If Fran goes, NO MID-MAJOR COACH EVER AGAIN!!

[coreyzbizkits]

On twitter someone mentioned the possibility of Fran leaving after this year during the off season. Sure, the buyout is big so Iowa won't fire him. I just don't see him leaving unless some other team has to fire their coach and offers him more $$ per year.

Honestly, I think if Iowa can get a good point guard who can play lockdown defense in half court, be quick on the top of a zone, and create offense by driving and either finishing or kicking to a shooter, Iowa would instantly be better. I don't know if JT is that guard, so maybe if Fran can get a grad transfer or a JUCO pg.

 

[Ronman]

Steve Wojciechowski is my first phone call

Does this sound familiar....Marquette lost their last four games this season

 

[Ronman]

I have always been an advocate for Lavin. He seems like a great recruiter, but not a great coach. Results were mixed at St. Johns.

Lavin couldn't win enough at UCLA to keep his job and his results at St. Johns are arguably worse than McCaffery's results here.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Would you consider Jerrance Howard (38) from Kansas. I am not a Bill Self fan but Jerrance is from Peoria and played at Illinois. The guy is a top recruiter annually. Coaches mostly 4 and 5 star kids daily. Nate James (41) of Duke was born in Detroit and played HS ball in Maryland. Recruits the entire country for Duke. Chris Carawell(41) of Duke is another assistant who coached with Steve Wojo at Marquette and is from St. Louis region (HS background). Just a couple of assistant names to throw out in the mix.

Sounds like the kind of guys worth a serious look, when the job is open.
My priority list for the next coach is:
1. Recruiting
2. Recruiting
3. Recruiting
4. Recruiting
5. Have a coherent defensive strategy.

 

[Ihawkhoops]

Fran is Fran's worst enemy. He had a simple mission after last season's debacle--get some guard help in here at the 1 and 2. Moss red shirted so this is his 4th year in the program and it's pretty clear he is who he is. Bohannon suffered the same fate last season when teams made him priority # 1 on defense (as did Jok and Uthoff). Fran did the dumbest most arrogant think he could which was nothing. He ran Williams off and banked on first year player Connor and returning guys (Dailey and Moss) to (apparently) take big strides. Well here we are again with a March swoon, anemic offense, awful defense, questions about the team's chemistry and 0 hope for the BTT and NCAA tournament after losing to Nebraska's practice team.

Fran just couldn't bring himself to admit that "his" roster needed to be augmented with transfer players so once again the middle finger to the fan base. I watched NDSU play last night and was really impressed with Vinnie Shahid so I looked him up. From Nebraska, played juco ball there and now at NDSU. Iowa has a total of 0 players with this kid's game. Do people really think players like him wouldn't jump at a P5 offer? I am sure we are closer to Chicago and have better facilities than NDSU.

 

[ObeseMuffins]

Dean Oliver, come on home.

 

[HawkRugged17]

Paul Lusk, come on home.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

From Peoria
Played at Illinois
Assistant at KU

no ****ing way that guy doesn’t end up with a show cause

Also has a drug bust on his record

 

[Pilsner]

Good Heavens .... NO! Brad Soderberg.... he is nearly as old as Fran (56). And Bennett ball.... NO! You want Lickliter 2.0????

Soderberg was the interim coach at Wisconsin between Bennet and Ryan, correct? I agree, not interested in him, specifically.

Regarding Virginia's program, have you watched them play this year? They average 72 points per game - no where close to Lickliter-ball. They're actually very fun to watch because they execute very fundamentally sound offense AND defense.

(They also recruit internationally, something Iowa hasn't done in a big way, and they liberally redshirt. Gonzaga does, too. We should do more of both those things.)

Without cheating, Iowa will never have access to the level of players that Kansas, Michigan State, even Michigan and Ohio State do. Iowa needs a "system" coach (I suppose all coaches are "system" coaches to some extent), but the system MUST include defense.

 

[Pilsner]

When was the last time a BIG school hired a head coach with no prior head coaching experience? Fran is going nowhere unless and until Barta is gone. These hypothetical coaching hires are interesting to discuss, but moot until Barta leaves or is fired.

Michigan hired Tommy Amaker from Duke. I don't think he had prior head coaching experience. It didn't work for Michigan, but he's had some success at Harvard. Guys tend to find their own level via the Peter Principle, I suppose.

Successful coaches come from all sorts of backgrounds. Iowa has had some degree of success with major conference head coaches (Davis from Stanford) and lower-level schools (Lute from Long Beach State, Miller from Wichita). Wisconsin had tremendous success hiring Bo from D-3. Sometimes mid-major head coaches work out, often they don't. I tend to think it matters less what background a coach comes from, as what resources a place has to support him, and who's a good fit for the place.

 

[RocknRollface]

Idiotic premise.


Should read no hires by Barta ever again.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

Ralph Miller came from Wichita State (then of the Missouri Valley). And Lute Olson came from Long Beach State. They both did pretty good stuff at Iowa. So it may NOT be a good policy to eliminate people like that. After all, it's not the level the coach comes from that matters. It's all about the person. Hire the right person.

 

[Roy L Fuchs]

Sounds like the kind of guys worth a serious look, when the job is open.
My priority list for the next coach is:
1. Recruiting
2. Recruiting
3. Recruiting
4. Recruiting
5. Have a coherent defensive strategy.

Yes, yes, yes! Of course most people on this board believe our only option is some crap-shoot mid major coach. Apparently the Neb AD has a bigger vision for their basketball program than just some mid-major guy who has never sat in front of a top 100 recruit in their coaching career.

 

[perryhawk]

Darian Devries.......he performed a minor miracle at Drake this year........it was honestly astounding.

 

[unoHawkeye]

Unpopular opinion time: I think, if Fran left, Tim Miles would be a good hire on the grounds that he continues to make locking down the state of Iowa recruiting-wise a priority. Keep the best Iowa players in state, combined with bringing in solid transfers, which he has shown the ability to do at Nebraska, and I think he could have some really good seasons here. Not a bad in game coach from what I’ve seen either

Compared to Nebraska (and a lot of Nebraska’s best players go to Creighton or out of state) the state of Iowa has a lot more basketball talent and are located closer to the hoops hotbed of Chicago. I think he could do good things here