Milwaukee columnist Michael Hunt begins his latest column: "The standard question this time of year is whether coach Buzz Williams will leave Marquette."
Buzz Williams is one of those coaches whose name typically comes up when a high-profile (or presumed to be high profile) college basketball coaching job opens up. He flirted with Southern Methodist last season before turning down the Mustangs, who hired Larry Brown, although that job would have had a lower profile in the significantly lesser Conference USA. (Think Memphis and a bunch of dwarf stars.)
Hunt offers up his appraisal of Minnesota as follows while making the case that none of the current openings rise to the level of Williams' current job: "The Minnesota job offers an antiquated arena that hurts recruiting, no practice facility and less money than Williams makes at Marquette. If Williams decided to take a job such as Minnesota's, it would be for reasons beyond the level of fiscal commitment he gets at Marquette."
There are other reasons that Hunt thinks Williams should stay, including the passion that Marquette fans have for their team and the willingness of the administration to let Williams cut an eccentric swath through college basketball. That is in the tradition of the legendary Al McGuire, for whom the school's practice facility is named.
In other words, the columnist makes an impressive case for why Williams may be more of a name in the Minnesota search than a realistic candidate. You can read the entire piece here.
