VOTE: What Grade do you give Fran in Recruiting over last 9+ yrs? Up to 5 Schollies for 2020 Class

[Franisdaman]

As of May 4, 2019, Iowa has up to 5 scholarships available for the 2020 class.

Regarding a grade for Fran's recruiting to date? I would give him a C-. Why?
* Too many misses on PG (Ulis; Carton)
* Too many misses/transfers overall.
* Too many unbalanced classes where we have 1 departure one year and 5 or 6 departures the next.


UPDATED on May 4, 2019:

In Men's basketball, you can have 13 on scholarship.

Here is a summary of the McCaffery era recruits (March 2010 through today). Note that I list the years when they are scheduled to graduate OR when they graduated, transferred or left early.


Future Graduating Classes:


2024 (when scheduled to graduate): 0 players have committed


Current Roster (10 currently on scholarship; 3 scholarships available):


2023 (when scheduled to graduate): 3 players

6'4" SG CJ Fredrick (***); in early Nov, 2018, was decided CJ would redshirt the 2018-2019 season

6'6" SF Patrick McCaffery (****)

5'10" PG Joe Toussaint (***)


2022 (when scheduled to graduate): 3 players

6'5" SG Joe Wieskamp (****)

6'5" SG Connor McCaffery (****; announced on Apr 28, 2017 that he will play baseball in the Spring of 2018 and redshirt in basketball in the fall of 2017; ended up, however, playing in 4 games in Dec 2017 as a true freshman, mostly because of the Christian Williams departure; however, after missing two games due to a sprained ankle, eight contests due to mononucleosis, and 19 games after undergoing a tonsillectomy in December, 2017, he was granted a hardship waiver on March 26, 2018, where he will have 4 years of basketball eligibility remaining; on April 11, 2018, Connor was put on scholarship).

6'9" F Jack Nunge (***); in early Nov, 2018, was decided Jack would redshirt the 2018-2019 season


2021 (when scheduled to graduate): 2 players

6'10" C Luke Garza (****)

6'8" SF Cordell Pemsl (***); had surgery on his knee Dec 18, 2018, which caused him to miss the remainder of the 2018-2019 season; was scheduled to graduate in 2020; since he played in just two games in the 2018-2019 season (logging a total of just 31 minutes), he will be granted a medical redshirt for an additional year.


2020 (when scheduled to graduate): 2 players

6'9" PF Ryan Kriener (***)

6'0" PG Jordan Bohannon (***)


Notable Walk on players:

2021 (when scheduled to graduate): 2 players

6'6" Riley Till (redshirted in 2016-2017)

6'2" Guard Austin Ash



Previous Graduating Classes and Early Departures:

2019: 4 players

6'7" SF Nicholas Baer graduated (was a preferred walk-on his 2014-15 red shirt year and for the 2015-16 season; put on scholarship in March 2016)

6'6" G Maishe Dailey (***); on March 28, 2019, it was announced that Maishe would be transferring; he would have been part of the 2020 graduating class. Maishe was the last player to join the Iowa basketball team's 2016 recruiting class and the guard from Ohio was the first to leave. Dailey had originally committed to Rutgers but signed with Iowa in May 2016 after a coaching change with the Scarlet Knights. He opted not to redshirt as a Hawkeye freshman. On April 15, 2019, it was announced that Dailey would transfer to Akron for his senior season after sitting the 2019-2020 season.

6'8" PF Tyler Cook (****); on April 4, 2019, it was reported that Tyler would be leaving Iowa to pursue his professional ambitions and to enter the NBA Draft. Tyler tested the NBA Draft process the previous season before returning to Iowa for his junior year. Would have been part of the 2020 graduating class.

6'5" SF Isaiah Moss (***; was redshirted in 2015-16). On May 2, 2019, he announced that he is transferring. Would have been part of the 2020 graduating class.


2018: 3 players

6'8" SF Dominique Uhl (***) graduated

6'4" SG Brady Ellingson (***; was redshirted in 2014-15 season) was scheduled to run out of eligibly at Iowa in 2019 but decided in March 2018 to transfer and play his final season elsewhere (ended up at Drake)

6'7" SF Ahmad Wagner (***) was scheduled to graduate in 2019 but in March 2018 he announced he was leaving basketball in order to give football a try. He ended up at Kentucky.


2017: 3 players

6'6" SG Peter Jok

6'8" PF Dale Jones (graduated; due to injury, was granted a 6th year of eligibility but that additional year would not be at Iowa; in Apr 2017 Jones committed to the University of North Dakota)

6'6" combo guard Christian Williams (***; was originally scheduled to graduate in 2019; on Thurs Oct 26, 2017, Williams asked for and was granted a release from his scholarship; Williams finished out his academic requirements for the fall 2017 semester before transferring to Indiana State)


2016: 6 players

PG Anthony Clemmons

PG Mike Gesell

C Adam Woodbury

SF Jarrod Uthoff

**Two players granted release in March 2016**

6'6" SG Andrew Fleming (***, was set to graduate in 2019)

6'6" SF Brandon Hutton (***; was redshirted in 2015-16; was set to graduate in 2020)


2015: 5 players

SG Josh Ogelsby

PF Aaron White

C Gabe Olaseni

SG Kyle Denning

PG Trey Dickerson quit/left the team on Feb 23, 2015


2014 (Fran's first recruiting class): 5 players

PF Melsahn Basabe

SG Devyn Marble

PF Zach McCabe

SF Darius Stokes (graduated & transferred)

C Kyle Meyer (granted release & transferred; he redshirted his 2012 freshman season and therefore would have been set to graduate in 2017)


2013: 1 player

PG Patrick Ingram (would have been part of the 2016 graduation class; transferred in March 2013, after just one season at Iowa)


2012: 1 player

PG Bryce Cartwright (signed Letter of Intent on June 9, 2010). Bryce was the second recruit for McCaffery at Iowa (Melsahn Basabe, who initially signed with Siena, was Fran's first recruit; Basabe announced he was a Hawkeye on May 1, 2010). Cartwright joined already signed Iowa recruits Devyn Marble, Zach McCabe and Melsahn Basabe on the 2010-2011 roster.

 

[amahawk]

C-

 

[Suterman]

Yeah...probably a C at this point. I would have given him a solid B or higher when we were ranked 3rd in the country and playing lights out. This years team will be much improved, I believe. The 2020 class will either put Fran in the B category or he will bottom out and need to be replaced.

 

[dawgs_04]

The perception of Fran's recruiting will boil down to one thing: Wins in the next two seasons. If they win, nobody will give a hoot. If they suck it will be two things that will be his downfall 1) Never found a true point after Gesell. Roster design has been atrocious the past few years. 2) How do his sons turn out (this is a perception thing that is going to get ugly if they struggle)

Cook and Garza have both been living up to the ranking. Hopefully that trend continues with Joe.

 

[hawkboy76]

I would probably give Fran an A for his first three classes. Working in the aftermath of the destruction of the Lick era, he pulled in two solid recruits of his own in 2010 (Basabe and Cartright) and also re-recruited McCabe and Marble. The 2011 class was quite good as well with Oleseni, White, and Oglseby. And the 2012 class provided the core of the team which reached the NCAA tournament three straight years (Gessel, Woody, Clemmons).

After that, recruiting took a dive. Poor roster management led to only having one ride in 2013 (which went to Jok). The 2014 class was not good (Dickerson, Uhl, and Ellingson). The 2015 class has been an dumpster fire (Jones, Williams, Moss, Wagner, Fleming, Hutton).

It looks like there has been an uptick the past few years, but missing on Carton after last season's debacle really hurt. Fran has not done well thus far in the 2019 class (outside of his son).

Long story short, I'd probably give him a C overall.

 

[Jersey2]

A+...I hope he’s at IA for a very,very, very long time.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

C / C+

 

[djhoops515]

C and that is solid. TBH neither of his kids are really B1G material but they work hard. Fran securing Weiskamp is huge and showed by keeping him committed for such a long time losses and all. Need to do a better job finding those players that go to Mid majors over us and try and make an impact. Hate seeing ISU, mid major players and schools dominating while we struggle.

 

[mill1634]

I would say B-/B...Cook was a nice get. Secured Woody early on, as well as Mike G. Uthoff was nice find on the transfer market as well. Too bad he can never get a top level guard. White was a very nice gem found too. Could be better, but could be a lot worse.

 

[tumorboy]

C-/D+

 

[Radar3454]

B-

 

[kcgolfer]

C- is about right. In game coaching gets a D-.

 

[brokenarrow73]

I would give him a C-. Why?
* Too many misses on PG (Ulis; Carton)
* Too many misses/transfers overall.
* Too many unbalanced classes where we have 1 departure one year and 5 or 6 departures the next.


In Men's basketball, you can have 13 on scholarship.

Here is a summary of the McCaffery era recruits (March 2010 through today). Note that I list the years when they graduated, transferred or will graduate.


Graduating Class : Players

Future Graduating Classes:


2023: 1 player

6'6" SF Patrick McCaffery (****)


Current Roster (12 currently on scholarship; 1 scholarship available):

2022: 3 players

6'5" SG Joe Wieskamp (****)
6'4" SG CJ Fredrick (***)
6'5" SG Connor McCaffery (****; announced on Apr 28, 2017 that he will play baseball in the Spring of 2018 and redshirt in basketball in the fall of 2017; ended up, however, playing in 4 games in Dec 2017 as a true freshman, mostly because of the Christian Williams departure; however, after missing two games due to a sprained ankle, eight contests due to mononucleosis, and 19 games after undergoing a tonsillectomy in December, 2017, he was granted a hardship waiver on March 26, 2018, where he will have 4 years of basketball eligibility remaining; on April 11, 2018, Connor was put on scholarship).


2021: 2 players

6'10" C Luke Garza (****)
6'9" F Jack Nunge (***)


2020: 6 players

6'8" PF Tyler Cook (****)
6'8" SF Cordell Pemsl (***)
6'9" PF Ryan Kriener (***)
6'0" PG Jordan Bohannon (***)
6'5" SF Isaiah Moss (***; was redshirted in 2015-16)
6'6" G Maishe Dailey (***)

2019: 1 player

6'7" SF Nick Baer (was a preferred walk-on his 2014-15 red shirt year and for the 2015-16 season; put on scholarship in March 2016)


Notable Walk on players:

2021: 2 players

6'6" Riley Till (redshirted in 2016-2017)
6'2" Guard Austiin Ash


Previous graduating classes and early departures:

2018: 3 players

6'8" SF Dominique Uhl (***) graduated
6'4" SG Brady Ellingson (***; was redshirted in 2014-15 season) was scheduled to run out of eligibly at Iowa in 2019 but decided in March 2018 to transfer and play his final season elsewhere (ended up at Drake)
6'7" SF Ahmad Wagner (***) was scheduled to graduate in 2019 but in March 2018 he announced he was leaving basketball in order to give football a try. He ended up at Kentucky.

2017: 3 players

6'6" SG Peter Jok
6'8" PF Dale Jones (graduated; due to injury, was granted a 6th year of eligibility but that additional year would not be at Iowa; in Apr 2017 Jones committed to the University of North Dakota)
6'6" combo guard Christian Williams (***; was originally scheduled to graduate in 2019; on Thurs Oct 26, 2017, Williams asked for and was granted a release from his scholarship; Williams finished out his academic requirements for the fall 2017 semester before transferring to Indiana State)

2016: 6 players

PG Anthony Clemmons
PG Mike Gesell
C Adam Woodbury
SF Jarrod Uthoff

**Two players granted release in March 2016**

6'6" SG Andrew Fleming (***, was set to graduate in 2019)
6'6" SF Brandon Hutton (***; was redshirted in 2015-16; was set to graduate in 2020)

2015: 5 players

SG Josh Ogelsby
PF Aaron White
C Gabe Olaseni
SG Kyle Denning
PG Trey Dickerson quit/left the team on Feb 23, 2015

2014 (Fran's first recruiting class): 5 players

PF Melsahn Basabe
SG Devyn Marble
PF Zach McCabe
SF Darius Stokes (graduated & transferred)
C Kyle Meyer (granted release & transferred; he redshirted his 2012 freshman season and therefore would have been set to graduate in 2017)

2013: 1 player

PG Patrick Ingram (would have been part of the 2016 graduation class; transferred in March 2013, after just one season at Iowa)

2012: 1 player

PG Bryce Cartwright (signed Letter of Intent on June 9, 2010). Bryce was the second recruit for McCaffery at Iowa (Melsahn Basabe, who initially signed with Siena, was Fran's first recruit; Basabe announced he was a Hawkeye on May 1, 2010). Cartwright joined already signed Iowa recruits Devyn Marble, Zach McCabe and Melsahn Basabe on the 2010-2011 roster.

you can probably write the same exact thing about 95% of the programs out there nobody gets everybody they ask for nobody gets all their top recruits unless maybe your Kentucky or North Carolina or Duke would even those guys miss so I'd quit whining about it and enjoy what you have

 

[SDHawkDoc]

C-

Best PG recruit was an average player. Roster management way off past couple of seasons.

I'd say AW is his best recruit; turned out to be really solid player and put the team on his back at the end of his final season after being basically a mid major player out of high school.

 

[ZumaHawk]

C-

Best PG recruit was an average player. Roster management way off past couple of seasons.

I'd say AW is his best recruit; turned out to be really solid player and put the team on his back at the end of his final season after being basically a mid major player out of high school.

Not trying to be argumentative at all but didn’t North Carolina offer as well? If so, not necessarily mid major.....AW played his heart out and I agree he was a very good recruit!

 

[perryhawk]

B.....he had the one bad class in 8 years and had a bad year last year that I think negatively colors people’s perception of everything.

I read/saw somewhere that our roster this year and next will be as talented as we’ve had in several years...B

 

[Legend12]

B.....he had the one bad class in 8 years and had a bad year last year that I think negatively colors people’s perception of everything.

I read/saw somewhere that our roster this year and next will be as talented as we’ve had in several years...B

One bad class? Which of 2014 or 2015 do you consider not bad?

 

[RocknRollface]

Dont give a rat's ass about Ulis.

Fran blew it when he waited far too long to offer Wes Washpun, who wanted badly to come to Iowa and choose to pass on offering Monte Morris despite the Marble connection.

Those are two guys he could have had if he played his cards right.

Those were mistakes that could have totally changed the course of the program, and changed it into the type of place a DJ Carton wants to go.

 

[deanhawk88]

2010 65/12
2011 57/9
2012 39/7
2013 79/13
2014 77/11
2015 138/14
2016 31/6
2017 71/10

This is Fran's composite rank national/B1Gin his 1st 8 years, an average #68.4 nationally and #10.3 in B1G. Skimming thru those years, you'll see that 10th in B1G is generous. 2010, Minnesota had no recruits, 3 others with one vs 4 for Iowa. 2011, the Suns Alex Len of Maryland and 2 others didn't get included in team score, etc,etc. A solid 11th out of 14 is likely more accurate, if not still generous. Is this average?

His top 2 recruits, Woody and Joe, were Hawk fans...Thank God! You think either would have picked Iowa if not? There were no blue bloods after his 5th best Gesell, Penn St/Neb are the only ones I can think of off hand. 3rd and 7th are his sons. 4 & 6, Cook(72nd in his class) and Garza (118th) were his 2 true recruiting victories against big programs with no advantage coming in, in 9 years.

It's a D+ at best.
I wouldn't give him anything higher than a C+ on anything except maybe a B+ on the not cheating thing I suppose. What bad things happen to teams that cheat again???

 

[LGEND24]

A+...I hope he’s at IA for a very,very, very long time.

Tom Izzo, is that you?

 

[LGEND24]

Not trying to be argumentative at all but didn’t North Carolina offer as well? If so, not necessarily mid major.....AW played his heart out and I agree he was a very good recruit!

I think he means Aaron White, not Woodbury.

 

[hawkeyeguy69]

I am going to go with a B. I really like the guys we have. Both as players and individuals... They are upstanding young men. Overall I would say tops in the B1G. That means something to me. We are just short a player or two to round out the roster.

If Fran lands one of the higher level PGs in the past, this program would be riding high. IMHO. And had he done so, we win more. Which would have drawn more of those PGs and others. I believe that DJ would have been a Hawk, had this been the case...

Fran needs to bring in some really good wings and combo guards and/or that killer PG in 2020+. And 2019. There are still plenty of good players left.

The key to 2020 is this season We need to win big. Top 5 of the B1G. And at least a 2nd round NCAA game. If Fran does that, we should ride a good wave. Anything short of the NCAA, and it will be a struggle.

I would give him a C-. Why?
* Too many misses on PG (Ulis; Carton)
* Too many misses/transfers overall.
* Too many unbalanced classes where we have 1 departure one year and 5 or 6 departures the next.


In Men's basketball, you can have 13 on scholarship.

Here is a summary of the McCaffery era recruits (March 2010 through today). Note that I list the years when they graduated, transferred or will graduate.


Graduating Class : Players

Future Graduating Classes:


2023: 1 player

6'6" SF Patrick McCaffery (****)


Current Roster (12 currently on scholarship; 1 scholarship available):

2022: 3 players

6'5" SG Joe Wieskamp (****)
6'4" SG CJ Fredrick (***)
6'5" SG Connor McCaffery (****; announced on Apr 28, 2017 that he will play baseball in the Spring of 2018 and redshirt in basketball in the fall of 2017; ended up, however, playing in 4 games in Dec 2017 as a true freshman, mostly because of the Christian Williams departure; however, after missing two games due to a sprained ankle, eight contests due to mononucleosis, and 19 games after undergoing a tonsillectomy in December, 2017, he was granted a hardship waiver on March 26, 2018, where he will have 4 years of basketball eligibility remaining; on April 11, 2018, Connor was put on scholarship).


2021: 2 players

6'10" C Luke Garza (****)
6'9" F Jack Nunge (***)


2020: 6 players

6'8" PF Tyler Cook (****)
6'8" SF Cordell Pemsl (***)
6'9" PF Ryan Kriener (***)
6'0" PG Jordan Bohannon (***)
6'5" SF Isaiah Moss (***; was redshirted in 2015-16)
6'6" G Maishe Dailey (***)

2019: 1 player

6'7" SF Nick Baer (was a preferred walk-on his 2014-15 red shirt year and for the 2015-16 season; put on scholarship in March 2016)


Notable Walk on players:

2021: 2 players

6'6" Riley Till (redshirted in 2016-2017)
6'2" Guard Austiin Ash


Previous graduating classes and early departures:

2018: 3 players

6'8" SF Dominique Uhl (***) graduated
6'4" SG Brady Ellingson (***; was redshirted in 2014-15 season) was scheduled to run out of eligibly at Iowa in 2019 but decided in March 2018 to transfer and play his final season elsewhere (ended up at Drake)
6'7" SF Ahmad Wagner (***) was scheduled to graduate in 2019 but in March 2018 he announced he was leaving basketball in order to give football a try. He ended up at Kentucky.

2017: 3 players

6'6" SG Peter Jok
6'8" PF Dale Jones (graduated; due to injury, was granted a 6th year of eligibility but that additional year would not be at Iowa; in Apr 2017 Jones committed to the University of North Dakota)
6'6" combo guard Christian Williams (***; was originally scheduled to graduate in 2019; on Thurs Oct 26, 2017, Williams asked for and was granted a release from his scholarship; Williams finished out his academic requirements for the fall 2017 semester before transferring to Indiana State)

2016: 6 players

PG Anthony Clemmons
PG Mike Gesell
C Adam Woodbury
SF Jarrod Uthoff

**Two players granted release in March 2016**

6'6" SG Andrew Fleming (***, was set to graduate in 2019)
6'6" SF Brandon Hutton (***; was redshirted in 2015-16; was set to graduate in 2020)

2015: 5 players

SG Josh Ogelsby
PF Aaron White
C Gabe Olaseni
SG Kyle Denning
PG Trey Dickerson quit/left the team on Feb 23, 2015

2014 (Fran's first recruiting class): 5 players

PF Melsahn Basabe
SG Devyn Marble
PF Zach McCabe
SF Darius Stokes (graduated & transferred)
C Kyle Meyer (granted release & transferred; he redshirted his 2012 freshman season and therefore would have been set to graduate in 2017)

2013: 1 player

PG Patrick Ingram (would have been part of the 2016 graduation class; transferred in March 2013, after just one season at Iowa)

2012: 1 player

PG Bryce Cartwright (signed Letter of Intent on June 9, 2010). Bryce was the second recruit for McCaffery at Iowa (Melsahn Basabe, who initially signed with Siena, was Fran's first recruit; Basabe announced he was a Hawkeye on May 1, 2010). Cartwright joined already signed Iowa recruits Devyn Marble, Zach McCabe and Melsahn Basabe on the 2010-2011 roster.

 

[Raptorpeeps]

2010 65/12
2011 57/9
2012 39/7
2013 79/13
2014 77/11
2015 138/14
2016 31/6
2017 71/10

This is Fran's composite rank national/B1Gin his 1st 8 years, an average #68.4 nationally and #10.3 in B1G. Skimming thru those years, you'll see that 10th in B1G is generous. 2010, Minnesota had no recruits, 3 others with one vs 4 for Iowa. 2011, the Suns Alex Len of Maryland and 2 others didn't get included in team score, etc,etc. A solid 11th out of 14 is likely more accurate, if not still generous. Is this average?

His top 2 recruits, Woody and Joe, were Hawk fans...Thank God! You think either would have picked Iowa if not? There were no blue bloods after his 5th best Gesell, Penn St/Neb are the only ones I can think of off hand. 3rd and 7th are his sons. 4 & 6, Cook(72nd in his class) and Garza (118th) were his 2 true recruiting victories against big programs with no advantage coming in, in 9 years.

It's a D+ at best.
I wouldn't give him anything higher than a C+ on anything except maybe a B+ on the not cheating thing I suppose. What bad things happen to teams that cheat again???

^^^^THIS^^^^

If you can consistently make that top 40 national composite rank, you’ll be consistently fielding a nationally competitive team.

If Fran had even once in eight years stacked two top 40 classes up, I’d consider him a lot better recruiter than I do. We have some legit, experienced talent this year and I expect us to be much improved but the truth is we’re an injury away from another disaster.

Giving 2 rides away to your own sons is a unique issue which I think will also turn out to be a significant net negative for the program.

B at Rutgers.

C+ at Iowa, Penn State, and Nebraska.

C at Northwestern and Minnesota.

At MSU, IU, OSU, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland, Purdue or Wisconsin, he would have already been fired.

 

[ZumaHawk]

I think he means Aaron White, not Woodbury.

Oh crap! My bad then!

 

[iowalawhawk]

During the Lickliter era, it was a major coup to land a player with another major conference offer. Fran changed that.

He has been hit and miss with instate kids - landing Woodbury, Oglesby (he was top 150 and had other Big 10 offers) and Weiskamp, but missing out on Paige and Carton.

Too often, he puts all of his eggs in one basket, only to miss out and not have a good backup plan.

He's landed two ranked out of state kids in his entire time here (plus Gesell). That's nice, but over 8 or 9 recruiting classes that number should be higher.

His roster construction is poor. He is bad at balancing the classes. His player evaluation skills are poor (White was great, many, many others shouldn't have been here to begin with).

I'd say C.

 

[jasonrann]

C, but could be up to a B after the next two seasons.

 

[CyberJJ]

I think Fran has landed talent. The following is likely over simplified, but is my summary of the most common complaints I seem to read on this board. Which of the following most give Iowa fans concern?

1) Not landing highest profile PG recruits(ex. Ulis, Carton).
2) Too much focus on high profile PG recruits, with back up plan seeming to be plan C or D rather than B.
3) Lack of overall roster balance
4) Over emphasis on height at the expense of athleticism, especially on the wing

 

[Rustys Dad]

As soon as I read the headline/question the first grade popping into my head was "C-"

 

[Stormn Norman]

I gotta give Fran a C and that’s being nice.. when he misses he misses bad then doesn’t have a back up plan or the ability to go out and sell Iowa to other players after the miss.. His highest ranked recruits besides his sons & Cook were going to come to Iowa no matter who the coach was(Joe W. & Adam Woodbury) and Peter Jok defaulted to the Hawks and what a blessing it was that JU hated Wisconsin... His efforts to find another Aaron White and Devin Marble haven’t gone to great. I hope he proves me wrong and lands a pg this year after his first option turned him down.. I really think a true pg is the missing formula..

 

[SDHawkDoc]

I think he means Aaron White, not Woodbury.

Yes. Thanks. Shouldn't have used the initials.
I would definitely not consider Woodbury his best recruiting success.

 

[Title07]

I don't mind Fran as a coach and I am in no way ready for a change. The talent as a whole on the roster has improved tremendously since he came to Iowa. I do think that his PG recruiting has to change. He focuses on one player, and when that player turns us down, it is too late.

I coach a competitive youth softball team and just completed tryouts. Our mentality through this process was 'let's not miss out on a good player who can help us waiting on the great one. We will be left with nothing'. I think this is what happens to us with our PG recruiting. A simple shift in philosophy, think how the football team operates, will do the trick. Identify the players you feel can help. Tier them if needed. Put out your offers, and first to commit gets the scholarship. I would imagine this would help us land a PG that can help take us to the next level.

 

[icwesthawk]

To me it's a solid B for Fran. He missed on pg and shooting guard bigtime. But his ability to get Woody, White, Olesani, Uthoff, Garza and Cook, has be an A grade. The problem is coaching in my opinion, not recruiting. Fran has to get much better with rotations, getting defense better and limiting the bench's playing time.

 

[StormHawk42]

C+ probably. Had some big splashes early on, Cook and Garza would good gets. The 2014 and 2015 classes were disastrous. I’m still baffled by the PG misses and it makes me think he shoots too high. Any time I see a good mid-major playing in the NCAA tourney, they almost always have a water bug PG, who likely had no P5 offers. And I think to myself “why can’t we have just one of those guys?” Doesn’t need to be an elite PG even. But someone who has speed, ball handling, and defensive skills.

 

[MikeT2425]

Recruiting: B. Given how mediocre we've been, hard to attract stars. Coaching: D-. Can we play as a team, hustle, play defense and develop recruits resulting in W's? Eight years says unlikely, but still hope so.

 

[Run&Blade]

C

With be money and resources Iowa gas that should give you 8 years.

Barta is to blame. Fran is what he is. After this long it isn’t all of a sudden going to “take off”.

 

[hawkeyeguy69]

You are right, he aims too high. Not that there is anything wrong with that, Fran just needs to take more PGs that can play more than the one position... And take more of them, more frequently.

I think he could have Tyrrel Terry had he stuck to him. But you cannot blame him for going for DJ.

Fran needs to identify good PGs and offer one every year. Someone who could play PG, but that player is perfectly fine playing the off guard... We could go with more 3 guard rotations. Burn teams with your guard play, then bring in the bigs and pound them in the middle... With every 2nd or 3rd year or so go for the top dawg.

I believe that Fran has known his errors of late. But not until after it was too late. I think he thought Christian & Brady would really work out. But CW didn't pan out. Nor Brady. He knew he needed another guard, but how could you pass up on Nunge?!? You can't...

I still think that we bring in at least one guard/swing player for 2019. Probably two. Hopefully one is a PG... Then shoot for the stars in a 2020 PG.

Go Hawks!

C+ probably. Had some big splashes early on, Cook and Garza would good gets. The 2014 and 2015 classes were disastrous. I’m still baffled by the PG misses and it makes me think he shoots too high. Any time I see a good mid-major playing in the NCAA tourney, they almost always have a water bug PG, who likely had no P5 offers. And I think to myself “why can’t we have just one of those guys?” Doesn’t need to be an elite PG even. But someone who has speed, ball handling, and defensive skills.

 

[EastIowaHawk]

Recruiting- B, considering how difficult it is to attract top out-of-state talent to a school with a so-so basketball tradition. Coaching- C. Could there possibly be a more clunky offense and lackluster defense than Iowa played last year? And it's certainly not all the players' fault, with a couple being played out of position..

 

[IllQChawk]

B
It would be higher if he utilized more junior college players or grad transfers to fill positions of need. His unbalanced classes seem odd and as a former point guard in his playing days, he has a difficult time recruiting point guards that could have changed the past or present win/loss dynamics. He is getting more talented front line players and overall his recruiting seems to be expanding beyond the mid-west region, but in my opinion, his stubbornness in keeping his aging staff together is hampering he recruiting. Not at all impressed with Kirk Speraw, Sherman Dillard, and as a up and coming recruiter Andrew Francis has been a disappointment in his ability to recruit the fertile east coast.
And since this is only about Fran's recruiting I'll save my opinion of his in-game coaching. Peace

 

[David1979]

C-

 

[Ollie4ISU]

C- overall

Centers = C (this can go up depending on Garza's development)
PF = B+/A-
SF = C-
SG = B (Marble and Jok both were very good)
PG = D (there is never more than one decent player at a time)
Roster management = D-

I think Fran has a knack for finding power forwards and to a lesser extent shooting guards. His roster management is really poor. It always seems there are four-five guys that can play the PF spot and every other spot manned by no more than two guys that are serviceable to average. Minutes become an issue for the PF guys so no one can get and stay in a groove, other spots have to play every minute.