I don't know. There may not be a lot of four and five star football players in Iowa high schools, but there's certainly a extra heartbeat sense of pride when a guy like Pat Angerer or Josey Jewell make it big. As far as basketball the AAU programs like the barnstormers in Iowa have grown by leaps and bounds the last decade. The talent pool from these programs seems to be getting deeper all the time. Fran has been smart like a fox, to spend major time courting these programs, beginning with Woodbury, and Gesell. Regardless if Woody was ever a great player at Iowa, his commitment was vital to Fran's future recruiting plans. He wants to be sure that the next Paige, Collison, or Heinrich give serious thought to staying home, like Woody did.
Iowa offers 2020 6'10" Xavier Foster of Oskaloosa
- Thread starter OskaloosaHawk
- Start date
Really, what did he do to put Them their exactly? Was this while he was failing at ISU?
I would disagree with the premise of this comment. Players making it to the NBA has more to do with the player themselves. Do they work their arse off taking more shots, dribbling more, working on their crossover, working on their intensity and desire to play defense, etc.
I don't think Fran has had anything to do with Baer's instincts and hustle. Baer has probably improved by hard work, not the acumen of his coaches.
Same goes with all of the players from Duke and NC that go to the NBA. They came to college as studs. Maybe the coach helped them 5-10%. The rest is the repetition of playing competition that they don't always get in high school.
He's getting loads of reps learning to 'gather himself' with the ball very low, below his waist.
That's not a good habit for a successful D1 post player - you need to hold the ball higher and move it around to avoid guards slapping it away from you. Muggsy Bogues would be able to stuff those attempts down low.
I understand learning the footwork, etc, but when you're tall, you need to learn to not bring the ball down low near your waist when making moves. Doing all those reps like that now is building the bad habits that will be difficult to break later on.....
I've been to a couple of Foster's games so far and he's looked every bit a freshman. He doesn't start and Cole Henry is light years ahead of him right now. Henry actually has D-1 offers too, just not as glamorous (North Dakota, that I know of). Immediately after coming into one game, he inexplicably chucked up a 30 footer (not kidding). Clanged off the rim, but terrible shot selection. The first game he played, he fouled out in about 8 minutes of play. Not trying to downplay him, as he has done some really good things especially defensively, but he has lots of room for growth. Again, only a freshman that will grow by leaps and bounds with experience.
Taller guys take awhile to get used to their bodies I'll pay more attention to him his sophomore and junior year.
When I saw his film in the summer I thought he looked good though, and sounds like he wants to be a Hawkeye that's the important part.
It's crazy okay will have acouple 6'8 or taller guys for the next 2 years. For a small town they have produced some athletes.
When i was in school we handled them pretty easy in football especially and basketball.
When I saw his film in the summer I thought he looked good though, and sounds like he wants to be a Hawkeye that's the important part.
It's crazy okay will have acouple 6'8 or taller guys for the next 2 years. For a small town they have produced some athletes.
When i was in school we handled them pretty easy in football especially and basketball.
I think he is going to be good, but we have to remember that kids like Bohannon, Pemsl, the McCaffery brothers, Uthoff, and many others I can think of were studs as high school freshmen in Iowa, some leaders of their team at age 14 in fact. Fran was scouting those kids when they were in 7th and 8th grade. Pemsl was 1st team all-state when he was 15. I pray that Xavier keeps improving, but his being a top 100 player is not a given. I mean, former Houston Rockets and Iowa star Kevin Kunnert has a great nephew playing for Wahlert, a 6-9 junior, with both Iowa and Iowa State heritage in basketball. Problem is, he's got about eighteen kids ahead of him in talent and playing time. All kinds of schools have had huge kids recently-- Wavery (not Pfyfe), Spirit Lake's 7-footer, and dozens of others, who never really, or haven't yet, cut the mustard, or passed the muster-- your choice. I will be absolutely delighted if Xavier turns out to be a star; let's hope he does. He's got to put in many hundreds and maybe even thousands of hours of practice, like the others have.
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We want to get this kid.
I get he wants to work on his perimeter game and at 6' 8" he'll need to. That said I hope his focus on that doesn't come from not wanting to bang. In 4 years as he puts on muscle he may be best served by being that inside guy rather then trying to become a Kevin Durant clone.
He's got a lot of skill for his age and it's easy to see why the Hawks offered.
I get he wants to work on his perimeter game and at 6' 8" he'll need to. That said I hope his focus on that doesn't come from not wanting to bang. In 4 years as he puts on muscle he may be best served by being that inside guy rather then trying to become a Kevin Durant clone.
He's got a lot of skill for his age and it's easy to see why the Hawks offered.
Foster is getting national attention already. The first time I heard about him was on an East Coast recruiting site a few weeks ago. Iowa offered Foster some time ago (his offer has been listed on the BB offer list).
