Pierre Pierce

[Case I H]

No matter what he did, he was a solid ball player. He averaged 7ppg as a True Freshman, then led the team in scoring the next two years with 16ppg and 17ppg respectively. After being dismissed from the team, Iowa goes 25-9 the next year, and wins the BTT. We ended up having a heartbreak in the NCAA Tournament after being up big, but what if...

Yes we blew it and should have gone farther, but how good could we have been if Pierce was on the team his senior year. You could have been looking at a lineup of this....

C: Eric Hansen
F: Greg Brunner
F: Adam Haluska
G: Jeff Horner
G: Pierre Pierce

 

[Hawkstud1982]

No matter what he did, he was a solid ball player. He averaged 7ppg as a True Freshman, then led the team in scoring the next two years with 16ppg and 17ppg respectively. After being dismissed from the team, Iowa goes 25-9 the next year, and wins the BTT. We ended up having a heartbreak in the NCAA Tournament after being up big, but what if...

Yes we blew it and should have gone farther, but how good could we have been if Pierce was on the team his senior year. You could have been looking at a lineup of this....

C: Eric Hansen
F: Greg Brunner
F: Adam Haluska
G: Jeff Horner
G: Pierre Pierce

In mark messier's book he talked about removing the cancer from the team. My guess is we would have been worse with him. Sometimes it takes removing a great player to make the team better.

 

[iabcuda]

I won’t comment about Pierce, but the Pierce debacle was the beginning of the end of student interest in Iowa basketball.
After the Daily Iowan printed an interview with the victim who described in surprising detail Pierce’s attempt at anal rape, Iowa basketball was a pariah on campus. No female student or staff wanted anything to do or hear about it.

 

[wneff]

"Fun" "fact"--if he hadn't been suspended for the 02-03 season, there's a good chance our starters' jersey numbers would have been 1 (Leslie), 2 (Horner), 3 (Pierce), 4 (Worley), and 5 (Reiner). Freshman Greg Brunner (44) picked up the majority of the starts in Pierce's absence.

 

[fivecardstud14]

No matter what he did, he was a solid ball player. He averaged 7ppg as a True Freshman, then led the team in scoring the next two years with 16ppg and 17ppg respectively. After being dismissed from the team, Iowa goes 25-9 the next year, and wins the BTT. We ended up having a heartbreak in the NCAA Tournament after being up big, but what if...

Yes we blew it and should have gone farther, but how good could we have been if Pierce was on the team his senior year. You could have been looking at a lineup of this....

C: Eric Hansen
F: Greg Brunner
F: Adam Haluska
G: Jeff Horner
G: Pierre Pierce

I've thought about that too. Henderson was a very good defensive player but if Pierce doesn't blow it who knows how Iowa would've finished the season before (when they lost to Cincinnati in the tourney) then of course the next year (loss to NW State). The four H's & Brunner was a cool group but a lineup of Pierce/Horner/Haluska/Brunner/Hanson as old guys could've been great on both ends of the floor.

 

[Legend12]

In mark messier's book he talked about removing the cancer from the team. My guess is we would have been worse with him. Sometimes it takes removing a great player to make the team better.

He was not a cancer on the team.

 

[GableEdge]

I’m guessing he’s using his skills well as a post-grad.

 

[iahawks10]

On the court his behavior seemed so perfect. He never questioned an official. You never saw PP go against a coach or a teammate. He was a very talented guy, who was easy to root for. One of my favorite players. On the court.....

unfortunately for him, your true character is defined when no one’s looking.

 

[HawkLogic]

Poor FT shooter and shot a moon ball 3pt shot that was never going to be consistent. Lot of posters thought he was NBA material and he never got a sniff.

As to the poster that claims students don't follow Iowa B-ball because of PP....look at MSU with all their rapists and they have a big following because they win. Iowa doesn't have a big student following because too many out of students from Illiniois don't give a crap, arena is not on main campus, and Iowa B-ball doesn't win consistently, and Barta sets ticket prices too high to pay for his lawsuits/mismanagement/non-revenue sports.

 

[Melrose_Place31]

I won’t comment about Pierce, but the Pierce debacle was the beginning of the end of student interest in Iowa basketball.
After the Daily Iowan printed an interview with the victim who described in surprising detail Pierce’s attempt at anal rape, Iowa basketball was a pariah on campus. No female student or staff wanted anything to do or hear about it.

I'm not entirely sure the Pierce debacle was the reason for the downfall of Iowa basketball fandom....I think Steve Alford letting the wheels fall off and Todd Lickliter taking an absolute dump on everything probably plays a huge role.

 

[perryhawk]

One of the most under rated players in Iowa BBall history, in my layman's opinion, was Chauncey Leslie. He was one hell of a PG..quick, great ball handler, could get to the hoop, good defender, effective outside shot and played far more under control than PP..........but didn't get to play nearly as much due to PPs presence.

PP was a cancer to the team/program for reasons stated in this thread. He put a depressing fog over the entire program, alienated fans, and further damaged the coaches credibility. All of that pales in comparison to what he did to that poor victim.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

If you put aside PP's sickness, he was one of the most athletically gifted players in many years.

OT Even worse is Hawkeye fans don't ever want to mention Ronnie Harmon, who I believe was the most talented Iowa FB player that I can remember.

 

[TCOOL]

That 05-06 team was elite defensively. If you add Pierce to that team he is probably worth 2-3 wins which means that team wins the conference title outright and is battling for a #1 seed in the Big Dance.

 

[Legend12]

Poor FT shooter and shot a moon ball 3pt shot that was never going to be consistent. Lot of posters thought he was NBA material and he never got a sniff.

Pierce did very well in the NBA Summer League....I call that "getting a sniff".

Problem was he didn't have permission to leave the state to play in it so got sent back to jail/prison for a month or so.

 

[HawkLand]

He was on basically the same team the year before and they were not several games better. It seems like a stretch to say they would definitely be better. That is not how it works. Sometimes players mesh with teams, coaches, etc, sometimes they don’t. For example, in a bubble one would assume the Celtics would be clearly better with Kyrie and Gordon back this year. I think it’s safe to say they are not clearly better.

Not to mention PP was a poor outside shooter and an abysmal FT shooter. It’s feasible we may have lost add’l games with missed crucial FT’s down the stretch. No way to know. TC gets blasted for losing games at the line while Shooting in the mid-60% this year. PP shot in the mid-50% range from the line his last 2 years.

Excellent athlete? Check
Fun to watch? Check
Guaranteed to make a very good team better? I can’t check that.

 

[andy1992]

I won’t comment about Pierce, but the Pierce debacle was the beginning of the end of student interest in Iowa basketball.
After the Daily Iowan printed an interview with the victim who described in surprising detail Pierce’s attempt at anal rape, Iowa basketball was a pariah on campus. No female student or staff wanted anything to do or hear about it.

I know the victim. Iowa should do everything in it's power to never bring his name up again. Even on message boards it makes me want to beat the crap out of him and Steve Alford.

 

[HawkRugged17]

 

[iahawks10]

I know the victim. Iowa should do everything in it's power to never bring his name up again. Even on message boards it makes me want to beat the crap out of him and Steve Alford.

Even though Alford wanted to dismiss him from the team after the first incident?

 

[TCOOL]

He was on basically the same team the year before and they were not several games better. It seems like a stretch to say they would definitely be better. That is not how it works. Sometimes players mesh with teams, coaches, etc, sometimes they don’t. For example, in a bubble one would assume the Celtics would be clearly better with Kyrie and Gordon back this year. I think it’s safe to say they are not clearly better.

Not to mention PP was a poor outside shooter and an abysmal FT shooter. It’s feasible we may have lost add’l games with missed crucial FT’s down the stretch. No way to know. TC gets blasted for losing games at the line while Shooting in the mid-60% this year. PP shot in the mid-50% range from the line his last 2 years.

Excellent athlete? Check
Fun to watch? Check
Guaranteed to make a very good team better? I can’t check that.

He contributed 6.1 win shares in about 2.5 years on the team. As a 5th year senior, he would have absolutely added 2-3 wins to that squad.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

OT Even worse is Hawkeye fans don't ever want to mention Ronnie Harmon, who I believe was the most talented Iowa FB player that I can remember.

But you had to go and mention his name anyway .....

 

[BBHawk]

The 3 worst things to happen to Iowa basketball in the past 20 years are Steve Alford, Pierre Pierce, and Todd Lickliter. They practically destroyed it, and Iowa fans are still seeing the impact of it. I wish Iowa had never seen any of the 3.

 

[iahawkeyes17]

He was not a cancer on the team.

Maybe cancer isn't a great word for who ever used it. But had a friend who was one of the managers on the team during his time. Most players weren't shedding too many tears when he left. Was he a guy they absolutely hated and or divided the team apart, no I wouldn't go there. But how my friend talked he always got the vibe how Pierce was definitely a "me" instead of a team type of guy. Was he a well loved and respected teammate like Horner or Bru? not even close. Lacked leadership which in my opinion was good he wasn't there so guys like Horner and Bru took the senior leadership over and led the team to a phenomenal season.

 

[iahawkeyes17]

All I remember his last game as an Iowa player we lost to a bad NW team on the road and Pierce had 10 turnovers. Will never forget thinking after the game looking at the box score thinking when was the last time an Iowa player had that many in a game and is that a school record.

As for a player I think team would have benefited having is Marcellus Sommerville. Versatile 3/4 guy who transferred few years before and would have been a 5th year senior that season along with Hansen. He went to Bradley and led them to a successful year as a senior making the tourney and winning a game or 2 I believe.

 

[mtdew_fever]

Could of should have.....but Iowa would have been in a better place had PP never stepped foot on campus.

No matter what he did, he was a solid ball player. He averaged 7ppg as a True Freshman, then led the team in scoring the next two years with 16ppg and 17ppg respectively. After being dismissed from the team, Iowa goes 25-9 the next year, and wins the BTT. We ended up having a heartbreak in the NCAA Tournament after being up big, but what if...

Yes we blew it and should have gone farther, but how good could we have been if Pierce was on the team his senior year. You could have been looking at a lineup of this....

C: Eric Hansen
F: Greg Brunner
F: Adam Haluska
G: Jeff Horner
G: Pierre Pierce

 

[Legend12]

All I remember his last game as an Iowa player we lost to a bad NW team on the road and Pierce had 10 turnovers. Will never forget thinking after the game looking at the box score thinking when was the last time an Iowa player had that many in a game and is that a school record.

Your memory is lacking...the NW loss was not his last game...3 nights after that against Indiana was his last game.

 

[CowboyKiller141]

If anyone knew all the details of what he did you would never post his name here. Dude is an animal.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

All I remember his last game as an Iowa player we lost to a bad NW team on the road and Pierce had 10 turnovers. Will never forget thinking after the game looking at the box score thinking when was the last time an Iowa player had that many in a game and is that a school record.

As for a player I think team would have benefited having is Marcellus Sommerville. Versatile 3/4 guy who transferred few years before and would have been a 5th year senior that season along with Hansen. He went to Bradley and led them to a successful year as a senior making the tourney and winning a game or 2 I believe.

Redshirting Sommerville was one of the other huge mistakes that Alford made that really killed his potential for success at Iowa.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

Uh, Pierre Pierce is a psychopath. He wasn't on the roster because he was in or on his way to prison. I'm willing to let a lot of boys get by with stupid boy shit, like bar fights public intox and drunk driving.

Driving for hours, hiding in a girl's apartment until she arrived home then kidnapping or perhaps falsely imprisoning the girl and sexually assaulting her is not something common to boys-at least boys that aren't psychopaths.

Alford was attracted to players with social issues.

 

[SoFla-Hawkeye]

Where is he now?

 

[HawkLand]

He contributed 6.1 win shares in about 2.5 years on the team. As a 5th year senior, he would have absolutely added 2-3 wins to that squad.

Is it possible that maybe the extra minutes gained by other players increased their ‘win shares’ by more than 2-3 in total as a unit? I feel like the team record should have been 2-3 games worse than the previously years by your theory. If using win shares was an accurate measure of what teams records will be Vegas would be broke.

I will stick with my analytics. If said team wins more game without a certain player than with him, then he may not be the key to the teams success.

Long story short, to say Iowa would ABSOLUTELY have 3 more wins is ridiculous. There is absolutely no way to know. Just say you THINK they would and I could take you more seriously.

 

[goodbyebobby]

Your memory is lacking...the NW loss was not his last game...3 nights after that against Indiana was his last game.

But didn't everything go down the night when they got back from Evanston?

 

[Legend12]

Where is he now?

He’s a basketball coach in Chicago.

Which is scary, really.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Todd Lickliter and his Butler way comments

 

[Hawkstud1982]

If you put aside PP's sickness, he was one of the most athletically gifted players in many years.

OT Even worse is Hawkeye fans don't ever want to mention Ronnie Harmon, who I believe was the most talented Iowa FB player that I can remember.

Yeah but Harmon threw a game.

 

[TCOOL]

Is it possible that maybe the extra minutes gained by other players increased their ‘win shares’ by more than 2-3 in total as a unit? I feel like the team record should have been 2-3 games worse than the previously years by your theory. If using win shares was an accurate measure of what teams records will be Vegas would be broke.

I will stick with my analytics. If said team wins more game without a certain player than with him, then he may not be the key to the teams success.

Long story short, to say Iowa would ABSOLUTELY have 3 more wins is ridiculous. There is absolutely no way to know. Just say you THINK they would and I could take you more seriously.

You don't think Iowa would have been a better team in 05-06 with Pierce?

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Yeah but Harmon threw a game.

I thought we were talking talent, not character. He would not be on the Mt. Rushmore of Hawkeye athletes.

 

[HawkLand]

You don't think Iowa would have been a better team in 05-06 with Pierce?

Alright, one more try to clarify. I have no idea.

I’m just stating there are no certainties. The only certainty I know is Iowa’s record improved without him. I also know there are many examples in all sports where teams add a great player and get worse. And many examples where teams lost good players and get better. I just find your 100% certainty of how the season plays out with him odd. Just my opinion, and not a big deal what I think.

IMO, PP was an exciting player, but by no means a flawless all around player that guarantees a very good team is better with him.

 

[LUC8]

https://www.crimsonquarry.com/2017/3/18/14966490/steve-alfords-pierre-pierce-iowa-sexual-assault

Alford....

 

[andy1992]

Even though Alford wanted to dismiss him from the team after the first incident?

'If you knew the real story. You would want to punch him in the face also.

 

[TCOOL]

'If you knew the real story. You would want to punch him in the face also.

So what is the real story?

I have read all his comments that he said after the assault and even the following year doubling down saying they needed to move on. Also know about the involvement of AIA in hopes that the victim would not press charges.