainer for Wojo. Would be quite the ride.

[mu-rara]

I think the lack of support for Hank stems from the fact that a lot of people weren't around when he coached. 

Hank was known as Al's X and O guy.  If he had hot shot recruiters with him, he would have won this thing hands down.

He was Bruce Weber before Bruce Weber.

[Sir Lawrence]

Hank was known as Al's X and O guy.  If he had hot shot recruiters with him, he would have won this thing hands down.

He was Bruce Weber before Bruce Weber.

Although he did recruit Doc.

[Goose]

Sir Lawrence

I think Rick had a big role in landing Doc, but he was a Hank recruit.

[Sir Lawrence]

Goose, you might be right, but here's a tidbit from Hank's obituary write up in the Journal/Sentinel:

Doc Rivers, current Boston Celtics coach and Raymonds' highest-profile signee at MU, recounted Raymonds' recruiting pitch while he was also considering signing with DePaul, Indiana, Michigan and Notre Dame.

"One of the first things he told me is, 'You're going to be a pro basketball player. There's no doubt about that. And good for you. Now, what are you going to do after that?' " Rivers recalled. " 'Will you be prepared after your basketball career to do something else and be something else? What are you going to do?'

"Well, as a kid, all I'm thinking about is, 'Hell, the pro basketball part sounds good to me, Coach,' and I'll stop there. And he really made you understand no, you can't stop there. That's a great goal, but then what's the goal after that?"

[GooooMarquette]

Agree with Tower's comments.  Hank was a fantastic assistant and a wonderful and loyal person, but took us in the wrong direction as HC.  He inherited a team that was arguably better than the '77 team that won the NC, and 6 years later handed Rick a program that was fading from the national consciousness.

I loved Hank...but the best coaches on the list while they were at MU were clearly KO, TC and Bart.

[jsglow]

Hank was the greatest assistant in Marquette history.  He deserves credit for exactly that.  Perfect fit with Al.  Wonderful and kind man from all accounts.

[Tums Festival]

My junior year at MU (Majerus' first year as coach) we beat a very good Louisville team at Freedom Hall that ended a long home court winning streak for them. My friends and I were so excited we decided to call Hank at his home to celebrate. He was very gracious, as well as very excited about the win. He told us we should meet the team at the Gym when they got back into town. I asked him if he meant the Gym Bar and he laughed and said that would be fun too. Great guy.

[seakm4]

I voted for buzz because year in and year out he coached up his team 08-13 (14 wasn't coaching...it was a suicide mission)

We reaped the benefits of crean's classes for 2 years.  buzz built on them, made his style team, and got us continued success for a decent stretch.  

We should be happy that we made the tourney 8 years in a row and had a coach that didn't let us fall into forgetsville.

Crean laid the groundwork buzz made it happen

[GooooMarquette]

My junior year at MU (Majerus' first year as coach) we beat a very good Louisville team at Freedom Hall that ended a long home court winning streak for them. My friends and I were so excited we decided to call Hank at his home to celebrate. He was very gracious, as well as very excited about the win. He told us we should meet the team at the Gym when they got back into town. I asked him if he meant the Gym Bar and he laughed and said that would be fun too. Great guy.

Was that the win where Majerus said "I'm going to eat every rib in Louisville tonight" in the post-game interview?

[Tums Festival]

Was that the win where Majerus said "I'm going to eat every rib in Louisville tonight" in the post-game interview?

Yes it was.