I'll say this...I bet it never hurts. I think there are some white coaches who have just as much street cred as black coaches (for some reason, Jay Wright's name is the first one that comes to mind)...but black coaches probably get the a pass when it comes to first impressions.

4/9/2010 1:05:04 PM

Would a racially mixed coach have the best luck recruiting a player like Blake Griffin?

4/9/2010 1:06:25 PM

Wake Forest has hired Colorado's Jeff Bzdelik as the Demon Deacons' new men's basketball coach.

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/college_basketball/story/7413108/

4/14/2010 10:03:01 AM

by looking at his record only: i can't believe how bad that hire is.

4/14/2010 10:14:58 AM

I'm trying to figure out who was on that Nuggets team he took the playoffs...

4/14/2010 10:16:29 AM

Quote :

"Black coach = instant street cred."

This is parochial thinking. 18 year old kids aren't going to flock to a coach just because he looks like them. Al Skinner and Don Chaney looked more like they belonged in 80's sitcoms than on the sidelines. No young kid is going to "identify" with them because they're both black.

Who has more street cred in college football...Tyrone Willingham, Ruffin McNeil, or Lane Kiffin?

Being younger has some influence, as you can identify more with someone who is 15 years your junior as opposed to 50. But it all comes back to winning and putting people in the pros. Its why Roy Williams and Bill Self, two of the most whitebread guys in the country in two of the most whitebread towns in the country, continue to get top 10 classes, while black coaches continue to flounder.

4/14/2010 10:19:02 AM

"Before taking over at Colorado, Bzdelik found plenty of success during a two-year stint at Air Force, where he was 50-16. He led the Falcons to the NCAA tournament in 2006 and to the Final Four of the NIT the following season.

He has not been to the postseason since the 2007 NIT. That season, those Falcons gave Wake Forest its most lopsided nonconference loss of the modern era when it routed Skip Prosser's Demon Deacons 94-58 in November 2006."

4/14/2010 10:20:19 AM

Quote :

"I'm trying to figure out who was on that Nuggets team he took the playoffs..."

Pretty sure that was Melo's rookie year, 03-04.

4/14/2010 11:33:24 AM

Looks like a buddy hire or something.

Guy has been awful....he had some limited success at Air Force but he already had some talent there. After he left AF, look how awful they have been since.....he clearly left the cupboard bare.

And his stint at CO is unimpressive to say the least.

Even Sid had a better resume than this guy....

4/14/2010 11:44:52 AM

Quote :

"Even Sid had a better resume than this guy...."

I wouldn't go that far

4/14/2010 3:46:53 PM

This hire is like Auburn hiring Gene Chizik, both in terms of being head scratchers and having last names with z's and k's in them without being Kryzewski.

Quote :

"Who has more street cred in college football...Tyrone Willingham, Ruffin McNeil, or Lane Kiffin?"

Lane Kiffin's street cred is solely from being namedropped by Lil Wayne, and not from his coaching ability. But perhaps that's your point.




[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 4:01 PM. Reason : a]

4/14/2010 3:59:21 PM

Bzdelik's NBA career was much more impressive than Lowe's, but he also had a lot more to work with. As far as their college records, it's pretty much a wash...Lowe is 71-62 while Bzdelik is 107-104.

Also, this article is BRUTAL:
http://www.gazette.com/sports/bzdelik-97084-ramsey-happy.html

Quote :

"I’m also wondering if Wellman has taken a close look — or any look — at what has happened at Air Force since Bzdelik’s departure. The Falcons have lost 31 of their past 32 regular-season conference games, and there are plenty of villains to be found in the wreckage. Bzdelik resides near the top of the list. He inherited five players — Nick Welch, Dan Nwaelele, Antoine Hood, Jacob Burtschi and Tim Anderson — who had been or would be first- or second-team all-MWC. In his two seasons at the academy, Bzdelik didn’t recruit one player who approaches that quintet in talent. “Jeff Bzdelik didn’t do a lot of personal recruiting,” athletic director Hans Mueh told me last year. “He just didn’t. I don’t know what to make of that. It just is.” I can explain Bzdelik’s lack of recruiting success at Air Force. He never planned to stay. He never cared about the future of the program. He was too busy plotting his next move. After Bzdelik’s first season at Air Force, he met with Denver Nuggets coach George Karl at a Village Inn to talk about an assistant’s job. This began a Buzzy tradition. After each season, Bzdelik is looking for another job. He talked with NBA teams every offseason during his time in Boulder."

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 4:25 PM. Reason : .]

4/14/2010 4:03:51 PM

Quote :

"This is parochial thinking. 18 year old kids aren't going to flock to a coach just because he looks like them. Al Skinner and Don Chaney looked more like they belonged in 80's sitcoms than on the sidelines. No young kid is going to "identify" with them because they're both black. Who has more street cred in college football...Tyrone Willingham, Ruffin McNeil, or Lane Kiffin? Being younger has some influence, as you can identify more with someone who is 15 years your junior as opposed to 50. But it all comes back to winning and putting people in the pros. Its why Roy Williams and Bill Self, two of the most whitebread guys in the country in two of the most whitebread towns in the country, continue to get top 10 classes, while black coaches continue to flounder."

this is fine and all, but i was talking about Lowe. You know, the guy who's gotten in the door with a ton of top 25 recruits in the past couple years but couldn't seal the deal because we suck. Obviously you can be a lame black guy, but it's an advantage. There are other ways to get street cred and they involve paying guys under the table, having connections with Worldwide Wes, coaching/playing in the NBA or coaching at a historic program. My point was, Lowe should have more of it than, say, this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbhDL-mwypI

Quote :

"He's kinda "youtube," is that how you say it aha...i dont know much about all these new things"

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 4:32 PM. Reason : HES KINDA YOUTBE ]

4/14/2010 4:31:06 PM

Quote :

"You know, the guy who's gotten in the door with a ton of top 25 recruits in the past couple years but couldn't seal the deal because we suck. Obviously"

So you're saying the only reason we were even in the picture for these recruits is because Lowe is black?

4/14/2010 4:36:44 PM

Trust me tower, I'm not giving a fuck if the coach is black, white, chinese or bobbydigital when it comes time to pick my school. That should be the last thing on their mind. Are you more likely to give money to a homeless white bum because he looks like you?

4/14/2010 4:39:29 PM

Yes.

4/14/2010 4:41:28 PM

Wellman obviously didn't like Gaudio for reasons other than performance and was looking for any reason to can him and hire his buddy of 30 years, Bzdelik. I hope this bites Wellman in the ass.

4/14/2010 4:45:32 PM

Quote :

"Trust me tower, I'm not giving a fuck if the coach is black, white, chinese or bobbydigital when it comes time to pick my school."

are you a high school basketball recruit?

I dont think it plays a part in all of them. And if you want to be politically correct, it's a matter of culture more than race. Why do Leonard Hamilton and Frank Haith continue to get athletic 5* guys for no reason? Why were Derrick Favors' final 3 schools coached by Dennis Felton, Sidney Lowe and Paul Hewitt - with the only other two that were in the picture coached by Leonard Hamilton and a guy with connections to Worldwide Wes?

Why does boring as fuck "defense first, system+++" Tony Bennett have 3 pasty white guys committed to him next year?

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 4:57 PM. Reason : ^^^^ im saying it doesnt hurt."Being black" isnt the reason, but he's more relatable to them thanBzd]

4/14/2010 4:50:39 PM

Maybe Wellman hired Bzedicklick because he could not get any big name coach like Barnes or Stevens and he expects that Bzdelik will bolt for some other job in a season or two and that WF then be able to land a bigger name coach. Obviously if that is the case then Wellman fucked up huge in getting rid of Dino so soon. Just a thought.

Here's hoping that WF sucks for the next decade because of this move.

4/14/2010 5:04:27 PM

He remind anyone else of Herb?

Princeton offense, the way he talks, etc.

4/14/2010 5:58:07 PM

Bzedicklick

4/14/2010 6:27:16 PM

yea they had to be looking at stevens or some other big name when they fired dino. i refuse to believe that they were originally looking at this guy ha.

4/15/2010 8:54:21 AM

I think that Wellman had been thinking about Bzdelik for awhile now. They have known each other for 30 years. A couple of sources had been saying that Bzdelik was the only candidate that Wake was considering. I wouldn't be surprised if they had started working on this together weeks ago. Wellman was probably waiting for the right time to fire Gaudio.

4/15/2010 9:07:32 AM

inlaws are friends w/ gaudio...he said all the major media commentators have called him showing support for him, not wake....everyone is very surprised in the bball world.

if this coach blows it...wellman is gone

4/15/2010 9:59:31 AM

Guess which Wake player had this done.

4/15/2010 3:58:06 PM

Chris Paul

4/15/2010 4:00:51 PM

"Coach" Prosser indeed

4/15/2010 4:11:33 PM

didn't Ty Walker get a Skip Prosser tattoo before he even went to Wake?

4/15/2010 4:13:54 PM

Chas McFarland

[Edited on April 15, 2010 at 4:24 PM. Reason : sp]

4/15/2010 4:23:44 PM

^ding ding ding.

4/15/2010 4:31:13 PM

Obviously Prosser had a big impact/influence on McFarland for him to get a tat like that, but that is not even a remotely good tattoo. That thing is embarassing and now it's stuck on his back for the rest of this life. GG. I'm sure that is the way Prosser wanted to be remembered too.

4/15/2010 5:06:26 PM

Urban meyer has a similar tattoo of Tim Tebow, but it's not a "RIP NEVAR FORGET" type deal, just a commemorative one covering his college career.

4/15/2010 5:17:22 PM

Just saw all five of Wake's recruits re-committed. gg Coach Bzzzzzzz.

No big names, but a really solid 5-man class for them. 2 are ranked in scout's top 50; 4 are in the top 100.

4/20/2010 2:25:21 PM