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Baer, the 8th Spaghetti Noodle

Timing is everything. Baer's was awful. He was like a 4AM meteor shower, when everybody has gone to bed, and has yet to wake.

Those familiar with Bettendorf know the story. Baer was a late bloomer in a very talented class. Had a classmate who started as a Freshman and left as the leading scorer in school history with over 1,000 career points and as two-time, 2nd team All State selection. Had 2 additional classmates on the varsity as Sophomores. One made 3rd team all state as a Junior, and honorable mention as a Senior. The other played quite a bit this year as a Freshman for Augustana, IL, which finished 2nd in D3 and was ranked #1 most of the season.

Baer didn't make a varsity start until his 5th game as a Junior. Averaged 10 points and 7 rebounds on a 26-1 team whose only loss was in the 4A title game to Iowa City West, which was 52-0 over 2 years.

Was best player on a 25-2 team as a Senior. Two classmates signed D2's before the season (Missouri Western and Wayne State, NE). Baer averaged 15 points, 9 rebounds in maybe 23 minutes a game on a team with 4 double figure scorers. Was Conference Player of the Year, Quad City Metro Co-Player of the Year, and 1st Team All State despite not even being honorable mention All State the year before. That is very rare. Hence the meteor shower simile. Belatedly bursting on the scene when the recruiting crowd has gone home has no advantages.

In a day when players are identified as 8th graders and offered in April as Freshman and Sophomores, Baer's sin was coming of age his senior year. By then, all the scholarship goodies had been handed out, many to far inferior players.

I spend a lot of time in the Quad Cities and am fond of the family. He'd never say, but I imagine it chapped him when Pepperdine came to Carver this December with a Freshman scholarship player from Waukee who was never all state, but had been offered a free ride in 2011.

Drake, UNI and Iowa essentially had no scholarships last spring (Iowa needed a point guard, giving one to Dickerson, and another to 4 year scout squader, Kyle Denning). All D1 state schools saw Baer at state, and offered him a preferred walk on opportunity. Western Illinois had a coaching change when Molinari retired. I'm not sure anyone can explain what's going on in Macomb.

D2 Northwest Missouri State offered a scholarship. Baer's faith in his expanding upside, a family willing to invest in his dream, and a sister already on campus are reasons he's a Hawkeye.

My days as Nicholas Baer's publicist are over. I only stepped in because threads were deservedly excited about the scholarship newcomers, but, I've learned those in the program expect big things from Baer, and Bettendorfers won't be surprised to see a reprise of his high school career, where highly touted teammates do well, but in time, he's even more productive.

He'll earn all the notoriety and attention he gets. He's very humble, and my impression of him is that he'd be appalled all of us have devoted this much time and space to him.

In short, he's a D1 skill set in a D2 body. The D1 body is on its way.

Numbers notwithstanding, Baer looks like a big man's Steph Curry in that he's thin and fragile, but competes and can play. His motor allows him to be more productive than you'd expect. In time, he'll remind Hawk fans of a Ryan Bowen who can shoot.

My only purpose was to get Hawk eyes on the look out for him.

You'll enjoy learning more about him over time. He'll make Hawk fans proud. He's going to be a fan favorite over the course of the next four years. You heard it here, first.
I'm still wondering if I know you. Either way, you've done a great job describing the assets of young Mr. Baer.
 
Timing is everything. Baer's was awful. He was like a 4AM meteor shower, when everybody has gone to bed, and has yet to wake.

Those familiar with Bettendorf know the story. Baer was a late bloomer in a very talented class. Had a classmate who started as a Freshman and left as the leading scorer in school history with over 1,000 career points and as two-time, 2nd team All State selection. Had 2 additional classmates on the varsity as Sophomores. One made 3rd team all state as a Junior, and honorable mention as a Senior. The other played quite a bit this year as a Freshman for Augustana, IL, which finished 2nd in D3 and was ranked #1 most of the season.

Baer didn't make a varsity start until his 5th game as a Junior. Averaged 10 points and 7 rebounds on a 26-1 team whose only loss was in the 4A title game to Iowa City West, which was 52-0 over 2 years.

Was best player on a 25-2 team as a Senior. Two classmates signed D2's before the season (Missouri Western and Wayne State, NE). Baer averaged 15 points, 9 rebounds in maybe 23 minutes a game on a team with 4 double figure scorers. Was Conference Player of the Year, Quad City Metro Co-Player of the Year, and 1st Team All State despite not even being honorable mention All State the year before. That is very rare. Hence the meteor shower simile. Belatedly bursting on the scene when the recruiting crowd has gone home has no advantages.

In a day when players are identified as 8th graders and offered in April as Freshman and Sophomores, Baer's sin was coming of age his senior year. By then, all the scholarship goodies had been handed out, many to far inferior players.

I spend a lot of time in the Quad Cities and am fond of the family. He'd never say, but I imagine it chapped him when Pepperdine came to Carver this December with a Freshman scholarship player from Waukee who was never all state, but had been offered a free ride in 2011.

Drake, UNI and Iowa essentially had no scholarships last spring (Iowa needed a point guard, giving one to Dickerson, and another to 4 year scout squader, Kyle Denning). All D1 state schools saw Baer at state, and offered him a preferred walk on opportunity. Western Illinois had a coaching change when Molinari retired. I'm not sure anyone can explain what's going on in Macomb.

D2 Northwest Missouri State offered a scholarship. Baer's faith in his expanding upside, a family willing to invest in his dream, and a sister already on campus are reasons he's a Hawkeye.

My days as Nicholas Baer's publicist are over. I only stepped in because threads were deservedly excited about the scholarship newcomers, but, I've learned those in the program expect big things from Baer, and Bettendorfers won't be surprised to see a reprise of his high school career, where highly touted teammates do well, but in time, he's even more productive.

He'll earn all the notoriety and attention he gets. He's very humble, and my impression of him is that he'd be appalled all of us have devoted this much time and space to him.

In short, he's a D1 skill set in a D2 body. The D1 body is on its way.

Numbers notwithstanding, Baer looks like a big man's Steph Curry in that he's thin and fragile, but competes and can play. His motor allows him to be more productive than you'd expect. In time, he'll remind Hawk fans of a Ryan Bowen who can shoot.

My only purpose was to get Hawk eyes on the look out for him.

You'll enjoy learning more about him over time. He'll make Hawk fans proud. He's going to be a fan favorite over the course of the next four years. You heard it here, first.


...your post is spot on...very nice young man...considering Fran has recruited a lot of wings (or potential wings) there will be a lot of competition for PT...I would not put it past that Baer makes' an impact....not quite ready to put him in Bowens' category... but it will be interesting to see how things pan out...he certainly isn't your run of the mill walkon.
 
...your post is spot on...very nice young man...considering Fran has recruited a lot of wings (or potential wings) there will be a lot of competition for PT...I would not put it past that Baer makes' an impact....not quite ready to put him in Bowens' category... but it will be interesting to see how things pan out...he certainly isn't your run of the mill walkon.
I've said all along I think he'll develop into a player like Duez Henderson.
 
Bartels was kind of a neat player to watch. It was like watching a high jumper play basketball. I might be misremembering, but I have this recollection of a game against Wisconsin in which Bartels was guarding Rashard Griffith for a time during the game. The poor kid disappeared when he went behind Griffith. I can't remember if that was the same game he got undercut on an alley-oop or not, but I think it might've been.

Haha. That is exactly how I describe him. He was fun. That 94-95 team didn't win enough but they were a blast to watch.
 
He is going to have to reaaalllly improve his quickness to play on the perimeter or get a lot stronger to play at the 4.
 
ALWAYS exciting to see the walk-ons( regardless of school )help their team, especially when they defy the odds and win a scholarship and contribute. I will keep my eye open for Nicholas.
 
Can this kid shoot when facing the basket? That skill alone should/can earn PT on the Iowa squad. You figure about four guys are going to play at the two forward positions, at least until the stretch run. Right now Baer has at least practiced against B1G players. I agree that he is one walk on that could earn time.
 
Do you mean the Jim Bartels whose career started in 1990....a full 2 years after the number of available scholarships was reduced from 15 to 13?

And by "started one year" I assume you meant "started 55 of 60 games during his junior and senior years while averaging over 11 PPG in both seasons"?

Got it.
This is a pretentious, but hilarious, reply. Hahahaja!
 
There hasn't been an Iowa walk on with the buzz Baer has, maybe ever. Not sure what that means. Perhaps merely a product of social media, such as websites like this, and the fact he's an eastern Iowa kid.

I can think of 3 former walk-on's that got a lot of attention (buzz)...

Luke Recker
Sam Okey
Kyle Galloway
 
I can think of 3 former walk-on's that got a lot of attention (buzz)...

Luke Recker
Sam Okey
Kyle Galloway


Luke Recker may have been a technical walk on, but he was on scholarship with Knight at Indiana, and Lute at Arizona, and I'm sure he got put on scholarship at Iowa once he got here.
 
Luke Recker may have been a technical walk on, but he was on scholarship with Knight at Indiana, and Lute at Arizona, and I'm sure he got put on scholarship at Iowa once he got here.

No, he was not eligible for a scholarship unless he sat out 2 years (old big ten rule). Didn't hurt that his dad lived in Washington, IA at the time so he at least got instate tuition.
 
Pretty sure Luke Recker and Sam Okey - both High School All-Americans - aren't the type of walk-ons Galoot was referring to.
 
Pretty sure Luke Recker and Sam Okey - both High School All-Americans - aren't the type of walk-ons Galoot was referring to.

Point taken, but I'll stand on my Kyle Galloway reference... not only was he discussed/hyped, he produced as well.

Not many walk-on's put up 30 points in a game
 
I think Kyle Galloway was on a Presidential Scholarship for academics wasn't he? As I recall it meant he pretty much got everything but meals? I don't know for sure, it's been awhile.
 
I think Kyle Galloway was on a Presidential Scholarship for academics wasn't he? As I recall it meant he pretty much got everything but meals? I don't know for sure, it's been awhile.

Yes, Galloway was a Presidential Scholar, as was ISU's Paul Shirley I believe.
 
Too funny. Only days after I compare Baer to Ryan Bowen on a thread on May 8th, assistant coach Andrew Francis does the same in his podcast with Tom Kakert. Fast forward to the 1:16 mark in the link, below. Coach Francis spends 80 seconds on Baer. Not sure what the "Baer Cage" is, but I suppose it means he's been playing some lock down D against the first teamers in practice. Sounds like if the Hawks need an energy spark, Fran might be calling on him.

https://iowa.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1765759

When a staff can have a non-scholarship player to point to from an energy level, and if he gets time ahead of some scholarship kids, it's going to raise everybody's game. That will be leadership, from the bottom of the totem pole, up.

I'm going on record now, in mid May, in anticipation of November/December. If Baer gets floor time, early, it's not an indictment of the recruiting class. It's a reflection of his basketball I.Q. Fran already said grasping and understanding where to be and what's being done on both ends of the floor will be what decides playing time early for the Freshman.

If Baer averages an appearance each half in games before Christmas, kind of like Uhl last year, it will be apparent he's a lock for the scholarship Uthof is departing. Pemsl already has one. Iowa will get another point guard, and another banger.
 
You're not really serious with the Recker and Okey thing are you? No offense to Baer but he is (was) a freshman walk on. Okey I believe was a McD all American and Recker was right up there. They were transfers. Let's actually see the kid get on the floor before we start anointing him.
 
There hasn't been an Iowa walk on with the buzz Baer has, maybe ever. Not sure what that means. Perhaps merely a product of social media, such as websites like this, and the fact he's an eastern Iowa kid.

Wondergrape was right. When 2432Hawk came up with Recker and Okey and Galloway, those were 3 players I never considered as walk ons. Baer was never the high school player Recker and Okey, were. If Galloway was a 2 time All Stater, he has Baer beat.

Anybody following the thread knows 2432Hawk was not comparing Baer to them, nor was I. My point was never to anoint him anything. Just to point out that he'll likely get a scholarship, and likely for more than just a year, which would mean he's more than the Stokes/Denning variety. This is good news for Hawk fans, since, if Baer gets more than scrub time minutes this year, it means this team essentially has 14 scholarship quality players.

littlez, I agree with you. Let's see him play, which was my whole point. Watch him in PrimeTime this summer. I have no idea how he compares to Jones, Wagner, Fleming, Hutton, Moss, and Williams. I've seen Baer play. I haven't seen them.

The Register's Rick Brown called Baer a "sleeper pick" to get in the rotation, and the fact Tom Kakert asked Coach Francis if Baer could find a role, and coach said he thought he could, means the staff has trained the media to not be surprised to see Baer on the floor.

I'm too lazy to look up Okey's Iowa and college career numbers. There are no McDonald's All Americans on Iowa's current roster, yet, I'd hazard a guess Woodbury, Gesell and Uthoff have already been more productive, and Clemmons and Jok will surely be after this season. I'd bet there have been thousands non McDonald's All American collegians that have had better career D1 stats than Okey since he finished, and Hawk fans better hope at least 5 of the newbies surpass him, too, or this class is a bust. That's why recruiting is such a crap shoot. It takes a lot more than just 5 stars next to your name to be a solid and reliable college player.

I don't think any of the incoming six players are higher than 3 stars, which is why early pre-season prognosticators have a team with 5 returnees with starting experience only rated in the middle of the Big Ten. The media gets caught up in recruiting, and puts too much stock in goofy ratings. Iowa's strength will be its numbers, and chemistry is the key anyway. Just imagine the problem this team would have if it had a one and doner joining all the veterans. Better to have a bunch of eager players willing to do all they can to help you win, and anything they do is gravy, rather than somebody expecting the world and the offense to revolve around them.
 
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Im too lazy to look up Okey's Iowa and college career numbers. There are no McDonald's All Americans on Iowa's current roster, yet, I'd hazard a guess Woodbury, Gesell and Uthoff have already been more productive, and Clemmons and Jok will surely be after this season. I'd bet there have been thousands non McDonald's All American collegians that have had better career D1 stats than Okey since he finished, and Hawk fans better hope at least 5 of the newbies surpass him, too, or this class is a bust. That's why recruiting is such a crap shoot. It takes a lot more than just 5 stars next to your name to be a solid and reliable college player.

That's what I'm here for. :)

I think people forget how much of a stud Okey was his first 2 years at Wisconsin.

To claim that any of the Iowa players mentioned have been more productive is, well, ridiculous. Especially when you take into account the # of games played by each.

WISCONSIN
1995-1996 led Wisconsin in scoring (13.2), rebounding (6.8), assists (3.1) and blocks (1.3).
1996-1997 11.2 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.9 APG, 0.9 BPG.
1997-1998 (9 games) 9.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.6 APG, 0.6 BPG.

IOWA
1998-1999 (7 games) 6.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.4 BPG

Career
Games: 75
Points: 859
Rebounds: 514
Assists: 208
Blocks: 74

Here is what the 5 Iowa players you cited have done:

Adam W (105 games):
Points: 600
Rebounds: 487
Assists: 79
Blocks: 61

Mike G (101 games):
Points: 805
Rebounds: 221
Assists: 352
Blocks: 19

Jarod U (67 games):
Points: 674
Rebounds: 370
Assists: 85
Blocks: 91

Peter J (61 games):
Points: 358
Rebounds: 113
Assists: 63
Blocks: 7

Anthony C (104 games):
Points: 406
Rebounds: 169
Assists: 223
Blocks: 13
 
Legend12, Thanks for the smiley face, and the numbers. It's good to see the stats in one spot. They also support the general perception of Okey from 15-20 years away - A meteor who accomplished very little in his last two years, especially the last in Iowa City. I suppose it's how one defines "productivity." Dividing stats per minutes on the floor is obviously a legitimate measure, and one that favors Okey as the numbers point out. Another is availability for your team. 16 games total in the last 2 seasons, almost all non-conference games I imagine, means Okey was essentially useless his last two years.

Woodbury, Gesell, and Clemons will double the number of games Okey played when their careers are over. While stats are useful, they don't tell everything. Defense is certainly more than block shots and steals (steals weren't included), and half the game is played on the defensive end. It's not easy to evaluate one's overall defensive effectiveness via a stat sheet, especially if your team plays quite a bit of zone. So, games played adds a definite value since you are available to stop your opponent, but one that isn't easy to measure.

So, yes, even if you give "productivity points" to my aforementioned current Hawkeyes for games played, I'll grant you I spoke out of turn by saying they have already been more productive than Okey. However, I'd posit they've already been more VALUABLE, and by seasons end will dwarf Okey in that regard.

Gesell is on pace to have twice as many assists plus 50, will be a thousand point scorer who outscores Okey by 200, and will have doubled him in games played, which has a hidden defensive value, as well as leadership.
Woodbury will surpass Okey in rebounds and blocks, and double in games played.
Uthoff will edge Okey in points and rebounds and play in more than 25 games.

Playing more games means you were a part of more wins. I'd imagine Clemmons, Gesell and Woodbury have already accumulated twice as many Big Ten victories as Okey, and a significantly higher number of overall wins, with still a season to go. Uthoff, not as many yet as his 3 teammates, but already more than Okey, with more to come.

As yourself, which careers do coaches value, more - Steady reliable productivity and playing in every game, especially conference games over 4 years; or, super charged to start, but basically 2 1/2 seasons over 4, and only 2 in conference? Toss in the value of graduating (may not have been as important in Okey's day, but he definitely didn't help Wisconsin in that regard, and, does anyone know, did Okey graduate from Iowa?)

Timing is everything, as I said earlier regarding Baer's high school development. If Okey's timing were reversed, and his last years were his first, say maybe due to an injury like Elingson, or late development like Bartels (see how I used Wisconsin preps? :), he'd be considered a god with 2 monster seasons at the end. Instead, furthering the Wisconsin narrative with a Miller Beer comparison, unfortunately Okey's career isn't "Tastes Great," but rather "Less Filling."

Not arguing with you Legend12. I think this shows the numbers can be used to make both of our points. Yes, Okey was a man child. Sadly, his last two years makes it easy to forget.

I suppose it depends though how one defines productivity. Now, if I had said, "I'd hazard a guess Woodbury, Gesell and Uthoff have already proven to be more valuable," I imagine few Hawkeye fans would debate. And if the sentence were, "When career numbers are eventually matched side by side, Woodbury, Gesell, and Uthoff will prove to be more valuable," even fewer will take issue.

Thanks for the numbers and the chance to put in perspective.
 
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