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| BUZZ WILLIAMS MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY |
| Friday, May 23, 2008 |
http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10839112
'Steadfast' is Buzz word for new Marquette coach Williams
May 23, 2008
By Gary Parrish
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
Tell Gary your opinion!
I remember getting the call and being surprised and wanting to find Tom Crean at the LeBron James Skills Academy last July to confirm the story. New Orleans coach Buzz Williams had resigned his position, I was told, and the plan was for Williams to join Crean's staff at Marquette.
Buzz Williams was named head coach when Tom Crean left.
So I asked Crean about it.
He confirmed.
"Buzz is going to be great," Crean said. "And he'll get another head coaching job someday."
It was a sweet thing for Crean to say.
It was the only thing to say.
But at the time nobody knew whether those words were true. College basketball is a tricky business, after all, and some men work their entire lives without ever having the opportunity to be a head coach at the Division I level. There are only 300 or so of those jobs in the world; they don't come easy. Which is why industry figures were shocked when Williams vacated one of them to return to the assistant ranks, and some believed the decision scarred him in a way that might prevent him from ever running a Division I program again.
Nine months later, Crean left for Indiana.
Williams was then promoted to Marquette's head coach.
And it sure is funny how things work sometimes, isn't it?
"I didn't come to Marquette to be the head coach; that was not my intent," Williams said Thursday by phone following an appearance at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $51 million law school building. "How could anybody predict everything would transpire the way it has?"
The short answer is that nobody could've predicted it. It's unimaginable, frankly. But there's a lesson here, perhaps a lesson all of us could incorporate into our own lives, one that revolves around the idea of trusting your instincts and your core beliefs and doing what you believe to be right even if it might appear wrong and shortsighted to everybody else.
That's what Williams did, in case you didn't know.
'Steadfast' is Buzz word for new Marquette coach Williams.
He won't get into it in great detail out of respect for the University of New Orleans and the city in general. But people who know Williams insist he was concerned about raising his family in an area that was -- and still is -- slow in its attempt to recover from Hurricane Katrina. "It's a great place to visit but not a great place to live," is how one person familiar with Williams put it. And that belief combined with a situation at UNO that supposedly grew worse after Williams accepted the job in 2006 led the Texas native to re-evaluate his career and make a decision that many called a mistake.
Give up a head coaching job after one year?
For a job as an assistant?
Why?
"Everybody has a different perspective on what they believe to be right, but for me what is always right is doing what I believe is best for my wife and my children," said Williams, purposely (and tastefully) vague. "It may not have been publicly right or perceived the right way. But I have to always make sure I'm doing the right thing in my heart for my wife and my children, and in my heart I believed it was right for my wife and my children."
That's an admirable way of thinking, but here's the problem: You aren't always rewarded for it.
Too often the men who are "successful" in highly competitive professions like coaching are the ones whose personal lives are a wreck. They would never consider putting their wives and children before a dinner with an AAU coach, much less their job as a whole, and that way of doing things brings dozens of recruits who bring hundreds of wins and millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, the man who takes a step backward professionally for the sake of his wife and children typically gets left behind, and that's why other coaches were stunned when Williams tossed aside the UNO job. They understood a man motivated by something other than his profession isn't the type of man built to succeed in their profession, and they knew Williams had a made a decision from which he'd probably never recover.
Except he did.
He recovered in an amazing fashion.
So credit karma or luck or even higher powers working in mysterious ways. The man who "gave up" on his career less than a year ago by giving up a head coaching job in the Sun Belt is now the head coach at a Big East school that will likely field a Top 25 team, and how unlikely did this scenario seem last July?
"Doing what you feel to be right is not always the easiest thing to do, personally or professionally," Williams said. "And doing what you believe to be right without knowing whether it will ever be shown publicly or privately that you did the right thing is the hardest thing to do."
Indeed, that's true.
But sometimes it works out.
Consider Buzz Williams our proof. |
posted by COACHTUK @ 8:24 PM   |
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| ERNIE KENT |
| Wednesday, April 16, 2008 |
OREGON'S OPEN POST OFFENSE NOW IN THE COACHING BOX. |
| posted by COACHTUK @ 8:31 PM |
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| THE COACHING BOX UPDATED |
| Wednesday, March 26, 2008 |
THE SEASON IS OVER AND I'M FINALLY GETTING BACK INTO THE BASKETBALL MOOD (NO LONGER FEEL LIKE JEFF VAN GUNDY LOOKS!). THE COACHING BOX WILL BE UPDATED REGULARLY. FURTHERMORE, I'LL HAVE SEVERAL NEW COACHING RESOURCES TO SHARE. LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO TALK BASKETBALL. EMAIL coachtuk@earthlink.net
A NEW SET IS IN THE BOX. |
| posted by COACHTUK @ 5:22 PM |
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| John Calipari, Princeton on Steriods |
| Wednesday, March 19, 2008 |
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| posted by COACHTUK @ 4:08 PM |
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| CY-SPRINGS' DREAM SEASON COMES TO AN END |
| Sunday, March 02, 2008 |
BY DAVE FANUCCHI
dfanucchi@hcnonline.com
In the end, there were just too many obstacles for the Cypress Springs Panthers to overcome. Especially when you’re playing games deep into the region III-5A boys basketball playoffs, and squaring off against the top teams from the entire city of Houston.
Coach John Harmatuk’s Panthers went to war Tuesday night against the Madison Marlins in the regional quarterfinals at the Campbell Center without not one, but two of their most important and talented players. Even without star junior forward Erik Williams (sidelined since January with a broken left foot), Cy Springs had won their first two post-season contests.
But when guard Earnest Wafer was ruled ineligible for any of the teams’ remaining playoff games due to his failure to meet grade requirements, it put the Panthers in an even tougher position against Madison.
The Marlins - led by point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin’s 24 points - took advantage of Cy Springs’ misfortune and ended the Panthers season with a 73-64 triumph.
It was a valiant effort, but Harmatuk’s sqaud just didn’t have enough left in the tank.
“Our kids are warriors, because they really gutted this one out tonight. We just lost to a better team,” Harmatuk said. “Injuries are a part of playing a full season, and they happen. We had a great year though.”
Senior Philip McDonald tried to carry the load again for Cy Springs, and did a decent job by scoring 20 points. And without Wafer, guards Jon Smith and Daquan Williams combined to pour in 40 more. But it was the lack of scoring ability by anyone else on the Panthers roster that prohibited them from coming back to win the game.
“We came so far this year, and tried to make a push for the state title,” McDonald said dejectedly, after his final high school contest. “It’s disappointing to not be able to go to the playoffs with your best, and tonight we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Cy Springs trailed nearly the entire game, except for a brief 8-6 lead in the first quarter. Although they were always within striking distance, they were never able to put on their patented run, like they did in their area-round, fourth-quarter comeback win over Bellaire .
Their last shot at a victory came with two minutes to play, after Springs had cut the Marlins’ lead to 62-60. But Madison’s Richard Brown hit a pair of free-throws, and when Springs followed by missing a three-point shot, Brown had a key basket in the paint on the other end of the floor, making it a six-point game with just over a minute to go.
The Panthers fouled the rest of the way, but Mason-Griffin was clutch from the line, and finished off the win for Madison, which improved to 24-9 overall and will face Fort Bend Hightower in Friday’s Regional Semifinals. |
| posted by COACHTUK @ 5:35 PM |
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| Cypress Springs lives to see another day |
| Sunday, February 24, 2008 |
Cypress Springs lives to see another day
By DAVE FANUCCHI
dfanucchi@hcnonline.com
02/21/2008
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Trailing by nine points entering the fourth quarter, the Cy Springs Panthers went on a furious run and outscored the Bellaire Cardinals 28-8 in the final stanza to post a 57-46 victory in their area-round, region III 5A boys basketball playoff game Thursday night at the Delmar Fieldhouse.
The triumph advances the Panthers (31-6) into the regional quarterfinals, where they await the winner of Friday night’s second round game between Alief Hastings and Houston Madison. Bellaire’s season came to a close at 26-6.
After being limited to just four points in the third period, and scoring only six points over a 14-minute stretch during the middle portion of the game, the Panthers began the fourth by blitzing the Cardinals for a 15-0 run.
Guard Earnest Wafer sparked the offense by making a three-pointer, an inside layup, and two free-throws that made it 38-36.
He then forced a turnover on Bellaire’s next possession, and found Philip McDonald on the perimeter. When McDonald buried his three-point attempt, it put Cy Springs ahead for good, and sent the throng of students sitting courtside into a frenzy.
“I knew my team was too experienced and too tough to not make a run, and that’s what we were able to do,” said Cy Springs coach John Harmatuk. “We needed some guys to step up tonight, and Earnest sure did in the second half.”
Wafer led all scorers in the game with 20 points - 13 of which came during his clutch fourth quarter performance.
In their bi-district playoff opener, the Panthers jumped out to a 37-24 halftime lead and never looked back, as they got by Morton Ranch 72-56 at the Merrell Center. Jon Smith led the way in that one by pouring in a game-high 17 points, while McDonald added 15. Cy Springs limited Mavericks standout Kevin Foster to only four points, 16 short of his season average of 20.
Cy Ridge, Langham Creek both drop bi-district contests
It was a short and uneventful trip to the post-season for both the Cy Ridge and Langham Creek boys teams, the third and fourth place finishers in district 17-5A. The Rams faced a very talented Alief Taylor team that outscored them 26-6 in the second quarter of their opening round playoff contest. That 20-point differential was too much for the Rams to overcome, as they fell 83-66 at Cinco Ranch HS. Cy Ridge ended up 16-15 on the year.
Following that game, the Lobos gave Alief Hastings all they could handle, but came up on the short end of a 63-58 final score. Langham held a 30-27 halftime advantage, but Chris Iles scored a game-high 25 points to guide the Fighting Bears to the win. Micah Chester dropped in 18 points to lead the Lobos, who finished their season with a 15-19 overall mark. |
| posted by COACHTUK @ 2:56 PM |
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| Wafer's big fourth quarter helps Panthers sprint past Bellaire |
| Thursday, February 21, 2008 |
Wafer's big fourth quarter helps Panthers sprint past Bellaire
Thursday February 21, 2008
Written by Dave Purpura
Held to four points in the third quarter Thursday night, the Cypress Springs boys basketball team got exactly the defense it was hoping Bellaire would throw at them.
But having scored only six points in almost 15 minutes, all the Panthers needed was shots to start falling.
Cy Springs guard Ernest Wafer opened the fourth quarter on a tear, scoring 10 points in the first 3 minutes, 14 seconds and 13 of his game-high 20 in the period to guide the Panthers to a 57-46 win against the Cardinals in a 5A-Region III area game at Delmar Fieldhouse.
“They just started playing man-to-man and that’s what we like to play,” said Wafer, a 5-foot-10 senior. “We spread our offense and that made us get some open shots.”
After making just one field goal from the 6:08 mark of the second quarter to the end of the third – partly because they went into a stall for more than 4 ½ minutes before halftime – the Panthers (31-6) scored 10 points in a 1 minute, 14 second span to turn a 38-29 deficit into a one-point lead.
Wafer hit a 3-pointer and a layup to start the barrage. Then Phillip McDonald hit a 3-pointer, and Wafer made a jumper and another 3 to bring the lead to 44-38 with 4:46 left.
“(Point guard) Daquan (Williams) does a great job of drawing two (defenders) so that has to leave someone open,” Cy Springs coach John Harmatuk said. “When we drove it and drew two we got Ernest open on the wing.”
Except for a few seconds, Bellaire (26-6) never got within seven points again.
Cy Springs advances to play Hastings or Madison in a regional quarterfinal next Monday or Tuesday. The site and time will be determined Friday night after those teams play at Manvel.
With McDonald hobbled because of a deep thigh bruise sustained in the Panthers’ bi-district win against Morton Ranch, Cy Springs recovered from Bellaire’s 9-0 run to end the first quarter by taking a 25-23 lead early in the second on Wafer’s coast-to-coast layup.
But with the game being played at a frenzied pace, Harmatuk went against his norm and pulled his team into what looked like a stall to regain their composure and collective breath.
“I hate stalling. We weren’t stalling,” Harmatuk said. “I wanted them to come out and guard us and (Bellaire) coach (Bruce) Glover wasn’t going to come out and guard us. I wasn’t smart enough to know what to do so we just hung on to the ball.”
Bellaire opened the third quarter with a burst of its own, reeling off an 8-0 run to take a 31-27 lead. Nicholas Foreman hit a jumper from the arc, Tobi Oyedeji threw down a thunderous slam over two defenders and Randall Ard hit a jumper from the left baseline.
Sheldon McClellan hit a 3-point play as the quarter ended to make it 38-29.
That brought the Cardinals crowd to its feet, but no one knew what was coming next.
“We’re too experienced and too tough not to make a run and that’s what we did in the fourth quarter,” Harmatuk said.
McDonald added 15 points and Jon Smith 14, 12 in the first half, for Cy Springs.
McClellan scored 12 and Jamel Outler 11 for Bellaire. |
| posted by COACHTUK @ 11:25 PM |
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