On Friday of the opening week of the tournament, Buzz Williams announced he was leaving Marquette to take the Virginia Tech. Most knowledgeable Eagle fans knew this day was coming sooner than later. For a variety of reasons, Buzz Williams was no longer happy at Marquette. He had won whatever power struggles there were with the school administration. AD Larry Williams had quit admist stories of a strained relationship but Buzz still wasn't happy. His team was his team. All players at Marquette were his players he had recruited, including this year's highly regarded class. All of this was not enough for Buzz Williams. Fair enough. An unhappy coach isn't going to end well for him or the school he is at. The sooner a resolution can be reached, the better for all. We'll come back to some Buzz stuff at the end.
As for how Marquette landed on Steve Wojciehowski, here's what I have gathered from social media and national media. As soon as it was announced Buzz was leaving, Ben Howland's name surfaced from local and national media. As far as I can gather, this was a one-sided attraction and Marquette never seriously considered Howland, perhaps only as a fall back candidate. There's a problem with him abd I don't know what it is. Some outlets thought he was the guy at Washington State only to see Ernie Kent get the job. A few on the west coast speculate he might be in play for California but every national guy seems to believe it'll be a young assistant or younger head coach from a mid-major. Wake Forest was rumored for him, too, but it looks like they're thinking Danny Manning or someone similar to him. I have to wonder if Howland is going to need to take a mid-major job at this point.
Next up was Shaka Smart and the fiasco that was last Monday. I wrote last Sunday, Smart was a "dream" candidate who wasn't coming to Marquette. Then twitter blew up on Monday morning after 24/7's Jerry Meyer reported he heard Smart and Marquette was "likely to happen and happen soon." I'll admit, I was floored. Meyer isn't a coaching search go-to-guy but he is connected. Later that morning Jim Ganzer, who runs brewcityball.com as a pay for info site that covers all Milwaukee area related basketball news said he was predicting Smart to Marquette. WTMJ radio personality Doug Russell fueled the fire reporting something may happen soon without naming names. Michael Hunt of the Journal Sentinel did the same.
A member of Marquette TV tweeted a coach was hired and Marquette was having a 5:00PM presser which sent local TV stations into a frenzy as they raced to the Al McGuire Center to cover this presser where they expected Marquette to hire Shaka Smart. Alas, Marquette simply released a statement announcing the team banquet. Ganzer doubled down early that evening tweeting "Done Deal. Shaka Smart to Marquette." Asked who his source was, Ganzer tweeted, "I'm the source". Fox 6 reported a done deal as well leading their broadcast at 9:00PM with the news. Problem was, it wasn't true. The next day, deadspin.com ran the clips of Milwaukee news reporting a story that never happened. It wasn't Marquette's fault local news was so sloppy and unprofessional but they got lumped in with it.
National media started reporting the next day that no deal was struck or imminent or likely for that matter. Marquette announced its new President, Michael Lovell on Wednesday leading some to speculate Smart needed reassurance of some stability in Milwaukee since Marquette was without a President or AD. There were rumors the new President and other MUBB reps flew to Richmond on Thursday to try and land Smart. By Thursday afternoon, the national media was reporting Smart had informed Marquette he was staying at VCU. That afternoon, acting AD Bill Cords held a press conference basically saying nothing.
Whether Marquette and Shaka Smart were ever close to striking a deal, we'll never know (I highly doubt it). But whatever the case, I'm sure Smart was their 1st target. It didn't work out and reports surfaced Marquette was interested in talking to Tennessee's Cuonzo Martin. Jason King of Bleacher Report first reported that possibility as the Smart saga was happening.
Martin was on the hot seat before his Sweet 16 run this March. He met with Marquette officials on Sunday, that much we know. Tennessee people seemed pretty sure yesterday Martin was ready to bolt. Current Vol AD, Dave Hart had not hired Martin and many fans, 36,000 signed a petition to get rid of him. He had reason to leave and with a buyout that was cut in half today, he seemed the guy. Then late last night, Andy Katz of ESPN and Gary Parrish of CBS reported Martin had withdrawn his name from consideration.
The reality was, Martin didn't withdraw. Marquette had made the decision to hire Steve Wojciehowski of Duke and informed Martin they were going in a different direction. This is pure conjecture on my part but allows Martin to save face in Knoxville and if he doesn't get a raise this year, I'll stand by that.
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski, NBA's best beat writer, reported Sunday that Marquette had targeted Wojo as a possible candidate. He interviewed yesterday and according to painttouches.com, blew the doors off his interview impressing everyone who was part of the interview process. And he is now Marquette's new head coach.
It was widely believed Marquette prefered an experienced coach and given their pursuit of Shaka Smart, this is probably true. Same with the interest in Cuonzo Martin. Ultimately, they ended up with who could be the best coach for Marquette which is what matters. Wojo is 37 years old but with a world of experience. He has been the Associate Head Coach at Duke since 2008, coaching Duke big men until Jeff Capel returned when he began working with the Duke backcourt. He has been on Duke's staff since 2000, joining them after playing a year in Poland! We won't know if he has the recruiting chops sans Coach K but Duke recruits against blue bloods so I think we can say he'll be comfortable doing it. He does have a NBA pedigree as well, having assisted Coach K on the last 2 Olympic teams and gets rave reviews from Jerry Colangelo who recommended him to Marquette. As with any new coach, x's and o's are hard to gauge but Coach K had stepped back in recent years allowing his assistants to do a large chunk of the day-to-day stuff. The one name associated with him that will likely be on his staff is Chris Carrawell who is an assistant in the d-league.
I'm on board with this hire far more than I was with Buzz Williams. This gives me pause since Buzz did an incredible job at Marquette, maintaining and exceeding in some ways what Tom Crean had built. For what Marquette fans think of Tom Crean, what he accomplished in Milwaukee should not be forgotten. New facilities, a Final 4, leading Marquette into the Big East, etc. Ultimately, Wojo will be simply judged on wins and losses and the talent he gets to Marquette and develops. I'm cautiously optimistic.
As for the current crop of players and recruits, early reports, mostly from FoxSport Wisconsin Andrew Gruman and painttouches.com (@painttouches on twitter) seem to indicate there will be little attrition from the current roster. The question marks were G Jajuan Johnson ( a top-50 recruit) and F Steve Taylor, Jr. As of now, it appears both will be back. I'd guess Taylor is pretty solid while Johnson is still a question. Paintouches.com has a great piece on Taylor's struggles in 2014 with playing time and the coaches
What happens with the recuits is still a question as Wojo hasn't talked to them as of this afternoon. They have 4 in the class. G Ahmed Hill of Georgia (highest ranked), F Marial Shayok, Seymour's F Sandy Cohen and Ohio C Satchel Pierce. The last 3 are expected to ask for their releases with paintouches.com reporting Pierce may follow Buzz to Virginia Tech. He's a bit of a project but given Marquette's lack of size for next year, would've been a nice option to have. Shayok was recuited by Virginia and Providence but the Friars are out since they're in the Big East. Cohen may still end up at Marquette but Minnesota is an option and UCLA might be interested as well.
A lot of Marquette fans will hold a grudge against Buzz which is fine. Like I said, though, him staying unhappily in Milwaukee wasn't a solution worth exploring. Buzz has said he knew he was leaving a while back which basically means he quit on this season and his team. Quotes from the players today indicate they weren't terribly disappointed that he left. That's to be expected and some of it is certainly resentment over being left by the coach that recruited them. A fresh start was needed after a disappointing year.
As for Buzz, let me link you to this great story and you can decide what you think of Buzz Williams.
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