He's staying. With 2 4 🌟 recruits coming that tells me Beth has already started handing out the revenue sharing money for next season.
What if Fran is retained?
- Thread starter 83Hawk
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Yes, couple a new coach with a new fan experience and it would be fun to watch even if the are sub 500. Turn that dark and dismal cavern of an arena into something with some energy.
And if I am a young recruit who committed to Fran and a new younger energetic coach comes in, why would i change my commitment? It would seem a recruit would at least give it a year to see how it goes.
Go on. I’d love to hear your reasoning. Is it because she fired one of the worst coaches in the country that would surely still be here if her predecessor were still in charge?
It’s amazing how many different ways the same topic is discussed on this board!😊
The question was:
What if Fran is retained?
The answer was: I will think BG is a bad AD.Sorry to confuse you.
It could go either way, but Iowa won't win more than one BTT game. IF they can manage to beat Ohio State, Illinois is next, and no matter what, the Hawkeyes won't win that one. I don't see any games in any other tournament this season.
Meanwhile, Drake, MVC regular season and Tourney champs at 30-3 are headed for the NCAA tournament, and Ben McCollom is almost certainly headed to a major program: Indiana? Iowa? Who knows . . . but I'd be surprised if Ben's stay in Des Moines lasts longer than this season. I mean he won what, five D-2 national titles and then brings a bunch of his D-2 roster with him to Drake and wins THIRTY games!
I think the evidence is clear: the guy can coach.
Why Iowa would retain Fran after 15 years of okay but nothing special, with attendance down, with apathy way up, is beyond me. We'll soon see if Beth is a real AD or just another figurehead who works for the coaches instead of the other way around.
Uh, I think we've already seen that movie about 15 times. Maybe it's time to change the channel, subscribe to a new streaming service, or buy a new device. No other school that cares about winning, and enthusiasm, and attendance would retain Fran. Been there, done that, over and over and over and over and . . .Fran will be back. Excitement building with new recruits. The pre Big10 games fans will show up and cheer. If the Hawks lay eggs, then the apathy will start up again & Fran's seat will be hotter than hot & if he misses the NCAA's he'll be gone.
You're right. This looks like a pretty easy call. Fran's had 15 years to build it, and they still ain't comin'. So no, this ain't heaven. It's just Iowa . . .
. . . Until Beth steps up and does her job and hires Ben McCollom. The program needs a new face, new enthusiasm, and a guy who believes it's better to win 65-48 than to lose 91-84.
Yep. We know what Fran’s ceiling is. Maybe Iowa gets a new guy like McCollum or devries and they actually do better. Maybe they don’t. But at least try to something. 15 years and program has become stagnant.
Even if the next guy doesn't work out, maybe you at least get a temporary bump in enthusiasm with fresh hope. That won't happen if Fran comes back next year. It'll just be more apathy.
I’m telling you, they need to start promoting all the non-conference games at Carver next season as “Library Games.” Set up study tables up top on all the concourses, bring in free food and drinks for the students, and the pack Carver! 😉
Fran needs to let them know about the secret opponent strategy where the inbounder bounces it off the Iowa Player's ass and gets a layup. Seems like it's happens a few times over the Fran years.
I love the "Scottie Pippen" play. I think Iowa has used it a few times over the years (maybe by accident?).
Season tickets are about $350/yr and capacity is 15,500. so total revenue for sold out Carver is about about $5.4 million---I would take that to be the upper end of what is possible at Carver right now.
If Iowa went from 1/3 full with Fran to sold out with a new coach, that is $3.6 million more money. That would have to be a heck of a marketing job by the new coach in getting the fans back.
I've seen a buyout number as low as $4.5 million and it could be as high as $6 million for Fran. My take is the safest route for Beth is to just keep Fran another year because he's said he's not leaving on his own. If Iowa had to buyout Devries contract at WVU + have to pay him what he's getting there, that makes him an expensive hire. McCollum looks like the best Value.
Fran has a good recruiting class by his standards. So his contract being over in 2028 is not affecting recruiting yet. I don't think Fran contract lame duck status has much affect in the day of NIL. These recruits are Free agents they know they can just portal out if the really cared whether Fran got fired.
I do think if Fran loses his two best players Dix and Freeman to portal, that might change things. The AD needs to be talking to Iowa's players. McCollum looks like a great fit and he'll be gone if the AD waits another year.
I agree that Fran is gone. Decision has been made. I think it's going to be DeVries though - although a very strong, perhaps better, case could be made for McCollum.
They went into a sold-out Pinnacle Bank Arena today and played a hell of a game, they appeared to be on a mission with a pulse!
And why for heaven's sake are people limiting ourselves to either DeVries or McCollum?
There are dozens of high-profile coaches Iowa could go after like a Shaka Smart, Nate Oats, or a Mark Pope, if there is a coaching change coming let's not settle let's aim high.
There are dozens of high-profile coaches Iowa could go after like a Shaka Smart, Nate Oats, or a Mark Pope, if there is a coaching change coming let's not settle let's aim high.
BirdistheWord
HB Legend
NC State fired their coach today. He led them to the FINAL 4 last year. If we don’t have the sac to make a change then we get what we deserve.
McCollum might very well end up at Virginia or Indiana. He'd be silly to pick Iowa over either of those two.
The difficult part will be who will she decide to hire - DeVries or McCollum?
I’ve felt it was DeVries but I’m more impressed with McCollum as time goes along. If whoever she hires isn’t as successful as the other, she’ll certainly be big criticized. Until McCollum started coming on, it was an easy decision. Now there is pressure to get it right.
How do you know there's a strong recruiting class coming in next year? None of them have put up a point yet. Heck most on here believed Traore and Todji were athletic and world beaters coming into this season. How'd that work out. 15 years have gone bye, 1 Big Ten championship to show for it, it's time to part ways with Fran and start a new beginning for Iowa men's basketball program. No more trying to win games by out scoring everyone with very little defense or attention to rebounding. It's proven not to be a recipe for success in the Big Ten and there's 15 years of proof to back that up. PROVE ME WRONG.....YOU CAN'T!
I think that all 4 coaches (Ferentz, Fran, Jansen and Brands) are gone by the end of April……Beth is gonna CLEAN HOUSE just as the good folks of HROT have been demanding for years. It’s gonna be a new era of sports at UIowa! Beth is taking names and kickin’ butt!
