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Well Dan, Did you ask the question? I didn’t get a chance to watch this press conference to introduce Ron Welmen’s buddy! What do you think about Coach Howie’s thoughts?

Tony C on 04/14/2010 (1:12 pm)

Dan,
Help us out here, we need some sort of fix.  It has been 24 hours, need some news.  After BZ presser with the team, there are more questions than possible answers.  What is happening?  Thanks for the info.

EJ on 04/12/2010 (6:53 pm)

Yes Sir, The BZZ man wants to be the Coach here because his daughter goes to Wake.
Then after she graduates he will leave and let Rusty LaRue be the new Coach because he knows all the young kids that are his childrens age that play AAU ball and he will win them over to come to Wake Forest. LaRue will be the apprententice under BZZ Man for 3 years to take over the fourth just in time for all the kids he has met in his AAU territory days past and present. That’s Welman’s plan,but time will tell. X’s & O’s and recruiting only go so far. Pyschology and motivational skills are the key to being a great leader and Coach. I know Rusty he his nice guy to you as a friend but during a game and practice he can come off as the next Bobby Knight good or bad that’s what you get in the future.
I still think Billy Kennedy should have been considered.

Coach Howie on 04/12/2010 (6:22 pm)

Doug Gottlieb is a joke and left Notre Dame in shame. He’s an ACC hater. I take absolutely NO stock in his opinion. So yo don’t want BZZ because he can’t recruit and you don’t want to keep Battle and Rusty cause they don’t know the “system” but can recruit? Make up your mind and stop complaining for complainings sake. Wake fans and alum need to get over themselves. We didn’t have a SHOT at Stevens and Tubby Smith is 90 years old. There is no way to know how this will work out until it’s said and done. For those who live in a fantasy world, Wake Forest is not as desirable a job as you think.

Thomas on 04/12/2010 (5:44 pm)

This potential hire looks, on paper, to be remarkably similar. personnel wise to the previous regime. You sure there wasn’t something else going on with coach G?

Radio Smuggles on 04/12/2010 (4:29 pm)

Doug Gottlieb (ESPN Insider)

• Not sure what exactly Wake Forest is planning on getting out of Jeff Bzdelik. “Buzz” is a very sound basketball coach, but Wake will be in for some tough sledding if he does not get a big-time recruiting-oriented staff. Remember, though Bzdelik was a winner at Air Force, it was only after the table was set by Joe Scott and Chris Mooney. Whereas at Colorado, where the cupboard was bare, the Buffs did nothing much of note, though they were well-coached. Bzdelik and Wake AD Ron Wellman have been friends for 20 years. So this seems to me like a guy firing a coach who he thought was in a little over his head, for a friend who he respects but might not have fully researched. Many in Boulder thought Bzdelik would take an NBA assistant job this summer because he was never really into recruiting. Does that sound like the perfect fit for the dog-eat-dog world of ACC basketball?

DP on 04/12/2010 (4:27 pm)

Some tough questions need to be asked if the hiring is completed. Somewhat strange happenings. Where is the improvement?

carl on 04/12/2010 (1:37 pm)

Talk about hold your horses. I was set to accept this until I read about the Abatemarco hiring—-less than a month ago?
Oh My, what a mess.

If it turns out that Baylor’s Scott Drew was available and we passed and he goes to Clemson or another school it will be a sad time for we Deacon fans.

Jerry on 04/12/2010 (1:35 pm)

Good quote, Tom.  We can only hope that things work out as well for Wake Forest as it did for Hickory.  I mean, Norman Dale did install a half-court offense based on moving the ball to create matchup problems fo the other team.  Now that I think about it, maybe Gene Hackman made the shortlist of job candidates! 

Seriously though, presuming Bzdelik gets hired, I am willing to see how he does even though I will be somewhat skeptical.  I won’t, however, criticize the hire simply because of Bzdelik’s postseaon record.  As Wellman said to Dan a few days ago, you have to look deeper than that.

DC on 04/12/2010 (12:21 pm)

Good quote from a post on the Charlotte Observer this AM:

The only plausible explanation would be to quote a line from “Hoosiers,” when the old coach said to Gene Hackman, “I don’t know why Cletus brought your tired, old bones in here. He must’ve owed you somethin’ fierce.”

Read more: http://aboverim.blogspot.com/2010/04/colorados-bzdelik-headed-to-wake-forest.html#ixzz0ktoOz27X

Tom on 04/12/2010 (11:19 am)

Pete, are your doing p.r. for Bdzelik or Wellman or both of them?  Bottom line here, two winning seasons as a colleage basketball coach, ZERO NCAA success and very limited post-season success as Dan points out.  This hire would be cronyism at its worst.  I don’t Wellman hiring one of his buddies, I want him to hire someone with a history of NCAA and conference tournament success!  Hiring a basketball coach from a football school doesn’t cut it!

Andy on 04/12/2010 (10:21 am)

According to Bzzz himself, he only wants the Wake job because his daughter is here.  “Bzdelik’s daughter attends Wake Forest, and he has relayed to CU athletic director Mike Bohn that his interest in the position has more to do with family than anything else.” 

http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=204926974

DP on 04/12/2010 (8:23 am)

Great, we get rid of one bad coach and we get a worse one

Price on 04/12/2010 (2:42 am)

And now we’re hearing that he hasn’t been offered, his players don’t know what’s happening, but he’s telling ESPN that he wouldn’t be flying out to W-S not to be offered the position? There is something way off here. Either Wellman knew this was happening well before Dino was fired and now needs to backtrack to make sure it doesn’t seem like it’s been in the works this whole time or certain donors have gotten to Ron or Hatch to prevent this from happening. This looks terrible for the university and paints a terrible picture of our (potentially) future coach before he steps foot on campus. Wake fans deserve better than this.

Tom on 04/11/2010 (10:48 pm)

Yawn!!!  This was a chance to make a great hire for the long term and I cannot help but feel that a great opportunity has been missed.

Larry on 04/11/2010 (9:42 pm)

Hey Chris - thanks for all the info, certainly looks better than just focusing on the negative as some have been doing.  To me, it is a simple as Dino was not Wellman’s guy, and Bzdelik clearly is, enough said.  Wellman is the boss, Bzdelik will have plenty of time to prove Wellman right or wrong, and the peanut gallery should not rush to judgement.  Personally, I’m fine with this change….I have felt since long before this year’s meltdown that Dino was not the answer, but was hoping he would prove me wrong.  Let’s give the new guy the same chance Dino had before piling on.

Charles on 04/11/2010 (7:33 pm)

Am I allowed to panic now?

Pete on 04/11/2010 (6:50 pm)

Some interesting Bzdelik stats:

Jeff Bzdelik Career Highlights

Colorado

2009-10

·      Freshman Alec Burks was named to the Freshman All-America team.  He was the top scoring freshman in the league and was the first CU player ever voted Freshman of the Year in the Big 12.  He was also a member of the All-Rookie team and honorable mention all-Big 12 and set the school record for scoring by a freshman.  The only freshman in the nation to score in double figures in every game he finished. (Came out of one game early with a sprained knee).

·      Burks and Cory Higgins each scored more than 500 points, marking just the third time in school history that two players had scored 500 or more points in the same season.

·      Colorado was the only school in the Big 12 with two players among the top seven in the league in scoring.

·      Three players named to the Academic All-Conference team in basketball, the most ever by a CU basketball team.

·      Swept Nebraska for the first time since 2003-04

·      All five starters were Bzdelik recruits (2 juniors, 2 sophomores, 1 freshman)

·      CU committed its fewest turnovers since 1997-98

·      Led the Big 12 in free throw percentage for the first time ever

·      Finished third in the nation in free throw percentage

·      Marcus Relphorde earned Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors, the first CU player to do so since 2004

2008-09

·      Freshmen and sophomores (all Bzdelik recruits) accounted for 72.3 percent of the team scoring

·      Held opponents to 67.5 points per game marking the first time since 1979-81 that CU held opponents to less than 70 points in consecutive years

2007-08

·      Bzdelik guided Colorado to a 91-84 win over Baylor in the Big 12 Championship, the first 12 seed to beat a 5 in Big 12 history.

·      Colorado improved in every shooting category-field goal, 3-point field goal and free throw percentages-from its effort in 2006-07, the year before Bzdelik arrived

·      Nine of 20 losses were by an average of 4.8 points.

·      Defense held opponents to 64.4 points per game, the fewest points allowed in 46 years.

·      Committed 13.4 turnovers per game, the fewest in 28 years

·      Second year at Colorado (2008-09), 11 of 22 losses were by single digits, an average of 4.5 points per game

·      His first signed recruit at Colorado was Cory Higgins, the son of former NBA player Rod Higgins.  Higgins, who will be a senior next year, has scored 1,391 career points and ranks ninth on the school’s career scoring list.

·      Inherited a team that had gone 7-20 overall, 3-13 in the Big 12 and finished in last place

Air Force

·      Record of 50-16, the best two-year record in school history

·      The only Air Force coach to win 24 or more games in back-to-back seasons. 

·      Went 31-1 at home including 15-0 his first year and 16-1 in 2006-07

2006-07

·      Led the Falcons to the 2007 NIT Final Four. 

·      Set a school record with 26 victories

·      Led the Mountain West with 316 three-point field goals (also a school record)

·      Led the league in free throw percentage at .783

·      Set the school record for field goal percentage at 49.03

·      Had the second-best free throw percentage in school history at 75.5

·      Posted double-digit wins over Wake Forest, Stanford, Texas Tech and George Washington

·      Led AFA to a 17-1 start to the season

·      Led the Falcons to a No. 18 national ranking

·      Team was second in the nation in scoring defense (56.0 PPG)

·      Team was second in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (10.3)

·      Team was ninth in the nation in scoring margin (+13.0) and fewest fouls per game (15.0)

2005-06

·      Led Air Force to a 24-7 record and the school’s four appearance ever in the NCAA Tournament. 

·      Led the nation in scoring defense (54.7 PPG)

·      Lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Illinois, 78-69

·      Team won its final six games of the regular season

·      Led the Mountain West with 276 three-point field goals and a .404 3-point percentage

·      Fourth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.404)

·      Fifth in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (10.8)

·      Led the MWC in free throw percentage at .745

·      Led the MWC in steals and steals per game (8.03)

·      Air Force won for the first-time ever at UNLV

·      Defeated two ACC teams (Miami, Georgia Tech)

Maryland- Baltimore County

·      1986-87:  cited by the Sporting News as having “One of College’s Biggest Turn Arounds” in the school’s inaugural season in Division I.

Denver Nuggets

·      Named head coach of the Nuggets in August, 2002.  Inherited the youngest team in franchise history and shattered the franchise record for scoring defense by more than five points per game, giving up only 92.4 per game.

·      Spent 15 seasons in the NBA as both a coach and scout; two and one-half seasons as head coach of the Denver Nuggets.  Engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history during his second season in 2003-04, leading the Nuggets to the playoffs for the first time since 1994-95 while posting a 43-39 record.  The 26-game improvement over the previous year was the sixth-best in NBA history.

·      Became the first NBA coach, since the adoption of the 82-game schedule, to lead his team to the playoffs the year after winning fewer than 20 games

·      In 2000, recognized by USA Today as one of the NBA’s top five assistant coaches

·      In Sports Illustrated’s 1998 pro basketball issue, he was voted the best advance scout in the NBA by the league’s general managers

·      “According to NBA coaches and GM’s, Bzdelik is the most thorough and perceptive scout in the business.”  Sports Illustrated

Chris on 04/11/2010 (6:35 pm)

Here’s a great example as to why I feel Ron’s comments at the press conference seemed to be misleading.  I hope you will be asking some tough questions about this hire, Dan.  Fans might feel differently had Dino left on his own.  But, under the circumstances, this choice is just really hard to understand.

Steve on 04/11/2010 (6:20 pm)