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Riley Till earns scholarship for 2019-20 season

We beat a really good CIncinnati Team lose to arguably the best team in the country in OverTime in the Tourney and we have people bitching about giving a hard working kid a unused scholly? Really? Give me a break and get a clue. How about support Fran and the team!
 
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He lost three transfers last year (CW, Ellingson, and Wagner) and did nothing in spring recruiting period last year. He's lost two transfers this year, plus Cook and again he will do nothing in terms of adding talent to the roster to shore up the guard postion for 2019-20. Since he is banking schollies, it really costs him nothing to give Till a scholarship.

The question is, why is he banking scholarships??? We had/have no less than 3 scholarships to give for 2019-2020. Now we have 5 scholarships to give.

The reason we do not have the personnel that we should have is all on Fran... 2019-2020 expectations have diminished, obviously. However, if the season turns out bad, that is no NCAA tournament, then....well, let's just say it will not be good.

We have been a way-to-early 2019-2020 top 25 team by everyone. Some higher than top 15. That was with the expectations that Cook would be gone. If we fall out on our faces, this will be one of the ugliest fan bases in the country. I sure hope it doesn't happen, but...
 
My understanding is they want Fran to sign 3 starting caliber transfers who can play this year OR sit out this year to play next year. Somehow giving the ship to Till is preventing Fran from signing a transfer.
I don't know what Fran's odds of signing 3 "starting caliber" transfers is, but it definitely isn't great. I could agree that maybe Fran jumped the gun a little by giving one up this early, but maybe he also realizes that finding 3 really high quality transfers is not likely. Think about it. Just what percentage of the available transfers are better than the guys already on the team? You could actually argue that signing too many really good transfers might discourage some of the high school kids we are recruiting in 2020 and 21. I would be happy if Fran signed one high quality transfer, and thrilled if he signed two. Just like kids out of high school, the competition for the best transfers is tough.
 
Riley Till Earns Scholarship

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- University of Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery announced Wednesday that redshirt junior Riley Till will be put on scholarship for the 2019-20 season.

Till (6-foot-7, 205 pounds), who was a walk-on the past three seasons, saw his minutes increase last season as a redshirt sophomore. The Dubuque, Iowa, native played in 16 games a year ago and had an impact in a handful of wins in 2018-19, including victories over No. 13 Oregon and Iowa’s comeback win at Penn State.

“I feel blessed and I thank God, coach McCaffery and staff, and my teammates for always believing in me and pushing me to be my best,” said Till. “I am grateful for the constant support of my family as well as the amazing Hawkeye fan base. Being an Iowa Hawkeye is a dream come true and I look forward to getting back to work with my brothers.”

Till was a two-year starter at Dubuque Wahlert High School, playing alongside current Hawkeye teammate Cordell Pemsl.

“Riley earned this scholarship," said McCaffery. "He is the consummate teammate, a good student, and has worked extremely hard to improve his game the past three years. He has helped our team, and makes us better.”

I am sure he is a great kid and Good for him buttttt I would rather see that scholly used on someone else that will help this team win.
Agree 100 percent. Nothing wrong with the perks you get as a walk on that gets to travel, has in state tuition,etc.
 
I don't know what Fran's odds of signing 3 "starting caliber" transfers is, but it definitely isn't great. I could agree that maybe Fran jumped the gun a little by giving one up this early, but maybe he also realizes that finding 3 really high quality transfers is not likely. Think about it. Just what percentage of the available transfers are better than the guys already on the team? You could actually argue that signing too many really good transfers might discourage some of the high school kids we are recruiting in 2020 and 21. I would be happy if Fran signed one high quality transfer, and thrilled if he signed two. Just like kids out of high school, the competition for the best transfers is tough.

Exactly. There are people complaining about giving Till a scholarship for the upcoming season but can't explain why it's a bad thing at this point. They're mad either because they think Fran was planning to do this all along/it somehow prevented him from recruiting a transfer OR he should have known/planned for 3 people leaving the program and recruited 1-2 5* players to take their place.

The people complaining have yet to give a legitimate reason as to how Till taking one of three open scholarships for one season has hurt the program or prevented any other players coming in.
 
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Riley Till Earns Scholarship

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- University of Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery announced Wednesday that redshirt junior Riley Till will be put on scholarship for the 2019-20 season.

Till (6-foot-7, 205 pounds), who was a walk-on the past three seasons, saw his minutes increase last season as a redshirt sophomore. The Dubuque, Iowa, native played in 16 games a year ago and had an impact in a handful of wins in 2018-19, including victories over No. 13 Oregon and Iowa’s comeback win at Penn State.

“I feel blessed and I thank God, coach McCaffery and staff, and my teammates for always believing in me and pushing me to be my best,” said Till. “I am grateful for the constant support of my family as well as the amazing Hawkeye fan base. Being an Iowa Hawkeye is a dream come true and I look forward to getting back to work with my brothers.”

Till was a two-year starter at Dubuque Wahlert High School, playing alongside current Hawkeye teammate Cordell Pemsl.

“Riley earned this scholarship," said McCaffery. "He is the consummate teammate, a good student, and has worked extremely hard to improve his game the past three years. He has helped our team, and makes us better.”
Good for Riley! Well-deserved reward for his contributions as a walk-on.

While it would be great to have 3 more 5* players take those scholarships, the chances were slim and none and slim left town that was going to happen. Why not reward a senior walk-on (academically he's a senior) for his efforts as long as a scholarship is open? I think it's a great motivator for the walk-ons. The team knows just how valuable those players are in the day-to-day operations of the program.

Congratulations Riley!
 
i dont disagree but i also dont think you give one away , which he did with giving one to till .

So you dont disagree with me that Fran will not bring in 3 transfers this offseason but you dont think he should have given it to Till? The only other option would be to leave it open if he isnt going to fill it with a transfer or put Till on scholly.

That doesnt make any sense.
 
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So you dont disagree with me that Fran will not bring in 3 transfers this offseason but you dont think he should have given it to Till? The only other option would be to leave it open if he isnt going to fill it with a transfer or put Till on scholly.

That doesnt make any sense.
I haven't figured out the reason for anyone saying giving a scholarship to Till is not warranted. Would they rather have a scholarship just go unfilled rather than reward someone for several years of hard work as a walk-on? There are literally no negatives to giving a scholarship to Till (or any other walk-on in a similar situation).

Maybe the negative feelings are just out of spite.
 
Nice thing for the coach to do for someone who pushes the kids ahead of him and is a one-man cheering squad for the starters. Otherwise it's a wasted scholly. Fran has done this before. Doesn't affect the recruiting because it's just for one year, when Riley will get his degree.
 
He gets paid to win and win with class and he does both!
Gets suspended 2 games for his "classiness".... then we lose the games he's suspended for. Badly. We don't have to to play Tenn 2nd round if we don't free fall to 10 seed after yet another February flop. You don't pay much attention, huh?
 
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Which suspension referring to here? there have been multiple. gotta be more specific. :D
Haha....good point. We"ll call this one the "cheating ref, f'ing disgrace!!!" (with the game already over) suspension.

It's AMAZING how proud and vocal fans are about Kirk's character in the fall (while absolutely ridiculing guys like Bo Pelini), then turnaround and completely defend and justify Frans meltdowns and tantrums in the winter. The double standard is jaw dropping, even for the biggest homers on here.
 
I see the same old crybabies whining that people on this board disagree with them. Like always.
Whether I agree or disagree, I dislike the constant repetition. Complain to your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend. Or find someone who cares. Just stay away from here.
 
Gets suspended 2 games for his "classiness".... then we lose the games he's suspended for. Badly. We don't have to to play Tenn 2nd round if we don't free fall to 10 seed after yet another February flop. You don't pay much attention, huh?
5-2 with a one point loss to Maryland and a blowout win vs Michigan is a flop?
 
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Do you want him to cheat to land transfers? I don't get the constant negativity when he's obviously trying but can't decide for the players.

Multiple things can be true at the same time, which is what people seem to struggle with.

Till is completely deserving of a scholarship, given what he has proven so far and that Iowa has 3 open schollies. He played meaningful minutes when the game was being decided against Oregon and Penn State. He can absolutely be an acceptable 4th or 5th option in the rotation at the 4-5 spots. He is a good enough athlete to defend and rebound effectively. And he can dunk and score near the rim if open.

At the same time, people can be concerned that Iowa has unused scholarships and as of yet haven't been able to get a contributor via transfers this year. The roster as currently constructed basically requires Frederick to be good or Iowa is in trouble in the backcourt. Moss was not a great player, but a 6-5 guy who could shoot 40% from 3-point land and defend okay is a good piece. The sky is not falling even if they don't get a transfer. Wieskamp, Garza, Bohannon are a good core to start with. If someone else among the crowd of Nunge, Pemsl, Kriener, Frederick or Patrick McC takes a big step forward, the team is in good shape barring injuries.
 
Good post. One other thing I would add, is that Fran knows that he has 2 extra scholarships he can use. OVER RECRUIT. Just like the SEC in football, although he would not need to boot someone off the team, as he can afford to pay for his kids' school with less than 2 weeks pay. Literally.

Fran should be pulling in players, take a risk here and there. He has nothing to lose. And everything to gain.


Multiple things can be true at the same time, which is what people seem to struggle with.

Till is completely deserving of a scholarship, given what he has proven so far and that Iowa has 3 open schollies. He played meaningful minutes when the game was being decided against Oregon and Penn State. He can absolutely be an acceptable 4th or 5th option in the rotation at the 4-5 spots. He is a good enough athlete to defend and rebound effectively. And he can dunk and score near the rim if open.

At the same time, people can be concerned that Iowa has unused scholarships and as of yet haven't been able to get a contributor via transfers this year. The roster as currently constructed basically requires Frederick to be good or Iowa is in trouble in the backcourt. Moss was not a great player, but a 6-5 guy who could shoot 40% from 3-point land and defend okay is a good piece. The sky is not falling even if they don't get a transfer. Wieskamp, Garza, Bohannon are a good core to start with. If someone else among the crowd of Nunge, Pemsl, Kriener, Frederick or Patrick McC takes a big step forward, the team is in good shape barring injuries.
 
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Good post. One other thing I would add, is that Fran knows that he has 2 extra scholarships he can use. OVER RECRUIT. Just like the SEC in football, although he would not need to boot someone off the team, as he can afford to pay for his kids' school with less than 2 weeks pay. Literally.

Fran should be pulling in players, take a risk here and there. He has nothing to lose. And everything to gain.

Actually, you can lose with that strategy. You can bring in players that hurt your team (statistically), hurt the locker room chemistry, and cause current players to not want to stay. It's not time for an open tryout. And, it really has nothing to do with Riley Till getting a scholarship IMO.
 
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Good post. One other thing I would add, is that Fran knows that he has 2 extra scholarships he can use. OVER RECRUIT. Just like the SEC in football, although he would not need to boot someone off the team, as he can afford to pay for his kids' school with less than 2 weeks pay. Literally.

Fran should be pulling in players, take a risk here and there. He has nothing to lose. And everything to gain.

Over-recruiting isn't as big a trend in hoops. It does happen where coaches basically tell guys to move on as they've found someone they like better. But pretty much Iowa is not going to do that, and that is beyond a Fran decision. Iowa will keep guys if they choose to even if they won't play much (see Uhl).
 
I know it is not a trend in basketball. It would backfire if you did do that. Just too small of rosters..

The point is that we have the potential to over-recruit for the next FOUR Years, without worry of having a full roster. Since we have Connor and Patrick.

Why would we not always fill an extra scholarship or two, knowing that if the attrition is not there, we can have the headcoach pay for his kids way....

If it were my team I would have 15 players on roster. And if a player leaves unexpectedly, and you cannot find a quality player, you give that scholly to the Baer and Tills of the team. If they deserve it like those two did.


Over-recruiting isn't as big a trend in hoops. It does happen where coaches basically tell guys to move on as they've found someone they like better. But pretty much Iowa is not going to do that, and that is beyond a Fran decision. Iowa will keep guys if they choose to even if they won't play much (see Uhl).
 
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I know it is not a trend in basketball. It would backfire if you did do that. Just too small of rosters..

The point is that we have the potential to over-recruit for the next FOUR Years, without worry of having a full roster. Since we have Connor and Patrick.

Why would we not always fill an extra scholarship or two, knowing that if the attrition is not there, we can have the headcoach pay for his kids way....

If it were my team I would have 15 players on roster. And if a player leaves unexpectedly, and you cannot find a quality player, you give that scholly to the Baer and Tills of the team. If they deserve it like those two did.
How many scholarships do you think they get? Also, do you think scholarship worthy players are going to come to Iowa and not be on scholarship just for the chance that someone leaves?
 
I know it is not a trend in basketball. It would backfire if you did do that. Just too small of rosters..

The point is that we have the potential to over-recruit for the next FOUR Years, without worry of having a full roster. Since we have Connor and Patrick.

Why would we not always fill an extra scholarship or two, knowing that if the attrition is not there, we can have the headcoach pay for his kids way....

If it were my team I would have 15 players on roster. And if a player leaves unexpectedly, and you cannot find a quality player, you give that scholly to the Baer and Tills of the team. If they deserve it like those two did.

One of Fran’s biggest weaknesses, according to many fans, is distribution of minutes. Do you think it would be wise to have 15 players, all scholarship worthy, on Iowa’s roster?
 
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No one can make 15 kids happy last year Fran did a great job and a big part of the reason was red shirting two kids.
 
One of Fran’s biggest weaknesses, according to many fans, is distribution of minutes. Do you think it would be wise to have 15 players, all scholarship worthy, on Iowa’s roster?

Playing everybody and their brother, no pun intended, has definitely been Fran's downfall. I think that is part of the reason we actually did as well as we did this season - because Fran didn't have any more players to insert into the lineup.

Hundreds of D1 schools play their top 7-8 players and have plenty of others ride the pine. If you do not like, you leave. It as that simple.

How many potential recruits are we missing out on, simply because Fran did not fill his scholarships? Now, how many of them could have turned into real gems? Answer: we will never know...

That said, Fran would probably play too many and that would destroy the flow of our offense and defense. But if it were me, and I had two good players on the roster, I would be giving out a lot more scholarships. With one or two a year being a roll of the dice. Just as long as they were decent people as well as players.
 
[QUOTE="hawkeyeguy69, post: 6544908, ]...That said, Fran would probably play too many and that would destroy the flow of our offense and defense. But if it were me, and I had two good players on the roster, I would be giving out a lot more scholarships. With one or two a year being a roll of the dice. Just as long as they were decent people as well as players.[/QUOTE]
2 good players? Who are they? And who are the "bad" players on the roster?
 
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