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Jeff Bzdelik likely would have gone to Minnesota had the offer come earlier in the summer.
He met with Timberwolves executive David Kahn in Las Vegas. The discussion was about making Bzdelik a top assistant coach to be the nuts and bolts inside, while whomever Kahn selected to be the head coach would be the face of the team. But the head-coaching search dragged for weeks and into August before Kahn selected Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis for the gig.
Bzdelik didn't wait for Kahn or Rambis or anyone else from the Timberwolves organization to make a play, if they were going to do so after the hire was official. He knew he had to renew his commitment to Colorado. He had invested too much the past two seasons with the Buffaloes, suffering through a 9-22 season last year (1-15 in the Big 12) while losing eight games by five points or fewer and one game in overtime (by nine points) to Texas. Colorado went 12-20 in 2007-08.
If Colorado was ever going to get out of the dungeon of a conference in which Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Texas A&M hold a firm grip on the talented top half of the league, Bzdelik had to stay. The school couldn't afford another coaching turnover, even if it may have gone to well-respected associate head coach Steve McClain, who had done a decent job at Wyoming.
"This school has been through some bad situations," Bzdelik said Thursday as he prepared for a team workout. "The football program has gone through some things. We had to build back up the academic integrity, the APR, the competitive spirit. We had to create a culture that would be rock-solid.
"Yeah, last year, we won only one game, but we did that with only one senior and one junior," Bzdelik said. "Most of the time, we had three freshmen and a sophomore on the court. We weren't mature enough or experienced enough, and that's the truth."
Bzdelik didn't suddenly lose his ability to win games at CU. He led Air Force to a No. 11 ranking in the country after taking over a program that had been on quite a run from the Joe Scott-Chris Mooney Princeton-style revival. He was 50-16 in two seasons at the Academy, leading it to the NCAA tournament in 2006 and the NIT in 2007. Bzdelik, 56, coached for 31 years prior to CU, including taking the Denver Nuggets to the NBA playoffs. His two-year win total of 50-plus wins at Air Force was the best two-year period in Air Force basketball history, and he guided the Falcons to a 31-1 home record.
Bzdelik is coveted in the NBA. But he has been able to bridge the NBA and college game because of his wealth of knowledge and spending quality time early in his career at Davidson with Eddie Biedenbach (now at UNC Asheville), Bob McKillop (now the head coach at Davidson) and Rick Barnes (now the head coach at Texas). That was before he went to work for Wes Unseld and Pat Riley in the NBA.
"I've learned to coach at every level from great people who teach the game," Bzdelik said. "There's a balance there. And then I did inherit a junior- and senior-laden Air Force team."
The Air Force run appears over in the Mountain West, as the Falcons have won 16 and 10 games, respectively, in the two years since Bzdelik left and Jeff Reynolds took over.
But even Air Force in the Mountain West isn't comparable to Colorado in the Big 12. No one would argue that taking Air Force to the top of the MWC is harder. The MWC doesn't have national title contenders in the league, while the Big 12 does. The state of Colorado, home to both schools, doesn't produce elite talent. The most notable of late is senior Matt Bouldin at Gonzaga and sophomore Reggie Jackson at Boston College. Neither player is deemed a lock to be a pro.
The facilities at Colorado pale in comparison to those of the rest of the conference. The Buffaloes don't receive special treatment like other members of the league.
The abyss from which Colorado retreated included Bzdelik's flirtation with the NBA and rumors that Cory Higgins, who averaged 17 points per game, wasn't going to return for his junior season. Rumors were hot in the summer that Higgins would bolt. Bzdelik heard them and had to investigate.
"There were some coaches who approached him," Bzdelik said. "But he's rock-solid. He's a heckuva player."
The Buffaloes will need point guard Shannon Sharpe and Australian center Shane Harris-Tunks to contribute, and the expectations are low outside of Boulder. But there is certainly hope inside the basketball office. That's why Bzdelik said he called up Dick and Tony Bennett, formerly of Washington State, and Herb Sendek at Arizona State to see how they were able to resuscitate their programs. The Washington State example is probably more akin to Colorado, with a recruiting base that is hardly fertile.
Bzdelik said he has in his contract that by Year 3 a practice facility would break ground. It hasn't yet as Year 3 begins. But Bzdelik is committed to staying at CU.
"I realized last year, when the Chicago Bulls called me and when Minnesota called me, that I know I can do better here," Bzdelik said. "I can't say I've taken a team to the Final Four, but I've been to the NBA playoffs nine times [as an assistant or head coach]. A lot of people can't say that, including some of the big names in college. I have an opportunity here. I'm committed to the players. We dug ourselves a big hole, and now we're peeking out over the horizon to see what we can do. If it doesn't work, somebody else will be coaching here."
But to make it work in the near future, Bzdelik has to stay. A turnover every few years won't work at a place like Colorado. Bzdelik made the commitment to stay. We'll see if it pans out with a commitment from the school and, more important, players who can help turn around a program that hasn't been relevant for some time.
Jeff Bzdelik likely would have gone to Minnesota had the offer come earlier in the summer.
He met with Timberwolves executive David Kahn in Las Vegas. The discussion was about making Bzdelik a top assistant coach to be the nuts and bolts inside, while whomever Kahn selected to be the head coach would be the face of the team. But the head-coaching search dragged for weeks and into August before Kahn selected Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis for the gig.
Bzdelik didn't wait for Kahn or Rambis or anyone else from the Timberwolves organization to make a play, if they were going to do so after the hire was official. He knew he had to renew his commitment to Colorado. He had invested too much the past two seasons with the Buffaloes, suffering through a 9-22 season last year (1-15 in the Big 12) while losing eight games by five points or fewer and one game in overtime (by nine points) to Texas. Colorado went 12-20 in 2007-08.
If Colorado was ever going to get out of the dungeon of a conference in which Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Texas A&M hold a firm grip on the talented top half of the league, Bzdelik had to stay. The school couldn't afford another coaching turnover, even if it may have gone to well-respected associate head coach Steve McClain, who had done a decent job at Wyoming.
"This school has been through some bad situations," Bzdelik said Thursday as he prepared for a team workout. "The football program has gone through some things. We had to build back up the academic integrity, the APR, the competitive spirit. We had to create a culture that would be rock-solid.
"Yeah, last year, we won only one game, but we did that with only one senior and one junior," Bzdelik said. "Most of the time, we had three freshmen and a sophomore on the court. We weren't mature enough or experienced enough, and that's the truth."
Bzdelik didn't suddenly lose his ability to win games at CU. He led Air Force to a No. 11 ranking in the country after taking over a program that had been on quite a run from the Joe Scott-Chris Mooney Princeton-style revival. He was 50-16 in two seasons at the Academy, leading it to the NCAA tournament in 2006 and the NIT in 2007. Bzdelik, 56, coached for 31 years prior to CU, including taking the Denver Nuggets to the NBA playoffs. His two-year win total of 50-plus wins at Air Force was the best two-year period in Air Force basketball history, and he guided the Falcons to a 31-1 home record.
Bzdelik is coveted in the NBA. But he has been able to bridge the NBA and college game because of his wealth of knowledge and spending quality time early in his career at Davidson with Eddie Biedenbach (now at UNC Asheville), Bob McKillop (now the head coach at Davidson) and Rick Barnes (now the head coach at Texas). That was before he went to work for Wes Unseld and Pat Riley in the NBA.
"I've learned to coach at every level from great people who teach the game," Bzdelik said. "There's a balance there. And then I did inherit a junior- and senior-laden Air Force team."
The Air Force run appears over in the Mountain West, as the Falcons have won 16 and 10 games, respectively, in the two years since Bzdelik left and Jeff Reynolds took over.
But even Air Force in the Mountain West isn't comparable to Colorado in the Big 12. No one would argue that taking Air Force to the top of the MWC is harder. The MWC doesn't have national title contenders in the league, while the Big 12 does. The state of Colorado, home to both schools, doesn't produce elite talent. The most notable of late is senior Matt Bouldin at Gonzaga and sophomore Reggie Jackson at Boston College. Neither player is deemed a lock to be a pro.
The facilities at Colorado pale in comparison to those of the rest of the conference. The Buffaloes don't receive special treatment like other members of the league.
The abyss from which Colorado retreated included Bzdelik's flirtation with the NBA and rumors that Cory Higgins, who averaged 17 points per game, wasn't going to return for his junior season. Rumors were hot in the summer that Higgins would bolt. Bzdelik heard them and had to investigate.
"There were some coaches who approached him," Bzdelik said. "But he's rock-solid. He's a heckuva player."
The Buffaloes will need point guard Shannon Sharpe and Australian center Shane Harris-Tunks to contribute, and the expectations are low outside of Boulder. But there is certainly hope inside the basketball office. That's why Bzdelik said he called up Dick and Tony Bennett, formerly of Washington State, and Herb Sendek at Arizona State to see how they were able to resuscitate their programs. The Washington State example is probably more akin to Colorado, with a recruiting base that is hardly fertile.
Bzdelik said he has in his contract that by Year 3 a practice facility would break ground. It hasn't yet as Year 3 begins. But Bzdelik is committed to staying at CU.
"I realized last year, when the Chicago Bulls called me and when Minnesota called me, that I know I can do better here," Bzdelik said. "I can't say I've taken a team to the Final Four, but I've been to the NBA playoffs nine times [as an assistant or head coach]. A lot of people can't say that, including some of the big names in college. I have an opportunity here. I'm committed to the players. We dug ourselves a big hole, and now we're peeking out over the horizon to see what we can do. If it doesn't work, somebody else will be coaching here."
But to make it work in the near future, Bzdelik has to stay. A turnover every few years won't work at a place like Colorado. Bzdelik made the commitment to stay. We'll see if it pans out with a commitment from the school and, more important, players who can help turn around a program that hasn't been relevant for some time.
