Next to Vander Blue, Buzz Williams is probably the second most evil man in Buckingham Badger's eyes right now. This is the guy that came in like a thief in the night, stole Vander Blue right out from Bo Ryan. Well, at least that is what some Badger fans think.

Williams was the used car salesman while Ryan was the wise sage. Ryan was not willing to stoop to telling Vander everything he wanted to hear but you can bet Buzz was. He must have said that Vander will never have to spend a day in a classroom. He certainly must have told them that the swing offense is so 1950. At least that is the jist I got from the really upset Badger fans.

 How else could he have swooped in and snatched one of the most prized recruits this year right out from under Bo Ryan? Well, Tom Oates on Madison.com has a great piece that puts the blame squarely on Bo Ryan himself. That is where it should be. In the end, Williams played his cards right. He was holding a straight flush of the best friend on the team, the Big East conference and the chance to play in up-tempo offense. All Ryan could counter with was with the hometown card.

 Oates' column brings to light how the recruiting world has changed and if Bo wants to get back to the Elite Eight any time soon he will need to change with the times. I do not think anybody doubts Bo's coaching ability. He could to take a team full of YMCA washouts and coach them up into a NCAA Tournament team. The issue is can he get the athletes like he had when Alando Tucker and Devin Harris were consistently taking the Badgers to the Sweet 16. Lately, that answer is trending towards a no. Right now, without the athleticism to make the swing work at optimal speed, the Badgers will continue to live in eight seed land. Which is not such a bad thing but shouldn't the expectation be to do more than compete for a Big 10 title and get an invitation to dance in March?

The only thing I take issue with Oates' column is his line Ryan also has established an atmosphere where players improve their skills and learn how to play the game. That's why Harris and Tucker developed into NBA first-round draft picks, something Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Dominic James failed to do under Williams last season.

Yep, it is Buzz Williams fault in the one year, I repeat, one year that he worked with the big three that they could not get their name announced at the NBA Draft. Blame Buzz that Jerel McNeal is a 6'2" tweener. Blame Buzz that Dominic James could not develop a consistent outside shot. Blame Buzz that Tom Crean shackled Wesley Matthews for three years to the point that NBA scouts did not even bother to look at him until last season.

Listen, if it was not for Buzz taking the chains off Matthews, he would not even be in Utah's camp with a legit shot at a roster spot. How is it Buzz' fault that teams would rather go with a European than hand over guaranteed money to McNeal just to be a defensive specialist in the first year or two of his career? Where is it Williams fault that scouts were weary to use a draft pick on a guy coming off a broken foot in Dominic James?

All three were going to have a tough time getting into the first round before Williams became head coach. All three were still going to have the same problems after they left. They were great college players and sometimes that does not exactly mean NBA GM's are going to be chomping at the bit (well, unless you are Larry Bird). DeJuan Blair was the Big East Co-Player of the Year and he fell all the way to the second round. Does it mean Jamie Dixon failed him? Guys like McNeal and James may have to go the Charlie Bell route to cash NBA paychecks. There are just too many questions that GM's have and they want to see how they do in the professional ranks just so long as they do not have to pay them. Does that mean Williams failed them? No, just mean sometimes players have to go the road less traveled to get to the NBA.

It is not his fault that the NBA Draft is now draft based on getting the guy with the highest ceiling possible and if you can not find him, go with height or European. Remember, you can teach height and you can always have a guy develop in Europe without ever having to pay them. Simply put, Matthews, McNeal and James did not get drafted based on trends of how the draft works out and not because Buzz Williams has an affinity for running a more up-tempo offense.

Let me make one thing clear, I am not trying to bash the big three. I am merely stating that they had some downfalls that general managers must have thought were not risk using a draft pick but still good enough to bring in to take a look at camp. Aka, general managers wanted to go the cheap route and not have to risk handing out guaranteed money.

Oh, one more thing, last time I checked Alando Tucker is buried somewhere deep on Phoenix's bench and Devin Harris did not exactly sparkle right away in the NBA either. Wasn't Brian Butch a McDonald's All-American? What NBA team is he playing for again? So let's not say Bo Ryan is exactly a developer of great NBA players either. Somehow we can probably find a way to blame Buzz for that.