Houston is the blueprint for Iowa to be successful. Have a team that is mature and tough. Rebounds and plays great defense. They seem to have a great culture and a very good coach. It seems Sampson’s players like to play for him. I will say again that Ben seems like the perfect fit. This is the same way he runs his program and what he expects. This is the best way to compete consistently for Big Championships.
Be Houston
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I was hoping we would take a run at hiring Sampson.
He can recruit texas.he was at Oklahoma so his name is big down there.
Can Ben put together uber-arhletic tough teams with iowa- nice preps?
He can recruit texas.he was at Oklahoma so his name is big down there.
Can Ben put together uber-arhletic tough teams with iowa- nice preps?
I don't think it's Iowa-nice that would be the problem. I think it's Iowa-talent deficiency that would be the problem. But there's nothing to suggest that McCollum is limiting his recruiting sphere to any geographic boundary. For the time being, economics may be the biggest limitation. But I have confidence he can find the guys he wants and teach them to be a very good team.
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LMAO
Why would Sampson come to Iowa?
List even one advantage that Iowa has over Houston.
Think beyond Iowa for recruiting ground. WAY beyond Iowa.
International players should be a major target for small market teams. And Iowa needs to act like a small market team fighting against the behemoth pro franchises they are competing against.
International players should be a major target for small market teams. And Iowa needs to act like a small market team fighting against the behemoth pro franchises they are competing against.
I remember when Houston hire a new football coach - Tom Herman I think. He said he wouldn't ever have to get on a plane to recruit. The Houston area was rich with talent.
Pancheros?? i imagine the texmex down there is terrible.
I'm sorry, but I'm not tracking your point, if it's meant to be a rebuttal to mine. If it's simply an opinion independent of my point, then I completely agree with you.
Half the Houston team is still from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi (plus a couple of international). Who would he get comparable from Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin to make people happy?
Not really a rebuttal, just conversation. I'm a skeptic. There have been some decent players come out of MIAA D2. Vince Brookins brother I remember played in that league. Jeff Horner coaches in the MIAA.
My guess is that the Mo Valley has really suffered due to the NIL, so the wins may be jaded and only one year. Mizzou looked rather amused at Drake until late. No doubt Ben will make the Hawks better at fundamentals (Fran's coaching in fundamentals was awful), especially on D. The rebounding in my opinion was a choice as they wanted to fast break and released early). He didn't teach his own kids proper shooting techniques (my guess is Margret did that as they really did shoot like girls do).
I hope it works out. My gut is that Iowa will remain Iowa nice and cheap.
I should have added that Duke is a well-coached team (although what happened in the last 30 seconds of the game against Houston might cause one to differ on that). But, in general, they are well coached, and when you add that talent, they are hard to beat.
Iowa will need to grow their financial status, because it's needed these days, whether you like it or not. I believe that pot will grow, but they will continue to need to find the overlooked player and then do what they can to keep him at Iowa. It's the second part that I think they can accomplish with McCollum, but there are no guarantees any longer when other programs have twice the budget. I think Iowa fans are enthused about McCollum, and there has been an increase in donations, but the basketball donor spigot is far from wide open. There will need to be some positives in November-December, as there is some skepticism (as you note) among fans; but I also feel like the fan base is itching to be relevant, so money will come if those positives are shown. I have confidence that it will occur.
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When I was back in IC a couple years ago, I went to the Panchero's on Riverside Dr. WTH happened to that place. It was garbage with some employees that I wouldn't want anywhere close to food I would consume. I remember going to Pancheros first store on Clinton and Washington and it was a great spot. It's a shell of it's past self. Overexpansion?
I felt the same way watching Houston play. Yes, they have talent, but Duke has 4-5 NBA-caliber players, Houston, maybe one or two. It's toughness, physicality and just sheer grit. I'm not saying McCollom is the same level of coach is as a veteran guy like Sampson, but the approach seems the same. If you can guys with heart and who will work, plus have some talent, you can win playing defense, rebounding, limiting turnovers and lower number of posessions.
Houston was put together uniquely. While Duke may have more NBA talent, they were much younger than Houston. I believe Duke started three freshmen. Houston, started one sophomore and the rest were either upperclassmen or graduate students. I don't think Houston had ANY Freshmen play against Duke. Houston is also not that big, but deceptive on size as they their "bigs" have tremendous wingspans, longer than average for their height. While Houston has transfers in, they haven't lost many key ones out other than graduation or going pro.
Why would he consider leaving Houston for Iowa? Not disparaging Iowa, but he has been at Houston for 11 years I believe, has a strong recruiting base, good financial support, and is playing in the National Championship game.
I hope you are joking. I loved Iowa City, but food options in Houston make it seem small.
The idea of developing tough kids to play at Iowa tracks, along with developing them for a few years. But as others have said, BMc would have to expand his recruiting area to get the type of players Sampson has at Houston. Chicago would be a great place to make recruiting connections, although in the current recruiting environment, it seems easier to attract kids from various parts of the country. BMc seems to create a lot of player loyalty, which Sampson also seems to have at Houston.
I think we will be a developmental program similar to what our football program is(was). Ben will take what he can get and hopefully squeeze all the talent out of them and make them better players and exceed their expectations.
from what ive seen from his Drake team that does seem like his coaching philosophy
As much as I despise them, I can't help but think that Wisconsin is the program we should realistically be targeting as trying to match (and then surpass) their sustained level of success. If the Badgers can do what they've done, there's no reason we can't.
You might be right.
The fear is that in the portal era, the guys we spend a couple of years developing will bolt for a bigger paycheck.
That's why I think any school losing a player to the portal ought to be compensated financially by the receiving school. Schools that spend 1-3 years coaching, training, feeding, educating a player, etc., ought to be reimbursed for that investment. (And it would be another way to implement a modest deterrent to the mass transfer we are seeing.)
i wish that there would be limit set on how much a team can spend on players. If you go over it,then you start losing scholarships. Players must be on a scholarship to be eligible.
Correct, no such thing as cheating anymore, really, now that openly paying players is a part of the system, and there is no cap on pay for play. Though I suppose there may be other ways for cheaters to up their game even further.
Gonzaga has been a home for international talent for a long time now, with proven success. We'll see what Ben does, but I'm fine with whoever he gets.
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