SIAP but DeVries or McCollum

[Nagarunja]

I was looking at West Virginia's roster and it looks like DeVries hit on two big portal additions right out of the gate when he was hired in the spring. Amani Hansberry and Sencire Harris -both coming in from Illinois, both big time high school recruits, and both starters and big contributors this year.

He's got what it takes in this era.

 

[83Hawk]

I would take either one, but not sure which I prefer. DeVries is showing he can do well (so far) at the P-4 level. On the other hand, McCollum has 4 national championships. He obviously can coach!

 

[acuhawk]

Any chance Fran comes to an agreement to go finish watching Patrick close out his career. They can name Matt as interim coach for the rest of the season. Fran seems disinterested, and probably hates missing Patricks senior season.

 

[BirdistheWord]

If the team flames out the rest of the season in front of 2000 fans, I don’t think it’ll be Fran’s choice.

Do they have some exciting promotions and discounts planned rest of year? 😉

 

[83Hawk]

Do they have some exciting promotions and discounts planned rest of year? 😉

Probably raise concession prices to make up for lost revenue due to the decrease in attendance.

 

[hexumhawk]

Last year I was all in on DeVries as the next coach. Iowa should have made the move then but didn't.

Now that McCollum finally made the move up and is showing what he can do, I am leaning towards McCollum being the better option for Iowa at the moment. He has in incredible body of work. I think he would be able to find guys that fit his system easier to build a roster than DeVries as well.

I know there is talk about Tucker getting another year and that would be huge if Iowa went with DeVries. What I don't hear anything about is Stirtz at Drake in the same comparison. If Iowa lands McCollum, Stirtz has one more year to play and would undoubtedly come with him to Iowa. He is leading the MVC in points, steals, and assists which is basically unheard of.

 

[Nagarunja]

Last year I was all in on DeVries as the next coach. Iowa should have made the move then but didn't.

Now that McCollum finally made the move up and is showing what he can do, I am leaning towards McCollum being the better option for Iowa at the moment. He has in incredible body of work. I think he would be able to find guys that fit his system easier to build a roster than DeVries as well.

I know there is talk about Tucker getting another year and that would be huge if Iowa went with DeVries. What I don't hear anything about is Stirtz at Drake in the same comparison. If Iowa lands McCollum, Stirtz has one more year to play and would undoubtedly come with him to Iowa. He is leading the MVC in points, steals, and assists which is basically unheard of.

It's still Drake though and the Valley is a shell of it's former self. I too wanted DeVries last year but had concerns because, again, his success was at Drake.

Deciding factor for me is seeing him land two huge portal players from Illinois right after being named HC at WV. Jury is still out on if McCollum has that kind of pull. His situation is similar to Fran in a way in that he had success at Siena but his recruiting to a power conference was unknown. After 15 years we now know he never could consistently get top-level kids. I don't want to make the same mistake with McCollum.

 

[hexumhawk]

It's still Drake though and the Valley is a shell of it's former self. I too wanted DeVries last year but had concerns because, again, his success was at Drake.

Deciding factor for me is seeing him land two huge portal players from Illinois right after being named HC at WV. Jury is still out on if McCollum has that kind of pull. His situation is similar to Fran in a way in that he had success at Siena but his recruiting to a power conference was unknown. After 15 years we now know he never could consistently get top-level kids. I don't want to make the same mistake with McCollum.

This is a valid take and one that nobody really has an answer to. The level of talent you are able to attract and attain obviously go up when you have the backing of a P5 school. I do think it would be easier to build for McCollum's system out of the gate.

 

[PakiOmearaGOAT]

Last year I was all in on DeVries as the next coach. Iowa should have made the move then but didn't.

Now that McCollum finally made the move up and is showing what he can do, I am leaning towards McCollum being the better option for Iowa at the moment. He has in incredible body of work. I think he would be able to find guys that fit his system easier to build a roster than DeVries as well.

I know there is talk about Tucker getting another year and that would be huge if Iowa went with DeVries. What I don't hear anything about is Stirtz at Drake in the same comparison. If Iowa lands McCollum, Stirtz has one more year to play and would undoubtedly come with him to Iowa. He is leading the MVC in points, steals, and assists which is basically unheard of.

Iowa would have to battle KSU for Stirtz, he grew up a KSU fan and his girlfriend is a cheerleader there

 

[Bank of Hawk]

Iowa would have to battle KSU for Stirtz, he grew up a KSU fan and his girlfriend is a cheerleader there

Stirtz is a must have if Mac gets the job. I think Stirtz will go with Mac if the swarm can provide a reasonable offer. There is some NBA whispers with Stirtz too, so there is a small chance he isn’t playing college ball next year regardless.

 

[DewHawk]

Stirtz is a must have if Mac gets the job. I think Stirtz will go with Mac if the swarm can provide a reasonable offer. There is some NBA whispers with Stirtz too, so there is a small chance he isn’t playing college ball next year regardless.

Stirz is a heck of a player. He never seems to get rattled and smoothly runs the team. Impressive player IMO.

 

[Bank of Hawk]

It's still Drake though and the Valley is a shell of it's former self. I too wanted DeVries last year but had concerns because, again, his success was at Drake.

Deciding factor for me is seeing him land two huge portal players from Illinois right after being named HC at WV. Jury is still out on if McCollum has that kind of pull. His situation is similar to Fran in a way in that he had success at Siena but his recruiting to a power conference was unknown. After 15 years we now know he never could consistently get top-level kids. I don't want to make the same mistake with McCollum.

Any respectable D1 coach can land a top level recruit if the money is right. McCollum is on the staff of team USA U18 team… so he has a feel for top talent out there and is a respected enough in the profession to land that type of gig. At D2 he did have one player develop to the point where he did get some very minor playing time in the NBA (Hudgins). He is a PG coach…

In his Drake articles he mentions how he spent nearly every waking hour scouring the portal for players to fit his style at Drake, I don’t think he will be out worked in recruiting, maybe out spent by another program; but that’s not directly in his control either.

Former Northwest basketball coach to work with USA Basketball Men's U18 team

(DES MOINES, Iowa) Former Northwest Missouri State men's basketball coach Ben McCollum has been invited to work with USA Basketball Men's U18 team.

www.kq2.com

 

[Bank of Hawk]

MAC’s resume includes the four national titles. But there was also a tradition where Duke would invite the prior season’s D2 champion into Cameron Indoor for a pre season exhibition. They were supposed to be 50 point blowouts, a dress rehearsal for Duke and a fun experience for the D2 team.

In 2019, Coach Mac brought his lowly D2 team into play the pre season #4 Duke. They almost pulled off a miracle, losing by just 6… Duke ended that tradition a day later.

How Northwest Missouri State nearly beat No. 4 Duke in a college basketball exhibition

Northwest Missouri State went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and nearly defeated No. 4 Duke in an exciting 69-63 battle. Here's what we learned about the DII men's basketball defending champions.

www.ncaa.com

Mac was quoted as being disappointed after the game, he felt like they should have won, they just came up a little short.

 

[littlez]

It's still Drake though and the Valley is a shell of it's former self. I too wanted DeVries last year but had concerns because, again, his success was at Drake.

Deciding factor for me is seeing him land two huge portal players from Illinois right after being named HC at WV. Jury is still out on if McCollum has that kind of pull. His situation is similar to Fran in a way in that he had success at Siena but his recruiting to a power conference was unknown. After 15 years we now know he never could consistently get top-level kids. I don't want to make the same mistake with McCollum.

That should be considered a plus. So what would you rather have at Iowa, George Raveling or Dr Tom? Because George was the best recruiter Iowa ever had, but a very ok coach. Dr Tom took that team to the number 1 ranking and the elite 8 and probably should have won a natty. For whatever reason we can’t get top tier players, and it’s not all Fran. History has proven that. McCollum has proven that he has an absolute winning formula. It’s not always pretty, but if you watch his teams play defense he’s the anti Fran. Dude demands excellence and he demands you play defense. Otherwise you won’t play. He can win 55-50 or 73-71. As a Drake fan I was skeptical of him bringing in all D 2 guys but look at them. They’re 20-2.

 

[SA_Hawk]

If Iowa doesn’t hire McCollum at the end of the season someone else will.

 

[ozzie8]

If Iowa doesn’t hire McCollum at the end of the season someone else will.

No question. Iowa can’t let him leave the state

 

[RocknRollface]

That should be considered a plus. So what would you rather have at Iowa, George Raveling or Dr Tom? Because George was the best recruiter Iowa ever had, but a very ok coach. Dr Tom took that team to the number 1 ranking and the elite 8 and probably should have won a natty. For whatever reason we can’t get top tier players, and it’s not all Fran. History has proven that. McCollum has proven that he has an absolute winning formula. It’s not always pretty, but if you watch his teams play defense he’s the anti Fran. Dude demands excellence and he demands you play defense. Otherwise you won’t play. He can win 55-50 or 73-71. As a Drake fan I was skeptical of him bringing in all D 2 guys but look at them. They’re 20-2.

Since it's sounding like there may actually be some possibility of Devries which would you prefer as someone who's familiar with both?

My uneducated take is McCollum is the better X and Os guy Devries maybe a better recruiter?

 

[Bobhaywood]

Could we get the ISU coach, I mean if we can buy him bigger shits!!??

 

[littlez]

Since it's sounding like there may actually be some possibility of Devries which would you prefer as someone who's familiar with both.

My uneducated take is McCollum is the better X and Os guy Devries maybe a better recruiter?

100% agree, but McCollum obviously has a much smaller sample size for recruiting. DeVries making Drake a perennial NCAA team (or close) every year I thought was probably as good as it would ever get for Drake. What McCollum has done is truly remarkable, Missouri Valley or whatever. He’s had great guard play at both NW MO and now he’s taken a guy with zero D1 offers and made him the player of the league. My main point in all this is defense travels. As does toughness. He seems to be an incredible defensive coach but man his teams all seem so connected and while every coach preaches toughness his team actually is tough. I’d take McCollum. Though I don’t think he leaves if it’s just a year. Don’t think he’s that guy. But certainly could be wrong.

 

[fivecardstud14]

West Virginia fans are even starting to say they’re hearing rumors that the DeVries family is unhappy in Morgantown.

 

[joelbc1]

I think this is Tucker's 4th and final year. Played 3 years at Drake and this is his 4th overall w/ WV.

Looks like he is goin a qualify for another year as a medical redshirt…..He is done for the season and played 8 games.

 

[Bank of Hawk]

Drake held murray state to 45 points, lmao and have held like 13 or 14 teams they have played to their season low points out put.

 

[BirdistheWord]

Probably raise concession prices to make up for lost revenue due to the decrease in attendance.

I was joking that the 2k per night seemed aspirational

 

[kwik44]

I’m biased because I watched him when I was 13 years old when he played at Storm Lake St. Mary’s.

Used to be a a huge triangle rivalry of Newell Fonda, St. Mary’s, and Schaller-Crestland - with NF being at top and the other two being tight for second.

Anyways, Ben was always the hardest working player on the court & a beast of a point guard. He was ultra competitive & that probably stuck out to me the most. I remember being so mad when they beat Schaller in a tight one in Schaller. He took over the game at the end.

/csb

 

[Bank of Hawk]

I’m biased because I watched him when I was 13 years old when he played at Storm Lake St. Mary’s.

Used to be a a huge triangle rivalry of Newell Fonda, St. Mary’s, and Schaller-Crestland - with NF being at top and the other two being tight for second.

Anyways, Ben was always the hardest working player on the court & a beast of a point guard. I remember being so mad when they beat Schaller in a tight one in Schaller. He took over the game at the end.

/csb

I was in the crowd for that game too. /csb

 

[Terrykohawk]

Mrs. DeVries seems like a pretty intelligent woman. And as we know, happy wife, happy life, so Iowa City might look pretty dang good to Coach DeVries about now. Beth should pull out all the stops. The worst that can happen is he says no.

But Ben McCollom would suit me just fine as well. After their win @ Southern Illinois today, Drake is 20-2, 10-2 in the MVC, and a good bet to be the league's rep in the NCAA Tourney. With Iowa sitting at home for the second straight year, I'll be following the Bulldogs, and hoping that Iowa will be hiring a former or current Drake coach to turn things around in Iowa City.

Hiring one from the women’s side worked out. 🏀😉

 

[NI hawk]

100% agree, but McCollum obviously has a much smaller sample size for recruiting. DeVries making Drake a perennial NCAA team (or close) every year I thought was probably as good as it would ever get for Drake. What McCollum has done is truly remarkable, Missouri Valley or whatever. He’s had great guard play at both NW MO and now he’s taken a guy with zero D1 offers and made him the player of the league. My main point in all this is defense travels. As does toughness. He seems to be an incredible defensive coach but man his teams all seem so connected and while every coach preaches toughness his team actually is tough. I’d take McCollum. Though I don’t think he leaves if it’s just a year. Don’t think he’s that guy. But certainly could be wrong.

I also agree. No inside info, but I don't see McCollum leaving after one year. Has a son who is a Sr. and I believe a sophomore. Tough having a kid go to three different HS's in 3 years.
I also like seeing Drake succeed.

 

[ozzie8]

I also agree. No inside info, but I don't see McCollum leaving after one year. Has a son who is a Sr. and I believe a sophomore. Tough having a kid go to three different HS's in 3 years.
I also like seeing Drake succeed.

I get it, 1 year is tough to leave, but if Iowa offers you the job and you're currently at Drake, you take the Iowa job 100% of the time. He's gonna have some opportunities regardless, even if it isnt Iowa

 

[TampaHawkfan]

I watched Drake play yesterday, and it was the first time I'd seen them play under McCollum. Well, I can say without a doubt that if people are looking for a change, McCollum's style is about as opposite of Fran as you can get, lol.

That was obviously a very well coached team, tough defense, and on offense, lot of movement and good passing and unselfish play. I've always said that I don't necessarily care about style of play as long as the results are there, but let's just say that I can see why Drake ranks dead last nationally in terms of tempo. Oooooh boy was that deliberate.

I have no doubt of McCollum's coaching prowess, but my question is, can he recruit at a high enough level to compete in the Big Ten? Will that style of play attract the type of athletes we need? Need the Jimmy's and the Joes. I realize McCollum is working with some of the DII guys he brought with him, but I didn't sense a ton of firepower there. That makes me a little nervous.

From what I've seen and heard from Devries, I feel a little more comfortable that Devries is more likely the recruiter that we need, between the two coaches. Someone convince me that I'm wrong?

 

[Bank of Hawk]

I also agree. No inside info, but I don't see McCollum leaving after one year. Has a son who is a Sr. and I believe a sophomore. Tough having a kid go to three different HS's in 3 years.
I also like seeing Drake succeed.

You hit on a good point: Mac is a family man and had declined other opportunities because he not only wanted it to be a good fit for himself it more importantly, his family.

I have been waiting to see if their athletic department, athletic director at Drake, comes out with a press release saying they have signed Mac for a multi year extension with a large bump in salary; I haven’t seen that yet. But if I was the AD, I would want to do that asap and increase the buyout significantly….but maybe their AD sees the writing on the wall, realizing this may be their only year with Mac, idk.

 

[littlez]

I watched Drake play yesterday, and it was the first time I'd seen them play under McCollum. Well, I can say without a doubt that if people are looking for a change, McCollum's style is about as opposite of Fran as you can get, lol.

That was obviously a very well coached team, tough defense, and on offense, lot of movement and good passing and unselfish play. I've always said that I don't necessarily care about style of play as long as the results are there, but let's just say that I can see why Drake ranks dead last nationally in terms of tempo. Oooooh boy was that deliberate.

I have no doubt of McCollum's coaching prowess, but my question is, can he recruit at a high enough level to compete in the Big Ten? Will that style of play attract the type of athletes we need? Need the Jimmy's and the Joes. I realize McCollum is working with some of the DII guys he brought with him, but I didn't sense a ton of firepower there. That makes me a little nervous.

From what I've seen and heard from Devries, I feel a little more comfortable that Devries is more likely the recruiter that we need, between the two coaches. Someone convince me that I'm wrong?

I think he’s playing probably even more deliberately than he would like. Trying to assemble a team in the portal at a mid major when you return 1 player from your roster is incredibly hard. And I’m guessing Drakes NIL funds are not high. So he probably felt the most comfortable bringing his starters in from NW MO. They had a familiarity with how he wants to do things. He has great pt guard play every single year. Again, Bo Ryan. 4 nattys in D2 and he’s 21-2 in his first year in D1. Wisconsin made a Final 4 without a lot of high flyers. It can be done.

 

[hexumhawk]

That should be considered a plus. So what would you rather have at Iowa, George Raveling or Dr Tom? Because George was the best recruiter Iowa ever had, but a very ok coach. Dr Tom took that team to the number 1 ranking and the elite 8 and probably should have won a natty. For whatever reason we can’t get top tier players, and it’s not all Fran. History has proven that. McCollum has proven that he has an absolute winning formula. It’s not always pretty, but if you watch his teams play defense he’s the anti Fran. Dude demands excellence and he demands you play defense. Otherwise you won’t play. He can win 55-50 or 73-71. As a Drake fan I was skeptical of him bringing in all D 2 guys but look at them. They’re 20-2.

This is one of the reasons I am in the McCollum camp now. He has a keen eye for what he needs for his system and I think it will be easier to find those players at Iowa than it will be for other systems.

 

[hexumhawk]

I also agree. No inside info, but I don't see McCollum leaving after one year. Has a son who is a Sr. and I believe a sophomore. Tough having a kid go to three different HS's in 3 years.
I also like seeing Drake succeed.

If Iowa offers, he will be leaving for Iowa City.

If Iowa doesn't go after him, there are going to be plenty of schools that will be.

 

[Max_Rebo]

A couple of questions related to this thread:

1. Could Iowa afford to buy out both McCaffery and DeVries if it came to that? I would imagine McCollum has a cheaper buy-out, as would most mid-major candidates. Coming from a P4 school, and with only 1 year in, I would think DeVries would be pretty expensive. But this is just guesswork.

2. Looking at a few recruiting pages from other sites, I don't see any 2025 commits for Drake. Seems odd. Does anyone know if this is accurate? (I was trying to get a sense of the types of players McCollum might recruit.)

 

[littlez]

A couple of questions related to this thread:

1. Could Iowa afford to buy out both McCaffery and DeVries if it came to that? I would imagine McCollum has a cheaper buy-out, as would most mid-major candidates. Coming from a P4 school, and with only 1 year in, I would think DeVries would be pretty expensive. But this is just guesswork.

2. Looking at a few recruiting pages from other sites, I don't see any 2025 commits for Drake. Seems odd. Does anyone know if this is accurate? (I was trying to get a sense of the types of players McCollum might recruit.)

They’ve got 2 signed for next year. A 6-9 Euro from Sunrise Christian out of KS and a 6-7 big guard from Oklahoma.

 

[MikeyHawk]

A couple of questions related to this thread:

1. Could Iowa afford to buy out both McCaffery and DeVries if it came to that? I would imagine McCollum has a cheaper buy-out, as would most mid-major candidates. Coming from a P4 school, and with only 1 year in, I would think DeVries would be pretty expensive. But this is just guesswork.

2. Looking at a few recruiting pages from other sites, I don't see any 2025 commits for Drake. Seems odd. Does anyone know if this is accurate? (I was trying to get a sense of the types of players McCollum might recruit.)

average 3-4K more in attendance each game would bring around $2 million more in revenue,
Fran has been the coach too long and fans are fatigued. get a new coach to generate some life

 

[BirdistheWord]

average 3-4K more in attendance each game would bring around $2 million more in revenue,
Fran has been the coach too long and fans are fatigued. get a new coach to generate some life

What chaps my ass is how we wait for this shit to bottom out. Terrible foresight. I get that Barta hamstrung us but get creative, find a way.

 

[RocknRollface]

What chaps my ass is how we wait for this shit to bottom out. Terrible foresight. I get that Barta hamstrung us but get creative, find a way.

The time to make a move was last year to get Devries.

 

[Ladell-hawk]

It’s so ridiculous that a team could end up 28-4 or something like that and not make the tournament. And while some of their Power conference wins like Miami don’t look so great K St is seriously coming on and Vandy is a top 25 team.

K-State is seriously coming on ? They are 11-11 on the season.

 

[littlez]

K-State is seriously coming on ? They are 11-11 on the season.

If you actually paid attention you’d know they have won 4 of their last 5 including beating the Clones by 20 in Ames. So yes, they are.