Spencer Interview
- Thread starter west2east
- Start date
Makes you wonder if TNT wanted anyone to actually KNOW of his last surgery??? a manhood surgery?? one can only wonder and I agree that after watching this interview I think he gives that knee an early season test drive and if it pans out....he tosses the shirt and is the starter.
Why wouldn't he? He's been in Iowa since June and school started a month and a half ago. Of course Iowa = we.
I said I liked it, does that bother you?
Q: Do you have your goals written down?
"I've known my goals since I was eight years old."
"I've known my goals since I was eight years old."
I can't wait to see him in an Iowa singlet....but I hope it's next year rather than this year. Get healed up. Roll through some Opens/Midlands, get stronger and let guys like NaTo and Suriano move out / lose another year of eligibility. Just my opinion.
Since Spencer's dad moved here a year ago and is an Iowa resident and Spencer is his dependent, does anybody know if that gives Spencer Iowa residency? I would assume that Spencer is awfully close to a full scholly so it doesn't matter much, but just curious.
Is Warner his roommate?
Is Warner his roommate?
Rutgers and Suriano will be at The Midlands. Or should be as they were last year. Who will be the 125 starters for ASU / ISU/ Neb?
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Kris Williams Nebraska, Danny vega Iowa state and former all American Ryan milholf for asu
ASU = Milhof
ISU = Vega OR loser of Parker/Simmons 133 wrestle off
NE = no one to worry about
Kris Williams of Nebraska is very good. He lost to lizak 3-2 lost to lambert by a point and actually beat vega last year
Why would the competitor in Spencer want to avoid Suriano and Thomasello? I would think he believes he can beat them both and win a title.
I promise you, Lee ISN'T avoiding either one of them. Me, a fan, would like to see him take a year to acclimate and heal up... a byproduct of doing so is less Suriano / NaTo.
I can see no major benefit for the team for him to wrestle this year. Well, of course, if he is healthy, we are a better team with him at 125. But will it help us win a title? NO. So I hope he redshirts(and to make sure he is healthy and recuperated from surgery).
Now, is there an indiviudual reason for him to start his career this year? Does it get him to his international career a year earlier? Would TnT allow him, or would he want to take on a schedule similar to that of Snyder when he is a soph or junior? I know one of his goals is to win Olympic gold. Does wrestling this year somehow get him closer or better prepared to make that run? Does saving his redshirt for 2020 make more sense to him?
I have no clue what the answer is to any of these questions, maybe only Spencer, his family and TnT know the answers. I cant wait to see him wrestle, but I am in no hurry this year.
GO HAWKS!!
Now, is there an indiviudual reason for him to start his career this year? Does it get him to his international career a year earlier? Would TnT allow him, or would he want to take on a schedule similar to that of Snyder when he is a soph or junior? I know one of his goals is to win Olympic gold. Does wrestling this year somehow get him closer or better prepared to make that run? Does saving his redshirt for 2020 make more sense to him?
I have no clue what the answer is to any of these questions, maybe only Spencer, his family and TnT know the answers. I cant wait to see him wrestle, but I am in no hurry this year.
GO HAWKS!!
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I think not starting True Freshmen is one contributing factor hindering Iowa from out recruiting tOSU, PSU, and now Michigan. Brands has never done it and I think it detours some recruits from Iowa. Obviously not every recruit is ready to go as a TF, but we need to show the ones that are and want to that Iowa is a place it can happen. Right now we have the bad rep that it will not happen, just like the robot rep and doesn't help us. Lee is 3X world champion and the number #1 recruit in his class. You will never convince me he isn't ready. If Lee is healthy he is clearly the best option to put one the mat. Let him wrestle and show recruits that if ur ready we will put you in right away.
Neither Parker or Simmons can make 125. Even 133 will be tough to get to all year for Parker and Simmons couldn't keep 125 down last year and moved up. Its Vega at 125 for sure.
Vega is for sure the guy at 125. Simmons will start at 133 this year with Storr at 141. I feel the following year Storr will move up to 149 and Degen will go up to 157. This would make room for Parker at 41 and Gomez at 133. Simmons will be the odd man out 18-19 season.
I am not disagreeing with you at all. Just not sure. Was it Cael's choice that Retherford and Suriano wrestled as true freshman? Was it part of his recruiting pitch? Perhaps. Retherford then turned around and redshirted after that true freshman year. Perhaps it kept him from being a four timer? Again, not sure if he was told to not redshirt, convinced to due so as it was the best thing for the team, or if he wanted to.
How many times does a incoming freshman hit the team perfectly when a current stud(Gilman for example) is ready to graduate. Is it a negative for the kid that is maybe a top 50 wrestler that may not be ready as a true freshman if he knows he might lose his spot as a junior or senior if a kid like Lee shows up in the room? Is it a boost for a kid mentally to know that he will be getting scholly help for five vs fours years and can either take time with class work or start graduate school at least partially on someone else's money?
I cant recall how many time fOSU and PSU have not redshirted kids in the past ten years. I would love to know how many of them that didnt redshirt did so cause they didn't want to vs what the coach needed them to do.
Then you didn't see his last match.
And yes, I got your caveat but not one is advocating he redshirt for any reason other than injury recovery. It isn't about talent.
I fully expect to see Spencer in the line up this year...
Music to my ears. If you had asked me back in March or April, I would've said 100% redshirt. But after hearing different perspectives and reflecting for a few months... I am all in on letting Lee go this year if he wants to. This would absolutely help Iowa in recruiting if a True Freshman Spencer Lee won a stacked 125 lb weight class.
I happen to think that we should put our best possible team on the mat. Who's to say our title chances will be better in 2022 than 2018? One thing I've learned over the past few years is nothing is given and somebody new will always come along and shake things up in whatever weight class. And even if we can't win this year, then lets put multiple guys in the finals, and score as many team points as possible. Show potential recruits that we're putting lineups out that will score 100+ points now, every year. Putting Lee, Sorensen, Kemerer, and Downey into the finals + adding 4 more AA's is a hell of a team, even if it ends up 3rd.
If he's 100% by December, then waiting another 10-11 months won't make him 110%. The only argument I see is that maybe he might have some mat rust/timing issues, but I'm not really that worried about his wrestling skills at all. If he's healthy, then I think he's absolutely capable of winning the title, THIS year. If he emerges from the 125 lb bracket in March as the champ that would be an amazing moment.. running the table against Tomasello/Suriano/Cruz/Lizak/Piccinnini/Millhof/Mueller/Moisey would be a pretty damn impressive feat for the True Freshman Lee.
The times they wrestled in HS Lee was unquestionably the better wrestler. Even when Suriano found a way to steal a victory Lee out/wrestled him.
I don't think he's concerned with Nick.
I think scoring 100 points and putting X amount of wrestlers in the finals are not what is important. The thing that matters the most is what Spencer and his parents want. Telling someone he can’t red shirt when they and their family want them to will not help recruiting. So it really needs to be up to Spencer and his family with Tom’s guidance.
It will go exactly like that... Ultimately, it will be 100% Spencer's decision once he gets the go from his doctors.
I am normally fully on board with the wrestling true freshman approach, and I do think it hinders the hell out of us in recruiting, but in this case I just don't think that's the smart play. I guess what it amounts to is, what do we gain as a Team, and my answer to that for what the rest of the team appears to be, is not near enough. Shirt him and lets roll next year and see if we can get the train moving in the right direction again.
I would never say never, but there is WAY too much firepower in more than one place right now, that we would have to overcome to win the damn thing this year. And if we're not going to have a reasonable expectation to win it, why bother wasting years? I don't think our luck is that good.
I'm sorry, but I don't buy this. There is no way Brands lets potential recruits influence his coaching decisions.
Book it. Spencer redshirting all year.
And I agree with your statement BUT it doesn't make it true. We HAVE to try to do something different bc if we continue to do the exact same recruiting tactics, PSU & OSU will continue to prey on us. Yes, last year was better but..........
That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying a contributing factor to top talent not looking or passing on Iowa is the fact that we refuse to start a true freshmen. Top talent is more college ready now then ever before and many of them don't want to RS. Wouldn't hurt for Brands to change that perception. Just like he seems to be trying hard to change the perception that Iowa is full of robots.
If he beats Suriano at Midlands, then we damn sure should pull the shirt. That would mean he's ready to go out and win a national title. There would be no sense in redshirting him at that point. It'd be like saying "yeah you can win a national title as a true freshman but we'd rather you just focus on getting better." He's going to get a lot better being focused and training for an NCAA title THIS year. Then we can have a redshirt year available if he gets hurt or something like that in addition to the Olympic redshirt.
Put it this way, i'd bet the same amount of $ on Spencer wrestling as I would on your fridge being full of hot dogs and cheap Pinot Grigio.
If Spencer's ready physically and mentally, I'd be really happy to see him go. Tomasello would be a really tough matchup for him.
I don't think there's any percentage in trying to save Lee's eligibility 5 years out from now to chase a team title. PSU and OSU keep stockpiling talent faster than we do. Be as competitive as you can now.
That said, redshirt Warner. It sounds like he as work to do on his mat wrestling to be a top contender. Different situation
I don't think there's any percentage in trying to save Lee's eligibility 5 years out from now to chase a team title. PSU and OSU keep stockpiling talent faster than we do. Be as competitive as you can now.
That said, redshirt Warner. It sounds like he as work to do on his mat wrestling to be a top contender. Different situation
Out of curiosity, whose redshirts do you feel should have been pulled in the Brands era?
This is total BS. Brands will wrestle a true freshman if the wrestler wants to and is ready. There are few true freshman who are ready and few that want to wrestle. Lee could be one of them, but he is coming off knee surgery and that may hinder the possibility of his wrestling this year.
