Buzz Williams

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...

Crean wasn't in the same spot, and he never said anything like this (today on Jim Rome's show):
....."God has blessed me and my family. The people in Milwaukee and at Marquette have treated us great. The values of this institution match my values perfectly. I will be here as long as they will have me."
 
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...


Except that TC moved to INDIANA. Which is a TOP 5 program historically. I really hope you aren't comparing IOWA hoops to INDIANA hoops.

Big Ten Network is great, I have watched approximately zero hours of it since football season ended. Is it a great idea? Yes... for football.

I will concede the inevitable fall of the Big East, it IS just too big. That being said, the Big East will not be gutted. If one team leaves the BEAST (I assume you are implying Pitt will leave), the BEAST will find a replacement school easily enough.

The Big Ten Network is not reason enough to lure a coach to Iowa. You will be unimpressed with who gets hired. To be honest, I think Iowa should take a calculated risk and hire Billy G.
 
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...

Wow.

Crean left to a top 5 all time program in Indiana

So the Big East loses Pitt, who is good, but they would still be a better conference in bball

As another poster said, nobody besides Big 10 fans watch the Big 10 network.
 
MUFan1 said:
Except that TC moved to INDIANA. Which is a TOP 5 program historically. I really hope you aren't comparing IOWA hoops to INDIANA hoops.

Big Ten Network is great, I have watched approximately zero hours of it since football season ended. Is it a great idea? Yes... for football.

I will concede the inevitable fall of the Big East, it IS just too big. That being said, the Big East will not be gutted. If one team leaves the BEAST (I assume you are implying Pitt will leave), the BEAST will find a replacement school easily enough.

The Big Ten Network is not reason enough to lure a coach to Iowa. You will be unimpressed with who gets hired. To be honest, I think Iowa should take a calculated risk and hire Billy G.
Click to expand...


I agree that Iowa hoops is not IU hoops.
But, also,Williams is not Crean.
Crean had gone to a Final Four at MU.
Williams is a promising 2nd year head coach at MU.
I suspect Crean said all the same things about his fealty to MU.
In fact,I know he said them.
And he meant them,just like Williams means them.
Then an opportunity at a bigger stage comes along.
Iowa has a football program.
Iowa has the 15th ranked athletics revenue in the land..over 85 million.
Not saying Williams will leave MU...but he might.
 
Honestly, I think Iowa would do well to take a look at Bobby Lutz. He was just let go from Charlotte after 12 seasons. He has a lot of experience, and has 5 NCAAs in 9 years at Charlotte (3 NIT appearances as well). The guy can coach.
 
JHHawk said:
I agree that Iowa hoops is not IU hoops.
But, also,Williams is not Crean.
Crean had gone to a Final Four at MU.
Williams is a promising 2nd year head coach at MU.
I suspect Crean said all the same things about his fealty to MU.
In fact,I know he said them.
And he meant them,just like Williams means them.
Then an opportunity at a bigger stage comes along.
Iowa has a football program.
Iowa has the 15th ranked athletics revenue in the land..over 85 million.
Not saying Williams will leave MU...but he might.
Click to expand...

No, as I said, Crean NEVER said anything like this, he was always equivocal or dodged questions like this. You can call Buzz a liar if you want, but when he says he'll "be here as long as they will have me," I believe him because I believe him to be a genuine person. Even the most ardent Marquette fan could never say the same about Crean when he was here.
 
JHHawk said:
I agree that Iowa hoops is not IU hoops.
But, also,Williams is not Crean.
Crean had gone to a Final Four at MU.
Williams is a promising 2nd year head coach at MU.
I suspect Crean said all the same things about his fealty to MU.
In fact,I know he said them.
And he meant them,just like Williams means them.
Then an opportunity at a bigger stage comes along.
Iowa has a football program.
Iowa has the 15th ranked athletics revenue in the land..over 85 million.
Not saying Williams will leave MU...but he might.
Click to expand...

Williams is not Crean. You're right. Crean is a used car salesman who has turned ONE great season and a few decent seasons into his dream job.

Iowa has a football program and basketball will always be second fiddle... why play second fiddle at Iowa when you can be the face of another?

Iowa is NOT a bigger stage. I am sorry if you think it is, but it isn't.

If Williams leaves Marquette for Iowa, I will eat my shoe.
 
If you think Buzz would come to Iowa, do you also think that Sarah Palin would run as Obama's VP next election? Come on.

I went to Marquette for undergrad and Iowa for grad school. Iowa hoops fans are kidding themselves here. I also remember Iowa fans thinking Crean would consider them too.

Crean was pretty open about going to Michigan State if it ever openned if I remember correctly. He was holding out for a top 10 job, and he got it. Good for him.

Iowa is not a lateral move in basketball, it is a step down. Iowa basketball cannot hang in the same room as Marquette. That is not a knock on Iowa, some of the best basketball fans are from small private schools (Gonzaga, Xavier, Duke) and Marquette is no exception. There is no way Buzz takes a paycut to come to Iowa and not be able to recruit anyone.

Also, Iowa spends all of its money on football. The basketball facilities at MU are in another universe.

Buzz has Al McGuire's job. He is not going to come to Iowa.
 
DePaul ruled the midwest back in the day also...then it went away,altho I guess they did beat MU this year.

Point is, nothing is forever,and if Buzz is as smart as I think,he will keep his ears and eyes wide open. There is talk of a new conference with MU,DePaul,ND,SLU, ect...nice,but not Big Ten nice.
 
JHHawk said:
DePaul ruled the midwest back in the day also...then it went away,altho I guess they did beat MU this year.

Point is, nothing is forever,and if Buzz is as smart as I think,he will keep his ears and eyes wide open. There is talk of a new conference with MU,DePaul,ND,SLU, ect...nice,but not Big Ten nice.
Click to expand...

and UNI...zing
 
JHHawk said:
DePaul ruled the midwest back in the day also...then it went away,altho I guess they did beat MU this year.

Point is, nothing is forever,and if Buzz is as smart as I think,he will keep his ears and eyes wide open. There is talk of a new conference with MU,DePaul,ND,SLU, ect...nice,but not Big Ten nice.
Click to expand...

Buzz will leave for someplace in Texas. Nowhere else. Write that down.

I see that you are grasping at straws now, so this is where I exit.
 
JHHawk said:
I agree that Iowa hoops is not IU hoops.

Then an opportunity at a bigger stage comes along.
Click to expand...

Buzz would have to consider one of the elite 5 programs (Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA) and one of the Big 12 schools in Texas or OK. I don't think he makes a move to a Big East school.

As I said in an earlier post, I went to both Marquette and Iowa. As a proud Golden Eagle and Hawkeye, Iowa is not even in the ballpark of Marquette in basketball. Iowa is not a good opportunity. I am sorry. You are gravely, gravely mistaken.

I hate to say this on a Hawkeye board, but Marquette hoops fans are more intense than Iowa football fans too. There really is nothing like an MU basketball game.
 
JHHawk said:
DePaul ruled the midwest back in the day also...then it went away,altho I guess they did beat MU this year.

Point is, nothing is forever,and if Buzz is as smart as I think,he will keep his ears and eyes wide open. There is talk of a new conference with MU,DePaul,ND,SLU, ect...nice,but not Big Ten nice.
Click to expand...


Worst case though, that conference includes Xavier, Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, and Butler too. The worse case also has us losing UConn and Cuse, but I doubt it... The Big East can survive Pitt and/or West Va. leaving. It would take a lot for Iowa to become the better job.
 
Hoops-

Appreciate the insight on the Williams to Iowa talk. However, I think you barked up the wrong tree with the Marquette hoops fans being more intense than Iowa football fans.

Anyway, I really do appreciate the Williams/Marquette insight. Based on your comments, I think he is moving up the list near Pearl in the less than 10% chance of Iowa being able to hire list.

Go Hawks!
 
HWK4LYF said:
Hoops-

Appreciate the insight on the Williams to Iowa talk. However, I think you barked up the wrong tree with the Marquette hoops fans being more intense than Iowa football fans.


Go Hawks!
Click to expand...

Im sorry. I hesitated before saying that. I had 100% attendance at Kinnick this season and those are just my observations. I love my Hawks, and there is no shame coming in behind MU basketball fans.
 
Another MU fan here ...

Some thoughts for your coaching hire.

As was pointed out before, when Tom Crean left MU for IU, not only was he going to a top five program nationally, but he was also paid $23 million. At the time (two years ago) that contract made him one of the five highest paid bball coaches in America. Cal at KU has since blown away that record ($4m/year).

You play to half full crowds, have three losing years in a row and players leaving the program. Frankly, you have nothing to offer but money. I don't mean this as disrespectful, but are you a top 5 Big Ten program right now?

Kirk Ferentz signed last summer for 7 years for $21 million. Crean makes more.

If you want to hire a "name" coach, you'll have to pay him equal to or probably more than Ferentz. Assuming that you cannot give Ferentz another big raise less than a year later while state finances (everywhere) are crashing, you ok with him getting ****** and leaving after next season if it means a return to glory in basketball. I'll guess the answer is no.

What you need to look for is a highly touted assistant coach ready to move to the next level. Or, be prepared to make Ferentz the second highest paid coach on campus.

Also note that DePaul is already publicly announced that they are willing to pay big for a name coach. Read that to mean they will pay more than Ferentz gets now. So, unless you get someone with ties to Iowa, the next mercenary name is going to DePaul.

Good luck with your search, but start thinking assistant and rebuliding your program over time. MU did this with its higher of Crean in 1999 (he was an Izzo assistant and MSU) and he spent nine seasons in Milwaukee and it worked out very well.

MU plays before 19,000 fans at home games, Buzz has 5-star recuits coming. He plays in the top bball conference in the country (while it lasts). MU is willing to pay him more than Ferentz if he stays.

Bruce Pearl will cost more.
 
Last edited:
If nothing else, I hope we drive the price up for Williams to 5 million/year...no problem for MU...sitting on an oil well up there,I guess.
 
Yesterday DePaul's AD said they would at "at least Rick Pitino money" for their next head coach. Pitino is in year 3 of a $25 million for 10 year contract. When he signed it three years ago, he was top five in pay. I think that is what DePaul means, they will pay top five money.

So DePaul has now set the opening bid at $2.5/year for a "name" coach.

In the end all any program has to offer is money. Even Kentucky needed to give Calipari $32 million over 8 years to jump from Memphis. Tradition and frenzied fans and the big ten network means one thing to a coach, they get a big fat paycheck.

How do you pay a bball coach "Ferentz money" walking in the door?

Regarding Buzz Williams, why would he leave MU for Iowa if he could leave MU for DePaul and a huge payday? As far as I know he has no ties to Iowa (he's from Texas and the MU faithful are worried he leaves for the longhorns when Barnes moves on).

This is your problem with any "name" coach. To aviod it you'd look for a assistant or a mid-major flying under the radar.
 
Last edited:
JHHawk said:
If nothing else, I hope we drive the price up for Williams to 5 million/year...no problem for MU...sitting on an oil well up there,I guess.
Click to expand...


Crean got $2.3 million at Marquette. I doubt Buzz Williams is there yet since he is not as proven as Crean. Marquette will take care of Buzz though as he proves himself.

Not quite Calipari money, but still pretty good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top