Wojo Season Ending Presser

[IWB]

Some interesting tidbits from Wojo's season ending presser.....

Luke Fischer having surgery on his left shoulder. Asked if it was a minor or major procedure Wojo replied, "Anytime you have surgery I would think it is major". No idea how long he will be out, all depends on his progress.

Duane Wilson has a fracture in his hand. Will be out for two weeks depending on how he progresses.

Foreign Trip - Team going to Italy this summer, will be a great opportunity for the team to practice and bond as they will have so many new players.

Wally Ellenson - Wojo talked about Wally's success in track. Asked if there has been talk about Wally sitting out a year to train for the Olympics, Wojo replied, "There has been no discussion about it, no one has even brought it up. Wally feels that basketball is his #1 sport and he is fully invested in basketball."

Coaching staff - Wojo feels great about the coaching staff he has put into place. He does not anticipate there will be any departures, fully expects to have entire staff in place in the same roles next season. Said it will help off-season workouts that he doesn't have to dedicate so much time to building a staff.

Currently - Players have already started some off season workouts, some individuals as well as sessions with Todd Smith.

Recruits - Wojo is very excited about the new class and can't wait to get them on campus. Said it will be a great class.

Recruiting - Wojo was asked if he is continuing to recruit, will he hold on to the two schollies or if they were burning a hole in his back pocket. He replied that he is looking for the right fit, and if he will find someone he will take them, but has to be the right fit. Talked about graduate transfers and said that every case is different. How much work will they have to do to graduate? Will they graduate in spring? Summer? Once they know that, they have to take the graduate school exams. Said there is not an exact science, every case is pretty different. Also said he has been recruiting constantly since the end of the season.

Seniors - Talked about Juan, Derrick and Matt. Talked about what they have meant to the school and team. Has had "exit interviews" so to speak with Matt and Derrick, meets with Juan next. Will find out what they want to do, what they are looking for, and will do everything to help them take that next step whatever that may be.

Big East - Asked Wojo about the talking heads and their criticism of the Big East. Said the Big East was the #2 conference most of the year and the conference beat up on people in the non-con schedule. Said that 60% of the teams got into the NCAA and that is amazing for any conference. "Now we need to cheer like heck for all of them to advance". Said that talking heads will always be talking heads, the best way to stop that is to win in the NCAA. Said the Big East is, has always been and always will be one of the very best conferences in college basketball.

That is the meat of the presser. All three TV stations were doing 1-on-1s afterwards. Look for Stephanie Sutton from 12, Tom Pippins from 6 and Lance Allen from 4 to all have more.

[mufansince72]

Good stuff Jim

[MUAlphaBangura]

Thanks IWB. Appreciate it. Was Stephanie wearing red and did she ask any Badger related questions?

[MU/Panther]

thanks iwb. Appreciate it. Was stephanie wearing red and did she ask any badger related questions?

lol lol

[TallTitan34]

Some interesting tidbits from Wojo's season ending presser.....

Said that talking heads will always be talking heads, the best way to stop that is to win in the NCAA.

"Your greatness will silence them all" - The Ultimate Warrior

[IrwinFletcher]

Was Steve transferring announced at this presser?

[Markedman]

Was Steve transferring announced at this presser?

Nope...press release

[IWB]

Brilliant move by MU - bring in all of the media, let them ask all the questions they want, give TV their one-on-ones and let them do their stories.... Then slip this in a couple of hours later. Scott Kuykendall is very good at his job.

[Nukem2]

Brilliant move by MU - bring in all of the media, let them ask all the questions they want, give TV their one-on-ones and let them do their stories.... Then slip this in a couple of hours later. Scott Kuykendall is very good at his job.

Though, the press conference took a back seat to Steve's leaving in the JS print edition today. So, all the good news is on Page 4 as an after-thought. In the on-line world, the press conference was buried in the blogs and Steve's transfer was in the news headlines. I would have released the Steve Taylor news today or tomorrow afternoon (Friday!) so the positives from the presser would have gotten more exposure.

[IWB]

Agree