Boulder – Jeff Bzdelik agonized over the decision. His Air Force players and everything they represent tugged at his heart. On the flip side, Colorado was offering twice the money, a commitment in writing to improve its facilities and a daunting challenge.
It wasn’t the “pick-me” faces in the Falcons’ locker room or the smooth recruiting pitch from CU athletic director Mike Bohn and chancellor Bud Peterson that led Bzdelik to choose the Buffaloes, however.
Instead, it was a dare.
The trigger point came, Bzdelik said, “When somebody said to me, ‘You’re never going to win there.’ I’m a sicko with that.”
Bzdelik wouldn’t reveal who told him that, but telling CU’s new coach he can’t do something is something he takes as a mandate to get it done, be it developing a ragtag Nuggets squad into an NBA playoff team or scheduling the likes of Stanford and Wake Forest while coaching at Air Force, then routing those bigger-name schools.
In this case, CU was the winner, getting the man Bohn had targeted for months for the same reason other coaches might not look at the Buffs: the enormous challenge of building from the bottom up in one of college basketball’s most competitive conferences.
So, with CU mascot Chip posturing a “We’re not worthy” bow, Bzdelik was introduced Wednesday as CU’s 17th men’s basketball coach, ending a search launched in late October and ending just 90 miles south. Pending final approval by CU regents, Bzdelik is guaranteed $750,000 a year for five years, with the possibility of cashing in on other incentives.
“I hope you’re all applauding a year from now,” Bzdelik said in his usual self-deprecating fashion.
CU owes Air Force a $270,000 buyout. If anyone hires Bzdelik away from the Buffs, be it a college or pro team, he will owe CU $750,000 after 2008 or 2009 and $500,000 after 2010 and 2011. However, if after three years groundbreaking hasn’t begun on a new practice facility for the Buffs, Bzdelik will have no financial obligation should he leave, according to Bohn.
How CU will finance the practice facility is not clear, but Bohn said financing wasn’t in place when football coach Dan Hawkins was hired with promises of a practice bubble being built. The bubble is scheduled for completion in October.
CU’s outdated facilities and his emotional investment at Air Force were the key reasons Bzdelik didn’t give Bohn a “yes” until 10 p.m. Tuesday night. “It was an agonizing decision,” he said. Hours after Bzdelik told his AFA players he was leaning toward taking the CU job but hadn’t made up his mind, CU players were taken in vans south of Denver to meet with him. They were thrilled with the decision after nearly six months of uncertainty over their future once Ricardo Patton announced he was stepping down at the start of fall practice.
“I would have picked Coach Bzdelik if I could have picked any coach in the country to come here,” said Buffs freshman point guard Kal Bay.
CU’s new coach promised he is going to be a teacher first.
“Teaching is a thing I think some of us guys need to have,” Bay said.
One of the big questions surrounding the hire is Bzdelik’s ability to recruit top-flight Division I talent after 16 years in the NBA and two at Air Force, with its unique pool of targeted talent. Bzdelik said his NBA background should help him sell CU. He also pointed to his 10 years in the college ranks before coaching in the NBA with the likes of Pat Riley.
“Players at this level and players we want to recruit, they aspire to play at the next level and I can help them get to the next level in their preparation and development,” Bzdelik said. “That’s an asset I think I have that a lot of other coaches don’t. … I’m putting together a staff that has a great recruiting record.”
Besides, he said, he’s one of those odd coaches who loves recruiting.
Bzdelik wouldn’t comment on who will be on his staff until agreements are in place. Bohn promised Bzdelik that CU would increase its salary pool for assistant coaches, which he said is the lowest among Big 12 schools.
At Air Force, where he went 50-16 in two seasons, Bzdelik was most closely identified with running the so-called Princeton offense that former Falcons coach Joe Scott installed. Bzdelik used similar concepts but had Air Force running it at a faster pace. He said the biggest element of his coaching style he wants to carry over at CU is having his players go all-out, on every possession, which he views as more important than any style he implements.
“We can control a lot of things that have nothing to do with skill,” he said. “We can be the hardest-working, best- conditioned, most unselfish, meanest, nastiest basketball team in the country.”
Air Force’s style created preparation headaches for opponents and Bzdelik would like that to happen in the Big 12 with his CU teams.
“When you have a team like Washington State, West Virginia or Georgetown, they make the game uncomfortable,” Bzdelik said. “We need to make the game uncomfortable for our opponents.”
Staff writer Chris Dempsey contributed to this report.
Staff writer Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
On the hotseat
A look at new Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik:
Age: 54
Personal: Wife, Nina, and two children.
As a player: Four-year letterwinner at Illinois-Chicago; school-record holder for free-throw percentage (88 percent); graduated in 1976.
As a coach:
Assistant coach for the Miami Heat and Washington Bullets and a scout for the New York Knicks
Nuggets head coach 2002-04; 73-119 record, including a 26-game improvement in 2004 (the sixth best single-season improvement in NBA history) and a playoff appearance.
Air Force coach 2005-07; led the nation in scoring defense in 2005-06, ranked second in 2006-07; team ranked as high as No. 13; 26-9 record last season was the most Division I men’s wins in state history.
