Former Demon basketball assistant coach Buzz Williams (1999-2000) was hired Monday night as the new head coach at Marquette.
Williams, 35, got a six-year contract and will be officially introduced at a press conference this afternoon. He was recommended by his two most recent bosses, departed Marquette and new Indiana coach Tom Crean, and Kentucky and rumored Oklahoma State candidate Billy Gillespie. Williams worked for Gillespie for two seasons at Texas A&M, including their Sweet 16 season in 2006.
Marquette interviewed nobody else. That says they were mightily impressed by what Williams had to say.
Congrats to Buzz - a relentless worker who stays in touch with friends in the community and the NSU family.
ALSO - Demon baseball coach J.P. Davis was rooting hard for Memphis last night in the NCAA basketball championship game. Davis grew up in Memphis and was a baseball player for the Tigers.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Buzz on former Demons in college hoops
Former Demon assistant coach Buzz Williams is reportedly the likely pick to succeed Tom Crean as head coach at Marquette.
Former Demon point guard Mike Brey, the veteran head coach at Notre Dame, is said to be on the short list of new LSU athletics director Joe Alleva to take over the Tigers' basketball team. They worked together while Brey was an assistant coach more than a decade ago at Duke.
The Williams story has a lot more traction. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting Williams is the only person who has interviewed for the job, although he's been at Marquette only since last summer.
Buzz, a native Texan, joined Dave Simmons on coach Mike McConathy's first NSU staff in 1999-2000, then moved to Colorado State a year later. Williams was a relentless recruiter whose sweater vests and bizarre handwriting were trademarks. Any prospect who got a note written by Williams remembered it, that's for sure. His penmanship may have held him back a year in elementary school.
He moved from Colorado State to join Billy Gillespie's staff at Texas A&M for a couple of years, helping the Aggies to the 2006 NCAA Sweet 16, then took the post of head coach at New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He recruited well and had a commendable 14-17 record in 2006-07, but headed north last summer to Marquette to take a position on Crean's staff.
The Journal-Sentinel's Marquette beat writer said Williams is viewed as the candidate who can hold together a talented recruiting class with some signees who have indicated they will look elsewhere if he is not hired as head coach. Another source indicated Crean has told friends Williams will get the job. Hope so - and if so, wouldn't at all be surprising to see the Demons heading back to Milwaukee in the near future.
As for Brey, it would be very surprising for him to leave Notre Dame to come back south to LSU. He is a lifelong Catholic who considered Notre Dame his dream job and he's done wonderfully there. He's highly regarded on campus and last year received a very prestigious award from the university's alumni association which has been presented selectively through the years to figures such as Regis Philbin.
Last year, he signed a two-year contract extension through 2012-13. Brey stays in touch with friends like Jim Wells, Mike Greene, Jim Hoops and Tom Brassel from his days (1977-80) at NSU, along with his head coach with the Demons, Tynes Hildebrand.
Doug Ireland, SID
Former Demon point guard Mike Brey, the veteran head coach at Notre Dame, is said to be on the short list of new LSU athletics director Joe Alleva to take over the Tigers' basketball team. They worked together while Brey was an assistant coach more than a decade ago at Duke.
The Williams story has a lot more traction. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting Williams is the only person who has interviewed for the job, although he's been at Marquette only since last summer.
Buzz, a native Texan, joined Dave Simmons on coach Mike McConathy's first NSU staff in 1999-2000, then moved to Colorado State a year later. Williams was a relentless recruiter whose sweater vests and bizarre handwriting were trademarks. Any prospect who got a note written by Williams remembered it, that's for sure. His penmanship may have held him back a year in elementary school.
He moved from Colorado State to join Billy Gillespie's staff at Texas A&M for a couple of years, helping the Aggies to the 2006 NCAA Sweet 16, then took the post of head coach at New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He recruited well and had a commendable 14-17 record in 2006-07, but headed north last summer to Marquette to take a position on Crean's staff.
The Journal-Sentinel's Marquette beat writer said Williams is viewed as the candidate who can hold together a talented recruiting class with some signees who have indicated they will look elsewhere if he is not hired as head coach. Another source indicated Crean has told friends Williams will get the job. Hope so - and if so, wouldn't at all be surprising to see the Demons heading back to Milwaukee in the near future.
As for Brey, it would be very surprising for him to leave Notre Dame to come back south to LSU. He is a lifelong Catholic who considered Notre Dame his dream job and he's done wonderfully there. He's highly regarded on campus and last year received a very prestigious award from the university's alumni association which has been presented selectively through the years to figures such as Regis Philbin.
Last year, he signed a two-year contract extension through 2012-13. Brey stays in touch with friends like Jim Wells, Mike Greene, Jim Hoops and Tom Brassel from his days (1977-80) at NSU, along with his head coach with the Demons, Tynes Hildebrand.
Doug Ireland, SID
Friday, April 04, 2008
Can do Kenny Lannou, and canny McCann
Former NSU assistant SID Kenny Lannou, here in 2002-03 before moving to his alma mater at Baylor, has rapidly moved up the ladder in the sports information business. Earlier this year, he was elevated to the top spot in the Kansas State SID office after spending the football season as interim SID.
Lannou worked with women's basketball and baseball as his primary sports at Northwestern, while handling graphic design for all publications. His positive personality earned him the nickname "Can Do" which also turned into "Kangaroo" when our friend Coach Black got involved. (Former Demon softball catcher Jamie Frasier, who is about as zany as it gets, also deserves some credit for popularizing the "Kangaroo" moniker. Jamie once sprained a dimple from laughing too much.)
Before this year, Lannou worked with baseball and the Wildcats' nationally-powerful volleyball program. In baseball, he worked alongside former Demon pitching coach Sean McCann (1998-2001), who came to Natchitoches with John Cohen in January 1998.
McCann left NSU to go into private business but couldn't stand being out of baseball and coaching. He took a spot as head coach at Bossier Parish Community College, then moved after a year to Missouri and helped revitalize the Tigers into an NCAA Tournament team. When his friend Brad Hill got hired at K-State, McCann moved west and the Wildcats have quickly moved into the high end of the Big XII baseball world.
Sean is definitely in it for "the love of the game." If you ever have the chance to meet him, request a Harry Caray impression. It's dead on.
Also in Manhattan, Kan., Lannou works closely with another friend of Demon baseball. Mark Janssen is the sports editor of the Manhattan paper, and the father of former Demon third base coach Travis Janssen, now at Jacksonville State.
Lannou worked with women's basketball and baseball as his primary sports at Northwestern, while handling graphic design for all publications. His positive personality earned him the nickname "Can Do" which also turned into "Kangaroo" when our friend Coach Black got involved. (Former Demon softball catcher Jamie Frasier, who is about as zany as it gets, also deserves some credit for popularizing the "Kangaroo" moniker. Jamie once sprained a dimple from laughing too much.)
Before this year, Lannou worked with baseball and the Wildcats' nationally-powerful volleyball program. In baseball, he worked alongside former Demon pitching coach Sean McCann (1998-2001), who came to Natchitoches with John Cohen in January 1998.
McCann left NSU to go into private business but couldn't stand being out of baseball and coaching. He took a spot as head coach at Bossier Parish Community College, then moved after a year to Missouri and helped revitalize the Tigers into an NCAA Tournament team. When his friend Brad Hill got hired at K-State, McCann moved west and the Wildcats have quickly moved into the high end of the Big XII baseball world.
Sean is definitely in it for "the love of the game." If you ever have the chance to meet him, request a Harry Caray impression. It's dead on.
Also in Manhattan, Kan., Lannou works closely with another friend of Demon baseball. Mark Janssen is the sports editor of the Manhattan paper, and the father of former Demon third base coach Travis Janssen, now at Jacksonville State.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
One more weather tale
As the heavy rains on Sunday and drizzles and cloudy weather stall the NSU baseball team, here's one more story related to travel in East Texas amidst Sunday's vicious storms.
Lady Demon volleyball head coach Brittany Uffelman was returning from Houston Sunday afternoon and was caught in the flooding east of Houston. Incredibly, in the same traffic jam on a pine-tree lined flat stretch of Texas 103 was Lady Demon basketball point guard Tweet Williams and a few more cars with NSU students -- all returning from spring break.
The flood waters were fast moving and daunting, Uffelman said. The word was that a dam near San Augustine burst, resulting in a lot of the trouble, she said.
Ever the resourceful one, she leaned on one of NSU's great friends, the Super Trooper, Louisiana State Policeman Steve Pezant. He was working back on the east side of Toledo Bend as the wicked weather attacked Sabine and Natchitoches parishes, but he was able to give Coach B and her friends some driving tips.
Getting a cell phone signal in the East Texas piney woods was no small feat, she said, but she got one bar in one spot, enough to dial up Pezant. Authorities along the highway were directing folks south toward Jasper, but Pezant recommended trying some smaller roads for a shorter trip back, and the strategy saved some time for the NSU crew.
Lady Demon volleyball head coach Brittany Uffelman was returning from Houston Sunday afternoon and was caught in the flooding east of Houston. Incredibly, in the same traffic jam on a pine-tree lined flat stretch of Texas 103 was Lady Demon basketball point guard Tweet Williams and a few more cars with NSU students -- all returning from spring break.
The flood waters were fast moving and daunting, Uffelman said. The word was that a dam near San Augustine burst, resulting in a lot of the trouble, she said.
Ever the resourceful one, she leaned on one of NSU's great friends, the Super Trooper, Louisiana State Policeman Steve Pezant. He was working back on the east side of Toledo Bend as the wicked weather attacked Sabine and Natchitoches parishes, but he was able to give Coach B and her friends some driving tips.
Getting a cell phone signal in the East Texas piney woods was no small feat, she said, but she got one bar in one spot, enough to dial up Pezant. Authorities along the highway were directing folks south toward Jasper, but Pezant recommended trying some smaller roads for a shorter trip back, and the strategy saved some time for the NSU crew.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Updating NSU baseball's journey home
Well, the team rolled back onto campus around midnight last night, after hours of dodging torrential rains, flash floods, and tornadoes in east Texas.
At one point, the bus was trapped on top of a hill with flood waters on both sides, so what does a team full of 18-22 year olds do during that time... how about making the best of the situation by playing in the water.
Finally, word came out that a route was open heading to Jasper and then back home.
Two road trips in a row, the Demons have been stranded on their way home.
Last Tuesday night on their way back from Baton Rouge and LSU, the bus was halted in traffic for nearly an hour on I-49 due to a two-car wreck.
Let's hope that tomorrow's trip to Shreveport and Centenary are flawless.
At one point, the bus was trapped on top of a hill with flood waters on both sides, so what does a team full of 18-22 year olds do during that time... how about making the best of the situation by playing in the water.
Finally, word came out that a route was open heading to Jasper and then back home.
Two road trips in a row, the Demons have been stranded on their way home.
Last Tuesday night on their way back from Baton Rouge and LSU, the bus was halted in traffic for nearly an hour on I-49 due to a two-car wreck.
Let's hope that tomorrow's trip to Shreveport and Centenary are flawless.
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