Wake Forest has targeted Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik to replace Dino Gaudio.
Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman is en route to Colorado to meet with Bzdelik, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. Fox Sports is reporting that a deal is done, but that has been denied by both Wellman and Bzdelik.
If Bzdelik is the Demon Deacons' next coach, he doesn't have a winning track record in the postseason. In five seasons at Air Force and Colorado, Bzdelik went 4-7 in the postseason, including 1-5 in conference tournaments. In two seasons at Air Force, 2005 to 2007, Bzdelik went 0-1 in the NCAA tournament and 3-1 in the NIT.
Wellman fired Gaudio, who won 66 percent of his games in three seasons, on Wednesday for a 1-5 postseason record and the team's poor record in February and March.
Bzdelik's teams at Colorado, a rebuilding job in the Big 12, weren't good in any month. He went 36-58 in three seasons — compared to a 61-31 mark for Gaudio in the same time span — and 10-38 in the Big 12.
Bzdelik, a longtime NBA assistant, has had a losing record in five of
his seven college seasons, including all three at Colorado.
Bzdelik, 57, was an NBA head coach for three years in the early 2000s, leading the Nuggets to the playoffs in 2004 (a first-round loss) before getting fired 28 games into the 2005 season.
He was successful in a brief stint at Air Force, going 50-16 in two seasons but his second team had some of the same problems as Gaudio's teams at Wake. After a 23-4 start, Air Force finished the 2006-07 season with five losses in its final eight games, including a first-round exit in the Mountain West Conference tournament.
Bzdelik does have a connection to both the state of North Carolina and Wellman. Bzdelik's first coaching job was with Davidson in 1978 and he later was an assistant at Northwestern in the early 1980s, where Wellman was the baseball coach.
If Wellman wants to replace the basketball coach, that's certainly his prerogative, as is his right to hire someone he knows, but given the parameters of Gaudio's firing, this potential move doesn't make any sense.
-- J.P. Giglio
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12 comments:
If this guy was Wellman's first choice, Wake is in serious trouble. If he is Wellman's 5th or 6th choice, the ACC is in serious trouble. Somewhere in between, a combo of both.
The ACC just does not appear to be a top-tier hoops coaching destination anymore.
Something stinks here. I think the trustees at WF need to investigate Wellman and his link to this guy. Wake should be looking at a lot of the young head coaching talent around the NCAA and possibly some high profile assistants like those at Duke. This is a stinky move, especially so shortly after Prosser's death.
Wow, they fired Gaudio to get this guy? As a State fan, I approve!
Who? What? Why? Fail!
Hiring Bzdelik for the Wake Forest coaching position will cement the return Wake's old status of being known for great golfers!
The only plausible explanation would be to quote a line from "Hoosiers," when the old coach said to Gene Hackman, "I don't know why Cletus brought your tired, old bones in here. He must've owed you somethin' fierce."
If they hire this guy, it's a terrible, terrible move. If hired, Wellman's job should ride on whether or not Bizdel...Bzdlk...Bzdelik has any success in the postseason.
Given his track-record with a similarly-talented team in another power conference, looks like WFU is in for a few more lousy seasons.
Sorry, tie-dyed nation.
As a Wake fan who attended the Orange Bowl after the Deacs won the ACC FOOTBALL championship, of all things, I trust every decision Ron Wellman makes. He does everything for a sound reason. I'll offer judgment a year after this guy is hired...IF he is hired.
Wow, Im a die-hard State fan and I feel sorry for Wake fans. Get rid of Gaudio for this guy? Makes no sense whatsoever. At least when Sendek left State, we aimed high with Calipari,Lavin,Barnes, and Jay Wright before ending on Lowe, Who was an alumni with a national championship and NBA coaching experience with a ring there too.
Anonymous 10:24 AM.
And all that experience is paying off? Right? I think NOT!LOL!
So now Bitter College, Klimpson, and Weak Forest all have new coaches.
This is a nightmare! Go Heels!
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