Taylor still seeks release

[ChicosBailBonds]

Good lord....our worst nightmares are coming true.  We better enjoy next season....our run of seasons above .500 may well be coming to an end.  What kind of team are we going to have in two years?  Lazar will need to average 40 ppg as a Senior.

I still can't believe what's happening.

Erik Williams (MAYBE)
Joe Fulce
Jimmy Butler (maybe)
Jamie Vanderbeken (maybe)

The sky is falling!

Fixed it for you, Williams is also a maybe.  No LOI until November

[mr.MUskie]

"And at the end of that, he still had only coached for one year."

And he had one year when he was the lead recruiter last fall. He's had an extensive career as an assistant, and it's the assistants that are the ones who primarily work with guys when it comes to skill development. I don't buy it.

"Looking at Marquette's roster, there's going to be a big logjam now in the backcourt.."

But our head coach had 9 years here.  And our new assistants are...  who?

[Pakuni]

Good lord....our worst nightmares are coming true.  We better enjoy next season....our run of seasons above .500 may well be coming to an end.  What kind of team are we going to have in two years?  Lazar will need to average 40 ppg as a Senior.

I still can't believe what's happening.

Erik Williams (MAYBE)
Joe Fulce
Jimmy Butler (maybe)
Jamie Vanderbeken (maybe)

The sky is falling!

Fixed it for you, Williams is also a maybe.  No LOI until November

So Erik Williams is going to back out of his verbal because the guy who got him to come to Marquette in the first place is now head coach? Doubt it.
EWilliams could back out. Happens all the time. But if he does, it won't be because of BWilliams.

[Tugg Speedman]

"And at the end of that, he still had only coached for one year."

Guys, it's not hard to see what's happening here. Marquette is not a big enough name for Hurley. He wasn't enthused at first, and now sees bigger names he can put on his resume. It looks better for him to send a kid to Florida as opposed to MU.

I really have to question if this is ultimately Tyshawn's call or Hurley's. Methinks it's Hurley's.

The reason that TT is going to MU is because Hurley called Crean and said he would fit in well.  Repeat, Hurley called MU.

Maybe Hurley feels that since he lead TT to MU, he needs to take the lead on this.

[mr.MUskie]

Did anyone seriously NOT see this coming???

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

Good lord....our worst nightmares are coming true.  We better enjoy next season....our run of seasons above .500 may well be coming to an end.  What kind of team are we going to have in two years?  Lazar will need to average 40 ppg as a Senior.

I still can't believe what's happening.

Erik Williams
Joe Fulce
Jimmy Butler (maybe)
Jamie Vanderbeken (maybe)

The sky is falling!

Translated for rational thought:
1) A kid who has never played a Division I basketball game
2) A solid role player
3) An unknown recruit
4) Another unknown recruit with issues

[CTWarrior]

"My player is suddenly bigger and more popular than when he signed with MU and now I have an excuse to try and get him to a bigger program"

I think this is the reason, more than anything else, that Hurley wants to re-open recruiting for Taylor.  Crean's departure gave him a convenient excuse.  In earlier reports, schools like Kansas and Florida were now reportedly interested.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Good lord....our worst nightmares are coming true.  We better enjoy next season....our run of seasons above .500 may well be coming to an end.  What kind of team are we going to have in two years?  Lazar will need to average 40 ppg as a Senior.

I still can't believe what's happening.

Erik Williams (MAYBE)
Joe Fulce
Jimmy Butler (maybe)
Jamie Vanderbeken (maybe)

The sky is falling!

Fixed it for you, Williams is also a maybe.  No LOI until November

So Erik Williams is going to back out of his verbal because the guy who got him to come to Marquette in the first place is now head coach? Doubt it.
EWilliams could back out. Happens all the time. But if he does, it won't be because of BWilliams.

Wasn't Williams the one that got TT for Crean?  Buzz got Williams for Crean as well, he certainly could back out...it's one thing to recruit for a Gillespie or a Crean, quite another to recruit for yourself.

And yes, he could back out but considering his background as a recruiter I don't anticipate that to be the case....right?  I mean, as you said, if he can't close the deal he already closed.......oi vey.  But we'll cross that bridge when we get there....so many more fun times in front of us first.

[tonyreeder]

Hope we make the tourney next year because it will be our last in a long long time.    An Acker/Cubillan starting backcourt in 09/10 does not bode well.   Can we redshirt Mike Flory and bring him back?  This is abysmal

[StillWarriors]

Hurley's behavior through this whole thing has got me wondering whether he's upset that a certain son of his who is looking for a college head coaching gig didn't get a sniff from Marquette. Pure speculation on my part, but a good as guess as any for Hurley's sudden hostility toward MU.

so much for the nepotism suggestion....

[StillWarriors]

oops, sorry, forgot link:

http://njmg.typepad.com/zagsblog/2008/04/hurley-returnin.html

[LastWarrior]

Let the kid out of his LOI but also pull his scholarship offer.  No more recruiting this kid... if wants to play the field, MU should eliminate him.  You commit to the program... only have kids here that WANT to be here.

[mr.MUskie]

This marks the second time in a year that Hurley has turned down a D-1 offer to stay at the prep level.

Yeah, maybe we should have hired a HS coach.  At least we would have got TC  --CONTINUITY!

[mr.MUskie]

Let the kid out of his LOI but also pull his scholarship offer.  No more recruiting this kid... if wants to play the field, MU should eliminate him.  You commit to the program... only have kids here that WANT to be here.

Problem is, it's starting to look like the kids who want to come here can't play ball.  The kids who can play are bolting.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Hope we make the tourney next year because it will be our last in a long long time.    An Acker/Cubillan starting backcourt in 09/10 does not bode well.   Can we redshirt Mike Flory and bring him back?  This is abysmal

I wouldn't go that far, but he's going to have to nail some recruits to have that CONTINUITY

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Hurley is no more hostile toward Marquette than its own fans are toward the administration that hired a complete question mark as its head coach.

We have 4 returning starters. 4 returning seniors and three guys who were named on all conference teams. We have an opportunity NEXT YEAR (not down the road, not 4 years hence) to advance significantly in the tournament. There will be no more experienced basketball team in the entire NCAA next year.

You would think that would BEG for a guy with some coaching background. A guy who can take a team that is borderline loaded next year and build on it. A guy who can take a team with an NCAA pedigree and, God willing, actually guide it through some close games by building on his COACHING (!) experience.

Instead, we hire a guy, who cannot explain his philosophy. We hire for "continuity." We hire a guy who reportedly weeps during press conferences and has exhibited curious behavior in the past. We proceed to lose at least one transfer -- with more reportedly possible -- and two recruits. CONTINUITY!!!!

Heading into a season that should be one of the most anticipated in YEARS, we're completely pissing away the senior years of James, McNeal, Matthews and Burke.

Can somebody PLEASE explain this hire to me? I mean, seriously.

This isn't just the worst coaching hire I've ever heard of, it might be the worst hire of any kind, in any line of work, that I've ever heard of considering the magnitude of the position.

[StillAWarrior]

...it's one thing to recruit for a Gillespie or a Crean, quite another to recruit for yourself.

This is such an important point to remember.  You can be certain that one of Buzz's selling points when he was out on the road recruiting for MU was talking up the chance to come play for Tom Crean.  Marquette's program has a lot going for it right now, but one of the key things was Crean's reputation.  I know a lot of people here hate him, but you simply cannot deny that he has very high visibility (that's why some of you hate him) and for whatever reason, people in the business respect him.  If you think that all of Marquette's recruiting pitches didn't include a healthy dose of "come play for Crean" then you're delusional.  That's why I'm not completely confident that Erik Williams will show up.  I hope that Buzz has a solid enough relationship with him, but we'll see soon enough.  Buzz sold Erik Williams on the entire Marquette package which -- at the time -- included Crean.  I hope the rest of the package, sans Crean, is still attractive to him.

[mr.MUskie]

...it's one thing to recruit for a Gillespie or a Crean, quite another to recruit for yourself.

This is such an important point to remember.  You can be certain that one of Buzz's selling points when he was out on the road recruiting for MU was talking up the chance to come play for Tom Crean.  Marquette's program has a lot going for it right now, but one of the key things was Crean's reputation.  I know a lot of people here hate him, but you simply cannot deny that he has very high visibility (that's why some of you hate him) and for whatever reason, people in the business respect him.  If you think that all of Marquette's recruiting pitches didn't include a healthy dose of "come play for Crean" then you're delusional.  That's why I'm not completely confident that Erik Williams will show up.  I hope that Buzz has a solid enough relationship with him, but we'll see soon enough.  Buzz sold Erik Williams on the entire Marquette package which -- at the time -- included Crean.  I hope the rest of the package, sans Crean, is still attractive to him.

TOTALLY agree.  Buzz might be a hell of a recruiter when he's selling a Gillespie or a Crean, but now he's selling BUZZ - as in I've been a head coach all of 1 year, and didn't have a winning record.  My style is ...winning(?).  What halfway decent kid is going to fall for that crap?  Maybe if he has 2-3 good years at MU he might be able to recruit someone, but right now it's a total crapshoot for any kid looking at a school.  No kid is going to risk his career on that.

[MarkMiller]

PRN -- Get over yourself already. Good grief.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

PRN -- Get over yourself already. Good grief.

Care to dispute ANYTHING in my post?

[rocky_warrior]

I'm surprised by anyone saying "this one hurts" about Taylor at this point in time.

I know I'm overly optimistic, but as soon as it was publicly known that TT wanted out of his LOI, any reasonable fan already had to figure he was gone.  Period.  So, the fact that he (they) now have talked to Buzz, and are still saying it's a possibility - sounds like good news to me.

Do I expect to get Taylor?  No.  But if he was counting MU out, he'd just say that and we'd be moving on to land someone else.  Instead, he's leaving the door cracked open.  Which is goo IMO.

Also, to those that are "worried' if Buzz loses TT...your posturing sounds worse than Hurley's.  Try not to micro-evaluate this hire.  Give him a month to do his job, and then give him a year.  To be jumping on every single event at this point is narrow minded.

[MarkMiller]

PRN -- I could dispute a lot in your post, but I know it would do no good. Your mind is already made up about Buzz Williams and the MU administration.

Was it a risky hire? Definitely.

Can Buzz Williams get it done? Definitely.

Will there be bumps along the way? Most assuredly.

Bottom line ... your negativity about the MU program and the MU administration is tiresome and, frankly, lacks credibility.

[mr.MUskie]

I'm surprised by anyone saying "this one hurts" about Taylor at this point in time.

I know I'm overly optimistic, but as soon as it was publicly known that TT wanted out of his LOI, any reasonable fan already had to figure he was gone.  Period.  So, the fact that he (they) now have talked to Buzz, and are still saying it's a possibility - sounds like good news to me.

Does anyone reasonably think there is still a possibility?  Of course he's gone.  Hopefully Buzz realizes that and doesn't waste time and energy working on TT.  Maybe he should head down to Texas and find someone to fill that scolly.

[lurch91]

"My player is suddenly bigger and more popular than when he signed with MU and now I have an excuse to try and get him to a bigger program"

I think this is the reason, more than anything else, that Hurley wants to re-open recruiting for Taylor.  Crean's departure gave him a convenient excuse.  In earlier reports, schools like Kansas and Florida were now reportedly interested.

Two things:

1)  Taylor is hardly quoted in that article.  If Hurley has the best interests of Taylor at heart it should have read - that article doesn't talk about what Tyshau wants, just what Hurley wants:

Coach Williams met with Tyshaun thi past Friday.  After their meeting I was able to talk to Coach Williams myself.  Later that day Tyshaun and I were able to sit down and talk.  At this time Tyshaun has asked that I request Marquette and Coach Williams to release him from his LOI."

2)  If I were Buzz, I'd call Tyshaun and tell him personally that I was releasing him from the LOI, if ask/request/beg for him to make another official visit to Marquette so Marquette has the opportunity to "re-recruit him" as was originally conveyed by Hurley last week.

[thatman32]

This was a bad hire.  Not even considering Chris Lowery is just plain stupid.  Lowery has a track record while Williams doesn't even have a record.  Also the continuity argument is quite stupid.  Anyone that has worked knows that when a new senior level(in this case a coach) person comes in there will be quite a lot of turnover.  But the buzz lovers had to put that stupid arguement forward . .  well that arguement just got shot in the head.