DeVries & McCollum are the two that I immediately think of that would move the needle. Anyone else strikes me as a wait and see candidate.
What hire could energize the fan base?
- Thread starter HawkeyeGenius
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Zero chance it is DeVries (though I would take him)….that ship sailed last year.
McCollum…..I would not be unhappy with him.
Excellent options. Others would be anybody not on the current staff and anybody not named Lickliter. Other than that, I would be pretty excited to move on from this loop of mediocrity and worse. That's probably just me . . .
Devries, yes.
McCollum I need to know more about. It strikes me as a situation where a guy just took over a program that was left in good shape by Devries. Doesn't mean he'd be a failure, but I'm thinking about Keno Davis taking over what Dr. Tom left him at Drake, and had success that one year. Or Dr. Tom taking over with Lute & Raveling recruits and winning 30 games. What will happen when they have to build their own program, or maintain what was left for them?
A quick look, and it looks like Ben M. had big success at the DII level (4 natties). So there's that.
McCollum I need to know more about. It strikes me as a situation where a guy just took over a program that was left in good shape by Devries. Doesn't mean he'd be a failure, but I'm thinking about Keno Davis taking over what Dr. Tom left him at Drake, and had success that one year. Or Dr. Tom taking over with Lute & Raveling recruits and winning 30 games. What will happen when they have to build their own program, or maintain what was left for them?
A quick look, and it looks like Ben M. had big success at the DII level (4 natties). So there's that.
I don't think Devries left mccollum much. Mccollum brought some d2 guys up to d1 and got them up to speed.
Mississippi State's Chris Jans, who is #14 in the nation right now, is an Iowa native.
Good to know. I don't follow Drake very closely, admittedly.
Might be a harder sell due to getting fired for getting all Urban Meyer-y while (coincidentally) at Bowling Green. I personally don't care, but there is baggage there.
at this point I don't think it would take much
any coach that has had some D1 success would be an upgrade
any coach that has had some D1 success would be an upgrade
Bruce Pearl. Any chance of getting him? Probably not. But Carver would be sold out in a few minutes.
Beth will not make a hire based on fan base opinion.
McCollum at Drake---is he doing that with his own guys or mostly DeVries guys? I want a defensive 1st coach that can recruit
and rely on Iowa kids as a small part of the mix. Whoever comes in should be able to bring 4-5 guys from where he came from that are better than what we have on roster right now. And btw, if we don't get that revenue sharing NIL money finalized, we're DOA.
and rely on Iowa kids as a small part of the mix. Whoever comes in should be able to bring 4-5 guys from where he came from that are better than what we have on roster right now. And btw, if we don't get that revenue sharing NIL money finalized, we're DOA.
I'm leaning towards someone that the players will fear disappointing...
I'd be bey
I'd be beyond pumped for this, but yeah, I think that ship probably sailed 20 years ago. Maybe we'd have had a good shot at him if we'd canned Alford and gone after Pearl while he was still at Milwaukee. I seem to remember hearing something about Iowa reaching out to him after Alford bolted, and Pearl was at TN at the time, and it was pretty much "Thanks, but I'm happy where I'm at" or something like that.
He only has one holdover from DeVries and he’s just a spot minute guy. He brought 4 of his NWMS guys with him but only one will be eligible next year (although that one, Stirtz, would be our best player right now).
The rest of his guys are transfers that he recruited in high school or freshmen that would have gone to NWMS.
There’s two sides of this coin with McCollum.
The unknown side is whether he can recruit/use transfers at a D1, let alone B1G, level. This year, he has a team full of grad seniors that have been playing together for a long time and it shows. What does that look like after the seniors are gone? Which leads to the other side of the coin…
He can flat out coach. The championships speak for themselves. They play at an extremely slow pace so idk if the fans would love that or not since it would probably give Lick vibes. They’re also incredibly efficient and pretty much only take layups or 3’s - no 15 ft jumpers. But they play hair on fire defense and rebound extremely well for being so undersized.
It’d be a gamble but I’ve certainly been impressed this year. It’s pretty astounding that a group of D2 guys is suffocating as many teams as they are. It’s unlikely Drake is going to be able to keep him very long if he puts together a couple 25 win seasons.
I'm not sure any hire on its own can energize the fanbase. For sure, there will be renewed interest in the program with a new coach (ahem, DeVries), but I also think there will be a fair amount of wait and see from the fans. Fans will want to know how it will be different, and then will want to see that difference on the court. But, it can turn in short order if promises are delivered. The current situation is unraveling. If things don't turn around soon, Beth will have her first major decision to make (hiring Jan wasn't that tough, first, Lisa retired, so there was no decision on whether to retain the head coach, and second, it's too soon to know if it was the right hire, but, overall, it wasn't a difficult hire). Who knows, maybe it's already been made.
Interesting - we look to Drake for our next coach? WVA is a decent program … once Fran is gone the job may be enticing to a few based on the conference and limited expectations…. We’ve paid Fran millions for mediocrity and a .510 B10 winning percentage and ZERO Sweet 16s …
I'd like it to be an Iowan because it needs to be built like the football program and what Iowans pride themselves on -toughness/defense. The current model of "we'll win games by not boxing out so we can run down to the other end before they do" spineless garbage.
Devries, McCollum, Jans........all good options IMO.
Devries, McCollum, Jans........all good options IMO.
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