 |
| Buzz Williams: New Virginia Tech coach. |
His record at Marquette as head coach is 139-69 with five NCAA appearances. He has a Big East Conference title and a trip to the NCAA regional finals. He has recruited and coached 20 all-conference players, two players of the year, two freshmen of the year and four AP All-Americans. Six of his players have gone on to the NBA.
He is quoted as saying, "It’s never easy to leave a great school like Marquette,
where I spent seven wonderful years, six as the head coach. But this is a special situation to work at a place like Virginia
Tech. I’ve heard tremendous things about this terrific institution and
this is an outstanding opportunity to build a program. My family and I
look forward to becoming a part of this great university and community,
and taking on the challenges associated in succeeding in the ACC.”
He has had stints as an assistant,
associate head and head coach. He replaces James Johnson, who was fired earlier this week after finishing in the ACC basement.
A month ago, the smart money was on Cuonzo Martin at Tennessee to lose his job. One would have been loony to bet otherwise. Now he has taken Tennessee to the Sweet Sixteen, where I think I am right to say they were only one time in the past. People can't say enough good about him--now. Funny.
ReplyDeleteThis is Tennessee's eighth time in the round of 16. It has been to the round of eight (where it lost to Ohio State on a shot at the buzzer) once. No Final Fours at all in the men's game, though eight national titles for the women's storied program. If you look at UT's schedule this year, there simply is no way to explain away more than five losses, but it has 12 and that's why Martin was on the hot seat. This team dramatically underperformed until the last three weeks or so. What it has done in the last nine games is not overachievement. It is simply what it should have done all along, but to his credit, Martin did not give up on these kids and they finally developed chemistry.
ReplyDelete