I think it’s possible he added that for context and doesn’t give a crap what you think. I also think you received some information from an individual who has been around the team and you then nitpicked his meaning to fit your narrative.
Aj's enrollment
- Thread starter Hawkgma
- Start date
I think everyone has a right to their own opinion. Some just want to win at any cost, some think AJ has changed and deserves a third chance, and some think Iowa isn’t the place to take a chance on that third opportunity. Personally I wish our recruiting was such that we could win without bringing AJ on. To head things off, full disclosure, I have been a Hawkeye fan for 70 years, went here and played here. Bottom line we DO NOT recruit well.
We won just a couple of years ago.....and I see a solid base forming to win in the near future.
It’s funny all the defenders in here yet not one person responded to this question
No you were just too stupid to realize Sam was playing it safe that day to protect the win. He was a very aggressive wrestler that was fun to watch before the multiple knee surgeries(Team score withstanding). He would've set the bar on pins at Iowa had he stayed healthy IMO. There are plenty of wrestlers over the years I haven't enjoyed watching. A healthy Sam Stoll isn't one of them.
He scored 1 one point and looked terrible that day. You know what's stupid? Getting in trouble 8+ years later for a stollhouse cookie joke I made.
Good for you for enjoying watching his wrestling. I enjoyed a few of his pins aswell. I'm guessing you either are related to him or are a good friend of his. Hanging on to that for most of a decade is Wild.
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I absolutely would, but one thing I wouldn't encourage my daughter to do is ask someone for a ride home at 2:00 AM from the bar knowing him well enough as a "horny Italian", agree for him to come into my apartment, offer him some alcohol, agree with him to stay over night, then crawl in bed with him. "Oh, I can't believe you thought were going to have sex." I'm not saying that gave him the green light but it sure seems she played her part in sending some very mixed signals. If you reply is you sure seem to know allot of what happened, do your homework and read up. It's all there.
So... I'm excited for the news to hear AJ and any other athlete is enrolled and a member of the Hawkeyes. Keep crushing doubters Hawks! Can't wait to watch the next 3 months of the season.
I would not let him date my 12 year old daughter.
I hope Carver is sold out during the Ferrari Brothers era and we all flex at opposing fans, let them know we've got the swag back...all the way to the title.
The wrestling community is minute with a very small fanbase so most people won't even realize we brought in a dirtball for the sake of winning. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
You should actually listen to Penn State fans because of the experience they have with Long, whose situation is pretty much directly comparable to AJ's. There are far more Longs out there than Marstellars. It's a big risk the Brands are taking in bringing in these guys, one that will probably cost them their jobs in disgrace if they don't walk the straight and narrow path.
I would have to get to know him on a personal level before I could say. There are tons of people who I wouldn't have wanted my daughters to date for all sorts of reasons, even short of any criminal conduct. For example, if they can't call a turkey or catch a walleye or muskrat, I kick them to the curb. 🙂 But last time I checked, he's not here for a daughter-dating interview. He's here to wrestle and take classes. Different interview process in my mind.
Why don’t you just come out and say what you really want to say and that is, “ the horny Italian is innocent and she’s a liar”.
You basically doubled down and the internet never forgets, my friend.
As long as BrandsX2 did their due diligence in fully vetting the Ferrari’s, especially AJ, I am 100% for it. This is the kind of thing I have repeatedly said they need to do to even begin to have a chance to keep up with PSU.
There is simply no way ANYONE is going to keep up with PSU in straight up recruiting. As such, Iowa needs to take some risks. Go after guys with chips on their shoulders. Go after the types that want to tip over the apple cart vs. those that want to start right at the top.
With the above said, I get the angst. When there is smoke, there usually is fire. AJ has definitely had enough smoke around him to believe there was fire. However, he appears to have come out of the smoke unscathed and there is a chance he learned from it. People that young often do. Look at Gable Steveson. His smoke may have even come from a worse blaze than what surrounded AJ and, by all accounts, Gable is now a model citizen and a great representative for college wrestling.
Keep the leash tight and stay involved. If they can do that, I trust in the coaching staff to get the most out of the situation.
There is simply no way ANYONE is going to keep up with PSU in straight up recruiting. As such, Iowa needs to take some risks. Go after guys with chips on their shoulders. Go after the types that want to tip over the apple cart vs. those that want to start right at the top.
With the above said, I get the angst. When there is smoke, there usually is fire. AJ has definitely had enough smoke around him to believe there was fire. However, he appears to have come out of the smoke unscathed and there is a chance he learned from it. People that young often do. Look at Gable Steveson. His smoke may have even come from a worse blaze than what surrounded AJ and, by all accounts, Gable is now a model citizen and a great representative for college wrestling.
Keep the leash tight and stay involved. If they can do that, I trust in the coaching staff to get the most out of the situation.
The two most important words in your sentence - WE WERE. Change has to start somewhere. It started when Tom and Terry realized they needed to go for the elite HS wrestlers rather than try to develop in the room and hope a few pan out. At least it appears they understand what needs to be done now I think we should show some trust in people who have far more at stake than we do.
Your last sentence simply isn’t true. Iowa has actually done a very solid job recruiting ever since Kemerer. You are just falling victim to comparing them to what PSU is doing. What PSU has done over that same time is unprecedented in college wrestling.
The only other team that has an argument for better recruiting during that timespan is tOSU. Much like PSU, they are helped by being in inarguably one of the richest high school wrestling states in the country and their overall name brand is probably the biggest in college wrestling since the SEC doesn’t have wrestling.
Now, can their recruiting still improve? Sure. But, again, they have already done quite a bit to ramp that up since Kemerer and a lot of the philosophy has changed since Spencer and the “binder”. Mind you, they are now consistently bringing in at least 1 top 10 recruit per season and have done very well in the transfer portal. As of now, they possibly have the #1 overall in Ferrari for ‘24 and just received a commitment from #6 DeLuca with still some hinting at at least landing 1 more for ‘25.
Not a big fan of the opinion that we don't recruit well. Recruiting is not cut and dried as the best P4P wrestlers in the country all the time, ever year you get them. Everyone seems to look at PSU and compare us to them and throw around how much better they are at all things.
Dan Gable himself blamed his recruiting on the reason they didn't win 10 in a row, blamed it on his recruiting of too many "blue chippers" and he went "back to the basics" and brought in hard working guys like Tom and Terry Brands, etc, etc.
But, back then, Gable could walk in the room and say nothing, and start stacking NCAA trophies on the kitchen table and walk out. That is basically what Cael & Co have built, and EVERY great coach and program are in pursuit to that. But, beating PSU isn't just about recruiting the better guys, it is a snowball of momentum they have built that needs to be stopped, and quite honestly, that will likely (as it did in Iowa's run with Gable) take a little help on the PSU side.
Personal opinion, we did this once already. In 2020 we blow the doors off the NCAA and win the title, we do again in 2021, now we are reigning 2 time Natty champs walking into the recruiting situation. But, as we all very well know, 2020 didn't happen, and 2022 quite frankly felt to many of us like a year of guys pushing too long, too hard with injuries, from guys, that in all reality, would not have been on the mat. And our "momentum" got shorted out. And hats off to PSU for adapting and adjusting to get back on top.
But, aside from a little help on the PSU side of things, and that could happen this year like it did us. They already have one guy out, Nageo was reported coming off injury, 125 still looks like a hole, so there are chinks in the armor that have happened.
But, it is also a different game today. Iowa is, in my opinion working OT on the position they are in, and you know they don't like it one bit. But, they have added Iowa Womens wrestling, which is a game changer that will build our program. They are building the facility next door, which is a game changer.
And to the point, they are getting the top recruits. In the last year, we have brought in Keuter, Arnold and should have been Jeserouga, Block, Peterson, just to name a few, Ferrari, Ferrari, Ferrari, Caliendo, Franek, Vinovich and now add Deluca as well, and high possibility for Lockett and Blaze.
All this and you are SUPPOSED to have the services of Assad, Cass, Brands As returning all americans. Thats a room with a Nat Champ, a National #1 ranked returning runner up, 5 guys that are all americans, a World Champ ............ Recruiting is NOT out problem.
One, we had some things to overcome. A banged up under performing team in 2022. And the gambling situation NO coaching staff could foresee or prepare for.
But, we do have, in my opinion an area we have to, must improve and I think even that is being addressed with the facility, with Spencer Lee, etc. Our HWC needs to improve. And maybe that comes down to an arms race, but that is what it is. When you are wrestling in PSU room, and you are alongside Retherford, Gilman, Taylor, Dake, Snyder and Lee, what is that, 13 NCAA titles, add in the coaches' titles and the world / Olympic titles, that has Iowa, OSU, OSU and EVERY other program in pursuit.
Oh, and to close, I would like to see us shoot some damn takedowns and score, score, score! That problem could be addressed!
Probably because if everyone else is like me, they had that idiot on ignore.
Why do you make it your life's work to be such a pedantic person? Have you always been that way?
Do you think the internet has forgotten the years of you being nit-picky, constantly correcting people? You went back 8 years to find something I wrote. Think about that for a minute.
Your family probably walks on thin ice around you. Constantly watching themselves, making sure you aren't catching their mistakes, for fear of being corrected/belittled.
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you can't claim credit for two guys who will never wear a hawkeye singlet lol
I didn't go back at all--didn't have to. As shown by by others commenting about it before I did, you're well known for that incident here.
People who take personal pot shots at Iowa athletes on an anonymous message board probably shouldn't be terribly critical of others.
It is still relevant when showing a considerable uptick in just the recruiting aspect. It isn't their fault that one guy decided he no longer wanted to wrestle at all. It also is pretty obvious they decided the juice wasn't worth the (price it would cost to) squeeze on the other guy. By all accounts, if they really wanted Chittum, they could have made it happen. Sometimes the cost simply isn't worth it...
Wait...damnit we are not supposed to post under our real names?
You know what would be easier than all this? Admitting calling AJ a pos was probably a step too far and moving on.
Totally missed this before. So, for example, a disheveled looking person talking to themselves or randomly screaming at the air.
As to the "smartest person in the room" thing, I never claimed to be. Just most rooms.
Can someone please let me know when this gets back on track? Is anyone currently hiding in the ventilation system at the admissions office?
WTF… have you seriously had zero workplace trainings in the last 25+ years?
You would get fired or kicked out of school for talking like this nowadays.
