Fran's Big Ten record in 8.3 years 68-78.
Alfords Big Ten record in 8 years was 61-67.
One was encouraged to leave by Gary Barta. The other was given an extension last year with a ridiculous contract buyout which he withheld from the media and fans and was only discovered by a FOIA request.
You can’t hold the first two years against Fran in this comparison.
Alford was handed a team coming off a sweet sixteen, albeit one that had a lame duck coach that didn’t recruit for a year. And was coaching in an era where the Big Ten was pretty much as bad as it had ever been.
Fran was handed a dumpster fire, plus an overweight because of Lick’s coaching desires Gatens. And has been coaching during a bit of a renaissance of the Big Ten. Not as good as previous eras, but much better than last decade.
Fran still has a lot to prove and we’re seeing progress this year that will buy him some more time to prove it. Plus he’s been doing things right by not having players get into any serious trouble. But don’t come here saying Alford was treated poorly compared to Fran. Alford did less with more by far. 1 NCAA win total. Wasted two preseason all-Americans in 2002-2003 with an NIT appearance. Wasted his only good year with a Big Ten runner up and blown 3 seed while having some of the best Iowan high school players that stayed in state in a decade as 4th year players.
Oh and Alford turned a school with a long and proud tradition in basketball into a “football school” with his blown seasons and the Pierre Pierce fiascos.[/QUOTE]
Alford was not handed a Sweet 16 team. Most of the team you mentioned was gone after the 1998-99 season. Just take a look at the roster of Alford's first team. Other than Dean Oliver and Jacob Jaacks, not a whole lot there.
That said, I do agree that Fran has been better in conference with a few 12-6 records. Alford and Fran have pretty similar resumes at Iowa, though, overall. Especially when you compare NCAA tournament results. He has exactly one more tournament win than did Alford in the same amount of time. Big deal.
Alford won the Big 10 tournament twice, and another run to the title game. Fran has been lucky to reach the quarterfinals.
This is not in defense of Alford.. I haven't forgotten how uninspiring his tenure was. But Fran hasn't done a lot to outperform him, either. He's had plenty of time.
