Buzz Williams leaving Marquette for Va Tech

[Bill Marsh]

Always thought this just made UCLA dysfunctional. Dealing with the boosters and LA recruiting culture is a messy job (makes sense they ended up with Alford, ya think?) and Ben eventually found himself on the wrong side of some relationships (notice his recruiting became more national).

I love the idea of him. He just wasn't a UCLA guy and doesn't care for the spotlight as much as needed.

Actually, Howland was totally a UCLA guy. He grew up there and it was his dream job. What he isn't is a Midwest guy, which is why he bolted from Pitt as soon as the UCLA offer came his way.

A West guy, sure, but LA? I don't think so.

Howland grew up in southern California and went to high school in Cerritos, which is in LA County. He played college ball at Santa Barbara City College before transferring to Weber state in Utah. When he took the UCLA job, he said that it was his dream job because he had grown up a UCLA fan and that he wanted to restore the program to the former glory that he remembered.

[Bill Marsh]

Let's be real... the lack of basic knowledge by a couple of posters on this site is astonishing... regarding FS1 and its expectations, timelines and milestones... regarding strength of our league... regarding the probable success of our league... regarding how we stack up against any other league...

I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, and it's like these couple of posters approach me every day like Ned Ryerson did, and it has to be explained daily why their overly-critical take on the Big East is insane... in hundreds and now thousands of posts all these issues have been discussed, and sky-is-falling hysteria has been countered with common sense answers...

Now I'm supposed to believe that Buzz Williams held the keys to the future of the Big East, as Buzz according to Stever has shoved us down the slippery slope to oblivion... I mean, geez, get ahold of yourselves... I like Buzz, loved his blowout of Miami (Fla) last year, and thought he was an asset for the conference, but wow, I guess we're going to collapse without Buzz's guidance...

Who the hell knows the reasoning at this point, but there's an overwhelming probability that it has nothing to do with FS1. And, hey, I think the Big East can survive without Buzz Freakin Williams... man, to think otherwise is insane.

Groundhog Day is one of my all time favorite movies.Love the Ned Ryerson reference. Let me give Steve a hug . . . .lovingly.

[Bill Marsh]

If we only lose him this or next year... then it was him, if we lose more coaches... then it's a conference issue and the coaches don't have faith in it anymore.

All depends on who the coaches are. If Jay Wright, or JT III, or Ed Cooley, or Chris Mack, or Greg McDermott leaves, you might be onto something. But if Steve Lavin leaves, the SJU fans will probably celebrate and St. John's will probably have a better coach like Steve Masiello waiting in the wings

[BillikensWin]

If we only lose him this or next year... then it was him, if we lose more coaches... then it's a conference issue and the coaches don't have faith in it anymore.

All depends on who the coaches are. If Jay Wright, or JT III, or Ed Cooley, or Chris Mack, or Greg McDermott leaves, you might be onto something. But if Steve Lavin leaves, the SJU fans will probably celebrate and St. John's will probably have a better coach like Steve Masiello waiting in the wings

If Purnell leaves, I bet some Depaul fans would be happy to pack for him.

[aughnanure]

Actually, Howland was totally a UCLA guy. He grew up there and it was his dream job. What he isn't is a Midwest guy, which is why he bolted from Pitt as soon as the UCLA offer came his way.

A West guy, sure, but LA? I don't think so.

Howland grew up in southern California and went to high school in Cerritos, which is in LA County. He played college ball at Santa Barbara City College before transferring to Weber state in Utah. When he took the UCLA job, he said that it was his dream job because he had grown up a UCLA fan and that he wanted to restore the program to the former glory that he remembered.

Ahh, didn't know he grew up there, thought he just played ball there.

I'm still taking a guy who has been to 3 Final Fours and won a major conference last year. He knows how to get there.

[Bill Marsh]

A West guy, sure, but LA? I don't think so.

Howland grew up in southern California and went to high school in Cerritos, which is in LA County. He played college ball at Santa Barbara City College before transferring to Weber state in Utah. When he took the UCLA job, he said that it was his dream job because he had grown up a UCLA fan and that he wanted to restore the program to the former glory that he remembered.

Ahh, didn't know he grew up there, thought he just played ball there.

I'm still taking a guy who has been to 3 Final Fours and won a major conference last year. He knows how to get there.

No doubt that they guy can coach. He proved that at Pitt and Northern Arizona as well.

[HoosierPal]

Why did Williams take a significant pay cut to leave Marquette for VA Tech? That is not the norm.

[aughnanure]

Ahh, didn't know he grew up there, thought he just played ball there.

I'm still taking a guy who has been to 3 Final Fours and won a major conference last year. He knows how to get there.

No doubt that they guy can coach. He proved that at Pitt and Northern Arizona as well.

The best predictor for getting to a Final Four is having a coach who's gone to one before.

[aughnanure]

Why did Williams take a significant pay cut to leave Marquette for VA Tech? That is not the norm.

Word is we certainly didn't try to keep him.

[marquette]

Why did Williams take a significant pay cut to leave Marquette for VA Tech? That is not the norm.

He did take a $500,000 pay cut. There are a lot of rumors that range from "polite suggestions that he should look elsewhere" to "he wanted out." The former is based on Buzz having possibly committed recruiting violations, or because he has been making unreasonable demands on the university. The latter is either because he doesn't like the instability in the administration (which he largely created by demanding the AD be fired) or the new conference doesn't impress him (ironic, since he is part of the reason we didn't get much respect this season). Even if the conference is the reason it would still be a head scratcher, since he is going from a power player in the BE to a doormat in the ACC. We don't have all the information, so it's really all just speculation at this point.