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Sounds like Pryce is gone to Debbie

I am more than willing to start completely over, even if that means year 1 will be rough. I don't want guys to be here if they don't want to really be here. Clean house for the most part. I am cool with that. This program has needed a new start and a tough minded coach for quite some time. I am sure he will fill the roster with guys that think like him.
They guys leaving are doing so to get a buck or two more than they get today, and get themselves a chance at a clean start. I am ok with that as well. I would really not want have any holdovers on the bulk of the guys getting playing time as the end result was not impressive. 36-31 over the last 2 years and 17-23 in the conference. Tournament play...obvious zero this year and 1-1 in the NIT last year. It was a very weak program, coaching on down. A fresh start for Fran, for his former players and for Iowa Basketball is the right medicine and I DO believe we have the right guy at the helm. That being said, this year could be a little rough, and if it is not, then all the better.
 
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I thought Pryce might be a cheaper money-ball option to replace the Dix 3pt shooting loss. Looks like it won't happen. This makes me like College basketball less. The Hawkeyes can't even retain a kid born in Iowa who's brother played at Iowa.

When I look at roster construction last year under Fran---we had three guys Freeman, Dix, Payton that were high Value NIL players....that is 3 stars on the same team, and they collectively sucked. Pryce is similar to Payton as a player. What I think that tells you if your 3 best players are all below the rim, slow twitch guys that are bad on defense or rebounding, you aren't going to win in the B1G. Losing Pryce won't hurt if he doesn't improve as a defender/rebounder.


Maybe Koch will end up the best of the bunch from last year's Iowa roster..I think he is a little stronger, little taller, little more twitchy version of the Sandforts. Ben is going to teach Koch to be a good defender---Fran wasn't ever going to do that.

Dix is too expensive, but I'd take him back in heartbeat but being a Hawkeye means almost nothing to these kids vs the crazy money they are offered. I don't blame Dix at all but he should go to Big12 school. Dix does need to be tougher/stronger and be a better rebounder if he hopes to have an NBA career. He's got a lot of skills.
 
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Ladell-hawk said:
We are losing guys who have Played well at the P4 level and we are going to replace them with mid majors ? I hope that will work.
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That's pretty much why the portal exists. Guys that didn't get the attention at high school get noticed after a year or two at a smaller school. Then coaches don't have to waste as much time recruiting high school
 
Packer54 said:
I am more than willing to start completely over, even if that means year 1 will be rough. I don't want guys to be here if they don't want to really be here. Clean house for the most part. I am cool with that. This program has needed a new start and a tough minded coach for quite some time. I am sure he will fill the roster with guys that think like him.
They guys leaving are doing so to get a buck or two more than they get today, and get themselves a chance at a clean start. I am ok with that as well. I would really not want have any holdovers on the bulk of the guys getting playing time as the end result was not impressive. 36-31 over the last 2 years and 17-23 in the conference. Tournament play...obvious zero this year and 1-1 in the NIT last year. It was a very weak program, coaching on down. A fresh start for Fran, for his former players and for Iowa Basketball is the right medicine and I DO believe we have the right guy at the helm. That being said, this year could be a little rough, and if it is not, then all the better.
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My worry is that BMc might only have a narrow time window to win back sufficient fan support to make this program competitive NIL-wise in the long term. If we stink up the joint this season, that window might close.
 
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Losing Pryce hurts in a vacuum but not at the reported 7 figure or high 6 figure tag. You can absolutely compensate the losses of his contributions or potential long term with the portal and then some, at those prices. Sure, BMC openly voiced for all 3 players to come back but he didn't say he'd be willing to overpay to bring them back. That's just him doing what he said he would do - leveraging the university as a whole to recruit players. He wants them back at a lower price tag that he can work with.

Besides- there's only 2 teams you don't transfer to if you leave Iowa. Anyone who has stepped foot on campus in any athletics program knows this. Just ask George Kittle.
 
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There are numerous shooters in the portal we can get, and who knows, maybe a few of them can play defense.

Honestly, based on where the program is at, it's probably best to purge it of pretty much everything and start fresh. Change the seating arrangement at Carver. It was only 1/3 full, on average, for most games. Give the folks who had their season tickets scanned for most games the priority. Everyone else goes in a new pool. Get the students close to/encircling the court and let them in for free for the next 2-4 years to get some interest and excitement back into the building.

Keeping Pryce was never going to make or break next year.
 
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HawkLogic said:
I thought Pryce might be a cheaper money-ball option to replace the Dix 3pt shooting loss. Looks like it won't happen. This makes me like College basketball less. The Hawkeyes can't even retain a kid born in Iowa who's brother played at Iowa.

When I look at roster construction last year under Fran---we had three guys Freeman, Dix, Payton that were high Value NIL players....that is 3 stars on the same team, and they collectively sucked. Pryce is similar to Payton as a player. What I think that tells you if your 3 best players are all below the rim, slow twitch guys that are bad on defense or rebounding, you aren't going to win in the B1G. Losing Pryce won't hurt if he doesn't improve as a defender/rebounder.


Maybe Koch will end up the best of the bunch from last year's Iowa roster..I think he is a little stronger, little taller, little more twitchy version of the Sandforts. Ben is going to teach Koch to be a good defender---Fran wasn't ever going to do that.

Dix is too expensive, but I'd take him back in heartbeat but being a Hawkeye means almost nothing to these kids vs the crazy money they are offered. I don't blame Dix at all but he should go to Big12 school. Dix does need to be tougher/stronger and be a better rebounder if he hopes to have an NBA career. He's got a lot of skills.
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It's hard to know all that's going on behind the scene with Pryce. But I've expressed this before, and do again. Either of the two remaining guys in the portal who want to come back, fine. Great. If they don't, fine, too. I wish no ill will and have no animosity toward either, but Iowa will survive either or both leaving. Neither is worth breaking the bank for; neither are program-changers.

If Koch can stay healthy, that seems like it may be a big IF, I think he has the most potential (and the longest time left), so getting him back I think was the biggest win for McCollum.

With Stirtz on board, and Banks seems like he's next (and then Howard), that's a pretty good team to work with next year. They will need a big man in the middle to deal with the week to week grind of the Big Ten. For a guy looking for a lot of playing time next year, Iowa would be an excellent option. Iowa will probably not be at the top of the NIL heap, but if actually playing a lot basketball is more important to a guy than just getting paid more to be on a team without the certainty to play as much, then Iowa is the place for a big man. That's has to be part of the pitch.
 
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ozzie8 said:
Exactly. Looks like hes bringing his top guys from Drake, not the entire roster. Those guys are important to have to establish the culture Mccollum wants and theyre damn good players.
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5-6 and 0 against Power 5 schools this year until Tech. Including Mizzou and Vandy, both tournament teams this year. And if you watched the Missouri game Mark Mitchell who was a 5 star Duke guy who transferred back to Mizzou was 2-8 in that game. And he’s as athletic as any Forward in the Big Ten. He’s going to fill the roster out. He’ll find shooters. Howard is twice the athlete Sandfort is and they’re the same size. And way tougher to boot. The season is not even over yet and some of you guys are already panicking. Did you think he’d have already landed 2-3 5 star guys by now? As others have stated, look at some of the top SEC rosters. Bama and Auburn have multiple starters from mid major schools. Broome, Nelson at Bama was from one of the Dakota schools.
 
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Ladell-hawk said:
Pryce is a player that could help us a lot next year, that was my point.
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I agree that Pryce could help a lot. BMc said his Drake team played so slow because they lacked shooters. On the other end of the court, Pryce would need to improve a lot. Contrary to what some have said, he was not a good defender--lacked lateral quickness to stay with most players on the perimeter, and awful at switches (like almost the entire team, except maybe Dix and Thelwell).
 
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HoustonREDHawk said:
I agree that Pryce could help a lot. BMc said his Drake team played so slow because they lacked shooters. On the other end of the court, Pryce would need to improve a lot. Contrary to what some have said, he was not a good defender--lacked lateral quickness to stay with most players on the perimeter, and awful at switches (like almost the entire team, except maybe Dix and Thelwell).
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I do not see anyone claiming that Pryce was a stellar defender...slow feet.
But he was a scrappy rebounder,a solid shooter and driver to hoop,and most important, a good decision- maker on the floor down the stretch of the season.
I think Ben could help make him a passable defender but can Ben make poor 3 point shooters better?
Right now we have mostly drake guys coming who Ben labeled as not great shooters.
We may see stirtz doubled with a lack of shooters around him.
That's why Pryce could have helped.
 
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HoustonREDHawk said:
I agree that Pryce could help a lot. BMc said his Drake team played so slow because they lacked shooters. On the other end of the court, Pryce would need to improve a lot. Contrary to what some have said, he was not a good defender--lacked lateral quickness to stay with most players on the perimeter, and awful at switches (like almost the entire team, except maybe Dix and Thelwell).
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Could he potentially help as a shooter. Sure. I don't think there's any guarantee he'd be as great as some seem to think. I think his shooting is replaceable from the portal.

Absolutely agree with the comments about his defense. He was a minus defender on a team loaded with minus defenders. He is slow in lateral movement and physically weak relative to his position counterparts. He would have to make a very big jump just to be an average defender. Ben McC wanted him back so he must think there's enough there to work with. But even with better individual defenders and a better connected team D philosophy he would be a weak link on that end.
 
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hawkeyemark18 said:
How can you judge a decision someone else makes for themselves? Pryce has to weigh the pros and cons and weigh what matters to him most. I want him to stay and think he would get better coaching here but not my decision to make.
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He’s entitled to his opinion. I agree it’s a mistake given Nebraska hasn’t shown the ability to take a next step like ISU has and like Iowa hopefully/probably will.
 
hawkjt said:
We may see stirtz doubled with a lack of shooters around him.
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Hard to imagine that wasn't done last year too. BIG has better players but the idea must have been tried and mostly failed to have the season Drake did
 
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BrotherHawkeye said:
It's hard to know all that's going on behind the scene with Pryce. But I've expressed this before, and do again. Either of the two remaining guys in the portal who want to come back, fine. Great. If they don't, fine, too. I wish no ill will and have no animosity toward either, but Iowa will survive either or both leaving. Neither is worth breaking the bank for; neither are program-changers.

If Koch can stay healthy, that seems like it may be a big IF, I think he has the most potential (and the longest time left), so getting him back I think was the biggest win for McCollum.

With Stirtz on board, and Banks seems like he's next (and then Howard), that's a pretty good team to work with next year. They will need a big man in the middle to deal with the week to week grind of the Big Ten. For a guy looking for a lot of playing time next year, Iowa would be an excellent option. Iowa will probably not be at the top of the NIL heap, but if actually playing a lot basketball is more important to a guy than just getting paid more to be on a team without the certainty to play as much, then Iowa is the place for a big man. That's has to be part of the pitch.
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Lots of playing time and the chance to be coached up. You're going to get better playing for McCollum.
 
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Sounds like the "purge" is complete from a coaching standpoint. Gatens will not be kept on moving forward. I hate it for him because I loved him as a player, but it's obvious BM is bringing a whole new philosophy and mindset to the program and isn't super interested in holdovers from the previous staff.
 
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Best thing is to get as many of Frans Guys out unless underclassmen who can be reprogrammed to play at both ends of the floor , Addition by subtraction .
SCHawkFan said:
If he ends up at NE, I look forward to Iowa players shutting him down when the teams play next season.
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kNOW WHO TO GO AT TOO WHE
Dr. Spaceman said:
Uglier than this season?
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That ugly Drake Team made the Round of 32 .
 
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Doubt this makes a difference for Dix

6'3" guard

Creighton lands commitment​

04/02/2025 10:10:32 AM
One of the most productive players in the American Athletic Conference is headed to Creighton. Charlotte guard Nik Graves is making the move via the NCAA transfer portal. Graves is coming off a monster season with the 49ers. He averaged 17.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game during the 2024-25 campaign.
 
littlez said:
Not even possible. The guys questioning never watched Drake play. I can guarantee with just his Drake players he's win more games than Fran won this year.
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It's "not even possible" to have a worse season than '24-'25? lol

This season's team would have missed the B1G Tournament with a loss in their last game of the season. You're telling me that after that, you really can't imagine a scenario where we don't make the BTT? OK.....

lmao

I do love a "guarantee" though. The 'book it', 'bank on it', 'done deal' guys are never not entertaining.

I'm sure mohawk will guarantee that next season's team will "easily" make the NCAA Tournament. But he's a proven idiot.

Have you been drinking?
 
AmericaNeedsMe said:
It's "not even possible" to have a worse season than '24-'25? lol

This season's team would have missed the B1G Tournament with a loss in their last game of the season. You're telling me that after that, you really can't imagine a scenario where we don't make the BTT? OK.....

lmao

I do love a "guarantee" though. The 'book it', 'bank on it', 'done deal' guys are never not entertaining.

I'm sure mohawk will guarantee that next season's team will "easily" make the NCAA Tournament. But he's a proven idiot.

Have you been drinking?
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Not yet. That's funny coming from you who guaranteed the win over Indiana and we got our asses kicked. Anyway, if you would care to make a wager yes, I think there is no way McCollum has a worse record than 7-13 next year. And that will be with at least 3 Drake guys starting.
 
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