|
Post by motorcitysam on Mar 23, 2014 0:01:53 GMT -5
Okay, I need someone to help me with this one. Buzz Williams leaves Marquette for Virginia Tech? Williams was the Boss at MU, made around 3 million per year, and seemed to be secure at a university that spends around 13 million on it's basketball program each year. Why would he leave to go to Virginia Tech, a last place team in the ACC that is much more of a football school than a basketball school?
I don't get this one.
|
|
|
Post by Commissioner on Mar 23, 2014 8:39:11 GMT -5
My dream that Shaka Smart will call up Bob Vowels and say, "Bob, you know my secret ambition has always been to coach the University of Detroit" lives on.
|
|
|
Post by Commissioner on Mar 23, 2014 9:09:52 GMT -5
It's a curious move. Yahoo Sports reports: "Williams' relationship with the Marquette administration had grown strained in recent years, and sources said he did not like the reconfigured Big East." Remember that he had a long running war with AD Larry Williams, who was finally forced out late last year. Marquette hasn't replaced him, and is also in a presidential search. Buzz Williams apparently won the war with Larry Williams, but maybe he wasn't confident about where things might go under the new regime. And a lot of coaches don't like that the Big East has pretty much let Fox Sports dictate their schedule, which they had to do for the big TV pact. In the ACC, the ACC pretty tells the network what its basketball schedule is. If you think that the modern dynamics of college basketball and TV favor the football conferences, you might see Marquette as a job heading down, and Va Tech as a job heading up.
Still, it is a shocker. Apparently he's taking a pay cut of about $700 grand a year, an pretty big chunk of change although I suppose that when you are left with a base salary of $2.3 million, if your head is screwed on straight you might say, "ah, who really cares?" Opportunity to be in the ACC may be attractive, although in recent years the ACC has been down a bit. Obviously, though, there were things at Marquette that he was unhappy about- I don't think this is purely the challenge of rebuilding Virginia Tech. You would think he might be a candidate for a better job that Tech, but there aren't many plum jobs open in the next year or two or three barring an unexpected retirement, or maybe Indiana dumping Tom Crean (which I think would be a mistake, but you hear complaints).
|
|
|
Post by motorcitysam on Mar 24, 2014 17:24:14 GMT -5
Seems like a strange destination, especially considering the pay cut. I've heard the complaint about Crean, too, and regardless of what he came into, this is their fourth year out of six without a post season appearance. Plus, he just lost his prized freshman center to the NBA. Article about Buzz Williams that you might find interesting: painttouches.com/2014/03/23/greska-pulling-the-curtain-on-buzz-williams/
|
|
|
Post by motorcitysam on Jun 19, 2014 11:15:36 GMT -5
|
|