So losing to Nebraska Omaha is not a red flag? Rutgers gave us a good run last year at their place...I wouldn't be surprised to see them ahead of Iowa in B1G.
Frans recruiting
- Thread starter BrunoMars420
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So losing to Nebraska Omaha is not a red flag? Rutgers gave us a good run last year at their place...I wouldn't be surprised to see them ahead of Iowa in B1G.
I agree with a lot of which you've said. I will say one thing however with the exception of Cook in state recruits are what are saving Fran right now. He needs to be able to find players like Cook more consistently outside the borders if he is going to push Iowa to new heights. His out of state recruiting has really been bad these past 4 classes. I think he may be on a better track with the 2017 class but he still has some pretty big shortcomings and his quest for a quality PG has been going on for way to long. That said fans need to hold themselves in check a bit right now. It stinks Fran after this many years is having a year you would expect a first year coach to be having but the future looks pretty bright right now. He does need to do a lot better job at out of state recruiting and PG recruiting however.
And he passed on Monte Morris.......easily the biggest mistake of his tenure. The Marble's helped him land in Ames after Fran would not recruit him.
Absolutely, I don't believe Fran is perfect - nor is his recruiting. I am in the group that believes we will get over the top once we find a quick, true PG that can do a little bit of everything a la Ulis/Moore etc. I also believe that Fran made a mistake in spacing out the classes. We have too many underclassmen right now and too few upperclassmen. That does create a "rebuild" situation instead of the ideal "reload" situation.
That said, to deny what Fran has done for this program, and to make "time to become concerned about the direction of the program" posts are asinine.
They may be better (I doubt it), but there's not a chance in hell that we are the worst team by the large margin that his post claimed
There is good talent on this team whether you'd like to admit it or not. If Fran were to leave, taking his boys/Wieskamp with him, we'd be left with less than almost nothing coming in (that's nothing, by the way)
What gets me is I understand that we arent going to get those blue chips and we will have to go the route of 3 stars and some 4 stars. I love Fran and what he has done for this program but look at our role players from those two recruiting classes I listed. If people expect us to progress and reload each year its hard when you recruit talent that he has the last couple of years.
I am excited for the future recruiting classes but people need to take the goggles off and realize whats going on here. The next couple of years are going to be rough if those 2014 and 2015 classes are leading the way.
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Not everyone did. There were people on here last year thinking this team could be better than last year.
With this level of inexperience there was no way this was going to be anything but a rebuilding year.
Its time to start playing the guys that give us the best chance to win in the future and sacrifice a few potential wins this year.
The wins look to be sparse this year no matter what lineup is on the floor. I don't think there's really any sacrificing necessary. There is Jok and there is Cook. Plenty of options for mixing and matching combinations to go with their minutes.
Quitting on Fran at this point would be short sighted stupidity.
This is a rebuilding year, this is not going to be the norm. Look at the players coming in and Iowa is on a major upward trend over the next 5 years.
Yes its 7 years in, and they haven't been ideal but Iowa is not plateauing, this is a minor set back on the way to major progression.
This is a rebuilding year, this is not going to be the norm. Look at the players coming in and Iowa is on a major upward trend over the next 5 years.
Yes its 7 years in, and they haven't been ideal but Iowa is not plateauing, this is a minor set back on the way to major progression.
Wins and Losses matter every year. And being his 7th year and 2 straight 2nd round finishes we shouldn't be in this setback. I mean we are 3-5 and lost to a team no one outside of Nebraska knows about.
Read my post again. I said if you are going to act like that you better win.
Izzo and Crean have been to final fours.
Fran is sticking up for his young players. He was the same way when Woodbury/Gesell/Clemmons/Jok were underclassmen too. He said as much last year.
Wieskamp is an Iowa fan. Unless we hired an absolute clown for a replacement, he's coming to Iowa. But that's not relevant. A new coach might bring in better players. You don't know what the result would be, so save the Boogeyman tactics for someone else
Wieskamp's probably an Iowa fan because he's grown up watching a successful Hawkeyes program. You think he'd be coming to Iowa if we had Lickliter coaching the last six years? I'm not so sure.
Also, I highly doubt Iowa would hire a coach who would bring in better recruits than Iowa currently has coming in. 4* Garza, 3/4* Nunge, 4* Wieskamp, 4* McCaffery, 3/4* McCaffery... When has Iowa ever recruited better than that? That's not "Boogeyman tactics"... That's a statement based on decades of Iowa recruiting
Maybe. Maybe not. But you don't know for sure. I personally think Garza/Nunge are a dime a dozen.
Again, you're fear mongering. And it's bull shit. Spare me. Carry on with others if you like. I'm not buying it.
There are a lot of idiots around. The problem I have with it is why is it acceptable? Tell your boss that you feel like taking a break in 2017 but you'll go back to producing I n 2018 and beyond. See how far that gets ya.
I've contributed facts and numbers in nearly all my posts. Meanwhile, your responses have included calling my posts "fear mongering." Sounds like we'd both benefit from ending our discussion. I'm by no means a Fran apologist, and have been vocally critical of Ferentz when I've been dissatisfied with the football team.
It just blows my mind that people could want Fran fired after two (three if you count the play-in game) straight tournament appearances both including wins. His teams haven't had a season of regression since joining the program, and now he has to rebuild six years later and people want him fired. I seriously don't understand...
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We had one scholarship we got jok an all conference player avg 20+ pts and a well needed shooter we needed when he was recruited. Not like we had Morris in the bag and passed him over. Our 2nd option was EC Matthews who is killing it at Rhode Island and a nba prospect. It was just bad luck we had one scholly that year. Plus Fran just got 2 pgs in previous class one being gesell a top 100 player who I assume most if not everyone here was praising Fran for getting. But let's not let facts get in the way to bitch and moan.
One college coaching isn't like a normal job you and I have. 2nd you think Fran is happy and enjoying this year? Yeah we had 2 not so great years of recruits but our freshman show in a year or two will back to last few years and have good recruits coming in. This year will suck but just a bump in the road.
So we are to believe that one year, Fran had his bead on EC Matthew and Morris and had to pass, but since then he has not been able to recruit a quick guard that can beat his man off the dribble and get to the rack or defend? Picking guards that don't perform seems to be Fran's weakness. Clemmons/Gesell were two role players, not elite guards. Ogelsby was never starter material. Ellingson won't be either. Now the experiment of getting a 6'6 PG in CW looks to be another blown PG recruit. At least CW has enough length and athleticism that he could be taught to play defense.
Bohannon might pay off as a shooter/combo guard, but he is not a guy that can get to rack and get his own shot. He needs to be paired with a couple more athletic guards .
I question Fran's judgement on how he doles out schollies. I don't see next years class filling the voids we are seeing right now.
Outside of the Omaha loss, Iowa has played a pretty tough schedule. Yes the defense has been a major disappointment but we kind of knew it would be a little rough early.
Agreed on your 2nd paragraph. All of the guys you mentioned (Garza, Nunge, Wieskamp, the two McCafferys) are a collective upgrade of the talent on the roster now. This year and likely next will be challenging. Fran getting to the tournament 3 straight years bought him some time to rebuild again. Like it or not, the Iowa program is likely one where there will be cycles. If missing the tournament one year causes fans to call for the coach's head, probably need to reset expectations.
They are not saviors but they will both come in and immediately improve Iowa's presence inside. They will take time as well to develop, but defense has a chance to be much better when your interior players are 6-9 or 6-11, and teams can't attack the basket with abandon.
As far as the whole Monte Morris debate thing is Fran and Iowa really didn't go after him or recruit him that much if at all. The one connection is Marble family to him but unfortunately Iowa had 1 scholarship that season and before Iowa could get into the game scholly was gone for that year so it was a moot point. But yes that season Jok and Matthews both took visits same week and had offers and Iowa and both recruits had Iowa high on their list and we basically took the first one who committed and were done that year.
Morris I'm sure Michigan and MSU if they knew how good he would have been would've taken him in a heartbeat but he wasn't top 100 player that schools were beating down his door to get. Just like how we see with so many football players he out performed his lower recruiting ranking. Others like Ogelsby as mentioned top 150 who never lived up to ranking. But in hindsight sure Fran would have been criticized big time here if he let a top 150 in state recruit get away. Gesell another top 100 player. Mike was a solid player just wasn't the shooter many expected him to be.
Don't agree. Not in basketball. You can make a team good in one recruiting cycle.
I agree. These aren't the kind of kids that usually come in and are really productive freshman right off the bat. Could they be? yeah but it isn't likely.
Not if you're a great talent evaluator. The problem is that Fran has proved to be only about slightly above average at that so far.
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