Bzdelik on the Move?

Fresh off one of the more shocking lottery upsets in recent history, the Chicago Bulls are narrowing down the list of options to become their next head coach. Still remaining on that list is CU's own Jeff Bzdelik, who is a Chicago native and still has many roots in the Windy City. Although Bzdelik is considered a dark horse, his ties with Chicago and his tough defensive style of coaching could be intriguing to the Bulls. For Bzdelik, you have to believe that he will listen seriously to any offer from such a high profile team. He does have a good thing brewing in Boulder, currently bringing in the #3 draft class in the Big 12 according to many of the recruiting experts and he has already received strong financial support that was non-existent in the Patton era. With that being said, the Bulls have a lot to offer Bzdelik. Again, he is a Chicago native, and the Bulls are also one of the premier franchises in the NBA and they are located in the lowly (but improving) Eastern Conference. They have a pretty solid core group of players but the most important thing is the money that could come along with the deal. Currently, Bzdelik makes about $800,000 a year with the Buffs. The Bulls offered former coach Scott Skiles a four-year, $16.5 million contract last year before he was let go this season so Bzdelik would be in line for a huge pay increase. And did we forget to mention that they will have the #1 pick. Coaching at Colorado does offer a little more job security, though, as most NBA coaching positions are like a revolving door.

It will be interesting to see what develops. If Bzdelik were to leave the program, it could set the Buffs back significantly as 7 players have already left the program since he took over for Ricardo Patton and who knows what would happen to the recruits that have signed with the Buffs this year. Bzdelik had to sell himself more than the program and with that bond potentially being broken, the next couple of years could be terrible in Boulder.