He was a Drake assistant. He could become the next Drake coach. Drake coaches are hot commodities. Iowa fans want to hire a Drake or ex-Drake coach. Skip the intermediate steps and hire Gatens now.
The reason to hire Gatens.
- Thread starter amahawk
- Start date
I've suggested this myself. He WILL be an excellent head coach somewhere very soon
I think it would be good to have hc experience before being a HC at Iowa.
Drake coaches are hot because they have had success. You have to show you can keep that level of success.
Drake coaches are hot because they have had success. You have to show you can keep that level of success.
If we can’t land BM or someone like him, I would rather they name Gatens or another assistant interim head coach until they find the right replacement. You may lose out on recruits or portal players is the only thing, but apparently we’re way behind in that aspect already so what’s it matter at this point? Plus the longer you don’t have a head coach the more players you will continue to lose. This may be enough to keep Dix and bring Pryce back into the fold.
It would be a good resume builder for him and this way we don’t shell out more money and years for the wrong guy. I could be completely off on this approach too as it could backfire. I would rather the search take longer and they find the right person for the job rather than settling for the not ideal candidate because he was the last man standing. Hopefully it doesn’t come to this though.
It would be a good resume builder for him and this way we don’t shell out more money and years for the wrong guy. I could be completely off on this approach too as it could backfire. I would rather the search take longer and they find the right person for the job rather than settling for the not ideal candidate because he was the last man standing. Hopefully it doesn’t come to this though.
JFC what a bunch of chicken littles. Indiana hires DD, who I am not convinced was even BG’s first choice, and people are already scrambling for an emergency plan with interim coaches and guys with no HC experience, while a dozen or so good candidates are ready to coach in the NCAA tournament in a few days. Chill and let this play out.
Sorry, but there is no reason to hire Gatens as the next head coach, at this point in his career. None. At all.
Let him earn his chops at a mid-major first - at the very least - and then maybe when the job reopens years down the road we can revisit looking at him.
Let him earn his chops at a mid-major first - at the very least - and then maybe when the job reopens years down the road we can revisit looking at him.
Exactly what I was thinking. It didn't take long for people to start going here.
Plenty of chance to go this route if options 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. all fall through.
Once again their target guy is coaching in the ncaa tournament. Directly from a better source than anyone else has on here.
Gatens has zero HC experience. Stop with this.
Does his name sound similar to Men BcCollum? 😁
Sorry, but the bottom line if Matt is hired will be they couldn't find anybody else
I don't think we should settle for Gatens. We should still be holding out for BJ Armstrong.
Agree. So many Iowa fans have become conditioned to accept low expectations from Iowa sports. It’s ridiculous. And like you said…..DD may not have even been Beth’s first choice…and if he was, maybe she said “Pass” on his demands.
You wanna kill off the men’s basketball program? Go ahead and hire Gatens.
I didn't push for specifics but will say the person I spoke with knows everything that's going on. They had already told me Devries wasn't happening. Personally I'm happy they didn't saddle themselves with a huge contract for Devries. That's a recipe for perpetual buyout debt like Nebraska football.
You don’t haveta tell me how connected you are, i already know that from the wrestling board 😁 and appreciate the insights!
And yes i totally agree! People are quick to push the lack of NIL narrative, which may be true idk. But i still think BG was smart enough to realize 10mil in buyouts + a 5mil salary isn’t a recipe for success. I have to believe McCollum is the guy
I'm hoping for McC also. Think it's a slam dunk for Iowa to focus on an X's and O's guy who can beat teams with higher rated rosters. Wisconsin stole our football keys to success. Great line, RB's, and defense. We can return the favor by taking a page from their basketball success. Defense, Rebounding, and normally 1 stud guard and a stud big man surrounded by role/team players. Their sum was always better than the parts due to coaching.
Edited to add that I did give my 2 cents on the above, and how Mc seems like he would be a great choice. Said you don't win that much without knowing the x's and o's. They agreed but didn't give any insight as to if he's a primary target. They fed me what they were comfortable with and I wasn't going to push for more.
The only part i would disagree with is the stud big man. UNLESS that big can stretch the floor, which Wisconsin is pretty well known for. But a guy like Freeman i just don’t get the draw to pay him huge $. He’s a one dimensional offensive player that doesn’t rebound exceptionally well and is soft defensively. Possibility that changes under a different coach though 😂
Personally I would much rather pay 2-3 really good guards and have a complimentary big man that plays really good d and rebounds hard but doesn’t demand the ball on offense, a Cliff Omimoryi type player. That seems to be the way of the college game now. Need 2-3 slashers that are still capable of shooting and then 1 lethal shooter, this is where i think keeping Pryce would be huge. I truly hate pointing to ISU, but we really should be trying to emulate their model because it’s proven to be very successful.
I don’t like hiring former star players. Especially given that he played for the guy you just fired.
Gatens needs to go to the Valley and prove himself.
You don’t hire assistants from bad teams to be HC.
You don’t hire assistants from bad teams to be HC.
As an up and coming coach, you would think that would be a dream spot to build a resume with how it’s gone for the last couple guys. Add in, if he built some good relationships with the Iowa players he could easily take a handful of those guys west with him 🤷♂️
I like Matt but he does not have a resume yet to be a head coach, even at Drake. IMO
HELL NO! I don't mind keeping him as an assistant, but he has NO HEAD COACHING experience. WTF do people keep naming former players as coaches (with no experience) as if that's a recipe for success. SMH
I’m hoping Beth had DD and BM about even and she didn’t feel like paying more than what Indiana offered DD when she could get a good coach like BM for a lot less. BM was my 1st choice so I’m hopeful.
I was just going to say something similar. People who know more than me have said that Beth made the move feeling fairly certain her main target would come to Iowa. I think many others have heard the same. We all just assumed it was.DD. Maybe it was or maybe it wasn’t I have no idea but I think we need to let this play out a little bit before everyone freaks out.
Scottie Pippen as assistant coach, since his kid went to Iowa.
1) tainted with current staff. Why didn’t HE teach Defense and Rebounding?
2)need a clean break from current regime. You ONLY hire Gatens if you want much of your team back. We arguably had the LEAST talented overall team in BIG. And only 2 good players were going to chase a payday no matter what.
Pass
2)need a clean break from current regime. You ONLY hire Gatens if you want much of your team back. We arguably had the LEAST talented overall team in BIG. And only 2 good players were going to chase a payday no matter what.
Pass
Getting a good center that is both good on offense and defense and doesn't get into foul trouble is an NBA ready player. -I think you are correct, Freeman is not worth the NIL he will command because he's on the small side and struggles with bigger/more athletic bigs and he is not good FT shooter. Dix is the guy I'd like IOwa to pay up, but he'd be wasted on a team that is a total rebuild like IOwa.
To replace Freeman, The moneyball approach would be to get an Uber rebounder/shout blocker and a backup center. I read a article on TJ Otzelberger doing moneyball last year. The analytics said they guy they ended up with at center was plus rebounder, plus defender, and was cheaper NIL wise because he wasn't a big scorer. TJ also got a discount because the guy liked ISU's defensive style.
Clever idea, but does anybody have any evidence to indicate Gatens could be a good head coach at any level? I don't think fans would flock back or donors would open their wallets or students would get fired up over such a hire.
No buyout, money for players. It is one of those cases that seem laughable now, but down the road could be a big, missed opportunity. I do not see any earth-shaking hires available except for maybe Rick Pitino.
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