Is Mr. Hayward actually Buzz Williams or his agent?

[Norm]

The way that Mr. Hayward is vociferously arguing for Buzz Williams to get the job, he either has to be Buzz himself or his agent. The stuff he spews about other coaches and the arguments he makes on behalf of Buzz are often nonsensical or flat wrong.

[MR.HAYWARD]

care to elabortae on you nonsensical or wrong statement...please show me anything that is nonsensical or wrong.

[Murffieus]

It's what you haven't said------in his only HC experience, Buzz had 4 returning starters (53 ppg worth) back from the previous year and was picked to contend for the division championship----he finished 14 & 17.

Please give me some sign that he can coach----I want to believe!

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

It's what you haven't said------in his only HC experience, Buzz had 4 returning starters (53 ppg worth) back from the previous year and was picked to contend for the division championship----he finished 14 & 17.

Please give me some sign that he can coach----I want to believe!

Murf,

You should apply, or at least be on the search committee.

Once a coach, always a coach.

[rocky_warrior]

It's what you haven't said------in his only HC experience, Buzz had 4 returning starters (53 ppg worth) back from the previous year and was picked to contend for the division championship----he finished 14 & 17.

Please give me some sign that he can coach----I want to believe!

Murffs back?!?!  People have been wondering where you've been JG - good to see you around.

[rocky_warrior]

To add to this (other than welcoming Murff back).

Here's more of the story.
In 2006 UNO had a 8-19 record vs. Div 1 (no Buzz)
In 2007 UNO had a 13-17 record while returning 4 starters from an 8-19 team (Buzz)
In 2008 UNO had a 17-13 record while returning 4 starters from an 13-17 team (no Buzz)

To me, sounds like a team with not a lot of talent getting better as they have more time together.  Throw in the fact the Buzz had to deal with a lack of facilities and support from the University, and I'd say he did fine.  Hard to say he did "great", But he coached them to 5 more games than the precious season and had to deal with more difficult conditions.

Even more impressive though, despite their record and facilities his incoming recruiting class for UNO was ranked top 50 (by Hoopscoop). 

Here's an interesting "fan" comment I found about Buzz right after he announced leaving UNO.

I don't think many of you know Buzz Williams very well. I have never met a more hard working, honest and driven individual than Buzz. He has never shied away from working hard. He didn't resign, because he wasn't up to the task. Buzz outworks everybody. That's how he got to where he is today. He sucks every inch out of every day. He is the hardest working guy I have every met. If anybody could handle the rigors of UNO basketball post-K New Orleans, it is Buzz Williams.

And, he is certainly anything but an opportunist. He would never bail out for greener pastures. I don't pretend to know the whole story, but what I gather from all of this is that Buzz did not believe that the university was as committed to their basketball program as he was. With Buzz it is all or nothing. There is no middle ground and no margin for error. You are either in, or your out. Buzz did not believe that the university was fully supporting the program or the kids. Period, end of sentence. Once he became convinced that the university was not 100% committed to the success of the basketball program, he became convinced that he had to leave.

UNO Basketball made a huge step forward this past year. The GPA is the highest in the history of the program. The recruiting class was Top 50 Nationally, and 4 starters return. Coach Pasternack is inheriting a hell of a lot more than Buzz did. When Buzz took the job, the cupboard wasn't just bare, it was empty. The entire team was academically ineligible and the staff was recruiting kids that no one else wanted. In six weeks, he and Coach Monarch scratched together enough talent to be respectable. If he didn't want to do the work, he never would have taken the job. You should be thanking Buzz. What a difference a year makes. This year's team will compete for the conference title, provided Coach Pasternack is able to keep everybody together.

http://blog.nola.com/tpsports/2007/07/uno_coach_resigns.html

Sounds like the kind of guy we want at MU - dedicated, hard working, and 100% committed to making MU basketball the best it can be.

[rocky_warrior]

Maybe I'm adding this all to the wrong thread, but here's another good read about Buzz leaving UNO.

The Buzz is not back at the University of New Orleans.  It never had a chance to arrive.     

UNO men's head basketball coach Buzz Williams announced his resignation on Friday to become an assistant coach at Marquette University.  Williams lasted only one year on the job with a three year contract.  Last year, former head coach Monte Towe resigned to become an assistant coach under Sidney Lowe at North Carolina State, where Towe helped lead the Wolfpack to the 1974 NCAA Championship.

Williams would have made $150,000 per year as UNO's head coach.  As reported in the New Orleans Times Picayune, he is set to make $200,000 per year at Marquette.  While no one can blame him for leaving for the money, he leaves a UNO basketball program in desperate need of stability in Post-Katrina New Orleans.  Buzz was 14-17 last year for the Privateers, and a not-too-shabby 9-9 in the Sun Belt Conference. 

Why this is troubling is that UNO was just getting back on its feet after Katrina damaged much of the Nat Kiefer Arena on the Lakefront, UNO's home for basketball.  Laying dormant since the storm, appropriated money had begun to flow, and the Arena was tentatively set to open in the 2008-2009 season.  Williams was to be the driving force behind restoring UNO basketball (and the entire athletic department with it) to the prominence of the Tim Floyd days.

It would be harsh to call Williams a carpetbagger for packing his bags after such a short stay, and he may well have experienced frustrations that he thought may have hampered his ability to do his job to the best of his ability.  Among those challenges certainly were the lack of a suitable arena and the long time scale to fix it.  UNO played last season and will play this season in the Human Performance Center, the equivalent of a college recreational facility or loosely compared to an average high-school gym.  Not exactly Division I standards, but after Katrina, much work still needs to be done here in New Orleans.

The bigger picture is that, as we've seen here amongst ordinary folks, qualified people, essential-to-the-recovery people, are still leaving New Orleans like torrential rains on a summer afternoon.  The loss of doctors, lawyers, accountants, bankers, and Fortune 500 Companies from the area is staggering.  To make matters worse, they were trickling out of New Orleans before Katrina.  Williams was contributing to the recovery by doing what he loved at a university that needed him.  Had he succeeded, Nat Kiefer Arena may well have been the "House that Buzz Rebuilt."  That job will have to go to someone else.

UNO's slow recovery from Katrina was not unexpected.  Long the "red-headed step-child" of the Louisiana State University System--yes, UNO was once LS-UNO and has the same crest as LSU--UNO was not among the priorities of a state university board looking at hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to deal with. Possibly, the UNO administration gave a too-rosy picture of what UNO was going to look like to Williams before he accepted the job.

Here's to wishing Buzz success at Marquette, certainly much more of a prominent D-I basketball program than UNO.  Here's to hoping as well that UNO can find a replacement in someone who wants to be there, even relishing the opportunity to rebuild a basketball program with some history from scratch.

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Fightin_Fugee/2007/07/07/Buzz_bolts_Big_Easy_for_Marquette

[thatman32]

brent williams is hard working and so was tom crean BLAH BLAH BLAH.  What the hell does that mean that he is 'hard working' hard working is when you can't support your family and you have three jobs!  You know who else works hard 'D' students.  

The administration needs a clean break from the TC 'fantasy' era.  Lowery is a hell of a coach and he is a better basketball coach then TC could ever hope to be.  The notion that brent is holding Marquette hostage by saying in so many words "hire me as the HC or I walk" attitude is troublesome.  I would tell him to get the hell out of here!  Nobody holds this administration hostage and that is what he is doing.  He should be happy he has a job and health insurance, if he doesn't like then he should leave and not ask for any references.  More then anything he should be kissing ass while stating he would love to be the top assistant!  Its not just experience that people are always looking for but good judgment and it's obvious he doesn't have it otherwise he wouldn't have taken the New Orleans job.  

[rocky_warrior]

The notion that brent is holding Marquette hostage by saying in so many words "hire me as the HC or I walk" attitude is troublesome

Since you put it in quotation marks, I assume you have seen an interview with BW where he said this?  Please do share.

Meanwhile, to answer some other people's questions about who buzz has recruited, here's his interview with Rosiak:

You have the reputation as a recruiter. Texas A&M has had great success of late. Whom did you have a major hand in recruiting for the Aggies? I was at Texas A&M for the first two recruiting classes, and when I left to come to New Orleans last June 22, there were three players that had already committed in the 2007 class. I was a part of all of the signees during Billy Gillispie's tenure except for one.

Was Acie Law one of those? No, Acie was there before Coach. Coach took the job at A&M, he hired me to come from Colorado State. We signed Josh Carter our first year, Antanas Kavaliauskas. In our second year we signed Donald Sloan, Derrick Roland and Brian Davis. In the '07 class it was Nathan Walkup, B.J. Holmes, DeAndre Jordan. Derrek Lewis was the first '07 kid that committed to us; he was the second-best player in Oklahoma. I was a part of all of those guys.

http://www.jsonline.com/blog/index.aspx?id=308

[bamamarquettefan]

Based on the reports, I believe the administration has apparently approached the right 3 coaches, who have turned us down, and now approached a few others who would also be great hires, and need to see if any of them have interest or if someone else approaches us. 

My wild scenario, which will never happen, is that we bring in a Majeris-type who really just wants to get in a final year or two, making Buzz the top assistant with plans to bring him on in a year or two.  If we can get a great game coach to take our best shot next year, but also take a shot at keeping the preps on their thought that they'd play for Buzz thereafter, that would be the best case for me.
If we don't have that option and none of the few we are waiting on say yes, l'd just hire Buzz.

I understand people not wanting to be held hostage by 18 year olds, but i think there is a big long-term danger in losing this class.  We do that and it might be very hard to recruit next year too since those 18 year olds may view MU as being on it's last hurrah with every graduating.  In between Raymond's and Crean we made the NCAA 4 of 16 years - I think the future is now and we need to try to make the 3 Amigos happy and take a shot at keeping this class, and if Buzz is our best shot, so be it.

[thatman32]

Next time I will write that he is implying "hire me as the HC or I walk".  As for the evidence that I have.  Well, he hasn't left yet.  In addition, if he doesn't get the job do you think he is just going to stick around?  Do you honestly believe that.  If he doesn't get the job he will leave.  What evidence do you need . . its basic human nature?

I would love to see the above scenario happen but it won't.

[rocky_warrior]

If he doesn't get the head coaching job, I don't *think* he sticks around - unless we get a big name coach. 

However, you're saying that he's trying to hold MUs administration hostage.  I don't think that's the case at all.  If anything, he's following the process to get the head coaching gig at MU.  If he doesn't get it I don't think anyone expects him to stay - so I don't quite understand where the hostage situation comes from.

In fact, if he isn't our next head coach, he has no say whether he stays.  The next head coach (big name, or small name) will get to choose their own staff.  So, why would buzz want to base his future on that?

If you want to blame someone for creating a hostage situation around Buzz - blame the recruits who identify with him.  I doubt he's using that situation against MU - it's just what it is.

[Murffieus]

Hank stayed after Al got the job-----they were the two finalists. But Buzz seems like more of a vagabond than Hank (8 jobs in 16 years)----plus he has a standing offer from TC at Indiana. I say he's gone if he doesn't get the MU HC job.

[bilsu]

I have no doubt he is gone if he does not get the job. The best thing would be to hire an outside coach who could keep Buzz, but I do not see that happening. I think in the short run Buzz is the best hire. I have no idea if he is the best hire in the long run. We do not even know who our choices are. We have coaches we would like to get, but if they have no interest they are not a factor. I think Miller would be a better hire than Buzz, but I also think it is not an option. Maybe we have a shot at the Southern Illinois coach (I have no idea if either side is interested), but is he that much better than Buzz. He certainly has more coaching experience, but can he recruit and keep this team from imploding. On the other hand we do not really know if Buzzz can recruit as a head coach. I think it is much easier to go in and sell a head coach than it is to sell yourself. Assistants lay the ground work and the head coach closes the deal. Buzz could go to a recruits house and talk how Crean got to the final four, talk about how Crean developed Wade, Novak and Diener. As a head coach he has nothing to sell about himself, except for hope. He is left to sell the MU experience, which I see as a problem. What struck me was every current player and every incoming recruit said they came or were coming to MU because of Crean. We do not have players who dreamed of playing at MU. If you grow up in Indiana you dream of playing at Indiana and now a days if you grow up in Wisconsin you dream of being a badger. That is what you guys do not recognize about recruiting for MU. We have no natural recruits, they all came from Crean's efforts.

[thatman32]

Lowery has had more success then crean has had the past 4 years.  Lowery has a story he can tell recruits too.  Something you mentioned that Buzz does not have.  I know Lowery went to the NIT last year but he has a good recruiting class coming in and good potential future recruits.  Also, since I have watched southern play quite a few times in the past I can tell you that he can do a much better job of developing big men then crean could ever hope for.  The forwards and centers that SIU has had would make most Marquette basketball fanatics envious.  I say hire Lowery and see if he wants Buzz.  Also Lowery makes 750K at SIU and signed a 7 year extention in 2007

Coaching record
School Season Record (Conference) Conference Finish Postseason
Southern Illinois 2007-08: 18-15 (11-7) 3rd (Missouri Valley) NIT Second Round
Southern Illinois 2006-07: 29-7 (15-3) 1st (Missouri Valley) Sweet 16
Southern Illinois 2005-06: 22-11 (12-6) 2nd (T) (Missouri Valley) Missouri Valley Tournament Champs, NCAA first round
Southern Illinois 2004-05 27-8: (15-3) 1st (Missouri Valley) NCAA second round