Trevor Mbakwe likely transferring

[Daniel]

I don't beleive it has nothing to do with Crean's departure.  Crean has left our program in a mess now.  He has UNDONE in 2 days whatever good he did here in 9 years.

We MUST hire a super head coach.  Now.  Or it's tough years ahead.  Let's get a HC BETTER than Crean.

[MUinCO]

THis just f-ing sucks. THis could turn out to be such a debacle.

From a short term standpoint, they almost have to keep BUzz Williams. I think everyone will be returning (minus Mbakwe) and the team will be solid regardless of who coaches next season. But man....this is just brutal.

Buzz...excelent recruiter...not a head coach and he proved that in New Orleans.  I think it is much better to get the best possible candidate, a proven D-1 HC worthy of a $1.5M salary. 

If it means loosing some players so be it...a short term band-aid will only hurt the program in the long run.  Emphasis should be on a long-time coach...not short term student athletes.

PRN hit the nail on the head.

[Pakuni]

I don't beleive it has nothing to do with Crean's departure.  Crean has left our program in a mess now.  He has UNDONE in 2 days whatever good he did here in 9 years.

We MUST hire a super head coach.  Now.  Or it's tough years ahead.  Let's get a HC BETTER than Crean.

A mess? We likely have four returning starters from a top 25 team that was within a couple inches of the Sweet 16, along with seven of the top nine in terms of minutes played.
Lord help us.

Yeah, it sucks that some of the incoming class may not be coming in, but that happens with a coaching change.

[mosarsour]

Baloney. Comments from our recruits and transfers should have no bearing on who we hire. And we have to let whoever we hire decide who his assistants are going to be.

How can you honestly say that because Trevor is transferring -- a guy who showed absolutely NOTHING to MU fans -- or because Ty Taylor, who was the 6th best prospect on his own high school team, is wavering that we should keep an assistant who has been here for less than a year.

You guys are in full out panic mode. We'll be fine!!

By the way, Buzz Williams is a bigger scumbag than Crean for what he did to New Orleans. Get rid of him and Rabineaux!!

I'm not saying that I personally want Buzz as our head coach...but if we want minimal damage to our roster, I think him returning as an assistant is not such a bad idea. But we all know that is not going to be the case. So let's start over.

[oldwarrior81]

I'm pretty sure you only get five years to finish your four of eligibility, so he was only going to get to play three where ever he transferred to anyway, so we may as well have let him play.  I could not understand the logic of playing him at all, but now it makes sense.

Five years is the standard, but the NCAA has an appeals process by which a sixth year can be granted.
If, for example, Trevor's apparent transfer is the result of a legitimate family emergency/issue, that's something that would weigh in his favor.

Actually the NCAA can grant a hardship waiver and a transfer may not have to sit out any seasons.
They did it for Tyler Smith when he transfered from Iowa to Tennessee be be closer to his ailing father.

[TJ]

Baloney. Comments from our recruits and transfers should have no bearing on who we hire. And we have to let whoever we hire decide who his assistants are going to be.

How can you honestly say that because Trevor is transferring -- a guy who showed absolutely NOTHING to MU fans -- or because Ty Taylor, who was the 6th best prospect on his own high school team, is wavering that we should keep an assistant who has been here for less than a year.

You guys are in full out panic mode. We'll be fine!!

By the way, Buzz Williams is a bigger scumbag than Crean for what he did to New Orleans. Get rid of him and Rabineaux!!

You're putting an awful lot of faith in an unnamed coach's first recruiting class.  Because the short term future looks grim (2-3 years, not next year).

I'm afraid we can just as easily fall into obscurity as we can make a big hire and go to new heights.

[TJ]

I don't beleive it has nothing to do with Crean's departure.  Crean has left our program in a mess now.  He has UNDONE in 2 days whatever good he did here in 9 years.

We MUST hire a super head coach.  Now.  Or it's tough years ahead.  Let's get a HC BETTER than Crean.

A mess? We likely have four returning starters from a top 25 team that was within a couple inches of the Sweet 16, along with seven of the top nine in terms of minutes played.
Lord help us.

Yeah, it sucks that some of the incoming class may not be coming in, but that happens with a coaching change.

Look at the current roster and remove Mbakwe and all Juniors and Seniors, then tell me that we can afford to lose an entire class of incoming recruits and we'll still be fine in 2 years.

[MUinCO]

Accepting an unproven/unsuccessful head coach in order to minimize damage to an immediate, very short term, not the best in the country roster is the kind of thinking that will put us back where we were in the 90s.

A little damage now is a whole lot better than a ton of damage later when we realize we hired the wrong coach so that we could keep a recruit/player that may or may not have been a superstar.

We are in a position to hire a top notch head coach folks...probably the first time MU has been in this this good of a position in decades if not ever.  Why would we settle for a mediocre coach in favor of a kid that would only be around a year maybe two?

[esotericmindguy]

Baloney. Comments from our recruits and transfers should have no bearing on who we hire. And we have to let whoever we hire decide who his assistants are going to be.

How can you honestly say that because Trevor is transferring -- a guy who showed absolutely NOTHING to MU fans -- or because Ty Taylor, who was the 6th best prospect on his own high school team, is wavering that we should keep an assistant who has been here for less than a year.

You guys are in full out panic mode. We'll be fine!!

By the way, Buzz Williams is a bigger scumbag than Crean for what he did to New Orleans. Get rid of him and Rabineaux!!

Nightmare, you're right.....Cubillan, Acker, Burke, Hazel and Mathews will definitely compete in the Big East.  Oh and we don't need Erik Williams or Jamil Wilson, Christopherson will be great.  Nothing to worry about, with Tubby in MN we shouldn't worry about recruiting the twin cities either.

[MUinCO]

Baloney. Comments from our recruits and transfers should have no bearing on who we hire. And we have to let whoever we hire decide who his assistants are going to be.

How can you honestly say that because Trevor is transferring -- a guy who showed absolutely NOTHING to MU fans -- or because Ty Taylor, who was the 6th best prospect on his own high school team, is wavering that we should keep an assistant who has been here for less than a year.

You guys are in full out panic mode. We'll be fine!!

By the way, Buzz Williams is a bigger scumbag than Crean for what he did to New Orleans. Get rid of him and Rabineaux!!

Nightmare, you're right.....Cubillan, Acker, Burke, Hazel and Mathews will definitely compete in the Big East.  Oh and we don't need Erik Williams or Jamil Wilson, Christopherson will be great.  Nothing to worry about, with Tubby in MN we shouldn't worry about recruiting the twin cities either.

So MAYBE we suck next year...better than hireing the wrong coach and sucking for the next 20.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Why don't we let Hurley tell us who to name head coach? Or get the high school kids you are longing for together in a room and let them decide who is going to coach MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY OF THE BIG EAST CONFERENCE!!!

You're a complete buffoon!!

I repeat: our juniors are going nowhere. Trevor was basically nothing. And of our recruits, only Williams is highly regarded. Of the two big guys from Texas, one average 5 points a game and the other seems attached to Buzz Williams in a rather peculiar way.

Get rid of all of them and start over!

[TJ]

Baloney. Comments from our recruits and transfers should have no bearing on who we hire. And we have to let whoever we hire decide who his assistants are going to be.

How can you honestly say that because Trevor is transferring -- a guy who showed absolutely NOTHING to MU fans -- or because Ty Taylor, who was the 6th best prospect on his own high school team, is wavering that we should keep an assistant who has been here for less than a year.

You guys are in full out panic mode. We'll be fine!!

By the way, Buzz Williams is a bigger scumbag than Crean for what he did to New Orleans. Get rid of him and Rabineaux!!

Nightmare, you're right.....Cubillan, Acker, Burke, Hazel and Mathews will definitely compete in the Big East.  Oh and we don't need Erik Williams or Jamil Wilson, Christopherson will be great.  Nothing to worry about, with Tubby in MN we shouldn't worry about recruiting the twin cities either.

So MAYBE we suck next year...better than hireing the wrong coach and sucking for the next 20.

Everyone agrees with that - there is no doubt that we absolutely need to hire a great coach.

[dwaderoy2004]

It appears that Buzz is a great recruiter, but keep in mind, we have never seen any of his recruits actually play.  He's been with the program for nine months for goodness sake.  And we want to hand the reins to him?  Get a hold of yourselves!  The recruits are obviously upset and concerned; we all are on some level.  But you don't think if we hire Bennett or Miller, that Taylor or Williams will still think long and hard about coming to MU.  These are big-time proven coaches.  The recruits just don't want to be stuck with a no-name coach.  Buzz Williams would be a BAD hire.  Short term stability, yes.  But long-term disaster.

[MUinCO]

It appears that Buzz is a great recruiter, but keep in mind, we have never seen any of his recruits actually play.  He's been with the program for nine months for goodness sake.  And we want to hand the reins to him?  Get a hold of yourselves!  The recruits are obviously upset and concerned; we all are on some level.  But you don't think if we hire Bennett or Miller, that Taylor or Williams will still think long and hard about coming to MU.  These are big-time proven coaches.  The recruits just don't want to be stuck with a no-name coach.  Buzz Williams would be a BAD hire.  Short term stability, yes.  But long-term disaster.

Exactly...some people think we should hire a substandard pilot so that we can keep the hot stewardess.  That skirt is not going to look so hot anymore when the plane goes down in flames.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It appears that Buzz is a great recruiter, but keep in mind, we have never seen any of his recruits actually play.  He's been with the program for nine months for goodness sake.  And we want to hand the reins to him?  Get a hold of yourselves!  The recruits are obviously upset and concerned; we all are on some level.  But you don't think if we hire Bennett or Miller, that Taylor or Williams will still think long and hard about coming to MU.  These are big-time proven coaches.  The recruits just don't want to be stuck with a no-name coach.  Buzz Williams would be a BAD hire.  Short term stability, yes.  But long-term disaster.

Exactly...some people think we should hire a substandard pilot so that we can keep the hot stewardess.  That skirt is not going to look so hot anymore when the plane goes down in flames.

And a couple of the stewardesses sound like sluts!

[bma725]

Why don't we let Hurley tell us who to name head coach? Or get the high school kids you are longing for together in a room and let them decide who is going to coach MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY OF THE BIG EAST CONFERENCE!!!

You're a complete buffoon!!

I repeat: our juniors are going nowhere. Trevor was basically nothing. And of our recruits, only Williams is highly regarded. Of the two big guys from Texas, one average 5 points a game and the other seems attached to Buzz Williams in a rather peculiar way.

Get rid of all of them and start over!

You need to pay more attention to recruiting if you're going to make blanket statements like that, because other than the unnatural attraction to Buzz your info is wrong.  Taylor is the most highly rated of all the recruits.  A total of 5 different services list him in their top 100, only 3 list Williams. And of those that list the two together only one has Williams higher than Taylor.  In fact even the places that don't put them in the top 100 still have Taylor ahead of Williams.  

And two, Otule averaged in double figures this year, not 5 points.

And for a guy that blasted Crean for having a wasted recruiting class a few years ago, what kind of scraps do you think will be left over for any new coach coming in? You toss these guys out there isn't much left.

[ChicosBailBonds]

PRN's statement on recruiting is really all I need to know.  We have a top 20 ranked class coming in and he's saying it's not good.  Wow, I guess PRN expects Wooden to be signed as our coach because I doubt we will have those types of classes for awhile. 

I'm telling you, the guy the other day that said he's really a Badger fan here in disguise....I'm starting to worry.   

[MUinCO]

Why don't we let Hurley tell us who to name head coach? Or get the high school kids you are longing for together in a room and let them decide who is going to coach MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY OF THE BIG EAST CONFERENCE!!!

You're a complete buffoon!!

I repeat: our juniors are going nowhere. Trevor was basically nothing. And of our recruits, only Williams is highly regarded. Of the two big guys from Texas, one average 5 points a game and the other seems attached to Buzz Williams in a rather peculiar way.

Get rid of all of them and start over!

You need to pay more attention to recruiting if you're going to make blanket statements like that, because other than the unnatural attraction to Buzz your info is wrong.  Taylor is the most highly rated of all the recruits.  A total of 5 different services list him in their top 100, only 3 list Williams. And of those that list the two together only one has Williams higher than Taylor.  In fact even the places that don't put them in the top 100 still have Taylor ahead of Williams.  

And two, Otule averaged in double figures this year, not 5 points.

And for a guy that blasted Crean for having a wasted recruiting class a few years ago, what kind of scraps do you think will be left over for any new coach coming in? You toss these guys out there isn't much left.

And if we hire the wrong guy, it won't matter how talented these guys are or how highly regarded that recruiting class is period.  They'll be gone in a year or two and we'll be left with what?  AND even if we hired Buzz you can bet several of those recruiting gems still won't come to MU.  They came to "play for Crean" remember?

The point here is we should (and I believe we will) hire the best coaching talent $1.5M can buy irrespective of what some 18/19 year old ballers (and a few nutso fans) think. 

[Ready2Fly]

Baloney. Comments from our recruits and transfers should have no bearing on who we hire. And we have to let whoever we hire decide who his assistants are going to be.

How can you honestly say that because Trevor is transferring -- a guy who showed absolutely NOTHING to MU fans -- or because Ty Taylor, who was the 6th best prospect on his own high school team, is wavering that we should keep an assistant who has been here for less than a year.

You guys are in full out panic mode. We'll be fine!!

By the way, Buzz Williams is a bigger scumbag than Crean for what he did to New Orleans. Get rid of him and Rabineaux!!

I agree with that bolded statement.  We can't let recruits decide who the coach will be.  I was looking forward to Taylor and Williams as much as the next fan, but if they won't come play for someone like Sean Miller, Scott Drew, etc. it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the future of the program.

[TJ]

Why don't we let Hurley tell us who to name head coach? Or get the high school kids you are longing for together in a room and let them decide who is going to coach MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY OF THE BIG EAST CONFERENCE!!!

You're a complete buffoon!!

I repeat: our juniors are going nowhere. Trevor was basically nothing. And of our recruits, only Williams is highly regarded. Of the two big guys from Texas, one average 5 points a game and the other seems attached to Buzz Williams in a rather peculiar way.

Get rid of all of them and start over!

You need to pay more attention to recruiting if you're going to make blanket statements like that, because other than the unnatural attraction to Buzz your info is wrong.  Taylor is the most highly rated of all the recruits.  A total of 5 different services list him in their top 100, only 3 list Williams. And of those that list the two together only one has Williams higher than Taylor.  In fact even the places that don't put them in the top 100 still have Taylor ahead of Williams. 

And two, Otule averaged in double figures this year, not 5 points.

And for a guy that blasted Crean for having a wasted recruiting class a few years ago, what kind of scraps do you think will be left over for any new coach coming in? You toss these guys out there isn't much left.

And if we hire the wrong guy, it won't matter how talented these guys are or how highly regarded that recruiting class is period.  They'll be gone in a year or two and we'll be left with what?  AND even if we hired Buzz you can bet several of those recruiting gems still won't come to MU.  They came to "play for Crean" remember?

The point here is we should (and I believe we will) hire the best coaching talent $1.5M can buy irrespective of what some 18/19 year old ballers (and a few nutso fans) think. 

I never said that we have to hire Buzz and I wouldn't be happy to see that happen.  I completely agree that we need to hire the best possible coach.  And I don't think the recruits wishes should be considered in the decision.

But to blow off an entire recruiting class and say it doesn't matter - when in fact it and the next class will determine the next 5 years of MU basketball is crazy.  And that's what PRN is saying. 

Whoever comes in for the next two classes - 3-4 of them will likely be starters in 2 years.  So they better be good - and we better not, if we do lose recruits, just pick up crappy players because we have the scholarships available.

[nyg]

If the current players stay (minus Trevor) and Fulce remains loyal to his committment, next year should be fine.  The real problem lies in 2009, when James, McNeal, Matthews and Burke leave.  The MU staff (at least the old one) had some highly rated 2009 recruits expressing sincere interest.  They include:

Erik Williams (signed)
Jamil Wilson
Maurice Creek
Isaiah Philmore
Naji Hibbert
Johnny Lacy

For 2010:
Nate Lubick
Flavian Davis
Evan Anderson

Lets hope the new staff continues to go after the above recruits.

[muwarrior87]

Erik Williams has verballed, do we know for sure that he's signed his LOI?

[nyg]

My error, verbal.  Can't sign until fall 08

[CAINMUTINY]

He can't sign an LOI till his senior season....

[PTK8ofBH]

In a perfect world Buzz returns as an assistant next season. But here's the most likely scenario. It's either Buzz as our HC or as an assistant at IU. I believe this was stated in another thread as well.

I remember reading a Buzz quote somewhere saying that he would only stay at MU if he got the head coaching job.