Colorado’s struggling head coach Jeff Bzdelik has called a team meeting to announce he’s leaving the team. Despite his dismal record in Boulder, though, it’s for substantially greener pastures. As SBN’s Wake Forest blog, Blogger So Dear reports, Bzdelik will be the next head coach of the Demon Deacons:
Wake Forest Nabs Colorado Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik
According to multiple news outlets Jeff Bzdelik will become the next Wake Forest head coach.
Andy Katz reported that Bzdelik will call a team meeting Sunday afternoon to inform the team of his decision to move to Wake Forest.
Jeff Bzdelik was 36-58 in three seasons with Colorado, and has also been the head coach at the Denver Nuggets and Air Force.
It’s an interesting hire; At 57, Bzdelik’s not young, and he doesn’t have a track record of success at high levels of college ball. Still, it’s a whole lot easier to tell a kid “come play in the ACC at Wake Forest” than “come play in the Big XII with Colorado,” so it’s probably important to not read too much into the three most recent years of Bzdelik’s resume.
Our Colorado blog, Ralphie Report, isn’t exactly surprised:
We have gone through this with Jeff Bzdelik before as he was in the running for the Chicago Bulls job two years ago and a top assistant job with the Minnesota Timberwolves last year. You always look for connections when evaluating a potential change for a coach and there are many reasons a move to Wake Forest makes sense for Bzdelik. First, hands down, Wake Forest is a better basketball program than Colorado. They expect greatness, they fired Dino Gaudio this past week with a 61 - 31 record. Not a typo, 61 - 31. The trouble for Gaudio is he had a lot of talent but failed to get anything done in the postseason. The Demon Deacons have a history, they can recruit with the best of them and they have fan support. It is hard to say Colorado basketball can compete in any of those categories right now.
On a personal level, Bzdelik started his coaching career at Davidson in North Carolina, his daughter attends Wake Forest University and Bzdelik is friends with athletic director Ron Wellman. Bzdelik was an assistant coach at Northwestern when Ron Wellman was the baseball coach. So the personal ties are there.
As for Colorado, the Buffaloes are expected to go a different direction with their coaching search, and hire a lawyer who’ll convince the NCAA that Chauncey Billups still has some eligibility remaining.
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