It’s Fran’s 9th year....
- Thread starter Hawkeyegrad2006
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Wisconsin did it and is now beating Iowa on a yearly basis. LoL. It can be done but need the right leadership.
#3 at the positives is not true. SA inherited Dean Oliver and little else. Davis's 1999 Sweet 16 team was Oliver plus 7 seniors. Alford got Rob Griffin (who was pretty good) and Joe Fermino.
This is why I have high hopes for Toussaint and hope we get his teammate (name escapes me). RECRUIT NYC. Don't have to be 4 star. Quick and athletic with the ability to play defense and navigate the paint and distribute or attack the rim.
Right but the reputation was there going back 18 + years (for the most part) and at the time Alford was seen (falsely in hindsight) as an up and coming star.
OutBack.. I like most of what you said except for the add hockey and lacrosse. Women's sports outside of basketball, volleyball, softball and field hockey deserve little support.
Time for Carver to become the wrestling and volleyball future home. A new Basketball arena would be nice but its likely a $200 MM+ investment and if the student don't come out for the program, load up on the real payers.
First, Iowa needs a new AD and then a new coach who can recruit. The B1G and other conferences have some lousy coaches but can recruit well enough to cover those holes. George Raveling got quality NBA material kids here than eventually led to a first year Tom Davis club to an NCAA Elite 8 ( could have been a Final Four) and the following year was a Sweet 16). Raveling for close the kids to come to Iowa , he just get use to Midwest living as an unmarried Black male. Davis's problem was getting out of Iowa and recruiting/ closing the deal on top 50 level kids. Grant Hill, Raef Lafrentz, and others just politely told Iowa " no thanks" and walked away. The Deon Thomas incident with the Chicago Public League "Pay to play" bribes ruined any hopes of Iowa ever recruiting one of the top level kids to Iowa City.
For Iowa to hope to change its perception among top college BB recruits, Iowa needs to hire a young (under 45) Black / African- American coach. The problem is there are few of these capable men who have any head coaching experience ( many assistant are lifers with said top tier programs) and fewer with the connection to the midwest. One guy I would interview, if I were the new AD, would be Jerrance Howard , Kansas Assistant coach who is great recruiter, from the Midwest (Illini grad and Peoria ), has work with many quality coaches and is about 39 (May birthday). Iowa needs to take a gamble because the old formula is not working. Iowa is not in a spot that some up and comer is magically going to come to and stay like a Gregg Marshall. Iowa needs a guy that brings energy and can generate rapport with 4 star (25 to 75) rated kids that play an up and down game with defensive toughness. Howard is known for his defensive coaching skills at Kansas.
Sure there are names like Greg Heiar and Jon Scheyer who are well liked but Scheyer is only 31 and Heiar is probably going to take anopther small school HC job and work on moving up the chain ( old formula).
Howard networks with a lot of 4 star BB players and is widely known on the recruiting circuits. Iowa needs a serious jolt to the system and flush to McCaffery brand out of its system. If Fran stays, Xavier Foster won't commit to Iowa and Iowa basketball is going to ruin Joe Weiskamp's career like Lickliter did to Gaten's. Howard is in on MN 6'9" Matt Hurt (for Kansas) and Hurt is better than PM and more ready to play Day 1.
If Jerrance was Iowa's coach, I'd bet Xavier, Jalen Suggs and Dawson Garcia could be members of his first class. Right now, I doubt Fran's staff could close any of these guys for Iowa.
Howard maybe one of the riskiest coaches you can hire. Kansas is deep in the FBI investigations and I am willing to bet Howard is apart of it. Recruiting Chicago is hard and it is dirty. Their is a reason Ayo ended up at Illinois and I am willing to bet it was some bag dropping and not representing the home state.
How do we know Joe T is good. He’s another 3 star player, like most kids Iowa recruits. Those guys have a ceiling. Look at this. How many big time guys do you see here?
https://247sports.com/college/iowa/Season/2019-Basketball/Targets/
There are plenty of guys in that 150-250 range who make a nice impact at the college level.
I know Bill Self only seemed slimy but I had not heard the same of Howard. My real poinbt was Iowa's long drought of quality NCAA appearance is cause to break the mold that Gary Barta has created. Iowa Mens Basketball ( a revenue producing sport) is terrible and things need to change. Iowa needs to do something radically different. Our recruiting quality has been well below average compared to the annual top dog of the B1G let alone the top 25 nationally.
if not Howard, maybe Nate James of Duke. Do something.
Sorry, I am outta the loop on scandals in MBB. Did not know whether Howard was in the scope.
I think the telling detail is that no one has been poached from the staff in 9 years. He's rocking the same 3 assistants that no one else has come calling for.
I think, honestly, I'm on the fence with this. Fran consistently keeps us in the running with much of the 4* talent pool while getting looks from 5* as well. But, that is about the only thing he has been consistent in. 9 years of mediocrity is a long time and they often say that 10 year mark of coaching is usually the ceiling if nothing good is going on. In Iowa's case, even if they make a good run in the tourney, could it be time for Fran to go? Possibly. It might be better to look for a new coach on a high note than when we're a blazing dumpster fire (ie see the Todd L. years). That way we don't have to wait another 5 years for a potential NCAA tourney bid. But for the love god, can we stop hiring aspiring mid major coaches who haven't proven anything at the highest levels. If we are going to go the hire a new coach route, can we please find a household name, someone we don't immediately have to Google-ize to find his resume. Let's get a Hoiberg, Brad Stevens type - younger guy, can relate with recruits.
I'm just spitballing here....
We are a good basketball team with brighter days ahead. We have lost one game this season that we shouldn’t have and have over achieved in a lot of areas.
I think this year can still be a success and something to build on for next year if we can play well in both the big ten tournament and NCAA’s. Yes we have some deficiencies but man are there a lot of positives too. Firing Fran now would be silly. While it is his son, you have the highest rated recruit of this era, a point guard recruit who seems to be the missing piece and an experienced roster filled with very talented players. I am frustrated too but you have to take the bad with the good.
I think this year can still be a success and something to build on for next year if we can play well in both the big ten tournament and NCAA’s. Yes we have some deficiencies but man are there a lot of positives too. Firing Fran now would be silly. While it is his son, you have the highest rated recruit of this era, a point guard recruit who seems to be the missing piece and an experienced roster filled with very talented players. I am frustrated too but you have to take the bad with the good.
I either want an “up and comer” who might leave a la Bill Self at IL or else give Fran another year or 2 to see if he can be a rare late bloomer to greatness. Don’t hire some coach from the MAC who’s 50
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