Father Wild talks about Crean Written by: Don WalkerIt turns out Father Robert Wild, the president of Marquette University, didn't particularly like the way Tom Crean left, either.
In a telephone interview, Wild spoke candidly of the circumstances behind Crean's departure from Marquette for Indiana University.
Wild, as you may recall, was in Washington when word leaked out that Crean was leaving for Indiana. Wild said Crean called him around midnight on that first night.
"We talked," Wild said. "He had given us nine great years, and there was no great basis for being upset. At some point he had to make a career decision.
"But the how of it, how he basically didn't talk to anybody, that was a problem," Wild added. "And I said that clearly. The end game was definitely not the way to do things. And I must say, it was not characteristic of the man as I dealt with him over the years."
Crean has expressed regret how word leaked out that he was leaving.
Wild said that, had Marquette been made aware of Crean and Indiana, there would have been an effort to keep him in Milwaukee.
"We were very happy with him," Wild said. "We had had a good year and he carried us within a hair of the third round of the NCAA. We liked Tom and we were happy with his overall performance. I think in many ways it wasn't a money issue. We all felt there were a handful of programs, really, that had a long tradition and established programs and I think Indiana might make that case. They've fallen on hard times, so in some ways it was easier to go in there when the times are harder. But that's speculation on my part."
During the search for a new coach, Wild said he met with Buzz Williams, the new Marquette coach. Wild said he did not meet with any other candidate.
"I had not met Buzz previously," Wild said. "I heard good things about him. I knew he was Tom's number one assistant and Tom was very happy with his assistants, probably happier than he had been, and would have certainly taken Buzz to Indiana in a heartbeat.
"But we had a sense that here was somebody who was willing to work hard, someone who was hungry to succeed, and who had the drive and work ethic and, of course, the recruiting skills to give us the sense that he could be the one to make this program go forward."
Wild said he spent time with Williams to learn about his personal life. "I heard his story, which I found very impressive. It seemed to me that there is tremendous human potential in this man," Wild said.
While Wild credited the team of Marquette officials and influential alumni for the hard work they put in to find a new coach, he also said the Big East Conference was a big help as well.
"There's high motivation within the conference to see the basketball programs succeed, along with football," he said.
http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/04/15/father-wild-on-crean.aspx
