My Take on Wake - Wellman Went With His Gut

Wellman Went With His Gut

The basis for Dino Gaudio no longer being the head basketball coach at Wake Forest was Gaudio’s record in February and March and more important, post-season play. That was straight from Ron Wellman a week ago, the day the announcement was made.

So the first question that had to be asked yesterday morning was about the post-season record of the coach who replaced Gaudio, Jeff Bzdelik. At Air Force he lost in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament both years, lost as a No. 13 seed to No. 4 Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and went on an NIT run that ended with a semifinal loss to Clemson in NYC. At Colorado, the Buffs pulled an upset over Baylor in his first Big 12 Tournament game, but lost the next three.

“He’s 4-7 in post-season play,’’ Wellman said. “You have to look at the caliber of his teams and the seeds of those teams. You have to look at the whole ball of wax, and he’s had some successes in post-season play. My question was, does he have the potential to take us where we want to be throughout our program? And I answered that with a resounding yes, definitely.

The follow-up was, “What are you basing that on, other than maybe intuition?”

“A lot of it is gut feeling,’’ Wellman said. “I’ve talked with a lot of people in my position and even in my previous positions about coaches. And it’s a gut feeling. You evaluate the statistics and you evaluate everything about the person factually, but it comes down to `How do I feel? How do I feel about this person versus that person? What do I think this person can do for our program, versus another candidate?’ There are so many candidates, good candidates out there, that it’s difficult to separate them simply based upon fact. You have to eventually get to `What do I think is best? What direction do we want to go and who is going to be able to get us there?’ And there are probably three or four people neck and neck at the wire, so it comes down to `What do I think? What’s my gut?’ “

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By Dan Collins on 04/15/2010 (1:25 am)

Comments

I have the upmost respect for Ron, but I was supprised to hear that Dino was surprised that he was being terminated. Management 101 at Wake should say, that every employee who is treminated should not be surprised. Ron should have set goals with Dino at the start of the season and made it clear what the consequences would be if they were not met. No matter how you look at each man’s volumn of work, Dino is superior and is a known quality. I hope Ron’s Gut is right!!

Raymond on 04/15/2010 (2:42 pm)

I like John M’s point about everyone’s lamenting the fact that we did not land a “big name” coach. People need to be realistic here. Brad Stevens was extended at Butler, so he wasn’t coming here. Mark Few was not coming here. Tubby Smith was not coming here. Get over the fact that we did not hire “a proven winner” or the current “hot name” coach.

I too was disappointed that there seemed to only be one candidate in this search. But the more that I read, the less it sounds like “cronyism” and more like Wellman had this guy filed in his memory as someone he liked, and he went after him when he could. Would I have liked some news about other candidates being considered to surface? Sure…I would have liked to have heard that we at least talked to Stevens or Few or some other “name” coaches like that. But Wellman had his eye on a candidate, and he should have earned our trust by now to make his choice.

I also don’t get the huge fuss over Dino’s record being better than Bzz’s. Dino should have won with the players he had. He should have also won more, and won more in March when it counts instead of in December. And if you look at the track records of the two then Bzz comes out way on top. Dino went from a HC at Army (service academy), to a head coach at Loyola (small time), to an assistant under Skip. And before that? He was a high school coach and an assistant. Bzz was also at a service academy, then moved up to a HC in the Big 12, and now moves up again to the ACC. Not to mention his years in the NBA at all levels. I think players who think of themselves as NBA prospects would certainly look at a coach who has coached and scouted in the NBA with a lot of respect. So if you just compare their career progressions, Bzz has certainly been moving up, while Dino has likely peaked. There is no comparison if you think about it.

So everyone, please just chill…comments about how Wellman should be fired if we don’t get to the NCAA’s next year (I think I saw that one on the Journal board) really do not make much sense. Yes, if Bzz tanks and leaves after three years and the program has not improved at all, then Wellman has some ‘splainin to do. But let’s just wait-and-see how things go…we owe both of them that much.

And thanks very much Dan for your coverage on this. You are very even keel, even when people are calling you out or challenging you. Keep up the great work!

Scott (WFU '90) on 04/15/2010 (1:37 pm)

I guess the point is to avoid getting kicked in the gut during the postseason. I think it’s ok to mention Bdzelik’s perceived weaknesses in evaluating whether we are more or less likely to experience the disappointments of years prior. Obviously there will be a problem if Bdzelik is indifferent towards recruiting (which, by the way, is a weakness based entirely on hearsay).

We should also mention his strengths. It seems to be universally accepted that Bdzelik is a competent scout and objective evaluator of talent. He also knows the Xs and Os, and he knows how to play to his team’s strengths and hide its weaknesses. I am incredibly excited to watch a Wake basketball team coached by a guy like that.

Hopefully our recruiting class remains intact because I think that their interests are well served by having a coach of Bdzelik’s caliber introduce them to big-time basketball. Possibly with the exception of Ish Smith, none of our players have improved from year to year no Coach Gaudio’s tutalidge.

I still question whether there were better candidates (the coaches from Daytona and Richmond, just to name two), but on its face, this hire is not as ridiculous as some are making it out to be.

DC on 04/15/2010 (1:37 pm)

I don’t believe we will ever know for sure that Wellman made a national search. We don’t know how many coaches he talked with or approached through third parties in Indianapolis. We don’t know how many phone calls he made before and after Dino was let go.
Sometimes we have to accept the hand we were dealt. I’m going to move on.

Jerry on 04/15/2010 (12:41 pm)

I’m tired of the whining about hiring “big names” and whatnot. What if the “big names” are jerks and don’t understand Wake’s mission? What if they are just famous people with mediocre coaching ability? Right now, I want a coach that understands the game itself- the Xs and Os while the game is in progress. I don’t care how famous he is. I like this hire, and trust Wellman completely. After all, I sat in the Orange Bowl one night to watch the ACC FOOTBALL champion Deacs play. He makes good decisions.

John M on 04/15/2010 (11:55 am)

Change always breeds anxiety, some confusion and, often, frustration/anger. The thing most troubling to me is how, except during his being in assistant positions, Coach Bzdelik seems to have flitted quickly about from place to place too often. So, we Deacs fanatics are left to wonder and, perhaps, stew a bit.

Lee Anglin on 04/15/2010 (11:48 am)

Gut Feeling????? What if he had a big bowl of HOT Chili the night before???

Doris on 04/15/2010 (11:09 am)

We didn’t get everything we wanted. But we got part in that Dino is gone.What do you say to let us go forward with a glass half full, trusting Wellman’s judgment?

Jerry on 04/15/2010 (10:41 am)

Please, Ron, spare us the business about how your gut led you to Bz over “three or four candidates” who were being closely considered. It’s clear one of two things happened. You either (1) fired Dino on Wednesday to make a quick run at someone who you had squarely in mind (Stevens?) and got quickly shot down, or (2) you knew you were going to hire Bz all along and misled everyone about conducting a national search. This was no true search in any proper sense of the word. The jury is still out on this hire and will likely be for some time, but the smoke and mirrors which continue to be deployed during Bz’s roll-out is insulting to the supporters of the program.

John on 04/15/2010 (6:44 am)

I hope Ron’s gut is right. My gut tells me he’s not. I hope I’m wrong. I have yet to hear or read anything that convinces me that Coach Bzdelik is an improvement over Coach Gaudio. I don’t think most Wake fans are going to be in the mood to give him a lot of time to show that he’s better. I am a grad and have been a huge Deacs fan for well over 40 years. I will continue to support the Deacs, but I am very disappointed right now.

Steve on 04/15/2010 (6:34 am)