I know its been a long time. I graduated from a Davenport high school in 1977, but back then the Davenport schools were powerhouses especially in football and sometimes on bball as well. Either West or Central played for the State title every year I was in high school. Assumption was pretty good, and then Bettendorf was really starting to come on. I haven't lived in Iowa since 1986 but it seems like they've really fallen off the map in terms of relevance. Admittedly in the late 70's West and Central were the two largest high school enrollments in the state. Both around 3500 kids in just three classes. Did the addition of North dilute the talent pool that much, or what happened? Even recruit wise, we almost never get any kids as D1 prospects from Davenport anymore, and the Quad cities has to still be top two or three in the state for population. Other then a couple of football players from Bettendorf, and of course Baer in basketball we're getting nothing from that part of the state. Just wondering your alls thoughts on whats happened with sports in Dtown......
So just for conversation, what the heck happened to the Davenport schools?
- Thread starter kceasthawk
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I also would love some feedback on this. I’ve been out of the state for a long time 94 five I think but well into the 2000s Bettendorf was still kicking ass and taking names the Davenport schools weren’t still that relevant but it’s odd…
They definitely were still relevant when I was in high school in 86 through 88 and I think they had some pretty good girls basketball teams if I remember correctly…
I’ve always been a huge High school basketball and football buff nationwide really but especially throughout the Midwest and I’d like to hear someone closer to the area and their thoughts?!
In Iowa, the wealthy schools (public and private) tend to dominate the larger classes of football. One of the few outliners is Linn Mar who for years has underachieved in football.
The Davenport schools in particular Central and West are poorer schools with shrinking enrollment, they lack the resources to compete.
Davenport Assumption is solid but has too small of an enrollment to complete for championships.
Bettendorf is still good at football just not state championship good. The main reason for Bettendorf being unable to win championships is the growth of Pleasant Valley (PV). Most of the wealthy new homes built in the QC are in the PV district, which is taking away talent and resources that would’ve otherwise gone to Bettendorf.
The Davenport schools in particular Central and West are poorer schools with shrinking enrollment, they lack the resources to compete.
Davenport Assumption is solid but has too small of an enrollment to complete for championships.
Bettendorf is still good at football just not state championship good. The main reason for Bettendorf being unable to win championships is the growth of Pleasant Valley (PV). Most of the wealthy new homes built in the QC are in the PV district, which is taking away talent and resources that would’ve otherwise gone to Bettendorf.
Greatly appreciate this insight… I graduated from Fairfield in 88 back when they still had really good football teams and if I remember correctly Bettendorf was still 3A then and then they exploded on the scene with population and just being bigger and stronger support than anywhere in the state.
I never even thought of the Pleasant Valley angel?!
As far as that goes the Iowa city schools aren’t nearly as dominant as they used to be either!?
I think a lot of that has to do with the rapid growth (by Iowa standards) of the Des Moines suburbs combined with the opening of the new school in North Liberty.
It will take the stars aligning for an Eastern Iowa School to win a State Championship in 5A football. Unless there is a dramatic shift in football the only Eastern Iowa schools that even have a shot are Bettendorf, Cedar Falls, PV, one of the Iowa City schools, CR Kennedy or maybe Linn Mar (if they ever get their act together).
Tell me more about Linmar, they’ve always been a wild card for 30 years it seems. No matter what class they were in and they went up and down Class’ a couple times right?
Aren’t they always seemingly pretty good and yet, yes under achieve wildly and where is all that athletic pull from… ?
Didn’t they go like 5-4 during the season several years back and then win the state championship?
Sorry about that stream of consciousness there 😂 I do enjoy talking about high school football!
Good coaching. And a commitment from boosters to support the program. IT sure helps to have a stud athlete like Tim Dwight.
Yes, the coach (I won't mention the name) killed the program at City High. He has been replaced and they appear to be coming back. The coach played almost iron man football, the same players on offense and defense, the program had fewer and fewer players each year. His offense made the Hawkeye offense look dynamic. He ran all four downs, seldom passed, never punted, it was nuts. He just killed a great program, but because of the talent at the start of his head coaching career he looked like a good coach, he cost them at least one state championship, maybe two. Sad.
I remember those Bettendorf/City High games....Tavian Banks vs Tim Dwight, unfortunately the two best teams in the state got matched up early in the playoff. Larry Brown was coaching City High then, great coach.
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Des Moines suburban schools are not only colossal, but a few of them are only 3 years, so compared to iowa city schools, they can have more than twice as many kids per class in DSM. it affects sports, band competitions, you name it.
also there is a much higher percentage of kids getting free and reduced lunch in iowa city, likely same in cedar rapids and quad cities.
dsm burbs are affluent and very white. They take great care of themselves and no one else.
also there is a much higher percentage of kids getting free and reduced lunch in iowa city, likely same in cedar rapids and quad cities.
dsm burbs are affluent and very white. They take great care of themselves and no one else.
Despite all the above still IC high schools have the most students per capita who are national merit scholars, who get into elite colleges, etc. mostly children of professors and doctors though. IC is still the highest educated city in iowa and it’s not even close.
Bettendorf came up about the time Davenport went down and now it's Pleasant Valley. Whether
it's the QCs or any other metro area, I think coaching is the biggest factor. It certainly seemed to be at Bettendorf. It's not just the coaching itself, but that the right guy can build enthusiasm as well as both player and parent participation at the feeding middle schools as well as helping identify strong coaches for those schools. I haven't been in that area for a long time but I've seen that same kind of rise and fall in other parts of the country.
it's the QCs or any other metro area, I think coaching is the biggest factor. It certainly seemed to be at Bettendorf. It's not just the coaching itself, but that the right guy can build enthusiasm as well as both player and parent participation at the feeding middle schools as well as helping identify strong coaches for those schools. I haven't been in that area for a long time but I've seen that same kind of rise and fall in other parts of the country.
Everything @DavidGraeberBullSheetJobs said above.
In the metro areas of QC and DM you see white flight to the burbs. In QC's you have N Scott, PV and Ankeny, Johnston, Urbanadale, etc in DM - Leaving the "city" schools w/ higher FRL population and much less support in their programs. In the past 5(ish?) years, you're seeing that more in CR too - CR Wash and CR Jeff both waaaaay down athletically compared to where they were 20 years ago.
As mentioned, the outlier in CR is LinMar - I would wager a bet they have spent the most money and produced the fewest results (by far) than any other athletic department in the state. The money and support is there the success is not.
IC has 3 schools now which kills them compared to schools in the DM Metro area. Also mentioned above the IC schools (particularly West) blow any school out of the water academically.....and as he said 'it's not even close'......I think the top 20 students at West would compete w/ the top 20 in the rest of the state academically year in and year out.....
In the metro areas of QC and DM you see white flight to the burbs. In QC's you have N Scott, PV and Ankeny, Johnston, Urbanadale, etc in DM - Leaving the "city" schools w/ higher FRL population and much less support in their programs. In the past 5(ish?) years, you're seeing that more in CR too - CR Wash and CR Jeff both waaaaay down athletically compared to where they were 20 years ago.
As mentioned, the outlier in CR is LinMar - I would wager a bet they have spent the most money and produced the fewest results (by far) than any other athletic department in the state. The money and support is there the success is not.
IC has 3 schools now which kills them compared to schools in the DM Metro area. Also mentioned above the IC schools (particularly West) blow any school out of the water academically.....and as he said 'it's not even close'......I think the top 20 students at West would compete w/ the top 20 in the rest of the state academically year in and year out.....
If you look at other sports than football, IC schools are doing fine.
West/Liberty combo team usually finishes top 3 at state for swimming.
West dominates in both boys and girls tennis, boys soccer is a perennial contender for a state title, wrestling is solid.
Liberty had the #1 ranked volleyball team for 5A but did get upset at state. A variety of strong runners but can't put together a state title but have won conference titles.
City has been very good in girls basketball and as eluded to, football made a gigantic leap in just one year.
The addition of Liberty has ended some of West's dominance in other sports.
West/Liberty combo team usually finishes top 3 at state for swimming.
West dominates in both boys and girls tennis, boys soccer is a perennial contender for a state title, wrestling is solid.
Liberty had the #1 ranked volleyball team for 5A but did get upset at state. A variety of strong runners but can't put together a state title but have won conference titles.
City has been very good in girls basketball and as eluded to, football made a gigantic leap in just one year.
The addition of Liberty has ended some of West's dominance in other sports.
Obviously to win you have to have athletes and coaching - it's a given.
But, you also need "participation" starting at young age and carrying through to HS. I don't have the facts, but anecdotally the participation is down in football.
Again, obviously, things like CTE and other injuries are contributing to the decline - kids opting out may have been athletes that could have helped the team.
More "1 sport" athletes also contribute - baseball players, basketball, wrestling, even soccer - kids choosing to focus on one sport - one that isn't football.
So, as a result of these reasons and more - participation is way down. Hard to put together a championship football team in the big classes when 1/2 the kids go both ways. Fewer subs, injuries. Less competition for PT.
So, without any facts to support it, I'm guessing the top teams still have a lot of participation in grades 7-12 - more athletes on the team really helps.
But, you also need "participation" starting at young age and carrying through to HS. I don't have the facts, but anecdotally the participation is down in football.
Again, obviously, things like CTE and other injuries are contributing to the decline - kids opting out may have been athletes that could have helped the team.
More "1 sport" athletes also contribute - baseball players, basketball, wrestling, even soccer - kids choosing to focus on one sport - one that isn't football.
So, as a result of these reasons and more - participation is way down. Hard to put together a championship football team in the big classes when 1/2 the kids go both ways. Fewer subs, injuries. Less competition for PT.
So, without any facts to support it, I'm guessing the top teams still have a lot of participation in grades 7-12 - more athletes on the team really helps.
During the 70s Davenport Central running backs went:
-Jim Jensen, Iowa, NFL
-Curtis Craig, Nebraska
-Roger Craig, Nebraska, NFL
Consecutively.
Roger Craig had a teammate named Jaime Williams from Central who went to Nebraska and played 12 years in the NFL.
I went to college in Davenport during the 2000s and worked at an industrial supply company. Guy I worked with knew sports and especially local sports. He explained that the athletes left Davenport when the industrial jobs left. Guys like Tavian Banks and marquis simmons sprinkled in but a kid like David Johnson would’ve lived in Davenport during the 70s instead lived in Clinton during the 2000s. Basically blame Davenport’s lack of athletes on cheap Chinese goods was his premise.
If you lived in Davenport today you’d beg borrow and steal to sent your kids to Bettendorf or PV. Parents want their kids to be safe and excel.
-Jim Jensen, Iowa, NFL
-Curtis Craig, Nebraska
-Roger Craig, Nebraska, NFL
Consecutively.
Roger Craig had a teammate named Jaime Williams from Central who went to Nebraska and played 12 years in the NFL.
I went to college in Davenport during the 2000s and worked at an industrial supply company. Guy I worked with knew sports and especially local sports. He explained that the athletes left Davenport when the industrial jobs left. Guys like Tavian Banks and marquis simmons sprinkled in but a kid like David Johnson would’ve lived in Davenport during the 70s instead lived in Clinton during the 2000s. Basically blame Davenport’s lack of athletes on cheap Chinese goods was his premise.
If you lived in Davenport today you’d beg borrow and steal to sent your kids to Bettendorf or PV. Parents want their kids to be safe and excel.
HS football is a year-round endeavor for any school that hopes to be competitive. Schools that don't have complete buy-in from the kids are not going to compete.
How much of your salary do you donate to those who make less than you?
In the late 90s Dav West was the largest school in the state with 2400 kids. Today it has about 1500-1600. That is a massive amount of shrinkage when 1/3 of the student population vanishes. I’d bet something similar happened on a smaller scale at North and Central. Although North was never a football power in their existence.
I think the drop off started when football was revealed as a sport that caused concussions and soccer was beginning to take hold as a less violent sport so parents were more inclined to want their kids in soccer
than football.
than football.
More resources, more money, better coaching, better talent in DSM suburbs. It's that simple.
I pay taxes in a very diverse community with a large immigrant population (appx 7% of iowa city are Sudanese immigrants alone, plus other groups) instead of fleeing to a Idaho-like white supremacy “paradise” privileged suburb somewhere full of people who are oh-so-not-racist so long as the “other” people they profess to “tolerate” and “empower” aren’t in their kids’ schools or on their gated subdivision’s sidewalks criminally jogging or suspiciously wearing hoodies and eating skittles.
And I run an educational nonprofit that has logged hundreds of hours of volunteer work for schools every year. I try to do my part.
It’s not enough…..no one who has any free time or money that continually and loudly proclaims the failing of the system and those without can ever rest or ever have anything until it’s all fair.
Its why you can’t take somebody like Bill Gates with 150,000,000,000+ seriously if he cared he wouldn’t have anything… Mother Theresa put her money where her mouth was she lived as a pauper most of her life and gave and gave and gave and gave and gave… I assure you you’re not giving and giving like her!
You honestly shouldn’t have time to even follow sports or be on a message board.
Davenport schools system has gone downhill fast in the past few years. Many have moved to the outskirts of town. PV, Eldridge, etc…. Lower enrollment in Davenport schools coupled with the movement to the outlining areas is the reason West/Central/North have all struggled lately. PV and North Scott get the majority of the talent from the area.
Absolutely not better talent.
when you have Des Moines suburban schools that are larger than schools in Iowa city, even though they only have three years, and there are twice as many kids per class as schools in other cities, you just have more numbers.
Des Moines suburban schools because to my knowledge they’re the only schools that only have three years starting sophomore year should really have their own athletic class.
White America is quietly self-segregating
Everyone wants diversity. But not everyone wants it on their street.
www.vox.com
The joker is white. Batman dresses in black. The new Spider-Man is Latino and black. And jack black is white. Q.E.D.
More talent, how about that? Eastern Iowa puts out very talented players, central Iowa just has more highly talented players. Twice as populous, just makes sense.
North Scott and Pleasant Valley growth. Bettendorf is largely landlocked, so they are falling behind a bit from their traditional football powerhouse stature, as most of the growth in the metro area is falling into the PV school district and North Scott. There have been several D1 basketball players from the area in recent years; just none have landed at Iowa. Ellis from Assumption/Central is currently at Marquette. Carton is now in the G League after being at Marquette and Ohio State. Several D1 football players from North Scott, PV, and Assumption in recent years - again just none landed at Iowa.
White America is quietly self-segregating
Everyone wants diversity. But not everyone wants it on their street.
Just so you know. Minority populations self segregate, so quit the BS.
Them damn whites, always thinking of themselves😫!! Let me guess, you're a woke progressive white leftist liberal
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Davenport North- the school the voters in Davenport rejected every time it was on the ballot and backdoored into existence...
What about people who were born in places like North Liberty and Ankeny? Do they have an obligation to have x % of their money confiscated to benefit others?
You are as much a hypocrite as every other progressive I have ever spoken to. "I am OK because I pay taxes in a diverse community."
Open your wallet or shut your mouth
