Crean on Williams

[77ncaachamps]

"Buzz Williams has the ability, the energy, the passion, and most importantly the desire to build on the great tradition at Marquette. To have him be a part of what I felt was as good a staff as there was in the country this past year at Marquette, and to get to know him even better and to see the work ethic, energy, and competence that he has to be successful and to make those around him successful, will be second to none. Marquette made a great choice because they get a man that understands what it takes to win at the highest level and the players and the young men in the program have someone that has an understanding of them and will allow them to continue to take the program to great heights."
Tom Crean
Head Coach
Indiana University

http://www.kxii.com/sports/headlines/17407504.html


So the man finally speaks.

Screw you Crean.



What others have said (from the article). Sounds like Buzz is a winner...then again, do they ever poo-poo their own in the fraternity of coaches?

What They're Saying About Buzz Williams

"He is a tenacious guy. He obviously enjoys it. He is very well organized and his tenacity is probably unmatched. He just goes after it. Everyone likes him and if they don't start out liking him, he forces them to like him, and that's a great quality to be able to have. He just goes after it hard. He's not only a good recruiter, he is a very good basketball coach. He does whatever it takes to help your team win, whether it's academics or whether it's taking care of stuff in the office or whatever. He is not just a recruiter he is a total basketball coach and a guy that gives you the best chance to win over a long haul."
Billy Gillispie
Head Coach
University of Kentucky

"Buzz Williams has the ability, the energy, the passion, and most importantly the desire to build on the great tradition at Marquette. To have him be a part of what I felt was as good a staff as there was in the country this past year at Marquette, and to get to know him even better and to see the work ethic, energy, and competence that he has to be successful and to make those around him successful, will be second to none. Marquette made a great choice because they get a man that understands what it takes to win at the highest level and the players and the young men in the program have someone that has an understanding of them and will allow them to continue to take the program to great heights."
Tom Crean
Head Coach
Indiana University

"Marquette has made an outstanding hire as they announce Buzz Williams as their men's basketball coach. Having been fortunate to work with coach Williams in the past, I know that he is an excellent basketball coach that values both academics and the personal development of his student-athletes. The Marquette community has selected a tireless worker and tremendous family man to lead their basketball program." Jeff Hathaway
Director of Athletics
University of Connecticut

"I was fortunate to work with Buzz at Colorado State and I could tell back then that he had an incredible gift, certainly from a recruiting standpoint. He was also a motivated and driven individual and you couldn't help but see big things in his future. I am delighted for him to get this opportunity and I think he will do a great job. Buzz is a quality person who runs things first class. Marquette is very fortunate to have his services."
Tim Weiser
Deputy Commissioner
Big 12 Conference

"Buzz Williams brings the qualities and skills, combined with a tenacity and tremendous work ethic, that will not only provide a smooth transition but continue to make Marquette Basketball better and stronger moving forward."
Bill Cords
Former Marquette Director of Athletics

"Buzz Williams is one of the up-and-coming head coaches in the country. He is a tireless recruiter and possesses many of the same attributes which have made Tom Crean a success. Not only can he recruit, but he's also proven he can coach and handle adversity with the season he spent at New Orleans."
Jeff Goodman
FoxSports.com

[mviale]

I hope the badgers pummel this "family" guy.

[🏀]

I hope the Badgers beat IU so bad, Riley cries.

[mviale]

ok - i can understand moving on for money and thats what it is  - lets be clear - but this guy has been interviewing for years while preaching family at MU.

[reesiecup210]

I hope the Badgers beat IU so bad, Riley cries.

How is Ben Sheets a douchebag? Is it his 0.00 ERA?

[Norm]

How does leaving New Orleans after one year equal handling adversity there?

[77ncaachamps]

ok - i can understand moving on for money and thats what it is  - lets be clear - but this guy has been interviewing for years while preaching family at MU.

I think anyone should at least keep an open eye and ear on the pulse of the coaching job market, but I'm "raw like DJ" that he just got up and cold left his "family."

It's like being married for 9 years and the next day - after your wife hears about your infidelity - telling her in person, "It's over" and leaving her right then and there.

Just unnatural carnal knowledgeed up. No cleaning out his crap or easing out of the relationship.

That's why he'll be Public Enemy #1 in my eyes for a LOOOOOOONG time.

[🏀]

ok - i can understand moving on for money and thats what it is  - lets be clear - but this guy has been interviewing for years while preaching family at MU.

I think anyone should at least keep an open eye and ear on the pulse of the coaching job market, but I'm "raw like DJ" that he just got up and cold left his "family."

It's like being married for 9 years and the next day - after your wife hears about your infidelity - telling her in person, "It's over" and leaving her right then and there.

Just fracked up. No cleaning out his crap or easing out of the relationship.

That's why he'll be Public Enemy #1 in my eyes for a LOOOOOOONG time.

Agreed. He could have saved face around here if he told the players, talked to the press, and addressed the community. However, taking off in your H2 to Gen. Mitchell ASAP isn't the response to gain any sense of gratitude from your 'family' of 9 years.

[Wade for President]

I honestly don't want to see or hear ANYTHING from Crean in a long, long, long time.  

After watching the championship game last night and Roy Williams supporting Kansas in the stands....anybody else dream of the moment when Crean would be sitting in the stands with a Marquette sticker on his shirt?!?

[77ncaachamps]

How does leaving New Orleans after one year equal handling adversity there?

Yup, that's a dinger on Buzz. But let me ask YOU this question: Which would YOU rather be - Head coach at UNO in the Sun or Asst. coach at MU in the BEast?

[🏀]

How does leaving New Orleans after one year equal handling adversity there?

Asst. coach at MU in the BEast

[77ncaachamps]

I honestly don't want to see or hear ANYTHING from Crean in a long, long, long time. 

After watching the championship game last night and Roy Williams supporting Kansas in the stands....anybody else dream of the moment when Crean would be sitting in the stands with a Marquette sticker on his shirt?!?

I'm afraid his mouth is hooked up to a state-of-the-art Energizer battery. We're going to hear him talking for a LONG time.

Plus, his position at IU "automatically" gives him credence to be an "expert" on everything college basketball (esp. on ESPN) much like his contemporaries, Bruce Pearl and Seth Greenberg.

[Pakuni]

Yup, that's a dinger on Buzz. But let me ask YOU this question: Which would YOU rather be - occasionally paid Head coach at UNO in the Sun or fully paid Asst. coach at MU in the BEast?

Corrected.

[robmufan]

I hope the Badgers beat IU so bad, Riley cries.

How is Ben Sheets a douchebag? Is it his 0.00 ERA?

Isn't the injury countdown down to 3 starts until a pulled muscle?

I know wrong place, but eh, I couldn't resist!

[Norm]

How does leaving New Orleans after one year equal handling adversity there?

Yup, that's a dinger on Buzz. But let me ask YOU this question: Which would YOU rather be - Head coach at UNO in the Sun or Asst. coach at MU in the BEast?

I would have stayed at New Orleans for more than 1 year in my first head coaching job, especially because of what happened with Katrina.

[Norm]

Pakuni,

There was a payment issue with Williams at New Orleans? Where did you find that information?

[77ncaachamps]

How does leaving New Orleans after one year equal handling adversity there?

Yup, that's a dinger on Buzz. But let me ask YOU this question: Which would YOU rather be - Head coach at UNO in the Sun or Asst. coach at MU in the BEast?

I would have stayed at New Orleans for more than 1 year in my first head coaching job, especially because of what happened with Katrina.

Gotcha. I see that can be a debate on someone like Buzz's character.

But as we have learned from our own formerly beloved Tom Crean, strike when the iron is hot.

EDIT: I also saw this in another article:

"They're really, really, really hard to get," he said of head-coaching jobs. "The most important people to me are my wife and three kids. Not to negatively at all paint a bad picture of those players or the administration or the institution, it was not the best situation for me and my family."

Don't know how much of what Buzz said is based on his experience with UNO, but it sounds like he wanted his family out of New Orleans.

[Pakuni]

Pakuni,

There was a payment issue with Williams at New Orleans? Where did you find that information?

A UNO fan on the other (Scout) board mentioned that there were issues with coaches not getting paid and players not getting their stipends. A little back and forth there between a pro-Buzz UNO fan and anti-Buzz UNO fan. Quite enteratining, actually.

[rocky_warrior]

Here's that thread:
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=415#s=415&f=2850&t=2327692

I've seen "LJBurton"s posts on other boards on the net - which is why I was giving buzz the benefit of the doubt.

Now I've got more doubt.  But heck...he's our coach...go Buzz!

[muhoosier260]

I hope the Badgers beat IU so bad, Riley cries.

How is Ben Sheets a douchebag? Is it his 0.00 ERA?

UH OH! Brewer alert! sound the siren! offense has been taken

[CTWarrior]

I have to go look somewhere, but I had an old Marquette Media Guide the year Dukiet was hired and we had all kinds of similar glowing comments from coaches and broadcasters about him.  Take all of this with a grain of salt.   

You're not going to get a coach or conference official to say, "What the heck were they thinking?  Awful choice!"

[77ncaachamps]

I have to go look somewhere, but I had an old Marquette Media Guide the year Dukiet was hired and we had all kinds of similar glowing comments from coaches and broadcasters about him.  Take all of this with a grain of salt.   

Usually when you want to get rid of someone (i.e., superintendent of schools), you speak highly of him/her...so the other side feels "better" about the selection/hire.
Taking all of the comments with a grain of salt definitely is in order.

If you notice the thread throughout all of the comments is "hardworking...recruiter" and not "an x's and o'x guy." The lack of the latter disturbs me because the head coach SHOULD be an x's and o's guy.

[Avenue Commons]

I know this is a little unreasonable, but does anyone else feel that Crean let you down personally? There have been several, several occasions over the years when I've heard Crean speak or had the opportunity to talk to him one on one for a few moments that he stressed how committed he was to Marquette and how everyone has to take "ownership" in the program. I bought into that, in most part because of him. My committment to Marquette was rekindled and my support of the basketball program (and athletics as a whole) increased tremendously. Now he took off because he got all he could out of Marquette after we gave him everything. I feel a little silly for feeling this way about the basketball coach of teenage kids at a school I attended over a decade ago, but that's how I feel. I feel that he let me down and I lived up to my committments and he didn't live up to his. Marquette is a community and he let that community down after we did every single thing asked of us.

Does anyone else take personal affront to what Crean did to this program?

[jce]

I know this is a little unreasonable, but does anyone else feel that Crean let you down personally? There have been several, several occasions over the years when I've heard Crean speak or had the opportunity to talk to him one on one for a few moments that he stressed how committed he was to Marquette and how everyone has to take "ownership" in the program. I bought into that, in most part because of him. My committment to Marquette was rekindled and my support of the basketball program (and athletics as a whole) increased tremendously. Now he took off because he got all he could out of Marquette after we gave him everything. I feel a little silly for feeling this way about the basketball coach of teenage kids at a school I attended over a decade ago, but that's how I feel. I feel that he let me down and I lived up to my committments and he didn't live up to his. Marquette is a community and he let that community down after we did every single thing asked of us.

Does anyone else take personal affront to what Crean did to this program?

No.  That's silly.  Tom Crean was the second best coach in the history of the program...and frankly third isn't even in his rear view mirror.  He decided to leave for whatever reasons and that's his personal choice.  I guess I'm just not going to take it as a personal affront that my alma mater's basketball coach left to take another position.  Yeah, how he left was a little crappy, but considering what he did when he was here, I'm willing to look past it.

[claymate]

I think at first- I bought into Crean being a long-time MU-loyal guy....after some initial success, it quickly got to his head.  A cursory glimpse of his sideline behavior showed seemingly more interest in getting in the requisite sips of Diet Pepsi than paying attention to the game.

In regard to your comments, though, I don't take it personally at all.  I didn't take it personally when another Wisconsin legend packed it up recently.  Had TC maintained his early attitude throughout his tenure, then we'd have reason to be let down.

Don't follow leaders and watch your parking meters.