It's high time for a close look at CU Athletics

[Bisonic]

This development is more about Mike Bohn than anything. Sorry guys, but it's true.

Bohn is a smooth talker, good back slapper, good fund raiser ... in short, a typical AD for this era. But the critical element that's ALWAYS been part of the CU job is what he doesn't have: The ability to hire the RIGHT coach.

The Hawkins saga is all talked out. Suffice it to say, nobody expected four losing seasons to start his career here, not even the biggest doubters. The chances of Hawk turning us into a power in the next few years seem slim at best. We could be good this year, but 5 years ago did anyone believe that "we could be good" meant 7 wins?

We all see what happened with the Women's BB team. Our expectations went straight down from Big Dance expectations in just 5-6 years. (And we actually have HS talent here in Colorado!) I hope Linda Lappe succeeds here, but could this coaching search be any more introverted and lame????

In Men's BB, Patton left because his time was up here, and (I believe) he couldn't live up to the expectations that he himself set here. We had a little momentum and were fairly optimistic. The other guys talked about at the time were Mike Montgomery - now doing a nice job at Cal - and Rick Majerus - doing okay at St. Louis. (For the record, I wanted Majerus.) They sniffed at Mike Dunlap (Metro) and Alvin Gentry (Suns), but clearly Bohn had his sights set on one guy.

Bzdelik was brought in, and I was wary of that hire. For one, he had no record of recruiting top college talent out of the high schools. But a bigger deal to me was that I always assumed he was looking past this job. How could he not? He spent almost 2 decades in the NBA, then bailed on AFA the first chance he got.

I'm not saying he was a bad coach. In fact it was awesome to see him manage games after 10 years of Patton winging it. He certainly had the pedigree, but was he the right hire? I didn't think so then, because I just didn't see any scenario where Bzdelik would be here for the long haul.

How could Bohn be so limited in his search criteria? He's doing it again with women's BB, and he'll likely just promote McClain, who also has no history of recruiting top talent to a top basketball league.

An AD has to have a vision for how the program will succeed, regardless of the sport. Mike Bohn is limited in his vision of what CU athletics can accomplish. It's that simple.

It comes down to this: We're stuck with an ugly date (the AD) until somebody summons up the stones to make a change at that level. I don't know the composition of the CU Regents, but given the whacky, fragmented nature of leadership at this University, including a President that doesn't seem to be paying attention, and I think we have a stink pile for a long time.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[Junction]

Bzdelik was brought in, and I was wary of that hire. For one, he had no record of recruiting top college talent out of the high schools.

He may not have had the track record, but he hasn't done badly on that front. Burks was a great find, and by all accounts Sharpe could be an outstanding player as well. More specifically, what he has never done is recruit post players. High school, Juco, whatever. He simply hasn't landed anybody who can contribute at that level. At AFA he could get away with it. It's been a major problem in the Big XII and it will get his teams killed in the ACC if he doesn't improve that track record at Wake.

 

[Bisonic]

He may not have had the track record, but he hasn't done badly on that front. Burks was a great find, and by all accounts Sharpe could be an outstanding player as well. More specifically, what he has never done is recruit post players. High school, Juco, whatever. He simply hasn't landed anybody who can contribute at that level. At AFA he could get away with it. It's been a major problem in the Big XII and it will get his teams killed in the ACC if he doesn't improve that track record at Wake.

Yeah I agree that the recruiting has been promising lately. Picking up Higgins, Burks, and Relphorde has been impressive. As for Sharpe, I'll wait to see with my own eyes. Point Guard in this league is a special position. But yes, as a guy that was anti-Bzdelik when he first got here because of the rude way he handled Patton's players, I admit that he's shown a terrific eye for talent.

The sad thing today is that if he indeed goes down to Wake Forest, think of all that local talent he'll be have available. That alone is a reason to consider ABC. (Anywhere But Colorado.)

 

[SECOBuffsFan]

You can be down on Bohn all you want, but it is unjustified. Practice facility on the way, fundraising up.

Be mad at the Regents, the President and the Admissions office. If Bzdelik leaves, it will be because he couldn't get certain recruits in, even though he has raised the team GPA and has put the team in a position to not lose any scholarships. The AD does not control that. He should have fired Hawkins, but no one wanted to pay the buyout. That was a universal administrative position. Judge the athletic department more than by just wins and losses when judging your AD.

On the same note, Bohn should give the job to McClain if Bzdelik leaves. Bzdelik has been looking to leave since he took the job. Minnesota T-Wolves and Wake Forest have both come after him and he almost went to Minnesota and is probably gone to Wake Forest. I believe McClain will stick with the program longer anyway. He is a heckuva coach. And he should bring in Mike Dunlap, who is not going to St. John's just yet, to be his top assistant.

 

[Lt.Col.FrankSlade]

You can be down on Bohn all you want, but it is unjustified. Practice facility on the way, fundraising up.

Be mad at the Regents, the President and the Admissions office. If Bzdelik leaves, it will be because he couldn't get certain recruits in, even though he has raised the team GPA and has put the team in a position to not lose any scholarships. The AD does not control that. He should have fired Hawkins, but no one wanted to pay the buyout. That was a universal administrative position. Judge the athletic department more than by just wins and losses when judging your AD.

On the same note, Bohn should give the job to McClain if Bzdelik leaves. Bzdelik has been looking to leave since he took the job. Minnesota T-Wolves and Wake Forest have both come after him and he almost went to Minnesota and is probably gone to Wake Forest. I believe McClain will stick with the program longer anyway. He is a heckuva coach. And he should bring in Mike Dunlap, who is not going to St. John's just yet, to be his top assistant.

At the same time, Bohn is in charge of hiring new coaches. In each of his hires, to date, I believe he has conducted ONE interview, and made the hire. I.e. he had ONE target, he went after that target, he hired that target.

Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing. But, I for one would like to see a legitimate search and interview process. After the job is advertised and resumes are received, digest them. Use a committee, if you want. Pick five of them. And interview ALL FIVE of those people. Have a 2nd interview, if you want. Narrow it from 5 to 3 and from 3 to 1.

I would much rather look at it and see some evidence that they really have thought this through, that they have truly performed a search and they are truly hiring the best candidate for the job.

 

[DBT]

Even I, the most Pollyannish guy out here, am totally bummed out right now. I have no idea whom to blame. I think a big part of CU's problem is just the fact that CU gets no financial support from anywhere. The State ****s us over. There are no big time donors. The admin now believes athletics aren't important and that admission standards for athletes cannot be relaxed. I just feel like us CU athletics fans must be viewed as a huge minority by the powers that be.

 

[JimmyBuff]

On the same note, Bohn should give the job to McClain if Bzdelik leaves. .

We are going to hire a coach that was mediocre at Wyoming and was ultimately fired? And how is that a good move again?

I will be very disappointed we can't find anyone better than Steve McClain. We need someone in here that can recruit some.. Agree with Slade, there needs to be a national search interviewing a wide pool of candidates.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I really don't have an issue with Jeff leaving to take the Wake job. It's a great position to go to. I always knew Jeff would leave, I just thought it would be after the next season. Good luck to him. I'm pulling for WF now.

Do not want McClain to be the next HC. It is sooooo important to get a good coach in here to replace Bz, and keep this program heading in the right direction. McClain is a good coach, but I believe he's a good asst. coach. Not a HC.

Please don't **** this up Mike. Please.

 

[Scotch]

We are going to hire a coach that was mediocre at Wyoming and was ultimately fired? And how is that a good move again?

I will be very disappointed we can't find anyone better than Steve McClain. We need someone in here that can recruit some.. Agree with Slade, there needs to be a national search interviewing a wide pool of candidates.

McClain is a good coach. He had some decent teams up in Wyoming, namely the '02 team that made the tourney and beat Gonzaga in the first round. It's hard to be successful at a school where you're an also ran in the MWC. If the program was in a state where it needed to be blown up and start over again, then I'd hope Bohn would look elsewhere. But McClain is in imo a good hire right now.

 

[dio]

The more I hear about McClain, the more i like him. The players like him. He seems to genuinely love the school, the city, and the state. He seems to be very serious and dedicated to building this program.

Will that translate into W's? I don't know, but I'm will to give him the chance.

 

[NiTownBuff]

I'm in McClain's corner in this one. Echoing what a couple posters said, it's not a rebuild. The pieces are in place, and an offensive system is in place that will allow us to compete in the B12, even if we don't have the best talent. If we bring in an outside coach, it will require scrapping the fast-Princeton offense that we've spent 3 years building. The players love McClain, he knows the offense, and I think he can be successful with the foundation that has been built.

But I still feel sick about Bzdelik leaving.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

McClain is a good coach. He had some decent teams up in Wyoming, namely the '02 team that made the tourney and beat Gonzaga in the first round. It's hard to be successful at a school where you're an also ran in the MWC. If the program was in a state where it needed to be blown up and start over again, then I'd hope Bohn would look elsewhere. But McClain is in imo a good hire right now.

I'm not so sure bringing in a guy like Dunlap or a top level asst coach would be blowing up everything Jeff accomplished here. I think we'd see some transfers here and there, but overall the new coach would benifit from the new attitude Jeff has installed here in Boulder. People don't have the same opinion about our program that they did before Jeff got here.

 

[SECOBuffsFan]

You don't give someone the title Associate Head Coach and then by-pass him when the job opens.....I don't think he gave himself that job

 

[Mick Ronson]

You don't give someone the title Associate Head Coach and then by-pass him when the job opens.....I don't think he gave himself that job

well, it's Bzdelik who gave McClain the title. If Bz takes the Wake job, his authority has left the building. Not sure, for argument's sake, that CU has the responsibility to honor the order of succession laid out by the leaving coach. i have nothing against McClain. Just saying.

 

[Liver]

we are being tested, Buff fans. ... sorely tested by the sports gods...

perhaps the long period of doom will end soon in a glorious way.

i think bohn needs to have hiring decisions pulled from him, at least behind the scenes. they need to have committees do the real search.

i don't know enough about men's bb to know whether mcclain is the right choice, but i do know that he's not exactly a household name and he won't be a "big name" hire that immediately causes recruits to think about CU. bz leaves a good nucleus, i think. if mcclain is hired and holds them together and then maybe adds that missing big man we so desperately need, then maybe things will be looking up in men's bb.

women's bb... the hire really seems from the outside like a huge stretch. it looks like a cost-savings hire and nothing else. i don't feel really great about it, but i guess if barry is going to be a mentor to her and all that, maybe there is some outside chance that it works out.

hawkins just needs to go. and, because football is the engine that drives everything, i think some of the big boosters will insist on a different kind of process to select the next hc. the CUAD cannot be profitable without a good football program. the math just doesn't work. so, they need to get the next hire right.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

You don't give someone the title Associate Head Coach and then by-pass him when the job opens.....I don't think he gave himself that job

He isn't entitled to anything. It's just a title. Nothing more.