Colorado University Athletics
Bohn Wants Search To Be Thorough, But Expeditious
Rather than exercising careless expediency, Bohn said CU is intent on finding "the right coach" to succeed Bzdelik, who was introduced as Wake Forest's new head coach Wednesday morning in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Bzdelik's former CU players said the timing of his exit stunned them most. With solid steps taken over the past three seasons toward rebuilding the program, the Buffaloes had their sights on an NCAA Tournament berth next March - with Bzdelik leading them.
"I'm angry, but you can't let that affect you; you still have decisions to make and you move forward," senior-to-be Cory Higgins said. "I only have one year left, so I don't have time to be angry; I just have to move on."
Given almost five full days of lead time before Bzdelik's departure became official, CU had a search committee ready to begin work on identifying Bzdelik's successor. Also, most of the committee's parameters and modus operandi were in place after the search for a women's basketball coach. It produced former Buffaloes player Linda Lappe, whose hiring was announced on Monday.
"For the last three days we've tried to do as much work as possible without compromising Jeff's leadership in the event he had stayed," Bohn said.
But in retrospect, Bzdelik staying put after the deliberations with Wake Forest had gone as far as they did from Friday to Tuesday might have strained Bzdelik's credibility with CU's administration to the breaking point.
The men's search committee will be composed of chairman Tom McGrath, senior associate athletic director; associate AD for student services Ceal Barry, who chaired the women's search and will have administrative oversight over the women's program; Rocko DeLuca, director of development for the CU Foundation; Julie Manning, associate AD/compliance and financial aid; Will Simpson, director of ticket operations; and Andy Horowitz, of the school's human resources department.
Since news of Bzdelik's interest in leaving CU became public late last week, Bohn said he and other school officials had heard from NBA coaches/administrators Larry Brown, George Karl (by text message) and Rod Higgins; longtime in-state hoops coach Bobby Hofman, and "ADs (athletic directors) from the West Coast to the East Coast."
"It's really interesting to hear from someone and you ask them about Coach X and they tell you about Coach Z and what you learn," Bohn said."That's served us well in the past. We're trying to return all the phone calls and do as much intelligence work as possible."
ANOTHER ASSIST FOR BILLUPS: Bohn first heard of Bzdelik's interest in the Wake Forest opening from ex-Buffs/current Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups.
"He was the one who first gave me the impression that we had an issue with Jeff," Bohn said. "I received a text from him (Friday) . . . I responded I wasn't aware of what he was talking about, but I quickly found out there was some validity to it."
Bohn said he appreciated Billups' outreach: "He cares about this program; he's a great Colorado kid . . . it's refreshing and inspiring to have that type of individual helping us."
Bohn said Billups keeping the best interests of CU at heart was what the athletic department needs in all sports.
"We have the tendency to divide rather than unite," Bohn said. "And I think it's why we're spending so much time and trying to be as thorough as we can and do all the different things we're doing . . . we want to continue to unite and present a support level behind the program that gives us a chance rather than continue to have factions that disappear from time to time. That's not healthy for us - and that is no easy task; that's a significant challenge for us to try and do that."
Bohn said he hoped to keep Billups informed on the progress and direction of the search, but realized the Nuggets star is about to begin the NBA Playoffs.
FINDING MR. RIGHT: CU believed it found "the right fit" in all of its most recent men's hoops hires, only to discover otherwise.
The men's program, Bohn said, "is in a better place" after three years under Bzdelik, adding, "I think the key thing is that we have made progress; we've put a lot into helping support Jeff and his staff. His players have put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears as well."
He acknowledged Chancellor Phil DiStefano for his role in shepherding the new $10.8 million basketball/volleyball practice facility, as well as the improvements to the Coors Events Center.
"We want a coach that can take advantage of all that passion and energy and steer it and herd it in the right direction," Bohn said, calling the attractiveness of the CU program "night and day" over what it has ever been.
As for finding the elusive "perfect fit," Bohn noted, "You never know until it goes . . . we think Linda (Lappe) is a great fit - all the things she stands for, impeccable work ethic, integrity, all those things. But in 10 years if we look at her record and it isn't so good, we say that wasn't such a good fit. It's tough . . ."
He referred to CU hiring Joe Harrington, from Long Beach State - the "hottest coach on the West Coast" at the time. But it didn't turn out so well. Harrington was fired and replaced by Ricardo Patton - Bzdelik's predecessor.
Bohn said the search committee hopes to find someone who has "familiarity with Colorado, familiarity with the history, the challenges, what it takes to grow here, someone that's excited about and recognizes the commitment made to basketball here that is probably unprecedented in the institution's history.
"We've got to find somebody who can seize that opportunity, take that equity that's been built over the last three years . . . that's all momentum. We want somebody who can take advantage of that and keep pushing the rock uphill rather than have it roll right back on top of them."
The players, meanwhile, hope the committee settles on "a players' coach."
Said senior-to-be Levi Knutson: "At any school that's what the players want - somebody they can play hard for, somebody they look up to and respect. I know there's a lot of good coaches out there who do that. I know coach McClain is one of them."
Knutson said Bzdelik "tried real hard to be a players' coach . . . . We wish him the best over there (at Wake Forest)."
THE MCCLAIN FACTOR: In the wake of Bzdelik's departure, several players - including freshman All-America selection Alec Burks - have publicly expressed hope that Associate Head Coach Steve McClain be promoted to head coach.
Bohn said McClain would be given an interview, but made no promises beyond that.
"You factor it in, but I think every AD or general manager knows that you hire coaches that can work with your players and make that work," Bohn said. "I respect Alec's passion for Steve; we have respect for Steve. We will certainly look forward to an interview session with Steve, but in the end we've got to do what's right for the program long term. We think the world of Alec, but we think the world of all of his teammates."
Bohn said he respected McClain's leadership in Bzdelik's absence. McClain has helped oversee spring conditioning work and academic responsibilities. He has not been named interim coach.
Higgins said it was "no secret" who the players would push as Bzdelik's successor: "We've expressed this to many people that we'd like coach McClain to be here. For me, the most important thing was to try to keep everybody together."
Asked if there would be a splintering effect if McClain isn't the school's choice, Higgins said, "It could be . . . a couple of our players have said it publicly, but that's something that could happen. I hope it doesn't; I hope we don't even have to go down that path."
But Higgins also said his father, Rod, the general manager of the Charlotte Bobcats, told him to "keep an open mind . . . you don't always get what you want, so you have to move on."
Two other possible candidates - Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle and former Metro State College coach Mike Dunlap - have emerged in media speculation.
Bohn called both "intriguing candidates," but said it was premature to talk specifics about individuals.
THE WORST TIMING: Wednesday was the first day of the spring signing period, which runs into mid-May. Wake Forest isn't expected to have any trouble holding together what analysts have predicted will be a Top 10 recruiting class.
CU isn't so lucky. Bzdelik had targeted several inside players as prospects, and Bohn said one still had a weekend visit scheduled.
But landing the "bigs" that the Buffs so desperately need could be a too-tall order.
"I think that's one of the most frustrating pieces of this transition - the timing related to recruiting," Bohn said. "That is a challenge. But we do have a recruit coming in this weekend. We'll try to take advantage of the great work the staff has done, despite Jeff's departure."
Knutson said he and his teammates were trying to compensate for their head coach's departure: "We'd like to. Obviously, with some uncertainty, it's going to be hard to get the recruits we want in here. But we're going to try and keep all our guys together in that locker room so that when a coach is named we've got a solid group of guys who have had some success . . . so that recruits will want to come join us and we'll have success next year."
AND THAT'S SUCCESS? Bzdelik left CU with a 36-58 record, three consecutive losing seasons and no postseason appearances. So what did Wake Forest Athletic Director Ron Wellman see in his newest hire?
"You have to dig deeper than the numbers," Wellman said. "You look at where Colorado was three years ago ... He really had to start over. Their situation was very challenging, so you can't take a three-year snippet and compare it to other programs, whether it be in his conference or another conference or us. That would be totally unfair, and obviously, we dug a lot deeper than that to look at the program and the progress of the program."
Bzdelik has a career college coaching record of 111-105 and lost his only NCAA tournament game as a head coach (Air Force).
PAY UP . . . SOMEBODY: Being a private institution, Wake Forest isn't bound to reveal how its coaches' contracts are structured - and Bzdelik's numbers were not revealed.
But Wellman did divulge this: Bzdelik will be responsible for paying the $500,000 needed to buy him out of his CU contract.
Said Wellman: "We do not pay buyouts, no."
Asked if he believed Bzdelik would pay CU the money owed, Bohn said, "I can't speculate on that."
In mid-October 2009, Wake Forest extended former coach Dino Gaudio's original five-year contract for two years, or through the 2013-14 season. Gaudio was believed to be earning upwards of $850,000 - about $200,000 more than Bzdelik was making at CU.
LONG-DISTANCE GOODBYES: At Wednesday's press conference in Winston-Salem, Bzdelik said he called each of his former CU players on Tuesday night to tell them he was accepting Wake Forest's offer.
At a Sunday afternoon meeting at McClain's home, Bzdelik said he told CU's players, "If they offer it to me, there's a great chance I'm going to take it - but you will be the first to know."
Higgins and Knutson said they did, indeed, receive telephone calls Tuesday night, but neither was shocked Bzdelik was leaving.
"I think in this business nothing can really come as a shock," Higgins said. "There's always going to be certain changes. He has what he wants to do in the future and so, at least to me, it wasn't a shock. I know how coaches can think, and I know they can be gone in a second."
Added Knutson: "It wasn't really a shock, (but) a little bit of a surprise with the timing of it all - just because we feel like we've got a strong group coming back next year to make a run at the NCAA Tournament. That was a little bit of a surprise."
Knutson said when Bzdelik had past overtures from a couple of NBA teams (Chicago, Minnesota), "He let us know." But, Knutson noted those didn't seem that serious.
OUT IN THE COLD? Bzdelik is expected to retain two of former Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio's assistants (Jeff Battle, Rusty LaRue), meaning he has one slot open for a full-time coach.
Will it go to Tom Abatemarco?
On March 17, Bzdelik announced CU's hiring of Abatemarco, a well-traveled college assistant beginning his second tour of duty in Boulder. Now his fate at CU apparently is tied to whoever is named to succeed Bzdelik.
CU is Abatemarco's 12th college stop, and that includes a previous layover in Boulder (1990-93) under then-Buffs coach Joe Harrington. Abatemarco spent most of the past seven years in Sacramento, Calif., working in several roles (player personnel director, scouting coach, assistant, broadcaster) for the Kings (NBA) and Monarchs (WNBA).
How's this for irony? On Monday, the moving van hauling Abatemarco's belongings from Sacramento was scheduled to arrive in Boulder. Two days later, Bzdelik is being introduced at his new job in Winston-Salem.
So long, boss.
PARTING WORDS: "On behalf of the basketball program here at the University of Colorado, a heartfelt thank you to all who are making a difference in the lives of these student athletes. We really appreciate it. I can tell you, for me it's an honor and a privilege being the head basketball coach here. Thank you very much for that opportunity." - Bzdelik, on March 25 at the groundbreaking ceremony for CU's $10.8 million basketball/volleyball practice facility
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU