I was speaking hypothetically. As in it's nice when talented Iowa kids stay at Iowa (provided they are D1-caliber). I can see how the way I worded it wasn't clear.
Navon Shabazz staying committed
- Thread starter RagnarLothbrok
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To clarify my point, and as others have said ... I'm saying when we have D1-caliber players within the state of Iowa, we really need to get them in a Hawkeye uniform. We can't just cede those players to out-of-state programs, as we kind of did for a number of years.
We don't need to get Iowans for the sake of having Iowans. But it would be a rare thing to have a roster without a single Iowan on it.
So you have no problem with offering top 150 players? That's cool.
Frans problem wasn't getting too many guys from Iowa, the instate guys were usually his best players or at least solid, besides his sons. Most of his flops were out of state players.
For point of reference, the 1986-87 Elite 8 team had 2 Iowa players (only 1 in the rotation). I don't see a need for a core group of Iowa players.
And yet, there are those on here that want to snare every decent Iowa HS player and as we have seen in the past, that is not necessarily a winning plan.
We need talent from wherever it comes from! Sudan, Bowbells, ND. It doesn't matter.
Perfect example.
A great roster from the glory days with one Iowan on it (Al Lorenzen) who was a minor contributor and another who was a benchwarmer.
That was the most recent significant peak of Iowa men's bball in simultaneous performance and popularity. With little to no contribution from players with a background in the state.
And the last Iowa FF team was mostly Chicagoans at the core.
I'm an Iowa native. Born there, raised there, a U of I alum with all 3 of my kids attending U of I. I'm not opposed at all to having Iowa players on the roster. I just don't care if there are none.
If there are players in Iowa that BMcC thinks are worth going after, I expect he'll do that.
What matters is having the right roster makeup within the payroll budget that BMcC has available to him and that he can turn into a team capable of making an NCAA tourney run.
Al Lorenzen the Vanilla Gorilla!
I think the main point is, the Iowa basketball program needs to own in state recruiting as it relates to the highest caliber players in terms of talent. When Iowa basketball does that and supplements the roster with good players from surrounding states they’re going to be competitive over the long term.
That doesn’t mean there has to be a certain number of recruits from Iowa every year. Some years the state just doesn’t produce major level talent. There’s periods of time however when the state produces the Chris Streets, Ryan Bowen, Raef, Russ Millard, Matt Bullard, Jess Settles, Nick Collison, Guard that went to Kansas, Marcus Paige, Ricky Davis, Dean Oliver, Bobby Hansen, Mark Gannon, and more….
Those many more include guys that were great role players.
That doesn’t mean there has to be a certain number of recruits from Iowa every year. Some years the state just doesn’t produce major level talent. There’s periods of time however when the state produces the Chris Streets, Ryan Bowen, Raef, Russ Millard, Matt Bullard, Jess Settles, Nick Collison, Guard that went to Kansas, Marcus Paige, Ricky Davis, Dean Oliver, Bobby Hansen, Mark Gannon, and more….
Those many more include guys that were great role players.
The NC game shows you need talent and DEPTH in the front court. Bigs that run the floor and defend at the rim.
There was a period of time in 2000's when UNI had a roster featuring some Iowa born players and they were better than us and lot of posters said we should recruit more Iowans.
The quality of Iowa's born players has improved dramatically over ther the years. Back when Lute was coach, the pickings were slim. During Fran years we did have some really good players in Gatens, Murrays, Jok, Uthoff, Dix....but yeah, Fran did over rely on Iowa
kids and his roster makeup was always flawed on defensive end.
ISU has taken the opposite approach and done better.
Lute’s Final Four team had Bobby Hansen (West Des Moines) along with Mark Gannon and Steve Waite (both Iowa City) in the top 6/7 of the rotation.
True, but they also had Ronnie Lester.
Al Lorenzen was one of the top recruits in the country when George Raveling recruited him. Lorenzen was known as the Vanilla Gorilla. He was good for the Hawkeyes but his career was cut short when they discovered a benign tumor on his spine or possibly the spinal cord during his senior season. He required surgery and his career was over. He played in the McDonalds All American game as a high school senior.
He scored over 20 points IN THE FIRST HALF at Illinois in one of his games……injuries/health diminished a tremendous talent.
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