• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Big Money Behind Buzz

P4nthers11

P4nthers11

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 20, 2011
Messages
2,101
Reaction score
202
I have bad news guys. Today Ben Sutton was on Wake's campus speaking to the undergrads and the law school. This is the Ben Sutton that is head of IMG College and donated big time bucks for the new athletic center. While at the law school I asked him his thoughts on Wake's basketball program right now. What he said the best I can summarize from memory:

I don't want to slander anyone so I am going to choose my words carefully, but lets just say the basketball team had a culture problem. (soon as he said this I internally thought "god dammit") There are maybe ten college basketball coaches in the college game that I would want to coach my son, and Jeff [Redacted] is one of them. I think we are one year away from going to the tournament. The kids we have brought in are high character kids who are not going to be problems and get into trouble.

/end paraphrase

This was the stuff I specifically remember but basically he was effusive in his praise of the job that Ron Wellman is doing and he thinks Buzz is a fabulous coach who is going to turn it around. Said he is disappointed in how long it is taking but he seems to think next year is the year.

Buzz will be back (my impression after hearing this).
 
Conclusion: Ben Sutton is brilliant about some things and just plain wrong about others.

Keep in mind, Wake Forest is a major client of his. Of course he's going to be full of praise for Ron Wellman. He owes a great deal of his business' success and getting off the ground to Wake Forest and the decision Wellman made to hire ISP.
 
Last edited:
That pretty much seals it for me. Blows my mind how people who make so much money can be so flat out dumb on this issue. Jeff [Redacted] is who he is. We have pretty much the same record Colorado had under Bz. They needed him to leave in order right the ship and they're much better off for it.

And do they not know that Devin Thomas already got into trouble?
 
P4nthers11 said:
I have bad news guys. Today Ben Sutton was on Wake's campus speaking to the undergrads and the law school. This is the Ben Sutton that is head of IMG College and donated big time bucks for the new athletic center. While at the law school I asked him his thoughts on Wake's basketball program right now. What he said the best I can summarize from memory:

I don't want to slander anyone so I am going to choose my words carefully, but lets just say the basketball team had a culture problem. (soon as he said this I internally thought "god dammit") There are maybe ten college basketball coaches in the college game that I would want to coach my son, and Jeff [Redacted] is one of them. I think we are one year away from going to the tournament. The kids we have brought in are high character kids who are not going to be problems and get into trouble.

/end paraphrase

This was the stuff I specifically remember but basically he was effusive in his praise of the job that Ron Wellman is doing and he thinks Buzz is a fabulous coach who is going to turn it around. Said he is disappointed in how long it is taking but he seems to think next year is the year.

Buzz will be back (my impression after hearing this).
Click to expand...

I spoke with an unnamed BoT member back in December and he basically gave me the same speech. This guy is unbelievably successful and made me question how that has been possible.
 
RacerDeac said:
Conclusion: Ben Sutton is brilliant about some things and a moron about others.

Keep in mind, Wake Forest is a major client of his. Of course he's going to be full of praise for Ron Wellman. He owes a great deal of his business' success and getting off the ground to Wake Forest.
Click to expand...

Ben Sutton has not made millions being an idiot. Even if he despises Wellman, do you really think he would be 100% honest about his feelings to some random stranger?
 
RacerDeac said:
Conclusion: Ben Sutton is brilliant about some things and a moron about others.

Keep in mind, Wake Forest is a major client of his. Of course he's going to be full of praise for Ron Wellman. He owes a great deal of his business' success and getting off the ground to Wake Forest and the decision Wellman made to hire ISP.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but he didn't need to spout culture change and all that BS. He could have just said, "I have confidence that Wake Forest basketball will be back where we all know it should be."
 
TheIshThatSaved WakeForest said:
We are a year away from the CBI
Click to expand...

First thought I had: he didn't say WHICH tournament we're a year away from. Normally, I'd never say "fuck you" to a program benefactor but what is Sutton going to say next year? Or the year after? Are these people just so out of touch with today's collegiate sports climate that they actually believe it's acceptable to be run into the ground 3+ years? One alumnus with money shouldn't have more say than the fanbase.
 
RacerDeac said:
Keep in mind, Wake Forest is a major client of his. Of course he's going to be full of praise for Ron Wellman. He owes a great deal of his business' success and getting off the ground to Wake Forest and the decision Wellman made to hire ISP.
Click to expand...

and he's not stupid enough to say something that could be considered inflammatory when people in the audience could potentially broadcast what he said. Now, if he said this to p4nthers11 in confidence, that's one thing... but in public? Means nothing.

Buzz needs 13 wins or he is gone. That's the fact of the matter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DG3
PhDeac said:
Yeah, but he didn't need to spout culture change and all that BS. He could have just said, "I have confidence that Wake Forest basketball will be back where we all know it should be."
Click to expand...

Maybe he thinks people view him as part of the problem given his donor status. Hence, the company line.
 
It's hard to overstate how much Wake would have to improve from this year to next year to make the tournament. It's damn-near impossible for us to do so given our current team, who we are adding, and who we are losing. I would say over 10,000 times next year is played after this year (with no transfers even) that we would only make the tournament a handful of times (fewer than 100). Since we're not going to be making the tournament, fire [Redacted] (finally) and move on with our lives. [Redacted] is miserable here, we're all miserable here, Wellman is probably miserable because he has to deal with this shit all the time. Who the fuck is winning by [Redacted] being coach? Wake Forest basketball sure as hell isn't, [Redacted] is going to get paid no matter what and can find another job when/if he's fired, the fans aren't winning. The only thing winning with [Redacted] as coach are the other teams we play.

It's just to an absurd point now. This is a parody of itself and has been for a few months. Anybody who thinks [Redacted] shouldn't be fired is a fucking idiot loon. Period. There's no way around it. If your goal is to have a winning basketball team, then having [Redacted] as your coach is mutually exclusive with that goal. I hate to be "that guy" but there is no way around it: if you think [Redacted] is the coach for Wake Forest, then you don't have any interest in Wake winning basketball games. Period.
 
Les Grossman said:
Ben Sutton has not made millions being an idiot. Even if he despises Wellman, do you really think he would be 100% honest about his feelings to some random stranger?
Click to expand...

No, but he is one arrogant dude. I laughed when I toured the new IMG offices and his personal office was about 10 times as big as anyone else's.
 
PhDeac said:
Yeah, but he didn't need to spout culture change and all that BS. He could have just said, "I have confidence that Wake Forest basketball will be back where we all know it should be."
Click to expand...

Neither does Wellman. But Wellman does, and thus, Ben Sutton, who is paid to be an extension of Wellman's marketing/PR does too.
 
Les Grossman said:
Ben Sutton has not made millions being an idiot. Even if he despises Wellman, do you really think he would be 100% honest about his feelings to some random stranger?
Click to expand...

Take it how you want. Sutton's talk was great and he seems like an awesome guy. Unless he is a world-class actor he was being candid with his opinion.
 
Ben, if you are reading this board, would you like to put your money where your mouth is? I'll bet you 10K a [Redacted] led Wake team doesn't make the NCAA tournament next year. Dead serious. Please PM me if you want some of that action and we'll work it out.
 
15 coaches that immediately come to mind ahead of Jeff [Redacted]: Tom Crean, Tom Izzo, Coach K, Roy Williams, Brad Stevens, Shaka Smart, Mark Few, Bill Self, JT3, Bo Ryan, Bill Donovan, Jamie Dixon, Mike Brey, Tubby Smith, Thad Matta. I could continue naming more than 200 others before I got to Jeff, but he's right, no more than 10 in the country I'd want my son to play for.
 
During a PR Crisis event (i.e., buzzout), a consistent message from everyone associated with the affected organization is a basic communications strategy.
 
Les Grossman said:
Maybe he thinks people view him as part of the problem given his donor status. Hence, the company line.
Click to expand...

They should view him as a large part of the problem. People like him facilitated this bullshit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top