Does Fran struggle at developing talent?

[Auger]

I still beleive in Fran but after this season and looking back at past seasons Im wondering if Fran and his staff struggle to develope talent. Maybe in the past he was a poor evaluator of B1G type talent and was seeing something that would have worked in lesser conferences. You look at guys like Oglesby, May, Basabe, Gesell, Clemmons and Woodbury and you see they never really improved much on offense thoughout their careers. In fact some of them actually declined and failed to adjust to B1G play and B1G scouting reports throughout their careers.

I don't think the blame should rest on Fran but maybe his asst coaches. Maybe its time to shake up the staff a little. I dont think Iowa can afford to have less then half of these last 8 recruits not develope on offense especially since a few of them were'nt known for scoring or being the number one scorer on their high school teams (Moss, Fleming, Wagner and Cook). Considering it might take them a little bit to adjust to college and then be asked to score more then they were asked to in high school ball without a real true college point guard.

 

[EddieHaskell]

We haven't had a coach that could develop talent since Tom Davis.

 

[StormHawk42]

Frans biggest flaw in regard to personnel is closing the deal on a true PG.

Turning Marble, White, and Uthoff into draft picks I think balances out the others not developing as much. Not to mention the great improvement of Gabe.

 

[ichawk24]

He has had success with guys like Marble, White, Uthoff, Olaseni, and Jok. He has had some disappointments with guys like Wood and Gesell.

All coaches have plus and minuses. Fran seems to be a little above average at developing talent.

 

[Curt Furence]

Not completely disagreeing with you, but you can also argue that Marble, White, Gabe, Jok, and others have improved greatly offensively. Even without putting up great numbers, Woodbury developed a serviceable 12 footer and consistency from the free throw line.

 

[fredjr82]

Not to mention the great improvement of Gabe

This answer should really end the thread. Gabe was so green when he came to Iowa. Signed one of the highest rookie contracts in one of the best European basketball leagues overseas. The coaches need to get some of that credit. Sames goes for Aaron White. 2 round NBA draft selection. Who offered him out of high school? Nobody.

In summary, even if Fran has trouble developing talent his eye for "under the radar" talent is pretty impressive this far and does trump that perceived notion in my opinion.

 

[Auger]

Frans biggest flaw in regard to personnel is closing the deal on a true PG.

Turning Marble, White, and Uthoff into draft picks I think balances out the others not developing as much. Not to mention the great improvement of Gabe.

I agree. However even being able to get all those other guys to develope a little more on offense and get them to make adjustments during the B1G season would be the difference between Wisconsin and us. We have too many holes around our stars that dreaming of Elite 8's, Final Fours, and even Sweet 16's seems like a pipe dream.

 

[Auger]

This answer should really end the thread. Gabe was so green when he came to Iowa. Signed one of the highest rookie contracts in one of the best European basketball leagues overseas. The coaches need to get some of that credit. Sames goes for Aaron White. 2 round NBA draft selection. Who offered him out of high school? Nobody.

In summary, even if Fran has trouble developing talent his eye for "under the radar" talent is pretty impressive this far and does trump that perceived notion in my opinion.

I dont think one guy is the thing that ends the discussion. Not when you have several guys that never developed and have kept Iowa from being a team that can advance past the 2nd Rd of the NCAA tournament. I guess if you want Iowa's ceiling to be a team that can reach the 2nd Rd then Fran has achieved that with player development but if you want to go beyond the 2nd Rd well then we need other guys to develope and we can't have just 2-3 guys that can score on the entire team.

 

[HawkAttackDial911]

Like others have said it's been a mixed bag for both finding talent and developing it.

 

[Auger]

He has had success with guys like Marble, White, Uthoff, Olaseni, and Jok. He has had some disappointments with guys like Wood and Gesell.

All coaches have plus and minuses. Fran seems to be a little above average at developing talent.

I wouldnt say above avg at developing talent. You named 5 guys in Fran's 6 years that have become to some extent a star. When you have a starting lineup with 2-3 holes of guys that have under developed not to mention guys on the bench you will be a 1st or 2nd Rd team. Of the 5 guys you mentioned how many of them just had talent that they themselves could improve on without a coaches help? Its the guys that have talent but can't get much else out of it that Fran and his staff have trouble developing. As much as I hate Bo Ryan I can admit he knew how to develope talent and he could turn an avg recruit into an above avg college basketball player and go on to build a lineup that could take you deep into the tournament.

 

[33hawkfan]

Frans biggest flaw in regard to personnel is closing the deal on a true PG.

Turning Marble, White, and Uthoff into draft picks I think balances out the others not developing as much. Not to mention the great improvement of Gabe.

It's hard to overstate how much Gesell and Clemmons dragged this team down.

 

[fredjr82]

I dont think one guy is the thing that ends the discussion. Not when you have several guys that never developed and have kept Iowa from being a team that can advance past the 2nd Rd of the NCAA tournament. I guess if you want Iowa's ceiling to be a team that can reach the 2nd Rd then Fran has achieved that with player development but if you want to go beyond the 2nd Rd well then we need other guys to develope and we can't have just 2-3 guys that can score on the entire team.

Well that's not really fair. Fran has improved his record since he started here. That in itself shows that his teams have improved from a talent standpoint. He's probably going to have the 3rd player in a row drafted by the NBA. That's a testament to how he developed players. The tournament is not a great barometer of how players develop. It's a crap shoot. If we would have drawn Iona and ALRU on our way to the Sweet 16 than would Mike and Woody have been a development success? Good teams lose all the time in the first and second round.

 

[Auger]

I may get ripped for this but out of Uthoff, White, Gabe, Marble and Jok I can only see that Marble and Gabe developed anything new on offense to help their offensive game. Uthoff, White and Jok never expanded their games they in part just became the focal point of the offense and got more shots. White was also a guy that went to the gym ever night and shot over a 100 shots on his own trying to improve his shooting. White also game in his FR year and showed the same skill sets he ended up leaving with. Uthoff was already a known talent coming in. Jok was already a known shooter but its not like he has developed anything new other than his shots are falling. So though Fran deserves credit for these guys other than Gabe and somewhat Marble its not like it was from rags to riches for these guys as far as development.

 

[Auger]

Well that's not really fair. Fran has improved his record since he started here. That in itself shows that his teams have improved from a talent standpoint. He's probably going to have the 3rd player in a row drafted by the NBA. That's a testament to how he developed players. The tournament is not a great barometer of how players develop. It's a crap shoot. If we would have drawn Iona and ALRU on our way to the Sweet 16 than would Mike and Woody have been a development success? Good teams lose all the time in the first and second round.

Agree but under developing most of the team is also why we can't beat LSU, Gonzaga and Villanova in the tournament as well as get blown out and also why Iowa can't get a 2-5 seed and always tends to have a high seed. If Iowa wants to be a top 5 B1G basketball team most years and be a team that can get a 5 or better seed our coaching staff has to develope a roster and a starting lineup. Iowa cant just hope for 2 guys to shoot us there. Fran has made Iowa a top 45 program but if Iowa wants to be better then I think he needs to bring in some coaches that can develope players and the lineup better not to mention pull in some better rounded recruits.

 

[wyohawk]

No

 

[Hawk40forever]

Was just watching some high school videos of Woodbury. He looked good. Being guarded by kids who barely cleared his shoulders certainly helped. First time I saw him play his freshman year at Carver I couldn't help but think,"This is the 4 star, top 50 recruit that we kept from UNC and other top schools?" He just didn't look that athletic. I remember looking forward to seeing him battle Cody Zeller from Indiana that year. Both 7 ft centers. Zeller was just better, more athletic. He was what I envisioned Woody to be, but that never materialized. From his freshman year to his senior year his scoring increased by only 2.5 points, from 4.9 to 7.6. Oleseni on the other hand went from 1.4 to 8.1 points a game. And he was splitting time with Woody when most intelligent Hawkeye fans felt he should be starting and not Woody.

I hate to rail on the kid. I came to appreciate what he brought to the team this year, only after having to accept that he wasn't going to be a 15-17 point, 8-10 rebound a night player. Was he over hyped and over graded? Possibly, even probably. Had he come in as a raw 2-3 star kid playing for his home state Hawks and had the career he had we would probably be more apt to heap praise on Coach McCaffery for taking a chance on this kid. Instead we look at what might have/could have been. I wish Woody and all the seniors the best of luck with whatever their futures might hold.

 

[FranklinHawk]

I may get ripped for this but out of Uthoff, White, Gabe, Marble and Jok I can only see that Marble and Gabe developed anything new on offense to help their offensive game. Uthoff, White and Jok never expanded their games they in part just became the focal point of the offense and got more shots. White was also a guy that went to the gym ever night and shot over a 100 shots on his own trying to improve his shooting. White also game in his FR year and showed the same skill sets he ended up leaving with. Uthoff was already a known talent coming in. Jok was already a known shooter but its not like he has developed anything new other than his shots are falling. So though Fran deserves credit for these guys other than Gabe and somewhat Marble its not like it was from rags to riches for these guys as far as development.

So when guys do progress Fran had little or nothing to do with it and when they don't it's his fault? Not sure I agree with that logic.

In many of the examples you quoted, I tend to think for several it was less about progress/development and more about guys who had some key athletic/skill limitations and were only going to progress so far. They certainly helped bring the Hawks back to being respectable, but just didn't have the right combination of skill/athleticism/coordination where they were going to be all conference type of players.

 

[kzoohawk80]

I may get ripped for this but out of Uthoff, White, Gabe, Marble and Jok I can only see that Marble and Gabe developed anything new on offense to help their offensive game. Uthoff, White and Jok never expanded their games they in part just became the focal point of the offense and got more shots. White was also a guy that went to the gym ever night and shot over a 100 shots on his own trying to improve his shooting. White also game in his FR year and showed the same skill sets he ended up leaving with. Uthoff was already a known talent coming in. Jok was already a known shooter but its not like he has developed anything new other than his shots are falling. So though Fran deserves credit for these guys other than Gabe and somewhat Marble its not like it was from rags to riches for these guys as far as development.

This is just nit picking by you to be honest. He doesn't get credit for their development. He doesn't get credit for evaluating hard workers. Come on man! This is a Fran response about recruiting.

When you evaluate prospects, what are you looking for?
I have to have character and I mean that sincerely with no ‘coach talk.’ We have no time for knuckleheads. The bottom line is if you have real character you will work hard and you will accept coaching, you are going to be a great teammate, and you will mentor young kids. We have a great group of kids here and we have worked hard to make sure of that. I expect my players to work hard. I always get a kick out of the guy who comes in and says, “Coach, I am working really hard and I should play more.” You should expect yourself to work hard. Next you have to perform. If you are going to play here for me, it’s required that you work hard, then you have to perform -- it’s a two-sided formula.

 

[Curt Furence]

Agree but under developing most of the team is also why we can't beat LSU, Gonzaga and Villanova in the tournament as well as get blown out and also why Iowa can't get a 2-5 seed and always tends to have a high seed. If Iowa wants to be a top 5 B1G basketball team most years and be a team that can get a 5 or better seed our coaching staff has to develope a roster and a starting lineup. Iowa cant just hope for 2 guys to shoot us there. Fran has made Iowa a top 45 program but if Iowa wants to be better then I think he needs to bring in some coaches that can develope players and the lineup better not to mention pull in some better rounded recruits.

I could just be blanking but when did Iowa lose to LSU? Outback Bowl?

 

[Auger]

So when guys do progress Fran had little or nothing to do with it and when they don't it's his fault? Not sure I agree with that logic.

In many of the examples you quoted, I tend to think for several it was less about progress/development and more about guys who had some key athletic/skill limitations and were only going to progress so far. They certainly helped bring the Hawks back to being respectable, but just didn't have the right combination of skill/athleticism/coordination where they were going to be all conference type of players.

Never siad that Fran shouldnt get credit. Just stating it isnt like for example they couldnt shoot from the left side when they came in and then all of a sudden they developed a left sided shot that aided their offensive game. Anybody that has watched White, Uthoff and Jok can see that during their careers they never added anything major to their offensive games from their first day on campus. They just improved what they were already good at. Jok still has many of the same limits or weaknesses he had when he came to Iowa.

Then you look at the larger group of guys like Mike G and you see a bunch of guys that peaked talent wise when they first got here and then never really developed anything else on offense. They left Iowa never really developing the same weaknesses to their games that they had their first years.

 

[kzoohawk80]

So when guys do progress Fran had little or nothing to do with it and when they don't it's his fault? Not sure I agree with that logic.

In many of the examples you quoted, I tend to think for several it was less about progress/development and more about guys who had some key athletic/skill limitations and were only going to progress so far. They certainly helped bring the Hawks back to being respectable, but just didn't have the right combination of skill/athleticism/coordination where they were going to be all conference type of players.

Exactly this seems like a recruiting argument over a player development argument. I think Fran's done a great job developing. White was a 3 star recruit that got drafted. Same with Marble. Gabe was not even ranked by ESPN if I remember correctly. Jok also a 3 star recruit that was 2nd team All Big Ten last year. Also Clemmons development from his freshman year to senior year was really good. But again I see what your saying is true with Clemmons. It wasn't development it was the ceiling he was going to have. He was never going to become a great offensive player. That's not a development issue, that's recruiting.

 

[FranklinHawk]

Never siad that Fran shouldnt get credit. Just stating it isnt like for example they couldnt shoot from the left side when they came in and then all of a sudden they developed a left sided shot that aided their offensive game. Anybody that has watched White, Uthoff and Jok can see that during their careers they never added anything major to their offensive games from their first day on campus. They just improved what they were already good at. Jok still has many of the same limits or weaknesses he had when he came to Iowa.

Then you look at the larger group of guys like Mike G and you see a bunch of guys that peaked talent wise when they first got here and then never really developed anything else on offense. They left Iowa never really developing the same weaknesses to their games that they had their first years.

Your opinion and you are entitled to it, I disagree. Not saying he's all world in either respect, but Pete's defense is light years better than when he arrived on campus and this year you saw him being more aggressive taking guys off the dribble as well.

In every one of these threads you're digging on Fran, we get it...

 

[HawkGem11]

Fran struggles at everything besides yelling and screaming like a fool

 

[FranklinHawk]

Fran struggles at everything besides yelling and screaming like a fool

Your user name is appropriate, you are quite the Gem!!

 

[Auger]

This is just nit picking by you to be honest. He doesn't get credit for their development. He doesn't get credit for evaluating hard workers. Come on man! This is a Fran response about recruiting.

When you evaluate prospects, what are you looking for?
I have to have character and I mean that sincerely with no ‘coach talk.’ We have no time for knuckleheads. The bottom line is if you have real character you will work hard and you will accept coaching, you are going to be a great teammate, and you will mentor young kids. We have a great group of kids here and we have worked hard to make sure of that. I expect my players to work hard. I always get a kick out of the guy who comes in and says, “Coach, I am working really hard and I should play more.” You should expect yourself to work hard. Next you have to perform. If you are going to play here for me, it’s required that you work hard, then you have to perform -- it’s a two-sided formula.

I think that sums up why a lot of these kids arent advancing their skills and developing their games. I'm sure Mike, Woody, May, Ogelsby and so on worked hard their entire careers Fran always said so but a coach has to help you develope and refine your skills to help you advance your game.

 

[kzoohawk80]

I think that sums up why a lot of these kids arent advancing their skills and developing their games. I'm sure Mike, Woody, May, Ogelsby and so on worked hard their entire careers Fran always said so but a coach has to help you develope and refine your skills to help you advance your game.

Ogelsby is really the only one that didn't improve. Maybe that was just an athletic thing. Again that's recruiting. May could barely dribble or pass as a freshman. Was May even a Fran recruit? Woody improved a ton but the bashers don't want to see it. Hard to develop a post game when no one actually throws you the ball in the post. Not sure if this is a Fran philosophy or weaknesses of Gesell and Clemmons. Mike improved his offensive game in every area except outside shooting. I really think he's just an anomaly with the outside shooting. Maybe his elbow really got jacked up. Who knows but it's just not normal that guy's become worse shooters as their careers go on.

 

[Phenomenally Frantastic]

jarryd cole improved, gatens improved, eric may improved, marble improved, white improved, woody improved....

other than those guys... yeah he really struggles.

one really has to be ignorant to ask this kind of question. no wonder Fran gets peeved at the dolts in the media asking him questions.

 

[ichawk24]

Fran is a hard-to-believe coach. He can't recruit, can't identify talent, can't develop players, is terrible at in-game coaching decisions, etc.

Yet he has improved the program every year, has had guys on the B1G first team for 3 straight years, will likely have a guy drafted for the third straight year, made the tourney 3 straight years, won a tourney game 2 straight years.

He must be the luckiest coach that has ever walked the face of the earth.

 

[DanL53]

#Hawkeyechondriac

Think carefully.

4-14, 8-10, 9-9, 9-9,12-6,12-6

Yet in those six years McCaffery has:

Been a poor recruiter, just look at the rankings.
Can't game coach, just look at all the close losses.
Can't develop, just...believe it!

Doodoocaca.

We've got us a good coach and staff. Some should go root for Minnesota, or Nebraska, or Illinois. Go enjoy conversations about players pulling knives on bouncers, or doing a Godzilla act on a small French town. Or posting homemade porn. Or just losing lots of games!!!

Questioning development isn't fair criticism...it's a lot of things and none of them good at all.

 

[bravehawks1]

Exactly this seems like a recruiting argument over a player development argument. I think Fran's done a great job developing. White was a 3 star recruit that got drafted. Same with Marble. Gabe was not even ranked by ESPN if I remember correctly. Jok also a 3 star recruit that was 2nd team All Big Ten last year. Also Clemmons development from his freshman year to senior year was really good. But again I see what your saying is true with Clemmons. It wasn't development it was the ceiling he was going to have. He was never going to become a great offensive player. That's not a development issue, that's recruiting.

Gabe had only played basketball for like two years before coming to Iowa so he would naturally show big gains just because he was exposed to the game much more and he had good natural athletic ability. also , I believe Jok was one of or the top player in the country prior to his knee injury so for him, Fran just stayed with him during recruiting. Both of these guys are not your normal recruit so I think you need to look like at guys like May, White, Woodbury and Gesell for development. Pretty much a mixed bag in my opinion, to maybe under developing players if I had to rate it

 

[RSCookie222]

So you think Fran wasn't trying to help these players develop? Do you think he didn't work with Ogelsby on being more agressive, taking the ball to hole? Do you think he didn't work with Josh on why he can't replicate his performance in practice to the game? No doubt Fran is working with these guys, no doubt he is doing everything he can to help them improve....unfortunately sometimes that just doesn't happen.

 

[DanL53]

 

[Auger]

So you think Fran wasn't trying to help these players develop? Do you think he didn't work with Ogelsby on being more agressive, taking the ball to hole? Do you think he didn't work with Josh on why he can't replicate his performance in practice to the game? No doubt Fran is working with these guys, no doubt he is doing everything he can to help them improve....unfortunately sometimes that just doesn't happen.

So is he ok then a evaluating talent?

 

[Auger]

I see people on here saying May, Oglesby, Gesell, Clemmons and so on improved their offesne under Fran but where, how? Where do you find any proof in saying that? Most all of these guys were either the same shooters they were their freshman year or worse by the time they were SR's. Most of them couldnt even improve their FT shooting let alone from inside the arch. They never. Go look at the guys Davis had and look at the progress they have made throughout their careers even the role players. Look at Bo Ryan recruits over the past 10 years as well.

 

[RSCookie222]

So is he ok then a evaluating talent?

I think his track record indicates so. Certainly he has had some guys sign that he missed on. I think the main issue is (as has been stated many times on this board) is that he hasn't been able to find an option at PG other than MG and AC. I think MG and AC are both solid players, but neither are top tier B1G guards. My personal feeling is the best PG we have had in Fran's time here was Devyn Marble. I don't find it a coincidence that when Dev was playing a majority of his minutes at PG i.e. NIT run, early part of his Sr year, Iowa played its best basketball. Late his Sr. year as the play of others fell off, Fran moved Dev back to the 2 so he could get him more scoring opportunities.

 

[HawkRugged17]

I see people on here saying May, Oglesby, Gesell, Clemmons and so on improved their offesne under Fran but where, how? Where do you find any proof in saying that? Most all of these guys were either the same shooters they were their freshman year or worse by the time they were SR's. Most of them couldnt even improve their FT shooting let alone from inside the arch. They never. Go look at the guys Davis had and look at the progress they have made throughout their careers even the role players. Look at Bo Ryan recruits over the past 10 years as well.

At what point is the responsibility for improvement on the players and not as much on the coaches? If we have seen some improve greatly, some marginally, and some not at all, seems like if the coaches are the same, then the variable is the player(s). Some improve and get better through hard work. Some don't get better even with hard work. And, some don't work hard.

Maybe the players you don't think improved didn't work at improving, or could't get better even when they tried. I tend to believe guys like Oglesby, Gesell, and Woody worked hard, but they had maxed out their potential and were as good as they were at a certain point with no room to improve. It happens.

Now, should the coaching staff just not work with them anymore or not play them even if they can't seem to get better? I would say the coaching staff is guilty of staying with some of the players who were not showing improvement or continuing to put some of the players in the same position over and over and getting the same results. You can call that loyalty or being stubborn.

 

[Hawk40forever]

Do I think Woody improved from his freshman year to his senior year? Yes. It doesn't really show in his stats tho, other than basically doubling his rebounding stats. Which at 7'1 I would imagine your stats should go up as you learn the college game and grow more into your body. I looked at 3 previous big men who came to Iowa in my lifetime. Les Jepsen, Brad Lohaus and Acie Earl. Their first significant year of production were as follows (I say that because Jepsen didn't play significant minutes until his junior year and Lohaus until his sophomore year where Earl and Woodbury played significant minutes their freshman years)

Jepsen (Jr yr) 4.2 ppg 5 rpg
Lohaus (Soph yr) 6.8 ppg 5 rpg
Earl (Fr yr) 6.2 ppg 3.5 rpg
Woodbury (Fr yr) 4.9 ppg 4.8 rpg

Their respective Senior Year stats
Jepsen 15 ppg 10 rpg
Lohaus 11 ppg 8 rpg
Earl 17 ppg 9 rpg
Woodbury 7.5 ppg 8 rpg

Jepsen and Earl had dramatic jumps in both scoring and rebounding while Lohaus improved a good deal in both. Though again, Woody did improve his rebounding a good deal from Freshman to Senior year. As I said in my earlier post, had Woody come in with the same fanfare as the previous three then his career would be looked at with a great deal of appreciation. Instead it was a nice career. A lot of wins but one is left to wonder how many more wins would there be had he had the improvements of his predecessors. Just a few thoughts.

 

[Auger]

At what point is the responsibility for improvement on the players and not as much on the coaches? If we have seen some improve greatly, some marginally, and some not at all, seems like if the coaches are the same, then the variable is the player(s). Some improve and get better through hard work. Some don't get better even with hard work. And, some don't work hard.

Maybe the players you don't think improved didn't work at improving, or could't get better even when they tried. I tend to believe guys like Oglesby, Gesell, and Woody worked hard, but they had maxed out their potential and were as good as they were at a certain point with no room to improve. It happens.

Now, should the coaching staff just not work with them anymore or not play them even if they can't seem to get better? I would say the coaching staff is guilty of staying with some of the players who were not showing improvement or continuing to put some of the players in the same position over and over and getting the same results. You can call that loyalty or being stubborn.

So most of the guys Fran recruits either don't work hard enough despite him saying he only recruits guys he knows will work hard for him or they are guys that reach their peak their SR of high school which makes me wonder why Fran recruits so many of these guys. And on top of alll of that Fran chooses to play these guys that dont work hard and may have reached their peak back in high school more then other guys on the roster who may or may not be working harder.

 

[DenverTurtle]

I still beleive in Fran but after this season and looking back at past seasons Im wondering if Fran and his staff struggle to develope talent. Maybe in the past he was a poor evaluator of B1G type talent and was seeing something that would have worked in lesser conferences. You look at guys like Oglesby, May, Basabe, Gesell, Clemmons and Woodbury and you see they never really improved much on offense thoughout their careers. In fact some of them actually declined and failed to adjust to B1G play and B1G scouting reports throughout their careers.

I don't think the blame should rest on Fran but maybe his asst coaches. Maybe its time to shake up the staff a little. I dont think Iowa can afford to have less then half of these last 8 recruits not develope on offense especially since a few of them were'nt known for scoring or being the number one scorer on their high school teams (Moss, Fleming, Wagner and Cook). Considering it might take them a little bit to adjust to college and then be asked to score more then they were asked to in high school ball without a real true college point guard.

Marble went from an after thought in high school, whose best offer was from a really bad Iowa team a that time, that contributed very little as a freshman to a 1st team All-B1G player by his senior year. I suppose it's fair to argue that he and his dad may have had as much to do with his development as Fran and his staff.

I disagree about May and Basabe not developing offensively. By Basabe's senior year he could step out 15-18 feet and nail that jumper at a very high rate. That was not in his repertoire his 1st 2 seasons. And May was a much better shooter by his senior year and most importantly finally leaned to play under control. So many of those alley oops he missed his 1st 3 years doing some acrobatic dunk he had the savvy to just lay in if he couldn't throw down the dunk.

I do agree that Gessel regressed offensively from frosh to senior year. His FT % went down every year and that elbow jumper he never missed in high school he almost never made in college.
But opposite of that when you look at what horrible FT shooters both Olaseni and Woodbury were as freshmen (about 50%) and that both as seniors were about 80% that definitely shows an ability to develop players.

 

[Curt Furence]

Marble went from an after thought in high school, whose best offer was from a really bad Iowa team a that time, that contributed very little as a freshman to a 1st team All-B1G player by his senior year. I suppose it's fair to argue that he and his dad may have had as much to do with his development as Fran and his staff.

I disagree about May and Basabe not developing offensively. By Basabe's senior year he could step out 15-18 feet and nail that jumper at a very high rate. That was not in his repertoire his 1st 2 seasons. And May was a much better shooter by his senior year and most importantly finally leaned to play under control. So many of those alley oops he missed his 1st 3 years doing some acrobatic dunk he had the savvy to just lay in if he couldn't throw down the dunk.

I do agree that Gessel regressed offensively from frosh to senior year. His FT % went down every year and that elbow jumper he never missed in high school he almost never made in college.
But opposite of that when you look at what horrible FT shooters both Olaseni and Woodbury were as freshmen (about 50%) and that both as seniors were about 80% that definitely shows an ability to develop players.

I agree with most of this but that 15 foot pull up was the most consistent part of his game. One of the few players you would see shoot that shot anymore