Wake introduces Bzedlik as new coach

Submitted by LJPerez on 04/14/2010 - 10:53

WINSTON-SALEM – As expected, Wake Forest announced this morning that Jeff Bzedlik had been hired as the Demon Deacons' new basketball coach.

The former Colorado coach (for the record, it's pronounced buzz-DELL-ick) brings a career college coaching record of 111-105 in seven seasons, including stops at Maryland-Baltimore County, Air Force, and Colorado. He also served as a scout, scouting director and assistant coach in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat and New York Knicks, as well as a stint as the Nuggets head coach.

Bzedlik's ties to Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman date back to the 1980s, to his time as an assistant coach at Northwestern University, back when Wellman was the baseball coach there.

"I am very pleased that Jeff Bzedlik has accepted our offer to become our head coach," said Wellman. "He is a perfect fit for Wake Forest. Jeff holds the same values and the same standards that are so dear to this university. He has a great deal of experience in both collegiate and professional basketball. He will produce a program and develop players that we will be thrilled to have as Demon Deacons."

In a statement released by Wake Forest, Bzedlik called it "an honor and a privilege to be here at Wake Forest."

"“I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work," he said. "We will be looking for a very special type of student-athlete for Wake Forest. We will be looking for young men who are passionate about playing basketball, care about getting a great education, have a high basketball IQ and care about their future.

"Our goals are simple ... We want to win games, get to the postseason, advance in the postseason and win championships without compromising the moral and academic integrity of this great university."

Bzedlik also said that he expects to retain current Wake assistant coaches Jeff Battle and Rusty LaRue on his staff.

Bzedlik coached Air Force to a 24-7 record during the 2005-06 season and followed that up with a 26-9 campaign. The 50-16 record during his two years in Colorado Springs marked the most victories in a two-year period in academy history. Air Force defeated three ACC teams during Bzedlik's tenure including a 94-58 win over Wake Forest.

Bzedlik was hired by Colorado prior to the 2007-08 season, inheriting a team that had gone 7-20 and 3-13 in the Big 12 while finishing in last place. This season, the Buffs finished 15-16 record for a sixth place finish in the Big 12.

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Comments

I gotta be dreamin'. This

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 15:31 — SGK1212

I gotta be dreamin'. This guy won't last three years. Wake Forest is finished as a contender.

Dave Odom

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 14:50 — porkybunny

And this guy looks like a young Dave "the chipmunk" Odom instead of Mike "the weasel" K

The weasel?

Fri, 04/16/2010 - 23:10 — melvinfurd

I thought it was the rat, ratface and sometimes the ferret; gosh, now I gotta learn "the weasel"!

MELVINFUNK!!!

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 15:31 — bluecat69bluecat69

I HONESTLY DONT THINK U ARE CAPABLE OF LEARNING, BUT MAYBE IF U GO TO YOUR ROOM AND SAY 10 TIMES--OL ROY LOOKS LIKE A FAT CHIP-MONK, WE WILL BELIEVE YOUR POST, OK, GO DUKE-CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

chipmonk!!

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 12:56 — bluecat69bluecat69

have u good ol red neck boys from the NIT-RUNNER-UP ever looked closely at ol roy, he looks just like "A FAT- CHIP-MONK", ok, go DUKE-CHAMPS.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and I know I can't type

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 14:49 — porkybunny

it isn't that I can't spell...

Screaming Loon NCSU fan base... or The screaming loon fan base when Matt was the coach at UNC...

Like the big schools do ....

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 16:58 — AgentPierce

As Internet fan forums and sports talk radio become more/more prevalent .... the screaming loon elements (aka Lunatic Fringe) in every fan base become more active.

State & UNC's "lunatic fringe" are equally high volume and pervasive ..... especially when the subject is each other. Herb, Chuck, Bunting, Matt ..... yadda yadda yadda ......

Until now WFU rank/file were supportive of their AD - Wellman. State & UNC, of course, beat up Baddour and Fowler 24/7 blaming them for pretty much everything under the sun. It was only a matter of time before Wake's latent "loons" started to howl "like the big schools do" .....

Ha

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 17:04 — Heels20

Someone clearly doesn't know what's happened in Chapel Hill the past few decades. No one has had a problem with Baddour. Nice try, though.

20

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 20:59 — unc098

I do seem to recall some real grumbling about Baddour during the Matt and the Bunting years. He came out of that with BD and Roy so I would say his job is a bit more secure now.

I remember grumbling

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 21:36 — Heels20

But not necessarily any one calling for his head. The football season that preceded the infamous 8-20 year yielded a Peach Bowl win over Auburn. Football sucked after that, but there was really only one year where both basketball and football were below par (and below par, I speak of a basketball record of 19-16 with a very talented trio of freshmen). As you said, I think most people remember what happened after that.

I won't say that State fans haven't been calling for Fowler's head. They have been for awhile. But that doesn't make them crazy. It's for good reason. Baseball was good 2 years ago and the years preceding that season, but basketball hasn't made the dance since '06, football hasn't had a winning record since '05 and the last time either one was a real conference title contender was basketball in 2004. Oh, how Josh Powell's departure screwed both sides. Had Powell stuck around an extra year and if Rivers had one more year of eligibility, State probably could have won conference titles in both sports.

But I guess "ifs" don't count in sports. Otherwise, Lawson and Ellington could probably have a ring on each hand.

Getting back to Blezdbik

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 21:48 — unc098

or whatever his name is....He did have some good years at the Air Force academy which probably is a better recruiting draw that Colorado. Maybe he is a dude that likes that building challenge. He didn't exactly resurrect the Buffs.

I think State fans have a

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 21:43 — unc098

I think State fans have a pretty good case on Fowler. I did think he made a great hire with TOB but not much has come of it so far. Maybe with Tenuta on board he can spritz up his D so they can produce a decent year. Certainly the offense will be fine. I never thought Sid was a good hire but he may come into his own this season. I would say that TOB and Sid will be on the hot seat if they don't significantly do better this coming season.

TOB and Sid

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 21:54 — Heels20

TOB has had awful luck. I think he's a great coach who has just struggled through the crap Amato left him and unforeseen injuries. I am surprised that the running game hasn't gotten to be anything special. Injuries to defensive guys (Nate Irving, Javon Walker, DeAndre Morgan at times, Clem Johnson at times and more) have all played a part, but the offensive line has just flat out been bad.

Sid may or may not just be the best State could have gotten at the time. I still to this day don't know why State didn't make a push for Mike Davis. I also think that Calipari wanted the job, but Fowler didn't want to sell his soul to a guy recruiting players who can't spell their own names. That's just pure theory. I have no clue as to what actually went on behind the scenes.

Calipari

Thu, 04/15/2010 - 21:02 — gvillegatr

Fowler had good reason to not go all the way with Coach Cal. Cal would have used NCSU as a stepping stone to a more "now" elite school. plain and simple.

g-alligator!!

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 13:04 — bluecat69bluecat69

what was coach cal,s record this year?? and what was ol roy,s record this year? coach cal had 2 all-americans this year, how many did ol roy have? all of those mickey -d,s--- no coach!! go duke-champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Teflon Cal

Fri, 04/16/2010 - 20:25 — JPDOhio

Eventuallly, Cal is going to get caught cheating before he has a chance to get out of town. Thankfully, it won't happen in Raleigh.

DITTY!!

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 15:15 — bluecat69bluecat69

u will not ever have to worry about coach cal. cheating in Raliegh, because he is not about to lower himself to such a lousey school like the cow-college U, mid-major at best, perrineal bottom feeder, u red necks are stuck with ol SKID, go DUKE-CHAMPS!!!

ditty!

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 13:09 — bluecat69bluecat69

u got to be the dumbest poster on this site-ever. coach cal. has never cheated-- check with ncaa. ol roy put kansas on 3-years probation, get your facts correct , ok, go duke-champs!!!!!!!!!!

he'll never get caught

Fri, 04/16/2010 - 21:08 — gvillegatr

until he is washed up and irrelevant.

g-alligator!!

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 13:14 — bluecat69bluecat69

u might be as dumb as ditty, have u seen his current recruiting class. go duke-champs!!!!!!!!!

Probably

Thu, 04/15/2010 - 21:35 — Heels20

But only because he'd be bolting before D Rose's disqualification negated wins from his respective year. Kentucky obviously has more basketball history than NC State, but he'd still get a ton of support from Pack fans. The ACC is always a step above the SEC and I could see NC State being a final destination for him if probation wasn't an issue. The only thing is he would turn them into Thug U. If you thought Brandon Costner was bad, oh my goodness...

heels-20

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 13:20 — bluecat69bluecat69

it is comments like yours , that make the tar-sh-t-holes easy to pick on, u carawhina-holes think your sh-t dont stink, u like to think the holes are a step above other schools, when in fact duke fans look at u rednecks, as the slugs of the acc, ok, go duke!!!!

indeed

Fri, 04/16/2010 - 17:19 — gvillegatr

and the Pack fans would not have cared one bit what came out of Cal's teams as long as he beat UNC and Dook. the proverbial blind eye.

after Cal would have left and ncsu is caught holding the bag, the radio would have been filled with, "yea, but you know UNC and Dook cheat too. they just will never get caught b/c the NCAA wants them to win."

Injuries

Thu, 04/15/2010 - 08:43 — unc098

seem to be playing a much bigger role in the demise or success of a particular season. Is it worse than before? It seems like it. I always thought that the hallmark of TOB's BC teams was balance. Fundamentally sound on defense and offense. He seems to be struggling with that at the moment. As you say bad luck instead of poor coaching is the culprit here. He is such a better coach than Amato.

Sid has "his" team next year and obviously knows how to motivate them. I think your comment about not being sure Fowler made the best hire at the time is correct. I have always felt like it was an emotional hire that was made to gain Fowler some points and some breathing room from the disgruntled Pack nation.

screaming loon fan base???

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 14:48 — porkybunny

I think the scareming loon fan base you are referring to is at NCSU.

I've never heard a Wake fan calling for someone's head. I do remember Dave Odom being disliked for his slow half court basketball but I never heard anyone calling for his head.

What?

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 11:37 — weslorocks

Good call agent pierce, silence the critics by calling them "the screaming loonie faction." Just because wellman hired Jim grobe doesn't mean that every hire will be just as good. Bzdelik hasn't done anything in the post season. If I'm not mistaken that's why they fired Gaudio. I love the fact that bzdelik bzedlick's name was spelled two ways in the article.

Screaming loons .....

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 12:46 — AgentPierce

Every fanbase has a screaming loon faction. Smaller fanbases' like WFU just lacks the volume of larger schools. Can I actually "silence them" by calling them out? Who knew?

Any time Wake wants to get rid of Ron Wellman, he'll have 100 job offers by noon. The Moricle Society knows that and fully supports his decisions.

Gaudio was promoted in an emergency situation. A very nice guy but likely not a first choice under normal conditions. Both Grobe and Prosser were winning calls by Wellman.

Coaching hires, at best, are a crapshoot. As are executive hires in any business.

You can't be serious

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 15:30 — weslorocks

Coaching hires are at best a crap shoot? Uhh...no they aren't. Lots of factors go into hiring a coach. Especially their record and post season performance. Bzedlick is lacking in both areas. In fact those two areas are the reason why Gaudio was fired...allegedly. Like I said before, just because Wellman made two good hires in the past doesn't mean he is incapable of making a bad hire. Of course, you don't have to listen to me just wait about three years when Wake will be going through this process once again.

Prosser

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 13:46 — Heels20

Skip Prosser was an extremely valuable pick-up as an ACC head coach, and winning the ACC regular season title in 2001 and re-boosting Wake Forest after the late years of Dave Odem. If the unfortunate situations had not occurred, I do believe he would still be at Wake Forest.

That said, people seem to dance around the fact that Wake Forest went on a downward spiral the year after Chris Paul left. Chris Paul was a big loss, but the team still had Justin Gray and Eric Williams who were both pretty good players even before Paul got to Wake. That team hated each other and they weren't too great the following year.

People were very surprised at how well Gaudio did his first year. They were shocked his second year when they earned a #1 ranking midway through the season. Then, this past year, they lost James Johnson and Jeff Teague, and despite the fact that they were returning Ish Smith, who had a very solid freshman year, most did not predict they would make much happen. Well, they made the tournament and even won a game while there.

So, yes, I know you can criticize some things about the guy by saying he was just a recruiter with no basketball brains. You can say he underachieved. But when it comes down to it, it wasn't like Prosser was significantly better.

As I said before, this leads me to think there was something going on behind the scenes, something we may never know. However, if that's not the case, I think MOST people, those who know what they're talking about AND those who only watch ESPN, view this coaching change as a downgrade.

Wake loses a lot of speed and veteran PG play with Ish Smith's departure, but if they fall short of the tournament next year, expect a few unhappy fans pointing their fingers at the coach.

aaahhh ....the old "I think

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 22:05 — AgentPierce

aaahhh ....the old "I think MOST people ...." gambit.

I love how anonymous yahoos on comment boards are convinced they have their finger on the pulse of whatever portion of the American sports public is in question. ..... MOST .... ALL .... EVERY ..... and CERTAINLY are the four most common weapons in any loon debate.

I haven't played in one of these silly sports jousts in so long I forgot the rules. ..... carry on. :>)

Humm

Thu, 04/15/2010 - 08:00 — unc098

Dear Mr. Anonymous

I am glad someone has their finger on the PULSE. Opinion and hyperbole hold hands in all matters Sport and comment board spectators. En garde !!!

unc-098!!

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 13:27 — bluecat69bluecat69

mamby called me and said,what the he-l did he say--- en-grade, is that french? ok, go duke-champs!!!!

Hm

Thu, 04/15/2010 - 00:11 — Heels20

The fact that you're the only one on here that is saying this wasn't a downgrade pretty much proves my point. MOST people think this was a bad move by Wellman. Shoot, that's just people in this area who actually knew about Gaudio's negative attributes. I'd imagine people outside this area have an even stronger opinion that it was a poor move because they're just looking at it on paper.

Not sure what gave you this elitist attitude. I know that I have a tendency condescend at times, but at least our program has national titles to back it up.

He's a Carolina fan...

Thu, 04/15/2010 - 11:40 — willncsu

...and possibly retarded. Now you know what it feels like to deal with most UNC fans and their ridiculous elitist outlook.

WILLIENCSU!!!

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 15:24 — bluecat69bluecat69

U ARE 100% CORRECT, TARHOLES ACTUALLY THINK THEY ARE ON THE SAME LEVEL WITH DUKE, WHEN EVERY ONE WITH HALF OF A BRAIN, KNOWS THEYARE ARROGANT WANT-TO -BE,S. DUKE STUDENT THINK TARHOLES ARE JUST THAT --HOLES, GO DUKE-CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

heels-20

Mon, 04/19/2010 - 13:30 — bluecat69bluecat69

have u ever heard of ucla and ky.? go duke-champs!!!!!!!

It sounds like he's a Wake

Thu, 04/15/2010 - 13:29 — Heels20

It sounds like he's a Wake fan.

20

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 20:43 — unc098

.........and Wellman.

Without a doubt

Wed, 04/14/2010 - 20:46 — Heels20

Josh Adams comes back for his 12th year of eligibility for football, but I can't imagine losing Riley Skinner will help matters for football. Wake baseball is nothing special, and the basketball team will probably fall short of the dance and maybe even the NIT. I don't care how good you are at soccer, if you ain't competitive in the big 3, then your AD is in trouble.

Wake introduces Bzedlik as new coach

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