"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Monday, October 06, 2008

Katz talking up the Warriors

Everybody's (least) favorite Badger, Andy Katz, takes a look at the Marquette hoops program in his latest from ESPN.com. In the article, Katz reports along the lines of what we offered up last week -- that Buzz needs to deliver a monster recruiting class to sustain the trajectory of the Marquette program, and that he has yet to prove himself as a Big East head coach.

On recruiting, Williams cut to the chase, "It had to be a banner year no matter who the coach is,'' said Williams. "You can't just sign good players. I'm sure you have to sign potentially great players [in the Big East].''

Buzz is exceptionally candid in this article, noting that re-balancing a roster laden with redundant talent and a lack of flexibility remains an immediate priority:

"Yes, we have to replace three really, really good guards, but we also have to make sure from an interior perspective that we create more of a balance both ways,'' Williams said. "We're not done yet. We're not going to have a large recruiting class. We're a little behind in the 2010 class because we had to make up so much ground this fall in the 2009 class.''

Clearly Tom Crean didn't leave the cupboard bare for coach Williams - but he did leave too many knives and not enough forks or spoons. Yet despite the bountiful recruiting class he's about to land, Williams acknowledges that the real work has yet to begin.

"I don't know if I've proven myself,'' Williams said. "Of the 16 coaches in the Big East, I'm going to be the new kid on the block.'' Williams said he will be judged by how he handles the roster left to him and how the roster stacks up against the Big East in two or three years. "That's completely fair,'' Williams said. "I don't disagree with that and I don't take offense to that.''

Amen.

And from the sound of it -- check out what Jerel McNeal, Erik Williams and Dominic James have to say about Buzz and the credibility gap he's trying to close -- those close coach Buzz believe he is on the right track.

4 comments:

Rob Lowe said...

"Williams said he will be judged by how he handles the roster left to him and how the roster stacks up against the Big East in two or three years."

----

EXACTLY

Championships Matter said...

The difference between a great College basketball program and a mere good one is sustainability. Kansas sustains excellence across years and across coaching staffs. So does North Carolina (witness their handling of Bill Gutridge versus our handling of Hank Raymonds).

We have a great start on 2008-2009 and we should be able to make the tournament. But if we're to be where we were or better than when AL was head coach, we're going to have to sustain it no matter who is coach.

Look, the reason many of us had concerns about Buzz was that Tommy Traitor was on the verge of gaining sutainability. If he had been successful in recruiting a center, we'd probably be defending national champions. Are you listening Brian Butch?

If Buzz can build on Crean's reconstruction, we'll be a national powerhouse. The early signs are good and if we can close on a great recruiting class this year and next, life will be good at MU.

Sam Brazys said...

Hey - does anyone know if MU is on Wilson's list of 4? I don't have Scout "in"

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=2&c=798494&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2fscouthoops.scout.com%2f2%2f798494.html

Rob Lowe said...

Yes we are. there's a thread about it on MUScoop.com.