Crean vs Buzz vs Wojo vs Shaka

[Viper]

Re-using or paraphrasing some earlier comments, but in my order:

Shaka—incomplete but all the right things happening.  Already on top in my book

Crean—he put MU back on the map as a program with FF, entry into BE, getting the Al built.  Probably knows now that I4 was a mistake.  Had he stayed could have had it for a good, long time.  He now knows his ambitions were greater than his skills. 

Buzz—Big BE title, very good three season NCAA run. Was never sustainable.  Too much dysfunction.

KO—Was never going to stay, but fit MU perfectly at the time and had he not had such lofty ambitions could have been "the guy".

Majerus—wrong place, wrong time, big shadow, shoes too big to fill.  Somebody had to follow Al, noone was ever going to be Al.

Dukiet / Wojo / Deane - the dark days of MU basketball.  Dukiet was not serious and not very good, Wojo was just bad at everything, and Deane would have been a great assistant but never a head coach.

Wojo could recruit. Gets pts from me for beating #1 'Nova and rep'ing MU at a high level off court...but yeah, coaching wasn't there.

[wadesworld]

your order is my order, and agreed on why.
(btw and imo, if MU had paid KO, he'd have taken MU to a F4...although he seemed to have a nomadic soul. Majerus? Shirtless on Schroeder beach...yikes. Wojo is a great guy..too bad it didn't work out)

Shaka has no shot at 1. Can't beat RED!

[Viper]

Shaka has no shot at 1. Can't beat RED!

haha...RED is trying to help Shaka's cause in getting that elusive W next December. But...Gard knows ball.

[CountryRoads]

Buzz had a lot of success here on the court but I really don't miss the off court problems. Here's some from...two days ago:

https://www.kbtx.com/2024/04/18/texas-am-basketball-player-arrested-charged-with-sexual-assault/?outputType=amp

[CTWarrior]

1.  KO - I don't think he gets enough credit for saving us from the brink of mid-majordom.
2.  Buzz - tournament success best since Al.
3.  Crean - Final Four worth a lot, if he could've gotten a good big to play with the Amigos he'd be number 1
4.  Shaka - If he keeps it up, he'll be number 1 in a few years.  I love everything about him so far
5.  Deane - Great coach, but didn't bring in talent
6.  Hank - Precipitous drop under his watch in a very short amount of time
7.  Wojo - Very good recruiter, we didn't win anything of importance with him (one regular season game)
8.  Majerus - Continued Hank's drop, got the job too soon, should've gone to Ball State to coach and then come back to taker the reigns
9.  Dukiet - His ineptitude is why I have KO at number 1

I had a tough time 1-3 and I really think Shaka is going to be my number 1 when he is through

EDIT - Forgot Majerus

[milwaukee ex-pat]

Crean - Final 4 team was result of some inspired recruiting and his "culture" was great set up for Buzz - his amigos were tough as nails, with no big man depth his teams had to be - other than the bad optics of the whole its IU its IU thing his handoff to Buzz allowed for a practically seamless transition, left the program in great shape for Buzz - if it weren't for some poorly timed injuries he could have had a 2nd final 4 team.
Buzz - Created a culture of realism/extreme toughness that produced diamonds ultimately from coal - very much like Al in some ways. Place him slightly behind Crean because he left the program a near wreck.  Underrated game Coach - best pure game coach since AL imo..
Shaka - Will be no. 1 soon.  Incredible fit for Marquette, we are so fortunate.  The way he is building a program in the NIL era is so well thought out for the long term IMO.  He is the best overall program builder and coach in the country as of this moment I think and he will have more post season success as time goes on.  Could and will I predict replace Al as the greatest all time coach at Marquette.
KO - A good Marquette coach, got a lot out of players, teams generally better than sum of their parts.  Didn't have the imagination to see what Marquette could become, left too early but at least he left MU in a place where they were well positioned to build off what he built.  If Hank were in this - I would put him here above KO.
Deane - superior game coach, quirky personality - wasn't much of a recruiter tho and if you can't recruit there is no path to elevating the program.  Good job by admin to see that and move on despite his ability to win 20 games a year consistently.
Wojo - underrated recruiter by MU fans - and by that I mean he was almost a unicorn to recruit the way he did while he was at Marquette. Got multiple McD AAs - I truly thought that would never happen again.  His other recruits were generally terrific young basketball players with high ceilings. His program was not one to tap that potential which really underlines his weakness as a head coach.  He brought Marquette to the point where it could aspire to be top 5 but then you had defections and other payers not reaching their ceilings etc.  That being said he won some great contests and had some really fun teams to watch.
Majerus - had recruiting misses and just couldn't get his teams over the hump to even true bubble territory.  Wrong time. 
Dukiet - I became a fan in Dukiets first year.  He was probably in an impossible situation in some ways - I would have been interested in seeing what he could have accomplished with Corey Floyd and some of the other players MU wouldn't admit in his last recruiting class - but the move to KO was the spark that allowed MU to move beyond the old Independent paradigm which wasn't a set up for success and doomed Majerus and Dukiet I think.

[Viper]

Crean - Final 4 team was result of some inspired recruiting and his "culture" was great set up for Buzz - his amigos were tough as nails, with no big man depth his teams had to be - other than the bad optics of the whole its IU its IU thing his handoff to Buzz allowed for a practically seamless transition, left the program in great shape for Buzz - if it weren't for some poorly timed injuries he could have had a 2nd final 4 team.
Buzz - Created a culture of realism/extreme toughness that produced diamonds ultimately from coal - very much like Al in some ways. Place him slightly behind Crean because he left the program a near wreck.  Underrated game Coach - best pure game coach since AL imo..
Shaka - Will be no. 1 soon.  Incredible fit for Marquette, we are so fortunate.  The way he is building a program in the NIL era is so well thought out for the long term IMO.  He is the best overall program builder and coach in the country as of this moment I think and he will have more post season success as time goes on.  Could and will I predict replace Al as the greatest all time coach at Marquette.
KO - A good Marquette coach, got a lot out of players, teams generally better than sum of their parts.  Didn't have the imagination to see what Marquette could become, left too early but at least he left MU in a place where they were well positioned to build off what he built.  If Hank were in this - I would put him here above KO.
Deane - superior game coach, quirky personality - wasn't much of a recruiter tho and if you can't recruit there is no path to elevating the program.  Good job by admin to see that and move on despite his ability to win 20 games a year consistently.
Wojo - underrated recruiter by MU fans - and by that I mean he was almost a unicorn to recruit the way he did while he was at Marquette. Got multiple McD AAs - I truly thought that would never happen again.  His other recruits were generally terrific young basketball players with high ceilings. His program was not one to tap that potential which really underlines his weakness as a head coach.  He brought Marquette to the point where it could aspire to be top 5 but then you had defections and other payers not reaching their ceilings etc.  That being said he won some great contests and had some really fun teams to watch.
Majerus - had recruiting misses and just couldn't get his teams over the hump to even true bubble territory.  Wrong time. 
Dukiet - I became a fan in Dukiets first year.  He was probably in an impossible situation in some ways - I would have been interested in seeing what he could have accomplished with Corey Floyd and some of the other players MU wouldn't admit in his last recruiting class - but the move to KO was the spark that allowed MU to move beyond the old Independent paradigm which wasn't a set up for success and doomed Majerus and Dukiet I think.

...some solid commentary.

[Viper]

1.  KO - I don't think he gets enough credit for saving us from the brink of mid-majordom.
2.  Buzz - tournament success best since Al.
3.  Crean - Final Four worth a lot, if he could've gotten a good big to play with the Amigos he'd be number 1
4.  Shaka - If he keeps it up, he'll be number 1 in a few years.  I love everything about him so far
5.  Deane - Great coach, but didn't bring in talent
6.  Hank - Precipitous drop under his watch in a very short amount of time
7.  Wojo - Very good recruiter, we didn't win anything of importance with him (one regular season game)
8.  Dukiet - His ineptitude is why I have KO at number 1

I had a tough time 1-3 and I really think Shaka is going to be my number 1 when he is through

You mention Hank...I got to meet him as a HS player (recruiting a teammate that ended-up w/Steve Yoder and UW-Madison). Hank was genuinely a very nice man and 100% 'Mr Marquette'...he loved MU. But, and as you state, MU started a downward trajectory under his leadership. I think being athletic director AND coach wasn't the right fit. The slide from prominence was quick after the '77 title.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I tend to judge coaches by comparing where they started to where they ended

1. Crean (Saved MU ball after Deane tried to undo KO's work AND got the closest to the mountaintop)
2. KO (Saved MU ball from becoming Depaul or Loyola, or worse)
3. Shaka (Could easily pass the top 2 in the future or potentially fall but I don't see that happening)
4. Buzz (Maintained Crean's success for five years before the house of cards started to come down in year 6)
5. Hank (Was handed a blue blood, left something less than that when he left. Started our fall from grace)
6. Wojo (Was handed a mess by Buzz and left a mess for Shaka. Whole bunch of meh in between)
7. Deane (Tried his best to undo KO's hard work, fortunately MU intervened in a timely manner)
8. Majerus (While Hank started the fall, Majerus accelerated it)
9. Dukiet (Rock bottom)

[Zog from Margo]

Hank was a much better coach than Deane and Wojo. As I recall, Hank made the NCAAs every year and the field was only 32 teams. The 1977-78 was a top 5 team that got screwed by Pete Pavia. That team also did not benefit from seeding in the tournament. Hank was dealing with a changing landscape: the addition of at-large conference teams to the NCAA; the formation of the Big East; and  the general fall of independents. I am sure Hank's budget was nowhere near what Wojo enjoyed, even adjusted for inflation. Hank wasn't a salesman and he had far bigger shoes to fill than any other MU coach. Wojo had two seasons with a winning conference record over seven years. Deane had no ambition.

[The Sultan]

Hank was a much better coach than Deane and Wojo. As I recall, Hank made the NCAAs every year and the field was only 32 teams. The 1977-78 was a top 5 team that got screwed by Pete Pavia. That team also did not benefit from seeding in the tournament. Hank was dealing with a changing landscape: the addition of at-large conference teams to the NCAA; the formation of the Big East; and  the general fall of independents. I am sure Hank's budget was nowhere near what Wojo enjoyed, even adjusted for inflation. Hank wasn't a salesman and he had far bigger shoes to fill than any other MU coach. Wojo had two seasons with a winning conference record over seven years. Deane had no ambition.

Agree wholeheartedly.  Not only was Hank dealing with a changing landscape, but an institution that refused to understand those changes. They were acting like an athletic department more like MUHS than a major university. And that continued until the bottoming out of Bob Dukiet.

The issues that Wojo had to deal with post-Buzz were not as structural in nature. They were more easily fixed by getting the right people in the right seats. They had little to do with his ability as a coach.

[#UnleashSean]

With 5 years to judge..... Shaka may very well be #1, but right now buzz and crean need to be ahead of him.



101. Wojo
7. Dukiet
6. Majerus
5. Deane
4. Ko
3. Shaka
2. Crean
1. Buzz

[BLWarrior91]

Dukiet beat Bucky once!

[#UnleashSean]

Crean - Final 4 team was result of some inspired recruiting and his "culture" was great set up for Buzz - his amigos were tough as nails, with no big man depth his teams had to be - other than the bad optics of the whole its IU its IU thing his handoff to Buzz allowed for a practically seamless transition, left the program in great shape for Buzz - if it weren't for some poorly timed injuries he could have had a 2nd final 4 team.
Buzz - Created a culture of realism/extreme toughness that produced diamonds ultimately from coal - very much like Al in some ways. Place him slightly behind Crean because he left the program a near wreck.  Underrated game Coach - best pure game coach since AL imo..
Shaka - Will be no. 1 soon.  Incredible fit for Marquette, we are so fortunate.  The way he is building a program in the NIL era is so well thought out for the long term IMO.  He is the best overall program builder and coach in the country as of this moment I think and he will have more post season success as time goes on.  Could and will I predict replace Al as the greatest all time coach at Marquette.
KO - A good Marquette coach, got a lot out of players, teams generally better than sum of their parts.  Didn't have the imagination to see what Marquette could become, left too early but at least he left MU in a place where they were well positioned to build off what he built.  If Hank were in this - I would put him here above KO.
Deane - superior game coach, quirky personality - wasn't much of a recruiter tho and if you can't recruit there is no path to elevating the program.  Good job by admin to see that and move on despite his ability to win 20 games a year consistently.
Wojo - underrated recruiter by MU fans - and by that I mean he was almost a unicorn to recruit the way he did while he was at Marquette. Got multiple McD AAs - I truly thought that would never happen again.  His other recruits were generally terrific young basketball players with high ceilings. His program was not one to tap that potential which really underlines his weakness as a head coach.  He brought Marquette to the point where it could aspire to be top 5 but then you had defections and other payers not reaching their ceilings etc.  That being said he won some great contests and had some really fun teams to watch.
Majerus - had recruiting misses and just couldn't get his teams over the hump to even true bubble territory.  Wrong time. 
Dukiet - I became a fan in Dukiets first year.  He was probably in an impossible situation in some ways - I would have been interested in seeing what he could have accomplished with Corey Floyd and some of the other players MU wouldn't admit in his last recruiting class - but the move to KO was the spark that allowed MU to move beyond the old Independent paradigm which wasn't a set up for success and doomed Majerus and Dukiet I think.

My guy..... use the enter button occasionally.

[Uncle Rico]

1. Dukiet - understood what Billy Packer said

2. Deane - Coached 3 different teams to the NCAA Tournament

3. Wojo - Ruined 5DollarPitcher's college experience.  That's worth a lot in my book

4. Majerus - it's funny he bullied people and was a tyrant

5. Hank - Rates lower for bringing Doc to Milwaukee

6. KO - Couldn't wait to leave Milwaukee.  Who can blame him?

7. Buzz - Kept rapists on the team in the name of winning game.  Guy gets it.

8. Shaka - Can't beat Bucky.  Ruins Viper's family functions

9. Crean - Had the gall to be successful and bring great players to Marquette.  Didn't kiss enough babies.

EDIT: Majerus was forgotten

[tower912]

And Majerus?

[BLWarrior91]

Crean - Brought us a Final Four, the Al, for us to the Big East, filled the BC.  Elevated the program tremendously.

Shaka - Turned around a program stuck in neutral.  Had us up to #3 and ranked in the Top 10 most of the season.  The future is very bright.

KO - Brought the program back from the brink.  Getting us to the Sweet Sixteen and out of the MCC showed that we could still dream big.

Buzz - Continued what Crean built for five years with NCAA tournament success. 

Wojo - Good recruiter, couldn't win when it mattered most.  Ran a clean program.

Rick - Three straight NITs.  We needed a break from the past at that point.  Problem was Hank was the AD and hired Piano Bob.

Dukiet - He was so far over his head.  He actually had Freeway sit on the bench.

[dgies9156]

I've seen everyone from Al on, so, worst to first:

Dukiet -- Tried to recapture the Al magic by recruiting a coach from a small, mid-major school. Not only did we not capture magic in a bottle, broke the bottle and nearly severed our hand. Also done at a time when "cheap" was the Marquette culture. Had no business being at MU.

Hank -- Great man, good second banana. Loyal to Marquette to a fault. Should have seen what was coming in March 1978.

Majerus -- Nothing good you can say about his tenure, other than he coached Doc Rivers. Wasn't ready and everyone knew it. Needed to spend time in a smaller situation (like Ball State) before being hired at MU. The university was afraid he would end up at Wisconsin or something. Saw what could have been at Utah.

Deane -- Good bench coach, lousy recruiter. Already been said in here.

Wojo -- Who? Seriously, good recruiter but couldn't coach his way out of a paper bag. The fact that he was an assistant at Duke for 20 years should have been telling.  The guy knew basketball and by all measures was an incredibly decent guy, but something was really wrong. The Henry Ellenson year was a dead give-away that things were off and he had less control over the team than one might think.

O'Neill -- Never completely understood why he left MU for Tennessee. Yeah, SEC and bigger school, but he had something cooking here. I suspect O'Neill's coarseness meant he wore out his welcome in Milwaukee and at Marquette. I think in time he might have won H-U-G-E if he'd stayed.

Crean -- OK, I get why he left. At the time, Indiana was still thought of as a fading blue blood, and we weren't. Thought it would be easier to recruit at Indiana. Got us to a Final Four and recruited the best ever, DWade. But, for whatever reason, I suspect Coach Crean thought the grass was greener elsewhere. Discovered what Shaka discovered at Texas. Also had something special cooking at Marquette, if he'd stayed and sustained it.

Buzz -- I admit I intensely dislike this guy for the way he left us. But he is a great coach and had something going at our place when the crap hit the proverbial fan. Should have been able to keep Vander Blue but something happened there. Last team would have been a heck of a lot better if Vander had stayed. Great recruiter, good game coach but, oh geez, some of the off-the-court problems.

Shaka -- Great man, great coach. Has something special cooking. Has made Marquette a near blue blood again.

Al -- Exemplified what Marquette is about!

[Elonsmusk]

1) Shaka
2) Buzz
3) KO
4) Crean
5) Raymonds
6) Deane
7) Wojo
8) Dukeit

Program never had earned a 2 seed prior to Shaka's arrival, and Shaka did it back to back.  Yes, you'd hope for deeper runs with a 2 seed but he did win a Big East conference title outright, and a Big East Tournament Championship, when no previous coach got beyond the semi-finals.

A little difficult to rank Crean 4th, yet Buzz was a better coach, and the cupboard after Year 1 was EMPTY.  To go S16, S16 and Elite 8 trumps 1 Final Four with a generational talent.

KO inherited an absolute trainwreck of a program, far worse than what Crean inherited from Deane, which is why KO ranks higher IMO.

[withoutbias]

1) Shaka
2) Buzz
3) KO
4) Crean
5) Raymonds
6) Deane
7) Wojo
8) Dukeit

Program never had earned a 2 seed prior to Shaka's arrival, and Shaka did it back to back.  Yes, you'd hope for deeper runs with a 2 seed but he did win a Big East conference title outright, and a Big East Tournament Championship, when no previous coach got beyond the semi-finals.

A little difficult to rank Crean 4th, yet Buzz was a better coach, and the cupboard after Year 1 was EMPTY.  To go S16, S16 and Elite 8 trumps 1 Final Four with a generational talent.

KO inherited an absolute trainwreck of a program, far worse than what Crean inherited from Deane, which is why KO ranks higher IMO.

I know you have some looney takes, but you can't possibly think that the program was in a worse place when Crean left than it was when he arrived, can you?  You're just trolling at this point, right?

[brewcity77]

I know you have some looney takes, but you can't possibly think that the program was in a worse place when Crean left than it was when he arrived, can you?  You're just trolling at this point, right?

Agreed, that's a ridiculous take, especially because of the situation around it. After Year 1 (so year two) Crean left three starters in Hayward, Cubillan, and Acker. In addition, Joe Fulce and Chris Otule were already committed to Marquette under Crean. So were Nick Williams and Tyshawn Taylor, both of whom went on to have productive high-major careers.

Yes, Crean was able to bring Williams along with while Buzz couldn't keep Taylor, but there was at least some foundation there, and Buzz offset those losses with Buycks and DJO. Had Crean not left, the cupboard wasn't remotely bare, and Buzz had a solid foundation for year two as indicated by 3 starters leftover from Crean and a 6-seed that year.

[Uncle Rico]

Agreed, that's a ridiculous take, especially because of the situation around it. After Year 1 (so year two) Crean left three starters in Hayward, Cubillan, and Acker. In addition, Joe Fulce and Chris Otule were already committed to Marquette under Crean. So were Nick Williams and Tyshawn Taylor, both of whom went on to have productive high-major careers.

Yes, Crean was able to bring Williams along with while Buzz couldn't keep Taylor, but there was at least some foundation there, and Buzz offset those losses with Buycks and DJO. Had Crean not left, the cupboard wasn't remotely bare, and Buzz had a solid foundation for year two as indicated by 3 starters leftover from Crean and a 6-seed that year.

Buzz recruiting John Dawson is worth at least one spot.  Lower

[Lennys Tap]

Agreed, that's a ridiculous take, especially because of the situation around it. After Year 1 (so year two) Crean left three starters in Hayward, Cubillan, and Acker. In addition, Joe Fulce and Chris Otule were already committed to Marquette under Crean. So were Nick Williams and Tyshawn Taylor, both of whom went on to have productive high-major careers.

Yes, Crean was able to bring Williams along with while Buzz couldn't keep Taylor, but there was at least some foundation there, and Buzz offset those losses with Buycks and DJO. Had Crean not left, the cupboard wasn't remotely bare, and Buzz had a solid foundation for year two as indicated by 3 starters leftover from Crean and a 6-seed that year.

Boy. Saying Buzz inherited "starters" David Cubillan and Mo Acker in year 2 from Tom Crean is really a stretch. In their first year with Buzz they averaged 2.8 and 1.6 points per game, 1.4 and .5 rebounds per game and 1.8 and .2 assists per game. Yes, they started for Buzz in his second year, but the guys Buzz got from Crean were end of the bench guys, not starters.

[BLWarrior91]

Crean left a potential Final Four team for Buzz along with future starters.  No first-year coach at Marquette other than Hank inherited the talent level Buzz got.

[wadesworld]

Crean left a potential Final Four team for Buzz along with future starters.  No first-year coach at Marquette other than Hank inherited the talent level Buzz got.

Justin, Stevie, Kam, and Oso weren't bad pieces to inherit.