Maybe it was, just never saw or heard him say that.
Not even saying you are incorrect….just would like to be pointed to an article or interview where he said that.
As far as I know, you're not going to get it exactly from his mouth.
The Daily Reporter - Nov 20, 1985 - George Raveling Settling In at Iowa
The Daily Reporter - Apr 4, 1986 - After he left Iowa
The Courier - Mar 28, 1986 - Anti-Green Acres Effect - New York is Where I'd Rather Stay
Think there's several issues at play here.
1) Even feeling like a celebrity he was suffocated in a fishbowl (more privacy).
2) The quote by Lute Olsen in the 2nd article. Since he refuses to talk about it, tells you all you need to know on this subject. He was open on other subjects and praised Iowa fans. Being silent on this one means one thing.
3) Proving himself over and over wasn't his cup of tea. My gut tells me Iowa was a tough place to recruit his kind of players. He knew there would hits and Iowa city would treat him like a king and he knew there would be misses and then he would have to reprove himself again. That's what his 5 years from now quote tells me.
Which one dominated his mind more is to be debated. However, when taken collectively, things can be a double-edged sword. Suspect there's too much weight coming from several directions that he felt trapped under them. At the same time, if he could garner a great hit rate on recruits committing, he could see winning more often and then he didn't need to reprove himself again.
This is why I say his hit rate on commits wasn't as good as he'd hopeful for and this would tell him 5 years from now he's just going to go through ups and downs of reproving cycles. It's those fishbowl downs he didn't want to relive again and then #2 on the list above has a propensity to rear it's ugly head along with it. Instead of reliving the pain of groundhog's day cycles, more privacy under an urban diversity won out in the end.
Just my 2 cents on it.
