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 …
ANY hire would be energizing. Even if it was a WTF.
Wait. I need to walk that back a bit. If a new hire comes off like lickliter in his first public appearance then any enthusiasm would plummet.
Wait. I need to walk that back a bit. If a new hire comes off like lickliter in his first public appearance then any enthusiasm would plummet.
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 has run its course.
Devries, McCollum, Jans........all good options IMO.
Devries, McCollum, Jans........all good options IMO.
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Correct. I vividly remember seeing CHA as empty as I'd ever seen it even in the early parts of Lick's first year. Just the upper sections completely empty. I'll never forget it.
If the next coach appears to be a home run hire, I think it would draw definite interest. But things could tail off again quickly if the results don't come reasonably quickly. All my opinion of course.
Any under 60 coach with enthusiasm.
I'd rather go younger that 50. Just cause we've had old coaches for so long in our major programs
I'd rather go younger that 50. Just cause we've had old coaches for so long in our major programs
Agree to some extent but would be happy with an intense want to win a championship culture that coaches all aspects of the game regardless of age.
Having a few Iowa kids on the roster is nice..not something to build a Sweet16 team around. If the next coach is goint
to incorporate an Iowa guy like a Payton, he's going to have to slow down the pace and you can't have 2 or 3 other guys just like
him in starting lineup.
All it takes is winning to get fans in the seats. There are lots of things FRan could have gotten done in marketing, getting students involved, remodeling Carver. I think a young, hungry guy would have gotten program in better shape. Fran was more worried about
playing his boys and not recruiting anyone that would compete with them for Playing time then he was about winning when he had the
Murrays and Garza and Weezy.. Devries kid was proven commodity, so sure it would have been nice to get him with the coach, but I'm done with Nepotism after Football and Basketball.
to incorporate an Iowa guy like a Payton, he's going to have to slow down the pace and you can't have 2 or 3 other guys just like
him in starting lineup.
All it takes is winning to get fans in the seats. There are lots of things FRan could have gotten done in marketing, getting students involved, remodeling Carver. I think a young, hungry guy would have gotten program in better shape. Fran was more worried about
playing his boys and not recruiting anyone that would compete with them for Playing time then he was about winning when he had the
Murrays and Garza and Weezy.. Devries kid was proven commodity, so sure it would have been nice to get him with the coach, but I'm done with Nepotism after Football and Basketball.
Replacing Fran will do the same thing for the fan base that replacing Brian Ferentz did. There would be universal enthusiasm just based on the guy leaving, and it would hard for the next guy to make things worse than they currently are.
I don’t recall. Was lick really awkward/dull at his intro presser?
His entire era is like a black hole. The only thing I remember is them beating a decent sparty squad like 42-38.
I was hoping for DeVries for a couple years but that ship sailed. He's got a better gig at West Virginia and between Fran's buyout and the $$$$ it'd take to get him out of WV he's off the table IMO.
My memory might be clouded by the history of those dark years, but my recollection is that he was about as exciting as a bowl of cold oatmeal right out of the gate.
As much as I dislike showmanship over substance, the next hire is going to need some to get a good start.
An increase in attendance would pay for a lot of this
Avg paid attendance is 8,866 for all games, conference games is at 8,616. Get a new coach that fans are behind and get attendance up to 12-13k would bring in a lot of revenue
I met him at a meet and greet at the first football game that Fall, and his handshake was like a limp fish. I remember thinking Iowa BBall might be in trouble with him, not an alpha.
I agree but I don't think we're going to commit $15M+ to get DeVries. That's just buying out Fran and I'm just spit balling on the amount it'd take to snatch him away from WV. Fran is apparently $6M and I gotta think we'd be on the hook for much more than that to get DeVries. Should have snagged him from Drake.
Ryan Odom would be a good hire. Getting an already established high-major D1 coach should be the goal, i.e. Chris Jans, Buzz Williams, Porter Moser. But it feels like Iowa will have to dip into up-and-coming mid-major guys like Ben McCollum, Bucky McMillan, Alan Huss, Josh Schertz etc. and gamble for a home run.
Iowa kids as a small part is the key here. The amount of Iowa born players/players that live on the border in Fran's time has been 7,9,8,8,7,8,7,7,9,10,8,7,6,5or7, and 8. Davis in the 90s went 4,4,4,2,3,4,5,8,7 and it seemed like he was heavy on Iowa players at the time. Are there 5 Iowa born players in this century that have been on a final four team? Yet we are loaded with them every year. Now I realize that each of these players aren't getting heavy minutes but it still plays a part.
