OSHKOSH, Wis. (WGBA) -- Wisconsin Herd head coach Chase Buford isn't surprised he's coming back to Oshkosh for a second season at the helm of the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA G-League affiliate.
"It felt like something that was coming," the 31-year-old said Friday. "I don't want to sound presumptuous but for both of us (himself and general manager Dave Dean) we knew that we wanted to continue."
Likewise, after leading the Herd to a franchise record 33 wins, there was never a doubt in his mind that he wanted to return.
"It was such a great experience that I was obviously eager to come back," Buford said. "On my end it was a pretty easy decision to move forward with them."
Buford's contract was renewed for a season season on Wednesday. He led the Herd to 33 wins last season - the same amount of victories they had in their first two seasons combined. When the season was canceled on March 11, they were in first place.
"It was a special group," he said. "It didn't matter who was playing well, everybody was happy for that person. And I think when you have that kind of contagious attitude it really just trickles down the whole way."
Still, despite the success, the Herd never got a chance to push for a championship. Buford said there's a feeling of "unfinished business," but even more than that, he said it was hard not to get a chance to give a proper goodbye to his players.
"You win the last game of the year, you lose it, you win a championship, you get eliminated... whatever happens... You (normally) have that moment in the locker room of kind of hugging everybody and sharing what a great year it was," he said.
"Just that lack of closure with the group was really hard to take."
And there's no guarantee the Herd will be back in that spot next season. There is a tremendous amount of turnover each year in the G-League.
There's no guarantee any of the Herd's three All-Stars will return to the team, but Buford believes the culture he's established in Oshkosh should carry over into next year.
"I think we came in this year and had a new group and were able to establish an environment and a culture that was really conducive to development and a really 'together' environment," Buford said.
"So if we can create that same environment... I think we'll have another chance to have another close-knit group."
