Marquette hires WOJO

[TheHall]

For the record, Steve Taylor Jr. was planning to transfer if Buzz stayed. Duane Wilson (PG of the future) and Jajuan Johnson implied they would have as well. There are rumblings that others were considering. I think a parting of ways with Buzz was probably best for everyone. I'm looking forward to the future with Wojo.

FWIW I think it's also best for the BE. If that dude didn't want to be part building something special in the nBE good riddance. VT

[lolhoya]

Really impressed with how Wojo handled his first day. I think this is going to be a great hire for MU and the league.

[DC Denizen]

Even with success at MU, I don't necessarily see him returning to Duke as head coach when K retires. There are enough other guys in the Duke coaching tree that could be hired... Amaker, Collins, Capel, Dawkins. No reason to think that this won't be a long term hire.

Amaker: Bombed at Michigan
Collins: TBD but Northwestern is not a great place to build a resume
Capel: Bombed at OU
Dawkins: Doing well at Stanford

Krzyewski's coaching tree isn't that great and he's most likely retiring in 2-4 years (At 67 I can't imagine he'll stay for the 5+ he says). If Wojo does well; he and Dawkins will be the only two without a black mark on their resumes. Wojo would be in a great position to get the Duke job. Many at Duke have already thought of him as next in line since the day he started as an assistant.

[EMT]

Don't dismiss Hurley if he has success between now and when Coach K retires or Mike Brey.

[TheHall]

Seriously, who the hell cares who will be the next coach at Puke....

[hoyahooligan]

Don't like the hire, but now the important thing for the league is for him to be successful.

I really wanted Marquette to steal a name head coach from a good program, to offset a crappy school poaching the coach from one of our best programs.

I don't think much of Wojo. To me his employment at Duke has always been a joke. The fact that he's been their big man coach as a guard was always ridiculous. In addition to the fact that he's never had to really recruit and the fact that there hasn't been a lot of development of players at Duke especially their big men. They basically get their pick of players because of the Duke name and still half their McDonald's all americans are flops. Hopefully he proves me wrong, but it seems like this hire is a no win. I think he's gone no matter what 5 years from now. He's either successful and leaves or more likely he's not and is fired.

[justsay]

Quote from coach Wojo

“The fact that it’s a basketball conference, I love that,” he said. “And I don’t know how you couldn’t love that if you’re a basketball coach. A lot of times things are driven so much in today’s day and age by football. To come to a place where basketball is the thing, where there are so many storied traditions and great schools, is something that I’m incredibly excited about.”

[Chalmers0]

For the amazing "players coach" that Buzz Williams is supposed to be, it's kind of shocking how many players made the comments they did after the press conference yesterday (Mayo, Taylor, Wilson, Johnson etc).

I actually thought Buzz was a bit overrated and partly a product of the media simply loving his energy/attitude. I actually think him leaving will be a blessing in disguise for them, as other have mentioned. I was a little unsure of the Wojo hire at first, but the more I think about it and the more I read early comments from players/administation/Wojo himself, the more I like it

[aughnanure]

For the amazing "players coach" that Buzz Williams is supposed to be, it's kind of shocking how many players made the comments they did after the press conference yesterday (Mayo, Taylor, Wilson, Johnson etc).

I actually thought Buzz was a bit overrated and partly a product of the media simply loving his energy/attitude. I actually think him leaving will be a blessing in disguise for them, as other have mentioned. I was a little unsure of the Wojo hire at first, but the more I think about it and the more I read early comments from players/administation/Wojo himself, the more I like it

Yeah, it's been odd. A few examples:

@PaintTouches
Interesting that Todd Mayo said Buzz Williams leaving was "a change that was needed." Wouldn't divulge further, but that's telling. #mubb

@PaintTouches
Du. Wilson: "As soon as Buzz left, I was in to stay. I'm Marquette. I'm going to be Marquette for the next 4 years." #mubb

Also, this story on Taylor: http://painttouches.com/2014/04/01/stev ... ying-time/

[marquette]

For the amazing "players coach" that Buzz Williams is supposed to be, it's kind of shocking how many players made the comments they did after the press conference yesterday (Mayo, Taylor, Wilson, Johnson etc).

I actually thought Buzz was a bit overrated and partly a product of the media simply loving his energy/attitude. I actually think him leaving will be a blessing in disguise for them, as other have mentioned. I was a little unsure of the Wojo hire at first, but the more I think about it and the more I read early comments from players/administation/Wojo himself, the more I like it

Yeah, it's been odd. A few examples:

@PaintTouches
Interesting that Todd Mayo said Buzz Williams leaving was "a change that was needed." Wouldn't divulge further, but that's telling. #mubb

@PaintTouches
Du. Wilson: "As soon as Buzz left, I was in to stay. I'm Marquette. I'm going to be Marquette for the next 4 years." #mubb

Also, this story on Taylor: http://painttouches.com/2014/04/01/stev ... ying-time/

Yep, that's what I was talking about. I'm not sure if the poor season aggravated some smaller problems, or there were big problems that caused the poor season. I'm sure more details will emerge in the coming weeks.