Fun thread. I feel bad for the guys too young to have seen Ronnie play. I can not describe it but we are talking one of the best ever in the history of college basketball.
As to comparisons of Armstrong and Woolridge? Different teams. I don't know which is second or third since the eighties. They are both a distant second. But that is no disrespect to them.
I agree that Arnold deserves some consideration, along with Oliver and Horner. In that second group of three.
Gesell did pretty well for himself. Probably not quite up to the top six but I can think of a lot of guys I would say he did far better than.
Bohannon is a freshman. Impossible to project what he will mean to the Hawkeyes in three more years, except to say he's a pretty good looking fallback recruit/non-point guard, if you ask me. Too bad the guy is going to have to continue to win approval from fans while he is already responsible for some solid production and doing his part in some big wins.
I think looking at who the coach was is important. Playing style is important. Those folks who think we need a point guard handling the ball half the time, on your team you could be right. But our current coach has a very different method of winning games. You think he'd change it up if he had Ronnie? Oh, heck yeah. But until that time, if ever, that we come close to that level of talent I'm just going to enjoy watching team basketball and winning some games that way.
So in that light. Another way of looking at it, minus Ronnie who would be the best for any coach:
Imagine Woolridge playing for Raveling. He'd have feasted on the whimsical just throw five guys out there and let talent show through. Feasted!
Horner would have, imo, looked much better under Davis. But then again about anybody that played for Alford would have looked better with Dr. Tom.
Lickliter's guys, who the heck knows what they could have done for somebody else. But it would have been an improvement.
I think the best of the past (again, minus Ronnie) to play for McCaffery would have been Armstrong. He was always a great system guy that did his stuff within the team concept.
Bohannon, like Gesell, appear to me to have been with the right coach to maximize their skills. There is value in that. This isn't a one on one game.
Lastly. Every guy who has put on the Hawkeye uniform and honored it on and off the court is ok in my book. You know, and this is off the subject but I have a point, I once met the guy who was the practice victim for a year...trying to block Alex Karras. All those years later, and he recalled getting the sh!t kicked out of him time and time again, and he wasn't even allowed to hit back because, well, it was Alex Karras! He did that for a year before deciding he wanted to live a long life and gave up on football. Can't blame him. Gotta admire him. A year of repeatedly getting kicked around by Alex Karras.
I didn't catch his name. Nobody is going to know who he is. But you think he contributed to Iowa's football success? I do. And some of the unmentioned guys, they might not have "earned" a top six/seven/eight type mention. But we know they gave what they had.
Here's some well earned respect to them as well.
