Most Intriguing New Coach: Steve Wojciechowski (Marquette)
GRANTLAND - November 7, 2014
by Mark Titus
I’ve been critical of how Coach K disciples receive automatic praise from the college basketball world, even though they’ve combined to coach more than 110 seasons and they don’t have a single Final Four to show for it. Mike Krzyzewski is the best college basketball coach ever. We can give him credit for that while also acknowledging that his coaching tree has a lot of proving left to do. Yet, like clockwork, another Coach K disciple has been hired — this time at Marquette — and, like Pavlov’s dogs, another fan base is salivating over the thought of having a Coach K Jr. running its program. Well, I’ve got news for you, Marquette fans: After reading this Wojo profile from Jim Owczarski, you should know that …
… I’M ALL IN ON WOJO!!!
How could anyone who reads that article come to any other conclusion? I understand that for millions of college basketball fans, Wojo will always be that little shit who slapped the floor, got irrational love from Dick Vitale, and was “probably the most overrated college basketball player ever.” Steve Wojciechowski was basically Aaron Craft on steroids when Aaron Craft was in diapers.
But now?
“Wojciechowski is Marquette.”
Wojo is Marquette! I have no idea what that means, but I’m onboard! Just look at what this article taught us:
Wojo dove into pools when he was 18 months old. Eighteen months!
He dove into bleachers for a ball he was never going to save when he was in seventh grade, not unlike a certain someone.
The dude pulled his teammates off the court during pregame warm-ups because they weren’t going hard enough. After yelling at them, he put his fist through a wall. And this was when he was in high school.
Talk about taking basketball seriously. Can you imagine being in high school and having a teammate yell at you for coasting through layup lines? I bet half of the guys on the team were like, “Whoa, cool your jets, Steve. I’m only here for the chicks. Win or lose, I’m gonna be posted at The Max in three hours with my letter jacket on, a water bottle full of vodka in one hand and a sophomore named Brianna in the other.”
Seriously, though, all signs point to Wojo being a super-intense coach (shocking, I know) who loves his players, knows how to develop talent,7 and has a savvy basketball mind. Everything that made Wojo easy to hate as a player seems likely to make him a great coach. Even though Marquette will be awful this year, Wojo’s competitive nature, his experience, and the ability he has already shown to land huge recruits have me convinced that he will be the coach who makes me believe in Krzyzewski disciples.
… I’M ALL IN ON WOJO!!!
How could anyone who reads that article come to any other conclusion? I understand that for millions of college basketball fans, Wojo will always be that little shit who slapped the floor, got irrational love from Dick Vitale, and was “probably the most overrated college basketball player ever.” Steve Wojciechowski was basically Aaron Craft on steroids when Aaron Craft was in diapers.
But now?
“Wojciechowski is Marquette.”
Wojo is Marquette! I have no idea what that means, but I’m onboard! Just look at what this article taught us:
Wojo dove into pools when he was 18 months old. Eighteen months!
He dove into bleachers for a ball he was never going to save when he was in seventh grade, not unlike a certain someone.
The dude pulled his teammates off the court during pregame warm-ups because they weren’t going hard enough. After yelling at them, he put his fist through a wall. And this was when he was in high school.
Talk about taking basketball seriously. Can you imagine being in high school and having a teammate yell at you for coasting through layup lines? I bet half of the guys on the team were like, “Whoa, cool your jets, Steve. I’m only here for the chicks. Win or lose, I’m gonna be posted at The Max in three hours with my letter jacket on, a water bottle full of vodka in one hand and a sophomore named Brianna in the other.”
Seriously, though, all signs point to Wojo being a super-intense coach (shocking, I know) who loves his players, knows how to develop talent,7 and has a savvy basketball mind. Everything that made Wojo easy to hate as a player seems likely to make him a great coach. Even though Marquette will be awful this year, Wojo’s competitive nature, his experience, and the ability he has already shown to land huge recruits have me convinced that he will be the coach who makes me believe in Krzyzewski disciples.
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