Didn't Fran go after this guy last year as a grad transfer? Thought I remember reading about Fran reaching out. Dude is one of the best perimeter defenders in college b-ball and has proven to be a solid offensive player for Tech as well. He came from S. Dakota St I believe. Tech also had Tariq Owen's grad transfer in as well. Props to Fran for being more open to the transfer market these past couple years. Hopefully he can find a Mooney or Owens type this Spring/Summer. Texas Tech is showing how valuable grad transfers can be.
Matt Mooney
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You sure? I remember reading about him but maybe that was just on this board with posters bringing him up as a guy Fran should look at.
Correct me if my memory is off but isnt Mooney the one stole the ball with like 10 seconds left and tried to shoot a 3 when we were up double digits. Fran got all pissed and we left the court without shaking hands..NIT game vs South Dakota 2 years ago...
boy that kid made a smart decision. Two out of three didn't make the tourney and the one he did choose is in the Final Four. nice work son, that is how you play the grad transfer game.
Oregon and Iowa State might have been nice fits, too. Easy to say, now, how Texas Tech was ideal. That team plays like they've been together for years, not just one season, though. Fun to watch. I absolutely love teams who value every defensive possession like they do. This takes so much pressure off of the offense, which often leads to better offense.
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Your memory is off. That happened against North Dakota (unless it has happened more than once.)
https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s.../20/hawkeyes-hold-down-north-dakota/95666594/
Dang Fran missed out on a kid that could have really helped this Iowa team then. However a lot of teams that reached out to him missed out as well.
It was posters here.
Fran gave that scholly to a player willing to walk on that redshirted this year.
Not that I'm assuming there was interest from Mooney.
You are correct. It was North Dakota and in the regular season. But both of these events happened in 2016-17, so that part is accurate.
Unless my math is off, we only had 12 guys on scholly this season so had one open.
Baer
Bohannon
Moss
Cook
Dailey
Kriener
Pemsl
Garza
McCaffery
Wieskamp
Nunge
Fredrick
Fran gave CW's scholly to a player that had already agreed to walk on that he would later redshirt, then he gave Wagner's scholly to his kid, then he banked the Ellingson scholly. I doubt if Fran could have gotten Mooney, but his lack of effort to improve the guard situation the last 2 years was frustrating. At least he did finally sign another guard in JoeT.
Well hopefully Fran is watching Texas Tech and seeing what grad transfers can do to your team.
I was listening to a Mooney interview and the kid talked about how he was just an ok defender before he arrived at Tech. The atmosphere Beard created at Tech was that if you can't cut it on D don't expect to play a lot. Mooney worked his butt off to improve his D and even worked with Kirk Hinrich during the offseason to reach his full defensive potential. Now he is considered one of the better perimeter defenders in college basketball. So maybe even if he came to Iowa he never would have developed his defensive game and he would have been an ok grad transfer.
I was listening to a Mooney interview and the kid talked about how he was just an ok defender before he arrived at Tech. The atmosphere Beard created at Tech was that if you can't cut it on D don't expect to play a lot. Mooney worked his butt off to improve his D and even worked with Kirk Hinrich during the offseason to reach his full defensive potential. Now he is considered one of the better perimeter defenders in college basketball. So maybe even if he came to Iowa he never would have developed his defensive game and he would have been an ok grad transfer.
Beard can coach, and Mooney is almost like another coach on the floor. Not sure why Fran would not have reached out, but maybe he can find a Mooney light this year.
Let's hope he did and dude told them no right away and we never heard about it.
But somehow I doubt it.
How minds change. No so very long ago the phrase "transfer student" brought out rage and hellish trash talk by Hawk fans. Now it seems to be embraced. Congrats Iowa for catching up.
Nah most of us saw the value of grad transfers years ago. Our coach might be a little slow to the idea however. I think Beard hammered home the belief that you can grab a couple grad transfers and teach them in an offseason how to play your style and play team ball faster then you can teach a lot of freshmen and sophomores. I think a lot of coaches that doubted the grad transfer route might be rethinking things after watching Tech tonight.
how about another angle of this discussion. A kid from Wauconda, IL with this ability ended up @ South Dakota with Northwestern, Marquette, Wisky, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Purdue, IU, Butler, Xavier, Cincinnati, OSU, the MAC, the MVC, etc. all closer in proximity!
It just shows how inexact the science of recruiting, player development and finding the right fit is for those that are not sure fire NBA one and dones.
It just shows how inexact the science of recruiting, player development and finding the right fit is for those that are not sure fire NBA one and dones.
Everyone agrees that most of the best mid majors would not be very competitive at the high major level. The same logic applies to the players for their schools.
Tech's success with transfers will drive up demand for mid major transfers when in reality the supply is low. Eventually coaches will figure out that most transfers will flame out and there will be a good balance of supply and demand.
I'd argue for going after high major transfers 100% though. Looking at ISU's success with high major transfers, there's only be one dud among a dozen or so since Hoiberg arrived. The hit rate is much lower for mid major transfers and recently it's been worse for ISU.
Tech's success with transfers will drive up demand for mid major transfers when in reality the supply is low. Eventually coaches will figure out that most transfers will flame out and there will be a good balance of supply and demand.
I'd argue for going after high major transfers 100% though. Looking at ISU's success with high major transfers, there's only be one dud among a dozen or so since Hoiberg arrived. The hit rate is much lower for mid major transfers and recently it's been worse for ISU.
I think Fran has a good eye for talent. He just has a hard time closing the deal, if other schools also identify the talent. Good to hear that he is at least seriously considering some grad transfers. Mooney is more the exception than the rule in terms of success. Beard struck gold with two great transfers.
It also goes to show you maybe some coaches don't want to deal with someone like Mooney.
Its long been the mindset of a significant portion of the Iowa fan base that if Iowa State does something first... Iowa is above doing it.
