Its the scheme and the coach. | Why did Marquette extend Steve Wojciechowski?Paint Touches We wouldnt write these blogs or do these pods if we didnt care. He becomes the first Black head coach in Marquette men's basketball history . Chris Collins just finished his first season at Northwestern. Let me repeat, Marquettes extended run of form the past 7 years mean that all of Villanova, Creighton, Xavier, Seton Hall, Providence, Butler and now even old friend UConn have had more success both in the Big East and in the Tournament and would have the upper hand slicing up all sorts of benchmarks. (Barthag is Bart Torviks play on pythag, which is an estimate of what a teams chance of winning would be against the average DI team. He's in his seventh season and finally looks to have a contender on his hands. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. So why is he on the list? In Wojciechowskis seven seasons at Marquette, his record was 128-95. Wojciechowskis system doesnt respect the value of a possession on either end of the court. This year's carousel turned into the noisiest of the past decade -- if not longer -- and that doesn't even account for Mike Krzyzewski announcing he'll be retiring from Duke in 2022. Yet theres not even a guarantee that Wojciechowski can coach an offense that doesnt involve a generational shooting and scoring talent. This is obviously a long-shot but a chance at Duke might make Stevens stop and think. Memo to anyone who loves biryani: after reading Kalyan Balaven's dishy piece, you'll never view rice and spices the same way again. You know who else It is anticipated that he will get Texas to the Final Four and turn that program into one that can win the Big 12 as often as any other. Sanders steps in on an interim basis for the 2021-22 season. It might be tough to wrest him from an NBA franchise though. Scheyer won the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fames Jules D. Mazor Award in 2006 as the Jewish high school athlete of the year, then received the Marty Glickman Award four years later as the Jewish college athlete of the year. Schertz spent 13 years and Lincoln Memorial and won nearly 85% of his games. Scheyer chose Duke over finalists Illinois, Wisconsin and Arizona, and he played in 144 games over four seasons for the Blue Devils, including 108 starts. He then started working with the Duke University as an assistant coach in the year 1999 and in 2008 he worked his way up to the position of . Teams rise and fall all the time, so it can be considered a little bit of cherry picking to pit Halls best run in almost 3 decades against Marquettes current form, but its not an isolated incident. Rob GilbertCreator of the Success Hotline - (973) 743-4690"A must read . Gambling problem? No. 5 Xavier having best season with room to grow Shrewsberry was considered an inevitable head-coaching hire in college basketball for a couple of years now, and he'll stay in the Big Ten, as the school is now the only one in that league employing Black coaches in men's basketball and football. I thought with COVID he would get one more year to prove himself, however, he has never been able to run an offense or get wins when they counted, Herbst said. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images). MUs era-long struggles defensively have been chronicled for years and years and years. 160 Human Resources jobs in Taipei, Taipei City, Taiwan (6 new) He's currently Krzyzewski's top assistant and has become something of a recruiting powerhouse. When conference play begins, MU is essentially a .500 team, they get worse from there in February, and are consistently playing some of their worst basketball of the year in March. Duke basketball assistant Jon Scheyer (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images). Coach K to retire after next season. Who will replace him? (Top photo of Dana Altman: Steve Dykes / Getty Images) Get all-access to . Duke's basketball coaches Mike Krzyzewski and Steve Wojciechowski watch the action during the N.C. State game in the 2007 Men's ACC . 9 in the USA Today rankings and No. He was 109-86. . In addition, it was obvious that a defense that had regressed every year in turnover percentage, from #59 nationally in 2015 to #197 in 2018, needed someone that could get stops and create turnovers. 10 by the Associated Press. Wojciechowski, whose disappointing 2020-21 Marquette squad finished 13-14 overall and 8-11 against Big East foes, ended up 128-95 overall and 59-68 in conference play across his seven seasons at the helm in Milwaukee. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports, Marquette Basketball head coach Steve Wojciechowski, Markus Howard Jayce JohnsonMjs Mumen19 Mumen 1424. There's a chance this winds up as the longest lasting marriage of any power-conference hire in this year's cycle. Wilson transitioned out at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and the university plucked Purdue assistant Steve Lutz to get his first head-coaching job in college basketball after 25 years as an assistant. The longer they coach, the more mistakes theyll make. If that is how things shake out, then one would think Steve Wojciechowski who wore the associate head coach tag at Duke from 2008 until his departure to Marquette could at least become a top candidate for his old job in the chair next to Coach K. Of course, now with a wife, two sons, and loads of experience, the 44-year-old Wojo may have other plans. The school last made the NCAAs in 1996. Bob Leverone Charlotte . ALSO READ:Former Duke guard gets bounced from NCAA Tournament. Marquette only posted two seasons in the KenPom top-100 for offensive turnover rate, 2017 and 2018. Follow him on Twitter at @BenSteeleMJS or Instagram at @bensteele_mjs. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, center, speaks with assistants Steve Wojciechowski, left, and Chris Collins on Dec. 31, 2008, at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. who was announced Wednesday as Duke coach Mike Krzyzewskis successor, scored an incredible 21 points in 75 seconds, Indian Trail, High Street intersection work approved in Aurora, Suspect in high-speed chase crashes into, kills veteran Indiana State Trooper trying to stop him: officials, Educators get peek at Paramount play about artificial intelligence which is set to tour schools, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Brad Stevens turned down the chance to return home to Indiana this year, and we likely learned why on Wednesday. Marquettes record in the Big East Tournament is 4-6. He received 217 first-place votes 200 more than the next-closest player. Its time we stop pointing to that hypothetical as a positive example of roster building. Binghamton is one of the toughest jobs in the country, and Dempsey lasted nine seasons despite never finishing above .500. Regular season struggles might be easier to take if Marquette were having Big East Tournament success, but that too has also been an exercise in failure. Steve Wojciechowski was fired by Marquette a few months ago after eight unremarkable seasons. Heath graduated from EMU in 1987. . House Confidential: Coach Wojo's Mequon Manse Urban Milwaukee 2. Wojciechowski also failed to advance beyond the first round of the NCAA Tournament during two appearances with the Golden Eagles in 2017 and 2019. Steve discusses his time as a student-athlete at Duke, his work for . Those skills decline the more time a player spends in the system, are coached out of incoming transfers, but flourish in players who complete their basketball careers elsewhere. UT Martin brought in Ridder, who won 48 games in three seasons at Bethune-Cookman. All 11 teams are headed to Uncasville and Mohegan Sun to start tournament play on Friday. There is nothing in his record or the underlying statistics to indicate that he will be able to meet or exceed the expectations commonly associated with success at Marquette. Obviously that's a massive story, as Coach K has turned Duke into a national powerhouse and won five national titles while reaching the Final Four 12 times during his 41 seasons at the school. As of early June, the only school still in need of filling an open post is Arkansas-Pine Bluff. College basketball coaching moves: Grading 2014's biggest hires four By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. In the midst of the Elite Eight battle between Baylor and Arkansas, Stadium college basketball insider Jeff Goodman tweeted that Duke associate head coach Nate James is one of the leading candidates for the head coaching vacancy at Austin Peay. Marquette has only finished in the top half of the Big East twice under Wojciechowski. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. He took Mizzou on an Elite Eight run in 2002, but the program was put on probation following some pretty significant recruiting violations that seem quaint in hindsight. While he seems entrenched in Boston, if Stevens gets the itch to coach again after a year on the sidelines, Duke could be a perfect fit. Marquette University recently decided to part ways with men's basketball coach Steve Wojciechowski March 19 and hired Shaka Smart as his replacement. Lets look to March, because over the long term, Division 1 college basketball coaches are measured by their success in March. The 43-year-old helped guide Duke to two National Championships (2010, 2015) while sitting next to Mike Krzyzewski on the bench, and his name has been floating around for some mid-major head coaching jobs over the last two seasons. Mar 10, 2021; New York, NY, USA; Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Steve Wojciechowski coaches his team during a time out during the second half of a Big East conference tournament game against the Georgetown Hoyas at Madison Square Garden. Marquette hires Steve Wojciechowski - ABC7 New York The former Duke point guard went 128-95 at the Big East school, with two NCAA Tournament . 4 scorer in state history, and he led the Spartans to berths downstate in three of four seasons, including the Class AA state title as a junior in 2005. Donoghue said what he hopes to see in the 2021-2022 season with new head coach. Well, in Texas if you're a great coach with a successful program it's a nice story. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. New Customer Offer (if applicable). He's doing yoga. Central Michigan won more than 20 games three times in Davis' nine-year run in Mt. (Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics.). The next Duke assistant to get his shot is Nate James, who heads to the OVC and coach Austin Peay. A former McDonald's All-American, he was eventually hired as the head coach at Missouri, and had decent success starting in 1999 before he was fired in 2006. The Golden Eagles introduced Duke assistant . Surprising yet true: The program has made the NCAAs once in 22 years. Check out spreads, parlays, teasers for the best online sports betting experience at BetMGM. MU underperforms with a record of 25-36 (41%). What we do know is that two integral parts of the program who had played leading roles all season would rather sit out a year under a different coach than come back to a top-10 team. To most, no news is bad news since schools don't necessarily announce non-firings. He apparently doesn't eat breakfast. A year before Wojciechowski was hired, the Golden Eagles became part of the new Big East. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our. The Marquette men's basketball team is ready for a new direction. North Carolina, Texas, Indiana and Arizona can all reasonably be labeled top-10 gigs in college basketball. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. According to KenPom, Marquette has finished in the bottom half of the Big East defensively in six of the past seven seasons, and twice were the worst (including 2020-2021). Promotional offers not available in Nevada and New York. Duke basketball (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images). Marquette Fires Coach Steve Wojciechowski After Seven Seasons Joe Kay AP Sports Writer CINCINNATI No Xavier team has won 20 games so quickly or been ranked so high. He was an assistant on the Duke bench for 15 years before Marquette hired him in 2014. Scheyer scored a team-high 23 points in Dukes semifinal win over West Virginia, setting the stage for the national championship game against Butler. When we look deeper into the statistical trends of the Steve Wojciechowski era, it demonstrates exactly why his winning percentage is the worst of any Marquette coach not named Dukiet during the past 57 seasons. Central Connecticut picks an alumnus with deep ties to the area and plenty of experience. All the Golden Eagles are playing for is pride and a polish on the NCAA tournament resume. Otzelberger had a pair of mediocre seasons at UNLV, but prior to that was outstanding at South Dakota State. It resulted in one of the quickest hiring decisions of the 2021 cycle. Shaka Smart leaves Texas to take head coaching job at Marquette Eastern Michigan tapped 56-year-old Stan Heath to be its next coach. As seen in the chart above, Wojciechowskis best season would be the 3rd worst season from 2008-2014 under Buzz and Crean. Its not a nitpick. Nonetheless, we press on with our list of names that could wind up as the next head coach of these Golden Eagles. But instead of identifying the limitation and using it as a reason to either rest your star guard or limit his minutes or alter the teams approach in general, Markus was given full leeway to play as if he was healthy. Clemson, South Carolina, United States. Updated March 02, 2022 8:00 PM. Weve just presented facts. MU was in position to claim the Big East championship, but dropped its final four regular-season games. I do think coach Smart will bring a better defensive team, because he has been consistently a good defensive coach, Marzion said. Under-the-radar candidates might include BYU head coach Mark Pope, Tulane head coach Ron Hunter, and Milwaukee Bucks assistant Charles Lee. We wish Steve, Lindsay, Jack and Charlie nothing but the best in the future."Wojciechowski went 128-95 (0.574) in seven seasons as head coach at Marquette, including two NCAA tournament . In Ontario, if you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact ConnexOntario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. Nobody at Marquette expects this program to suddenly win the conference every year, but this Golden Eagles program should be an NCAA Tournament contender on a more regular basis. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. He played point guard at Duke University from 1994 until 1998. Wojciechowski has been on Duke's staff since 1999, was promoted to associate head coach in 2008 and has worked primarily with the post players during his 15 seasons on the staff. However, based on the decline to a sub-.500 winning percentage in February and March, opposing coaches may be learning how to adjust to what the Golden Eagles are doing on both ends of the court. Best known for being a standout at Wake Forest, playing alongside a guy named Chris Paul. The question is, can he be as successful in a power conference as he was in the Missouri Valley? Within days of Legans' move to Portland, Eastern Washington announced longtime assistant David Riley would take over. Marquette moved quickly and quietly to lure Shaka Smart away from Texas, and in doing so, turned some heads. Plus, Marquette isn't Duke. Sources: Marquette targeting Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski in The data notes that Marquette has only exceeded their preseason expectations once in seven seasons of Steve Wojciechowskis guidance, and its not even the season you think it is. Pope is thriving in one of the most comfortable jobs in college basketball and could be in the mix at Utah if he wants a high-major promotion without a cross-country move. Coburn was promoted from within. He bought a pickup . NCAA Coaching Carousel: Marquette Fires Steve Wojciechowski - Forbes Simeon's Derrick Rose, left, and Glenbrook North's Jon Scheyer during an IHSA Class AA quarterfinal March 17, 2006, in Peoria. When Marquette has reached the quarterfinals and (only once!) One week after parting ways with Steve Wojciechowski, the school is set to hire 43-year-old Shaka Smart away from . Required fields are marked *, Marquette University recently decided to part ways with. So it is between 0 and 1, and higher is better.). If you want to call March nothing but a crapshoot, his head coaching record is even more disappointing in Big East play. Andrew Doughty is a writer for BetMGM and host of High Motor by BetMGM, an NFL and college football podcast available on Apple Podcasts and everywhere else. Marzion said that consistency will be key to having Marquette be a successful team. After Rowsey graduated, Marquette needed another ball-handler. In the Class AA quarterfinals, the defending champion Spartans lost to eventual state champ Simeon, led by junior point guard Derrick Rose. Marquette lost six of the last seven, failed to win any of three games that would have given it a share of the Big East title, and slipped to a 5 seed where it proceeded to get embarrassed against 12th seeded Murray State and soon to be NBA Rookie of the Year Ja Morant. Despite that there is little evidence to suggest that he has the ability to deliver results commensurate with Marquettes basketball heritage. Duke basketball wanted to hire former player Tommy Amaker as the Blue Devils' next head coach after Mike Krzyzewski and even offered him the job, but it did . BET Quarterfinals Preview: #4 St. Johns vs #5 Marquette. Jim Ferry was a good interim head coach for Penn State last season, and prior to that took LIU Brooklyn to the NCAA Tournament before he sputtered at Duquesne. ALSO READ:Duke recruiting targets decision potentially leaked. Marquette might go after two current high-major coaches, Shaka Smart and Nate Oats, both of whom are Wisconsin natives. Hes doing yoga. Email. You may be wondering what hes been up to since then. Duke basketball coaching staff on verge of unexpected shakeup Kolbe Donoghue, a first-year in the College of Business Administration, said that the dismissal of Wojciechowski will benefit the team for the upcoming season. It's been reported he resigned after backlash over his players kneeling during the national anthem. But before we can get to that, we have to bring up that Wojciechowskis choice to play a clearly injured Markus through groin and wrist injuries at the end of the 2019 season was baffling in real time. Wojciechowski recruited star Markus Howard to the Golden Eagles and still struggled. Wojciechowski was 59-68 in Big East competition . The Wojo tax is real; the sum is less than the parts. 1976. Defensively, MU is a bottom half of the Big East team in every single category, nearly every single season. This season, efficiency metrics showed Marquette was misallocating the frontcourt minutes, and although Justin Lewis injury mooted the point, a late change in the starting lineup and a reduction of minutes for Koby McEwen showed a marked improvement in the teams output. Wojciechowskis poor use of readily available analytics and insistence on lineups that produce at lower rates than other available groups once again taxes the team over the course of a season. Steven Michael Wojciechowski (born August 11, 1976), also known as Wojo, is an American basketball coach and former player who was the head coach at Marquette University for seven seasons. Texas nabbed its top target, which is a reflection on how coveted the UT job is. No shortage of alumni who've been picked to be head coaches this year. Wojciechowski has been on Duke's staff since 1999, was promoted to associate head coach in 2008 and has worked primarily with the post players during his 15 seasons on the staff. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. This isnt the 80s or early 90s, where resources put a hard cap on just how much success a coach could have. Here's a look at five realistic candidates to replace Krzyzewski at Duke. Wojciechowski was born and raised in Maryland, starring in high school in Baltimore. Wojciechowski was hired by MU in April 2014, inking a six-year deal. The Four Factors (click the link and read if youre not familiar) demonstrates the programs struggle to perform at a high level. If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. One name well skip is Crean, who currently sits at Georgia and would no doubt welcome a return to the Golden Eagles. The 33-year-old has been associate head coach since 2018. He also gathered experience at Michigan State under Tom Izzo. Coach K coaching tree: Former Mike Krzyzewski assistants who became 19+ in Ontario. Wojciechowski becomes the second Mike Krzyzewski assistant in two years to land a head coaching job at a program in a major conference. Instead of working out rotations to split up the tandem as much as possible to ensure max minutes individually with minimal floor time together, the final decision was to load up on the duo and try to just outscore the opposition. Leverage your professional network, and get hired. Mike Krzyzewski could also promote Director of Basketball Operations and Player Development Nolan Smith to an assistant coaching position as he was rumored to be joining the Memphis Tigers last season as an assistant. Unfortunately, he just didnt have the same success as those two coaches. This past season, Marquette finished just 13-14 and were under .500 in Big East play for the fourth time under Wojciechowski. So while Wojciechowski undoubtedly deserves credit for building a team that painted to be a Final Four quality squad, you cant live off of what could have been. Before Marquette fired Wojciechowski on Friday, nine days after the completion of his seventh season as head coach, they hadnt fired a head coach since Mike Deane was dismissed after the 1998-99 season. He was elevated to associate head coach prior to the 2019-20 season. In the early 2010s, the online arguments wed have with the national media were about whether MU was a top-20 program instead of the top-30 or so nationally. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Gambling problem? This season the team once again underachieved by finishing 9th after being picked 6th in the pre-season by Big East coaches. Prosser got his first head job at Western Carolina three years ago. Still, the 48-year-old Kentucky has shown a willingness to jump at opportunities and might be interested in a Big East job with loads of resources. Basically, it sounds like hes found that while coaching requires you to grind non-stop, there are things outside of that life that are also valuable. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, center, speaks with assistants Steve Wojciechowski, left, and Chris Collins on Dec. 31, 2008, at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. (Chuck Liddy, McClatchy-Tribune). I feel that Marquette has had too much talent in recent years to not make deep tournament runs, so a change in leadership is definitely a step in the right direction, Donoghue said. Amid the Nate James news, fellow associate head coach Jon Scheyer is still in the mix for the head coaching vacancy at DePaul, located approximately 30 minutes outside of his hometown of Northbrook, Illinois. Big East Game Thread: #6 Marquette vs St. Johns. While it may come as a bit of surprise, Steve Wojciechowski has been fired as head coach of Marquette Basketball after a seven-year stint. As tough as games have been to watch recently, we watch them all with the hope the team wins consistently and proves us wrong. And for all of the words that have been spilt, what it ultimately boils down to is that Marquette basketball under Steve Wojciechowskis guidance has lowered the bar as to what is a satisfactory result. He's one of the most beloved players in program history and a personal favorite of Coach K. A former NABC Defensive Player of the Year in 1998 and a two-time All-ACC pick (second and third teams), Wojo was long thought to be Krzyzewski's successor. It's also been a rare year not just in terms of volume, but quality of job. Utah State tapped sitting head coach Ryan Odom -- of UMBC -- to fill its vacancy. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Duke's Steve Wojciechowski (12) knocks fists with head coach Mike Krzyzewski before a game against North Carolina in 1997.
