Wake Forest University hires Jeff Bzdelik from Colorado

http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/041410aab.html

I don't know if this is a good hire, aside from the fact that he was the Nuggets coach for two years and oversaw a 17-65 team turn into a 43-39 team with a little luck in Melo Man.

As a college coach, though he most recently coached at the University of Colorado where he was in the middle of turning around a bad team (12-20, 9-22, 15-16 from 07/08 -09/10), Wake is getting a guy who is kind of an unknown in terms of being able to be a good head coach at the Automatic BCS conference level. He couldn't do a quick turnaround at CU, so how can he get Wake over the top?

Probably his two years at the US Air Force Academy of Colorado Springs will be his brightest point. In two years, he led the Falcons to a 24-7 record in 2005-06 when they made the NCAA Tournament (and were 2nd in the MWC), and also a 2006-07 record of 26-9 where they made the NIT Semifinals. That was the first time a service academy team hit that round since West Point did it back in 1970, under Bob Knight's reign, one year after Mike Krzyzewski graduated and served abroad in South Korea. Let's not kid ourselves as to why Air Force was a pretty damn good team for most of the 2000's. First, it wasn't because Gregg Popovich led a coaching camp there. IT was because it started with Joe Scott, who brought the Princeton, and Bzdelik rode off the coattails of those last teams which were heavily Scott (and Mooney - who was a Princeton assistant too) influenced. Now the Air Force Academy doesn't have anyone with the Princeton and they had consecutive 10-21 years, only winning ONE MWC game this season, and none last season. Anyway, I digress

Well, a new coaching spot is open at Colorado. Should Dino Gaudio get a shot out in the mountains?

Who thought this was a good hire? I could think of better candidates for this job. How about Johnny Dawkins or Chris Collins or if they wanted to go mid major, Tom Moore, the sly former UConn assistant at Quinnipiac, Tony Shaver from William and Mary and a UNC alum, or Doug Wojcik, the former Naval Academy legend and Michigan State assistant now at Tulsa?

Coin flip that Wake will regret hiring him 5 years from now if that.

Okay I think I'm the resident expert on CU Basketball, since I actually went to school there, lol.

You need to ignore the overall record Bzdelik put up at Colorado, and look at the progress the program is making.

They have one of the BEST PLAYERS IN THE COUNTRY in Alec Burks, who nobody is giving ANY credit.

He will be amazing this season, and a sleeper for the Naismith.

Bzdelik did an amazing recruiting job to snag him.

He improved the team from shitty to average to next season, where I predict them being a solid tournament team.

What Colorado needs is an experienced head coach who can recruit. We CU fans love our sports and basketball can be right up there.

My Possible Candidates:
Isaiah Thomas- Was reportedly interested in the Depaul job, then will definitely be interested in CU. He has the high profile we need.

Al Skinner- Known for being lazy, but nobody can deny that the guy knows how to win. When given the talent CU has on the roster right now, I think Skinner can do amazing things with it.

My Dream Candidate:
Brad Stevens- (Duh) Probably wouldnt take this job, but this is a cozy position at a Big 12 school with an Athletic Director who hates firing coaches, so he would definitely get a fair shot. (Ahem Dan Hawkins)