Iowa Prep BB- long term trend?

[hawkjt]

In the Chris Street BTN special Jess Settles commented that the notion back then was that Iowa Prep ballers were simply not good enough to play at Iowa.

I have been a fan so long I remember the Super Sam Williams/GeorgePeeples/ Chris Perval era. Do not remember many Iowa Prep players other than Neil Fegebank, that were good at Iowa.
Ralph Miller had out of state guys on the Fab five crew (dick Jensen?).
Luke's best players were out of state and Raveling...same.

So maybe Jess was correct.
Since Chris and Jess there have been top preps like Collison, Hinrich, Barnes Paige, Murray's,sandforts,Omaha ECT.

I do think the overall success of lute,raveling and Davis at Iowa may have sparked interest in youth BB in the state which has continued to yield good ballers to this day.
Thanks Chris!

 

[Daisy Mae]

50 years ago , Iowa high schools played about 14 games in a regular season. No such thing as AAU. The state didn’t allow it. Meanwhile, states like Illinois did in fact allow AAU games. Iowa kids played 14 games a year (assuming no post season championship games) while Illinois kids played about 40 games per year. 4 times the practice yields 4 times as many good players. That’s my take on the situation from years past

 

[TheGuy9]

In the Chris Street BTN special Jess Settles commented that the notion back then was that Iowa Prep ballers were simply not good enough to play at Iowa.

I have been a fan so long I remember the Super Sam Williams/GeorgePeeples/ Chris Perval era. Do not remember many Iowa Prep players other than Neil Fegebank, that were good at Iowa.
Ralph Miller had out of state guys on the Fab five crew (dick Jensen?).
Luke's best players were out of state and Raveling...same.

So maybe Jess was correct.
Since Chris and Jess there have been top preps like Collison, Hinrich, Barnes Paige, Murray's,sandforts,Omaha ECT.

I do think the overall success of lute,raveling and Davis at Iowa may have sparked interest in youth BB in the state which has continued to yield good ballers to this day.
Thanks Chris!

KEVIN KUNNERT, 1973​

 

[Row55]

Rick Williams, from CR Washington. A few years later, Bobby Hansen from Des Moines and Mark Gannon from Iowa City.

ETA Steve Waite, also from Iowa City I believe. In Fegebanks's time I think Iowa also had Jim Collins from Ft. Dodge.

 

[Max_Rebo]

In the Chris Street BTN special Jess Settles commented that the notion back then was that Iowa Prep ballers were simply not good enough to play at Iowa.

I have been a fan so long I remember the Super Sam Williams/GeorgePeeples/ Chris Perval era. Do not remember many Iowa Prep players other than Neil Fegebank, that were good at Iowa.
Ralph Miller had out of state guys on the Fab five crew (dick Jensen?).
Luke's best players were out of state and Raveling...same.

So maybe Jess was correct.
Since Chris and Jess there have been top preps like Collison, Hinrich, Barnes Paige, Murray's,sandforts,Omaha ECT.

I do think the overall success of lute,raveling and Davis at Iowa may have sparked interest in youth BB in the state which has continued to yield good ballers to this day.
Thanks Chris!

Looking back at Iowa's rosters in the early 90s and late 80s, some of the Iowa kids who played at Iowa just before Christ Street were guys like Troy Skinner, Brig Tubbs, and Wade Lookingbill. So maybe Jess has a point.

A couple of others were Matt Bullard, who was excellent -- and who played in the NBA; and Al Lorenzen, who was solid, but never lived up to his billing as a high school recruit.

After Street, you had guys like Settles, Ryan Bowen, Dean Oliver, Ricky Davis, and some of the other listed in the quoted posed above. So there was definitely an uptick in talent.

It's certainly an aspect of Street's legacy that I hadn't thought of.

 

[jonesy5960]

I don't really know what Settles was talking about there. Lots of OOS players, but Clay Hargrave, Rich Gannon, Bobby Hansen and I'm sure many more all played for the Hawks or were good enough but went elsewhere.

 

[hawkjt]

I concede that I forgot about kunnert,Bowen , hargrave,Gannon Hansen ECT.
I do agree that aau ball really became a thing in Iowa in the 90's and that year around BB helped develop kids even in rural Iowa.

 

[kceasthawk]

I don't really know what Settles was talking about there. Lots of OOS players, but Clay Hargrave, Rich Gannon, Bobby Hansen and I'm sure many more all played for the Hawks or were good enough but went elsewhere.

Mark Gannon from Iowa City Regina?

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

Rich Gannon damn near led the Raiders to a Super Bowl win. Damn Tony Segura...

 

[jonesy5960]

Mark Gannon from Iowa City Regina?

That's what I meant. Duh. I shot hoops with guy. 🤦

 

[jonesy5960]

Rich Gannon damn near led the Raiders to a Super Bowl win. Damn Tony Segura...

F'ing Chuckie!

 

[Hawkeye Marching Band]

Randy Norton played for Lute as a freshman, but IIRC knee problems ended his career.

 

[Hawkeye Marching Band]

Looking back at Iowa's rosters in the early 90s and late 80s, some of the Iowa kids who played at Iowa just before Christ Street were guys like Troy Skinner, Brig Tubbs, and Wade Lookingbill. So maybe Jess has a point.

A couple of others were Matt Bullard, who was excellent -- and who played in the NBA; and Al Lorenzen, who was solid, but never lived up to his billing as a high school recruit.

After Street, you had guys like Settles, Ryan Bowen, Dean Oliver, Ricky Davis, and some of the other listed in the quoted posed above. So there was definitely an uptick in talent.

It's certainly an aspect of Street's legacy that I hadn't thought of.

Didn't Lookingbill have back issues? He might have had a better career, otherwise.

 

[Max_Rebo]

Didn't Lookingbill have back issues? He might have had a better career, otherwise.

I think Lookingbill was also a bit of a tweener. He had PF skills, but was only like 6-5.

 

[paednoch23]

I think Lookingbill was also a bit of a tweener. He had PF skills, but was only like 6-5.

Lookingbill was unathletic

 

[Max_Rebo]

Lookingbill was unathletic

But he did have a great nickname:

Wade “Can I help you? No, I’m just” Lookingbill.

😉

 

[Mohawkeye]

In the late 70s and early 80s there was some homegrown talent like Bobby Hansen, Clay HargrAve, Mark Gannon, Steve Waite and Al Lorenzen. I think there was a long dry spell untill Street and Settles came up. Since then, I think there has been a pretty good, steady supply of talent. The problem has been in keeping it home. Top guys like LaFrenz, Barnes and Hinrich would have made a huge difference had they went to Iowa.

 

[cidhawkeye]

Randy Norton played for Lute as a freshman, but IIRC knee problems ended his career.

He concentrated on baseball.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

In the late 70s and early 80s there was some homegrown talent like Bobby Hansen, Clay HargrAve, Mark Gannon, Steve Waite and Al Lorenzen. I think there was a long dry spell untill Street and Settles came up. Since then, I think there has been a pretty good, steady supply of talent. The problem has been in keeping it home. Top guys like LaFrenz, Barnes and Hinrich would have made a huge difference had they went to Iowa.

Hey, they wanted to go "not" win national championships at Kansas............gotta respect their decision.

 

[ryanhawk33]

Horner, Haluska, and Brunner was a pretty solid Iowa lineup also add Mike Henderson and block machine Erik Hansen (TX) and we had a decent chance. **** NW St.

Edit: Forgot Doug Thomas. That dude was an athletic freak

 

[Titanhawk2]

I think Berkenpas was the last Iowa kid to play for Lute, I don't recall anybody between him and Hanson/Gannon. Lute recruited Lorenzen before he left. Raveling didn't recruit Iowa kids, and I don't think Davis did until the class after BJ/Marble graduated. Big gap, then the Kansas non-recruiting fiascos

 

[Hawk_4shur]

I don't really know what Settles was talking about there. Lots of OOS players, but Clay Hargrave, Rich Gannon, Bobby Hansen and I'm sure many more all played for the Hawks or were good enough but went elsewhere.

I think Jess was referring to a commonly held opinion - not necessarily his own.

 

[iahawkeyes17]

Hey, they wanted to go "not" win national championships at Kansas............gotta respect their decision.

Well thanks to bowlsby we never had a shot at collision or hinrich with dr Tom in a lame duck season when they were seniors. Isu had better shot with hinrich but Iowa had a very legitimate shot with collison pre non renewed contract.