Dawkins to Stanford

[avid1010]

I'm very happy with what Buzz has done since taking over, and I'm not trying to start another complaint thread...BUT PLEASE tell me we gave Dawkins a call.  Maybe Marquette wouldn't have been a consideration, but I hope we at the very least TRIED!

[tower912]

Other than name recognition, exactly what advantage does Dawkins have over Buzz?    No head coaching experience, all of the recent head coaches from the K line have stunk, Duke's name and the chance to play for Coach K do all the recruiting Duke needs, so how hard has Dawkins ever had to sell a kid?    I wish Coach Dawkins all of the best, but to assume that he is a better coach than Buzz simply because he played for Duke 20 years ago and is a K protege is foolishness.

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

Other than name recognition, exactly what advantage does Dawkins have over Buzz?    No head coaching experience, all of the recent head coaches from the K line have stunk, Duke's name and the chance to play for Coach K do all the recruiting Duke needs, so how hard has Dawkins ever had to sell a kid?    I wish Coach Dawkins all of the best, but to assume that he is a better coach than Buzz simply because he played for Duke 20 years ago and is a K protege is foolishness.

You consider it foolishness. Other people don't. Perhaps the vigorous defense enacted by some tells all we need to know.

[77ncaachamps]

Other than name recognition, exactly what advantage does Dawkins have over Buzz?    No head coaching experience, all of the recent head coaches from the K line have stunk, Duke's name and the chance to play for Coach K do all the recruiting Duke needs, so how hard has Dawkins ever had to sell a kid?    I wish Coach Dawkins all of the best, but to assume that he is a better coach than Buzz simply because he played for Duke 20 years ago and is a K protege is foolishness.

Four things Dawkins has going for himself:
1) Former College player
2) Former NBA player
3) Associated with Duke
4) Associated with Coach K

But are those enough to trump his lack of head coaching experience? Dunno. He'll definitely attract more attention now with this recent step-up, but he has to make it last. His preparation for this job has started from day one when he chose to be an asst. with Duke.

I can't say if he's a better hire than Buzz, and at the same time, one year of heading coaching doesn't mean much when you consider the vastly different experiences of both Buzz and Dawkins.

He would have definitely attracted some attention if he came to MU as well as placated some MU fans.

I have a feeling that Stanford's DEEPER pockets (than MU) were more convincing.

And plus..."It's Stanford. It's Stanford." 

[Nukem2]

Dawkins would be as risky as Buzz or any other assistant.  Maybe even more so since who knows if he can recruit since players going to Duke have gone there because of Coach K ( .  Recruiting to Stanford will be no easy task as Trent Johnson did not do much ther recruting-wise other than the Lopez twins (and he bailed out as soon as they went into the NBA draft).  Dawkins has never been a head coach and he is an East coast guy moving all the way to the West coast.  Lots of unknowns.  I think Buzz will do just fine.  Dawkins would have been riskier.

[tower912]

Dawkins has the name, and Stanford will generate more Buzz   with this hire.   We all know his name, but seriously, name the last successful K protege.    He is used to recruiting scholar athletes, which is a plus for Stanford, but not fighting for a recruit.  He will be recruiting a small pool.  Ah, well, all hires are a gamble.    I just don't automatically assume that this is a better hire simply because of his name and that somebody other than MU's administration did it.  Plus, there were rumors that Stanford was trying to get a coach on the cheap ($5-700K)

[mviale]

I will take Dawkins if he plays Buzz one on one.  However, as a coach?  I could be a good assistant at Duke.

Buzz has dirt under his nails - he has earned it.

[Untucked]

Duke assistants don't exactly have great track records. Q.Synder was OK, but a major cheater. Amaker sucks.
The guy who took over for Coach K when he hurt his back, was actually brain dead and lead them to their only losing season in about 20 years. Anyone else.

Dawkins could suck, too.

[MU Chi_IL]

I wonder if he can get Miles Plumlee to recommit.  He asked out of his LOI, but according to this article,there’s a chance Plumlee might reconsider if Dawkins was hired (sounds TT-ish). Duke is recruiting Plumlee’s brother, Mason, so Dawkins knows the family.

If he cannot, I wonder if Buzz can get in on him. 

Also, is Dawkins Duke's lead recruiter?  If so, I will take any disruption to the Duke-Jamil Wilson relationship.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2008/04/25/stanford-recruit-plumlee-asks-for-scholarship-release-bad-new-for-the-cardinal/

[77ncaachamps]

Duke assistants don't exactly have great track records. Q.Synder was OK, but a major cheater. Amaker sucks.

Sounds A LOT like Duke players to the NBA - Hill, Boozer, Battier, Brand, Deng, Dunleavy, Maggette, maybe Laettner as exceptions:

Jay Williams
Cherokee Parks
Chris Duhon
Shelden Williams
J.J. Redick
Daniel Ewing
Shavlik Randolph
Dahntay Jones
Trajan Langdon
William Avery
Roshown McLeod
Antonio Lang
Bobby Hurley
Brian Davis
Alaa Abdelnaby

[avid1010]

I think Buzz will do just fine.  Dawkins would have been riskier.

You're telling me a guy with the experience of Dawkins is riskier than a guy like Buzz because he has a ton of experience at a top notch program????  I already stated I like what Buzz has done, and never really opposed the hire.  I do believe; however, that Dawkins will be able to find plenty of Buzz William type guys to join his staff and handle his recruiting.  I wouldn't put Quinn or Tommy at his level, as they weren't a part of the program the way Dawkins was.  Nothing's a for sure thing, but I was impressed by the hire.  I'm sure G-Town is happy they didn't hire him, so...

[Nukem2]

avid, and your point is....???   Dawkins is still an unknown. And, K's assistants have not done well.  Sounds pretty risky to me.....

[jce]

Sounds A LOT like Duke players to the NBA - Hill, Boozer, Battier, Brand, Deng, Dunleavy, Maggette, maybe Laettner as exceptions:

Duke really doesn't have to recruit all that hard.  They select the players they want and end up with 50% of them.

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

avid, and your point is....???   Dawkins is still an unknown. And, K's assistants have not done well.  Sounds pretty risky to me.....

I think his point is in wondering why you think Dawkins would be riskier for Marquette then Buzz Williams.

At first, you write Dawkins is just as risky as Buzz. At the end, you write Dawkins would be riskier. You contradict yourself.

I think most people would agree that hiring the assistant Dawkins is just as risky as hiring the assistant Buzz. But I don't think anyone looking at it objectively would say hiring Dawkins is a riskier proposition then hiring Buzz.

[avid1010]

avid, and your point is....???   Dawkins is still an unknown. And, K's assistants have not done well.  Sounds pretty risky to me.....

I just don't think Buzz has the resume that Dawkins has.  If Dawkins would have bit on MU, I find it hard to believe he couldn't find a few assistants that recruit as well as Buzz does.

Penalizing Dawkins for playing and coaching in a top notch program is stupid.  To think that the coaching staff at Duke works less at recruiting than its competition shows ignorance towards their program and everything they believe in.

[ChicosBailBonds]

avid, and your point is....???   Dawkins is still an unknown. And, K's assistants have not done well.  Sounds pretty risky to me.....

Mike Brey might disagree with you.


In this article they list the Coach K tree.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=pearlman/080418

[Nukem2]

Brey is ok; but, I'm sure UW-M fans replay that NCAA game over and over...??   

[ChicosBailBonds]

Brey is ok; but, I'm sure UW-M fans replay that NCAA game over and over...??   

Back to back Big East Coach of the Year with talent that isn't spectacular and having to coach at a school where basketball isn't even recognized by and large.

The last NCAA appearance for Notre Dame was 1990 until he got there in 2000.  He has since taken them 5 times, including a Sweet 16 appearance.  37 straight home wins, including back to back undefeated home seasons (first team in Big East history to do that).  He also took Delware to the NCAA's twice in his 5 years there.

I'd say he's doing pretty well.

[Marquette84]

I think his point is in wondering why you think Dawkins would be riskier for Marquette then Buzz Williams.

At first, you write Dawkins is just as risky as Buzz. At the end, you write Dawkins would be riskier. You contradict yourself.

I think most people would agree that hiring the assistant Dawkins is just as risky as hiring the assistant Buzz. But I don't think anyone looking at it objectively would say hiring Dawkins is a riskier proposition then hiring Buzz.

Let me be the first to call Dawkins riskier.

Dawkins has been an assistant in a program where one needn't be either a good recruiter or coach in order to succeed.

Nobody has seen him coach at a program where there aren't a stable of McDonald's All-Americans on the roster.  Nobody has seen him recruit at  program that isn't one of the three or four elite programs in the country.

We've seen Buzz recruit to Texas A&M and Marquette.  We've seen him coach--and we've seen him as an assistant with talent far below that of Duke. 

Dawkins is a complete and utter risk.  There is zero case that one can make that Dawkins had anything to do with the success at Duke.  Unless you think you have Duke-like talent (or that your school is a magnet for such), then Dawkins has demonstrated NOTHING that would give you a level of comfort that he can come in and win.  No adversity.  No challenge.  Just a place on the bench at an elite program.

Did Dawkins recruit any of those top players to Duke?  Or did the reputation of Duke draw them in?  When is the last time somebody said Duke overachieved?  It's got to be prior to Dawkins arrival.

And let's face it, if he's at all successful, he's the odds on favorite to replace Coach K in a few years.  Duke would never give an unproven assistant that job--now they can keep the job in the family if Dawkins does well.  And if he doesn't, they'll be able to breath a sigh of relief that they didn't have to give him a shot.

[bma725]

Back to back Big East Coach of the Year with talent that isn't spectacular and having to coach at a school where basketball isn't even recognized by and large.

The notion that Notre Dame doesn't have spectacular talent is completely false.  Kurz, Zeller, Ayers, and Harangody were all RSCI top 100 players.  Zeller was a burger boy and Mr. Basketball in Indiana over DJ and Josh McRoberts. McAlarney was a 4 Star top 100 player according to Scout, Rivals, and Prepstars.  Tory Jackson was top 100 on Scout and Prepstars.  And in the past he's had guys like Torin Francis, Chris Quinn, and Chris Thomas all of whom were RSCI top 100 players.  Brey has had some of the most talented teams in the Big East for the last several years.  They aren't flashy like Louisville or Syracuse or Villanova, but they are just as talented.