All Conference Awards 2024-25

[CTWarrior]

He could've played 0 possessions all year and he would've got it.  4 DPOYs along with Ewing is disrespectful to Patrick Ewing.

He literally guards nobody.  His "matchup" is the guy who can't shoot on the other team and he stands at the rim being 7'1" and 26 years old.

I love Stevie's defense as much as the next guy, but it is sour grapes to say that Kalkbrenner doesn't have an enormous impact on the defensive end.  I know we did not challenge him in the lane and adjusted whatever we did shoot while he was on the floor and attacked the rim whenever he sat.

[The Sultan]

It's relative, but in terms of program expectations they've been great. Since 2017, went to 6 of 7 tournaments and would've been a 2 or 3 seed in 2020. All single-digit seeds, two Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight. They've equaled or bettered their best pre-McDermott seed (6 in 2003) four times since Doug left. He has 8 NCAA wins since Doug left, the program had 12 total before 2017 (and 3 were Greg, he owns more than half Creighton's all-time NCAA wins). He's 2 wins from tying Dana Altman as the all-time winningest coach in program history and has done that in 2 fewer seasons.

So he's great in a Creighton kind of way. Good for them.

[Newsdreams]

Yep. Even most Scoopers would be pretty pleased with those results.

Wut? Most Scoopers are never satisfied. MU could win a Natty this year and most would still be bishing about next year's roster.

[GoldenEagles03]

Wut? Most Scoopers are never satisfied. MU could win a Natty this year and most would still be bishing about next year's roster.

I'd love for you to be proven right on this!

[Scoop Snoop]

Wut? Most Scoopers are never satisfied. MU could win a Natty this year and most would still be bishing about next year's roster.

Yeah. So? You got a problem with that?

[wadesworld]

I love Stevie's defense as much as the next guy, but it is sour grapes to say that Kalkbrenner doesn't have an enormous impact on the defensive end.  I know we did not challenge him in the lane and adjusted whatever we did shoot while he was on the floor and attacked the rim whenever he sat.

Sorry, I just cannot get on board with giving the guy whose matchup is to guard the WORST opposing player the Big East Defensive Player of the Year award...for the fourth time!

[GoldenEagles03]

I'm so sick of Andy Katz being involved in college basketball.

Get this goof out of here. Kam at 3rd team.

https://x.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1899478092470460480?t=nisA-rSGlG7oKjFFO2barg&s=19

[drewm88]

I'm so sick of Andy Katz being involved in college basketball.

Get this goof out of here. Kam at 3rd team.

https://x.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1899478092470460480?t=nisA-rSGlG7oKjFFO2barg&s=19

Katz has been a clown for several years, but it's getting worse.

[MU82]

The beautiful thing is that there's no such thing as Katz's All-Americans, just as there's no such thing as Field of 68 All-Americans.

Scoop's All-Americans are just as legit.

[Shaka Shart]

Bad coaches aren't put on wish lists.

Wojo was on our wish list at one point

[tower912]

Wojo was on our wish list at one point

Beat out Howland and Cuonzo Martin.  MU made the right choice.

[Shaka Shart]

Beat out Howland and Cuonzo Martin.  MU made the right choice.

I hear Ben starting singing the Black Keys in the interview with the lyrics "Baby I'm Howland for you"

[Zog from Margo]

Stevie Mitchell is the BEST scholar athlete of the year. Two years in a row with Oso last year. That's really, really impressive! https://x.com/MarquetteMBB/status/1899853119887995335?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[Bahama]

Stevie Mitchell is the BEST scholar athlete of the year. Two years in a row with Oso last year. That's really, really impressive! https://x.com/MarquetteMBB/status/1899853119887995335?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

My brother is finishing up his senior year at Marquette. He had a class with Stevie Mitchell.

It was exam day, the class was provided their exams and got to work. Roughly 45 minutes into the exam, Stevie hadn't even started it. He didn't know what he was looking at, held his pencil in hand, staring blankly at the paper.
The professor announced that everyone had "30 minutes remaining to complete the exam".

Stevie - who hadn't yet answered the first question, proceeded to lock-in. Verbally exclaiming to the class "Oh man, I was LOST IN THE FIGHT!" before proceeding to pencil in answers, seemingly at random.

A true Scholar, the best athlete scholar among all the prestigious academic schools in the conference.

(True story by the way)

[GoldenEagles03]

Not All Conference, but another Stevie recognition.

https://x.com/NaismithTrophy/status/1899853131954938183?t=cICe76e83qG32n4e-xiH2A&s=19

[Zog from Margo]

Beat out Howland and Cuonzo Martin.  MU made the right choice.

If that was the universe, maybe. 15 seasons as an assistant in one spot with no HC experience should have been enough to show that Wojo wasn't a good choice. But he might have been the best of a bad lot. Hard to know how coaches would fair at different schools.

[StillAWarrior]

He affects games. He changed the way Marquette could play offense in the game at Omaha.

I'm sick of him, too. And I get what others are saying: What he does seems "easier" than what "real" man-to-man defenders do.

But the big doofus has a big impact on games. That's what Big East coaches see.

Like pretty much everyone on this board, I'm a big Stevie Mitchell fan. I really would have loved to see him win this award. But I made a point of paying attention to Kalk in our games against them this year and he absolutely does affect the game and what teams do. And it would seem that is what earns DPOY votes -- needing to gameplan around a defensive player.

Stevie is an absolutely stellar defensive player - one of the best I've seen. I'm sure BE coaches frequently tell their best ball handler, "Man, you're going to have your hands full tonight...Mitchell is really good." But I'm not sure they gameplan around him, and that's why Kalk wins. I wish Stevie would win, but I understand why he doesn't. I also think it would have been nice if the BE Coaches would have given him All-BE in recognition of all that he does. I personally would have put Stevie ahead of Joplin for that honor (although I'm happy to see Jop get that recognition).

[Uncle Rico]

If that was the universe, maybe. 15 seasons as an assistant in one spot with no HC experience should have been enough to show that Wojo wasn't a good choice. But he might have been the best of a bad lot. Hard to know how coaches would fair at different schools.

Cuonzo was running from Tennessee at the time.  He would have bolted Marquette like he did Cal.

No idea how Howland would have done here but I think better than at Mississippi State

[MuMark]

If that was the universe, maybe. 15 seasons as an assistant in one spot with no HC experience should have been enough to show that Wojo wasn't a good choice. But he might have been the best of a bad lot. Hard to know how coaches would fair at different schools.

Roy Williams was an assistant for 10 years at one spot with no head coaching experience before getting the job at Kansas.

Tommy Lloyd was an assistant at Gonzaga for 20 years.....no head coaching experience before being hired by Arizona.

[Shaka Shart]

Roy Williams was an assistant for 10 years at one spot with no head coaching experience before getting the job at Kansas.

Tommy Lloyd was an assistant at Gonzaga for 20 years.....no head coaching experience before being hired by Arizona.

More importantly, Gard got it done with no HC experience

[Zog from Margo]

Roy Williams was an assistant for 10 years at one spot with no head coaching experience before getting the job at Kansas.

Tommy Lloyd was an assistant at Gonzaga for 20 years.....no head coaching experience before being hired by Arizona.

And both came from and went to programs where you can walk in and get the players you want. What did a 15-year assistant at Duke know about building a program at a school where that was not, and likely never will be, the case? It was not a lot.

[MuMark]

And both came from and went to programs where you can walk in and get the players you want. What did a 15-year assistant at Duke know about building a program at a school where that was not, and likely never will be, the case? It was not a lot.

Billy Gillespie didn't just get players at Kentucky.......because it was Kentucky.....you still have to get them.

Roy and Lloyd would have succeeded at other schools.......they just waited until the right opportunity came open. IMO

I think the point is there is no true fail safe formula for hiring a head coach.......guys with no HC experience have succeeded and failed.......good mid major coaches who were highly sought after have succeeded and failed.........high major coaches making lateral moves or taking a more prestigious job have succeeded and failed.

Wojo got plenty of players here.......ultimately his undoing was he couldn't coach defense.......which considering his background is kind of ironic.

[Zog from Margo]

Billy Gillespie didn't just get players at Kentucky.......because it was Kentucky.....you still have to get them.

Roy and Lloyd would have succeeded at other schools.......they just waited until the right opportunity came open. IMO

I think the point is there is no true fail safe formula for hiring a head coach.......guys with no HC experience have succeeded and failed.......good mid major coaches who were highly sought after have succeeded and failed.........high major coaches making lateral moves or taking a more prestigious job have succeeded and failed.

Wojo got plenty of players here.......ultimately his undoing was he couldn't coach defense.......which considering his background is kind of ironic.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I am not sure how successful Lloyd or Williams would have been at the University of Detroit. I also think the inability to coach D was only one of Wojo's weaknesses. I do agree, however, that particular weakness was not one I expected when they hired him. In any event, I won't divert this string further than I have.

Stevie and Oso really have been great student athlete representing MU. Those are very impressive accomplishments given the time commitment D-1 basketball requires.

[Billy Hoyle]

And both came from and went to programs where you can walk in and get the players you want. What did a 15-year assistant at Duke know about building a program at a school where that was not, and likely never will be, the case? It was not a lot.

Gonzaga isn't a "walk in and get the players you want" program. They still have to sell kids on going to a small school in a crappy city that plays in a mid-major conference.

Let's see, Wojo successfully recruited to MU:

Ellenson (NBA first rounder)
The Hausers (Sam still in the NBA)
Markus (NBA)
Jamal Cain (NBA)
Oso (NBA)
Kam (soon-to-be a first-round pick)
Stevie (incredible representative of MU)
Aidoo (all SEC, likely to be headed to the NBA)
Theo John (grad transfer to Duke)
Justin Lewis (NBA)
Dawson Garcia (possibly NBA, transfer to UNC)

Wojo brought in really good talent to MU, but as some mentioned, his issue was the actual coaching part. He needed better assistants for sure.

[CountryRoads]

Wojo brought in really good talent to MU, but as some mentioned, his issue was the actual coaching part. He needed better assistants for sure.

Off topic but anyone see Wojo's rant on instagram today? Apparently during one of his GLeague telecasts they threw up a graphic of the "4 Most Annoying Duke Players" and it included him lol. Didn't sound like he took it very well.