For sticking with Peter Jok and his scholarship during his injury and rehab. Loyalty is paying dividends
Kudos to Fran
- Thread starter wowski18
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Fran seems to have an ability to see real talent and then get the most out of it. Jok, White, Uhl come to mind right away, maybe even Marble. Baer should count too. Hope the new bigs are in the same boat, that would be great.
Iowa is blessed to have Fran McCaffery and Staff!
You need only to look at our surrounding states to see that hiring a college basketball coach can be a real crapshoot. Luckily, Barta made the most of his mulligan.
Great at spotting talent and developing it. Not sure how much of that is Fran and how much credit the assistants should get. If Fran can just land one big time recruit each year to go with the diamonds in the rough, Iowa can be one of the regular contenders in the B1G.
The great thing is he has pretty much already done that:
2016 - Tyler Cook
2017 - Connor McCaffery
2018 - Joe Wiescamp
2019 - Patrick McCaffery
Sure doesn't hurt that he's the father of two top 100 recruits for their respective classes.
I would think most good coaches would honor the scholarship, even after an injury. Otherwise you are going to send a terrible message to future recruits. It's like scholarships are actually for only 1 year, but no coach in their right mind wouldn't continue to honor the scholarship in the following years, or that coach isn't going to get any good kids to commit to his school. My brother played baseball at Iowa and his coach was constantly threatening to take away their scholarships after bad games, but my brother was never worried he'd carry out that threat as Iowa would never get another good player to commit to play baseball at Iowa. Hell the AD probably would have stepped in because it would give the athletic program a huge black eye.
I don't think Pete had an offer from Fran before his injury. If I remember correctly, he watched him scrimmage the summer before his senior year, saw what he liked, and then offered him. I could be wrong
You could be correct. I thought he offered during his freshman or soph year, but could be wrong. I'm thrilled Fran offered, and Jok chose Iowa. He has a silky smooth looking shot and I've been waiting for him to show more consistency from beyond the arc. He was real streaky his first two years, but more consistent this year. There's nothing cheap about his 3's, they are all net.
I'm certain Colfax is correct. Fran didn't offer until the summer Jok was going into his Sr season. IIRC the offer and acceptance was made over a 1-2 month period, and Jok committed in Sept 2012. Fran didn't have much competition for Jok, at all, in large part because his Jr year he was pretty average coming off his knee problems.
Also the B1G has moved away from the 1 year scholarship offers.
I just hope everyone remembers these positive feelings about Fran if this team happens to go through a rough patch. Last year when the team was 15-10, many were questioning whether Fran's job was in jeopardy. Even this season, many questioned how long he would be here after the loss at Iowa State.
Fran is a tremendous basketball coach and Iowa is lucky to have him. Success in sports is cyclical and we should remember these good times when the team goes through struggles. It's always important to maintain perspective when things aren't going the way you want.
Fran is a tremendous basketball coach and Iowa is lucky to have him. Success in sports is cyclical and we should remember these good times when the team goes through struggles. It's always important to maintain perspective when things aren't going the way you want.
Agree. I was reading someplace that he has taken 3 different teams in 1 bid leagues to the tourney -- and 2 of those 3 teams have not made it back in since he left. He can coach 'me up for sure.
Yes this sounds correct.
I don't remember Jok getting much buzz because his injury his Jr year. Iowa only had one scholly and we offered later in year. I remember wondering whether Morgan from West HIgh or Jok was better prospect. Morgan seems to be decent, but Jok has distanced himself this year as better player.
I think the injury to Jok kept Bo Ryan from making another opportunistic poaching.
This post is excellent....I do too.
For Peter, I remember those summer HS vids of him in the gym with Fran there. Peter was really a shell of what he is today but you could see the talent, it jumped out at me. Just a bucket maker how ever he could shoot the ball and I posted Peter was going to be a stud if he could rehab his knee.
Secondly, I remember another moment in PTL and I believe it was last summer where Peter made six 3 pt shots.......in a row. Not six in an entire game which is a feat in itself but ...in a row.
He's a stud and yes, so so glad Fran stuck with Peter.....Trust in Fran.
you are correct ... Fran (Speraw lead recruiter) were one of the few schools (if not the only one) to not walk away after Jok's injury in high school...that had an impact.
This Gazette article spells it out. PJ said that McC was there before and after his injury.
Even as a junior in high school Pete only averaged around 10 ppg. He was not yet healthy and Abrahamson was taking all the shots.
Well there were several schools that backed off after the injury. If you remember Jok was a very very very high rated player (like top 20) before the injury. He had offers and or interest from every major college basketball program in the country
I think Fran has topped himself as far as his coaching best. The light has come on after the ISU loss and he's now fully trusting his bench whereas before he rode the starters to the end. And to the young guys credit, they've rewarded Fran's trust w/ stellar play and hustle. I never saw the Six Pack team, Lute's Final Four team or even Davis' run w/ Raveling's recruits but this is looking to be the best Iowa team I've ever seen. Or maybe I've passed out w/ my head in the Kool Aid punch bowl but I'm loving the growth I'm seeing w/ Fran, our starters and our bench. I really hope our young guys stick out like Clemmons and now Baer has so they can reap the rewards of patience. It almost reminds of what Bo Ryan used to do, bring in some talented young guys let them sit for a year and learn, then unleash them on the B1G. IMO Iowa should be favored in every game the rest of the way except for at Maryland and maybe at IU.
I especially like Fran's demeanor when interviewed after a big win. It's like he's saying "yeah, we're a good team, I expected them to play well, and we expected to win." Contrast this with Alford's immature giddiness after a similar sized win. Big difference.
good point ... and Fran's demeanor after a tough loss really doesn't change a great deal...credits the other guys..and talks about what we did or didn't do to get the job done.
Alford took it personal.. the time we lost at UNI ...he was so upset he took their pizza away (like sending your children to bed without supper)....remember driving back to IC and the team bus flew by...maybe he took the drivers pizza also...
side note: Fran was at sons' game at Bettendorf last night. Connor DNP still recovering from concussion....Patrick has pretty impressive handles for a 9th grade bean pole...his shot is one of those that the ball just knows it is going in. I don't how good he will be by the time he is a senior....scary thought.
Devontae Lane has always intrigued me. I don't know if ISU offer is still on...maybe that was under Hoiberg. Lane is one of those guys you don't notice when he is out there...in a good way.
Jok was injured well before committing to Iowa.
The SEC pulls football scholarships all the time, you would think it would have a big negative effect on recruiting but it doesn't seem to matter at all.
I got to see Peter play a few times in HS, more than a few probably. Peter was a kiddie legend with a lot of national buzz when he was like 14. The injury was devastating. There were usually a few coaches in the stands, scouting Kale and Peter.
Peter just couldn't run and looked tentative even during his senior year, where he dominated the opposition most of the time. You could see him doing the things he's doing now, just doing it much slower. He's obviously improved into a very good player and he's just catching up to a lot of lost and limited time.
There is better yet to come I think. He doesn't have his fairly deadly pull up move working yet in college. If he gets that down he's going to be scoring more than 20 next season.
Peter just couldn't run and looked tentative even during his senior year, where he dominated the opposition most of the time. You could see him doing the things he's doing now, just doing it much slower. He's obviously improved into a very good player and he's just catching up to a lot of lost and limited time.
There is better yet to come I think. He doesn't have his fairly deadly pull up move working yet in college. If he gets that down he's going to be scoring more than 20 next season.
Nice to hear your comments. I was hoping someone who saw him play in High School would post. Before the injury, did Peter drive to the bucket more and did he have a one dribble move after catching a pass or shot fake with one dribble move? He seems like he is just scratching the surface of what he can do. He also seems like he might have another gear we have not seen yet.
I dont think we'll see a repeat of last year or the year before as long as the Hawk's remain healthy. Their learning experiences through those downfalls have been priceless and this team seems to have the same frame of mind as the football team did. They're focused and determined - but most of all they're having fun.
Before injury he was legit 10-20 ranked recruit, pretty much did it all, especially for 14-15 year old....coaches from all over before the injury and had several D1 offers at like 14 years old
The injury occurred the summer between his Freshman and Sophmore years, but they originally thought it was tendonitis so he played his entire soph year with the injury and didn't have the surgery until after his soph season.
Awesome info on these posts. I've noticed that PJ REALLY sprints now. He is catching on to the concept of defense matters. Even stealing the ball, intercepting passes, boxing out, and switching defense quickly. On O, he drives more, sets his teammates up and looks for opportunities for threes. Read that his diet has improved - perfect... He WANTS to be a PRO!! And, might be!?! BTW, CUDOS to Fran's ASSISTANTS!! They know that Fran appreciates their input and wants their insights during the game. Love the program!! Alford who? Lick liter who?
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