MU Coaching Candidates

[HutchwasClutch]

Barry Alvarez has hired one basketball coach - the one promoted as an assistant who he reportedly wasn't sold on.  He also biffed on a football coaching search and many would say on the latest hockey search.

So we may want to pump the brakes on that one.

I wasn't referring to an AD. avid pointed out schools too in his post.  UW has an overall excellent almost 30 year track record to support his point.  Since this thread is about potential Wojo replacements, my remarks were about the men's basketball program.  Trying to stay on course here.

[HutchwasClutch]

Pat Richter hired Jackson, Bennett, and Ryan by the way.  Two home runs and a double to the gap. 

[JWags85]

This hurts to say, but off the top of my head, Badgers are one such school- Bennett, Ryan, Gard.  Even Stu Jackson.  And they pulled the plug very quickly on Van Gundy and Soderberg.

Seriously?  He was 32-25 and his team that made the NCAA tourney lost 6 of their last 8 and skidded into the tourney with a sub 500 record featuring a top 5 Badger ever in Finley, and their best recruit ever at the time in Griffith. There is a reason Stu Jackson's career has been as an administrator and not a coach.  He was worse than Wojo.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I guess Wisconsin is an example. Stu Jackson did well in his two years with players recruited by the previous coach. Yoder wasn't good certainly but it was his recruits that Jackson coached. Van Gundy flopped. Then they had two consecutive great hires in Bennett and Ryan. Gard I have a hard time giving Wisconsin credit for because the only reason they hired him was because Ryan gave them no other choice by retiring midseason. Who knows who they would have gotten in a normal coaching search.

Bennett and Ryan were two consecutive great hires. I'm not so sure about Jackson, Van Gundy, and Gard.

[brewcity77]

Butler and Xavier come to mind as obvious answers.

[avid1010]

Seriously?  He was 32-25 and his team that made the NCAA tourney lost 6 of their last 8 and skidded into the tourney with a sub 500 record featuring a top 5 Badger ever in Finley, and their best recruit ever at the time in Griffith. There is a reason Stu Jackson's career has been as an administrator and not a coach.  He was worse than Wojo.

1992–93   Wisconsin   14–14   7–11   T–8th   NIT First Round
1993–94   Wisconsin   18–11   8–10   7th   NCAA Second Round

that's not worse than wojo.  i understand context matters...but saying wojo would have done any better in stu's place is impossible to prove...but hard to believe. 

[Silkk the Shaka]

The list of non-Power 5/Big East schools in Ken Pomeroy top 50 for both adjusted offense and defense:

Loyola Chicago, Houston, Gonzaga, SLU.

I become more sold on the Moser idea by the minute.

We get a bit of a real-time taste test on Sunday, with Loyola playing @Missouri St. on CBS Sports Net at 2 p.m. CST while MU tips at 2:30 CST on FOX. Will I be the only one flipping back & forth?

[The Sultan]

Seriously?  He was 32-25 and his team that made the NCAA tourney lost 6 of their last 8 and skidded into the tourney with a sub 500 record featuring a top 5 Badger ever in Finley, and their best recruit ever at the time in Griffith. There is a reason Stu Jackson's career has been as an administrator and not a coach.  He was worse than Wojo.

The 1993-94 Badger season was their best season winning percentage wise, and their first NCAA bid, in 47 years. 

I'm not saying he was worse or better than Wojo (different eras, different programs), but it was a hell of an accomplishment.

[Freedom Fighter]

Stan Johnson.

[The Sultan]

Stan Johnson.

OMG seriously?

[Galway Eagle]

Seriously?  He was 32-25 and his team that made the NCAA tourney lost 6 of their last 8 and skidded into the tourney with a sub 500 record featuring a top 5 Badger ever in Finley, and their best recruit ever at the time in Griffith. There is a reason Stu Jackson's career has been as an administrator and not a coach.  He was worse than Wojo.

Looking at the 93 and 94 stats it looks like Griffith completely owned Jim McIlvaine

[hairy worthen]

Stan Johnson.

Stick to making an ass out of yourself with bad gofundme requests

[The Sultan]

Looking at the 93 and 94 stats it looks like Griffith completely owned Jim McIlvaine

Griffith was a hell of a player.  Yeah he was overrated as the #2 overall prospect in his class, behind Rasheed Wallace, but he was all Big Ten as a sophomore and was a dominant college big man.  Never made it in the NBA, but part of that was because he was pulling in seven figures overseas in a career that lasted until 2010.

[Freedom Fighter]

Stick to making an ass out of yourself with bad gofundme requests

It's not too late to donate!!

FIRE WOJO

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

It's not too late to donate!!

FIRE WOJO

I actually think it is. I'm late to the party but I clicked on the link and I get an error message.

[Galway Eagle]

Griffith was a hell of a player.  Yeah he was overrated as the #2 overall prospect in his class, behind Rasheed Wallace, but he was all Big Ten as a sophomore and was a dominant college big man.  Never made it in the NBA, but part of that was because he was pulling in seven figures overseas in a career that lasted until 2010.

Just surprised me because I thought Mac was untouchable down low his last two seasons for some reason.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Butler and Xavier come to mind as obvious answers.

These were the first two that came to my mind. Their secret is that they keep it in the family to maintain a consistent culture. I guess we should hire Stan!

[HutchwasClutch]

Seriously?  He was 32-25 and his team that made the NCAA tourney lost 6 of their last 8 and skidded into the tourney with a sub 500 record featuring a top 5 Badger ever in Finley, and their best recruit ever at the time in Griffith. There is a reason Stu Jackson's career has been as an administrator and not a coach.  He was worse than Wojo.

As Fluffy pointed out to you, he took over a program that hadn't made an NCAA field in 47 years, and oh by the way, won a game when they got in- beating Huggins and Cincinnati.

I never said he was great, I referred to him as a double, not a home run hire, but he significantly raised the profile of their program, which had been bad forever before his arrival.

[Billy Hoyle]

This hurts to say, but off the top of my head, Badgers are one such school- Bennett, Ryan, Gard.  Even Stu Jackson.  And they pulled the plug very quickly on Van Gundy and Soderberg.

And you have to give Richter for pulling the plug on Soderberg. Bennett timed his retirement to give Soderberg the job...and Richter didn't bite and moved on despite making it to the tourney.

[MU82]

You're 100% right, Tower. But here's the thing...

Both Al and Wojo got the job because they "blew away the room" when they interviewed. I get it with Al. As Dick Enberg said, he "owned every room he walked into". I'm sure he blew away any room anytime he wanted to. Can you imagine Wojo ever blowing away any room? Has he said or done anything in 7 years that indicate he has that in him? Not to me. Tells you something about the people who were in that room.

Obviously, anybody who was either at MU when Al was there or got to know him afterward or simply is a student of MU hoops history respects Al and has a special place in his/her heart for Al. Also obviously, anything that pretends to be any kind of comparison between Al and Wojo is just plain silly.

Now that I got that out of the way, though, let's be honest ...

If Wojo were to get canned and Marquette were to hire a guy who spent 7 years at a tiny school, whose record got worse every year at that tiny school, and whose last 2 seasons at that tiny school were 7-21 and 6-18, Scoop would absolutely implode.

I mean, the mention of Porter Moser, who took Loyola to the Final Four, had some Scoopers expressing disgust. And the mention of Brian Wardle, an MU alum who has had some good seasons at GB and Bradley, has earned "No, anybody but him!" responses from many.

7 years at a tiny school, including a combined 13-39 record in his last two years. If MU administration said, "Yeah, but he blew away the room," I'm guessing you, Doc, rocket, Goose, etc, would have rolled your eyes and laughed derisively.

It's like with Chris Beard. We'd all love him now, but if Marquette had hired a coach with his resume, the reaction in Scoopdom would have been swift and negative.

[asdfasdf]

Honest question, are there any examples of a P6 program hiring a non-D1 coach and it working out? All I can think of is Kim Anderson failing at Mizzou.

There are lots of examples of coaches who started coaching D2 or D3 who ended up being good P6 coaches, but they all had low or mid-major stops in-between.

Our guy Al McGuire.

[connie]

Obviously, anybody who was either at MU when Al was there or got to know him afterward or simply is a student of MU hoops history respects Al and has a special place in his/her heart for Al. Also obviously, anything that pretends to be any kind of comparison between Al and Wojo is just plain silly.

Now that I got that out of the way, though, let's be honest ...

If Wojo were to get canned and Marquette were to hire a guy who spent 7 years at a tiny school, whose record got worse every year at that tiny school, and whose last 2 seasons at that tiny school were 7-21 and 6-18, Scoop would absolutely implode.

I mean, the mention of Porter Moser, who took Loyola to the Final Four, had some Scoopers expressing disgust. And the mention of Brian Wardle, an MU alum who has had some good seasons at GB and Bradley, has earned "No, anybody but him!" responses from many.

7 years at a tiny school, including a combined 13-39 record in his last two years. If MU administration said, "Yeah, but he blew away the room," I'm guessing you, Doc, rocket, Goose, etc, would have rolled your eyes and laughed derisively.

It's like with Chris Beard. We'd all love him now, but if Marquette had hired a coach with his resume, the reaction in Scoopdom would have been swift and negative.

Possibly.  (OK-- Probably).  I also think there are enough that recognize the Dick Bennet/Bo Ryan path.  Cannot argue with that success, and while I really don't want to watch a team that scores 18 points a half, I'd rather watch a team that does that under control and following a plan than what I just saw in Providence.

[Billy Hoyle]

It's not going to happen after this season,but my top (realistic) choices are:

DeVries (Drake)
Medved (Co. State)
TJO
Wardle

Dream candidates:
Oats
Oats
Oats
Beard
Oats

[Silent Verbal]

And you have to give Richter for pulling the plug on Soderberg. Bennett timed his retirement to give Soderberg the job...and Richter didn't bite and moved on despite making it to the tourney.

Wow, kind of crazy UW had two coaches pull that stunt.

[Dr. Blackheart]

It's not going to happen after this season,but my top (realistic) choices are:

DeVries (Drake)
Medved (Co. State)
TJO
Wardle

Dream candidates:
Oats
Oats
Oats
Beard
Oats

Great list. All poor fits for the MU admin.  Why you ask? Academics and who MU now accepts as student athletes. Let's get real...