Buzz Williams

tweeterhawk said:
Jon has an interesting take on several candidates not named Pearl on the home page. The Buzz Williams bio is interesting; my only question would be whether he has enough of a consistent track record of his own work to be considered.

The List: Two Through Five | Hawkeye Nation
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My initial 1st choice was Stallings b/c I thought that would be a realistic choice, but after reading Jon's article, Stallings would drop down to #3.

Would these 2 really consider making a change? How realistic is this???
2nd: Buzz Williams
1st: Josh Pastner (i like that Josh is recommended by Lute Olson)
 
I made a change...was thinking about this before drifting off to sleep...Stallings out of the Top Five..
 
tweeterhawk said:
Jon has an interesting take on several candidates not named Pearl on the home page. The Buzz Williams bio is interesting; my only question would be whether he has enough of a consistent track record of his own work to be considered.

The List: Two Through Five | Hawkeye Nation
Click to expand...

As I have said on other Boards, Buzz Williams would be an absolute home run hire. He is #1B on my list (with pipe dream Bruce Pearl being #1A) and everyone else a distant second. The question is not whether Iowa would consider Williams; it is whether Williams would consider Iowa.

I live in Wisconsin and two years ago I chided my Marquette friends for hiring a "no name" coach to succeed Tom Crean. That was until I met him in person at a Marquette fundraising event. He was the best public speaker I have seen (and I have seen many) and he completely captivated the room. It was clear then before he even coached his first game at Marquette that he would be successful.

1. Williams has an extremely charismatic and energetic personality that would sell the program in a way similar to what another Texas was able to do for the football pram 30 years ago.

2. Williams is a proven recruiter at the Top BB conference in the country. He has a Top 5 recruiting class and recruited Wisconsin's top basketball player (a Madison native) away from Bo Ryan.

3. Williams has made two NCAA tournaments from the Big East. Ironically, Marquette is scheduled to play New Mexico in the 2nd round, barring upsets.

The question is not whether Williams would be considered by Iowa, but whether he would leave a program where he as strong loyalties to for taking a chance on him two years ago, a school that has average attendance > 16,000 and the strong support of the administration and fans to take on the massive rebuilding project that is Iowa.

I believe their is a less than 50% chance Williams would consider Iowa but he is a visionary and if Barta can convince him that the support will be there and that Iowa offers the platform of being a member of an expanded Big Ten that offers national exposure (including Texas, where Williams is from; four Texans are on MU's roster) vs. the Big East which may be imploding, I could see Iowa having a chance.
 
I would like to see Iowa go after him or Travis Ford from Okie State. Obviously i wouldnt mind Pearl but everyone is saying is a long shot so im not getting my hopes too high for hiring Pearl.
 
1hawkifan said:
My initial 1st choice was Stallings b/c I thought that would be a realistic choice, but after reading Jon's article, Stallings would drop down to #3.

Would these 2 really consider making a change? How realistic is this???
2nd: Buzz Williams
1st: Josh Pastner (i like that Josh is recommended by Lute Olson)
Click to expand...

Josh Pastner wouldn't leave Memphis after his first year and come to Iowa. Especially when he has the top class in the country coming in next year according to rivals. 0% chance of that happening

Williams is an interesting thought. Only been head coach at Marquette for 2 years but has had decent results
 
Madison Hawk said:
As I have said on other Boards, Buzz Williams would be an absolute home run hire. He is #1B on my list (with pipe dream Bruce Pearl being #1A) and everyone else a distant second. The question is not whether Iowa would consider Williams; it is whether Williams would consider Iowa.

I live in Wisconsin and two years ago I chided my Marquette friends for hiring a "no name" coach to succeed Tom Crean. That was until I met him in person at a Marquette fundraising event. He was the best public speaker I have seen (and I have seen many) and he completely captivated the room. It was clear then before he even coached his first game at Marquette that he would be successful.

1. Williams has an extremely charismatic and energetic personality that would sell the program in a way similar to what another Texas was able to do for the football pram 30 years ago.

2. Williams is a proven recruiter at the Top BB conference in the country. He has a Top 5 recruiting class and recruited Wisconsin's top basketball player (a Madison native) away from Bo Ryan.

3. Williams has made two NCAA tournaments from the Big East. Ironically, Marquette is scheduled to play New Mexico in the 2nd round, barring upsets.

The question is not whether Williams would be considered by Iowa, but whether he would leave a program where he as strong loyalties to for taking a chance on him two years ago, a school that has average attendance > 16,000 and the strong support of the administration and fans to take on the massive rebuilding project that is Iowa.

I believe their is a less than 50% chance Williams would consider Iowa but he is a visionary and if Barta can convince him that the support will be there and that Iowa offers the platform of being a member of an expanded Big Ten that offers national exposure (including Texas, where Williams is from; four Texans are on MU's roster) vs. the Big East which may be imploding, I could see Iowa having a chance.
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Williams is a guy that really does intrigue me as a hard core Hawk fan.
I have watched Marquette this year, a year I expected them to drop off,and they are still tough,athletic and exciting.

Marquette fended off runs at Crean a few times,and I am sure they would up the ante to keep Williams...they spend 10 million on bb,so they can foot the bill.
I have him on my very short list...along with dream guys like Pearl and Pastner...maybe Buzz is a bit more realistic..along with Barbee.
 
Buzz was on FoxSports Radio Sunday night and he certainly has a dynamic personality. He had be rolling the entire interview.
 
Go to Youtube and type in Buzz Williams. There's a real good video of Williams running a practice at Marquette.
 
But he only has two years of HC experience and hasn't won with his own players. People would take this guy over Keno who has strong ties to the program!? The only thing Buzz can do to make me happy is kick the crap out of NM in the second round if NM makes it past the first round.
 
blkngoldUofI said:
But he only has two years of HC experience and hasn't won with his own players. People would take this guy over Keno who has strong ties to the program!? The only thing Buzz can do to make me happy is kick the crap out of NM in the second round if NM makes it past the first round.
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I would. Keno strikes me as a safe hire, and a very average one at that.
 
blkngoldUofI said:
But he only has two years of HC experience and hasn't won with his own players. People would take this guy over Keno who has strong ties to the program!? The only thing Buzz can do to make me happy is kick the crap out of NM in the second round if NM makes it past the first round.
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I can't comment on Keno but Buzz was an assistant at Marquette prior to being named HC so he recruited a majority of the players there. Plus, he has had two very strong recruiting classes as HC.

It may not be realistic to get Williams but I am highly confident he would be extremely successful at a place like Iowa if Barta were able to lure him away.
 
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Needs a new color scheme if he's IC-bound, but otherwise, I think he'd be a great choice.
 
As a Marquette fan, all I can say is good luck.

Iowa has NOTHING to offer Buzz that he doesn't already have.

Marquette has the money, the tradition, the conference, the location, and the fans.
 
MUFan1 said:
As a Marquette fan, all I can say is good luck.

Iowa has NOTHING to offer Buzz that he doesn't already have.

Marquette has the money, the tradition, the conference, the location, and the fans.
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Crean was in the same spot...he moved on.
Big Ten Network
Big Ten expansion that could gut the Big East and send that league into turbulent waters.
Come to the big cheese,Buzz...safe harbor in Iowa City.
The Buzz Williams Show beaming into 80 million homes all over the world every week....Big Ten Network fever...catch it!
 
JHHawk said:
Crean was in the same spot...he moved on.
Big Ten Network
Big Ten expansion that could gut the Big East and send that league into turbulent waters.
Come to the big cheese,Buzz...safe harbor in Iowa City.
The Buzz Williams Show beaming into 80 million homes all over the world every week....Big Ten Network fever...catch it!
Click to expand...

Indiana and Iowa aren't on the same level of jobs. Crean left for one of the top 10 all time basketball programs, Williams would be making a lateral move at best.
 
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