Willies to Missouri
- Thread starter CAHawk93
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Yeah, Dochterman and Morehouse mentioned that now LSU and Alabama are sniffing around. Say what you will about this situation but the bottom line is that the kid was a great talent with freakish athletic ability and he could have helped us. He was a sprint champion in track at Rock Island High School as well. It's insane that he did not see the field after what he did in the spring game. Did we have any better athletes than him last year? It's not like it would have hurt us to just throw him out there on the other side of the field opposite Smith. I just don't get it anymore. Honestly, what is this coaching staff doing?
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anon_snp6dc585nnj4
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Now he ends up at Texas Tech? Not a real good team...wonder what brought about the change. Perhaps the kid might be a little deranged
Well he was at Iowa, which is not a real good team and doesn't like to throw the ball more than 4 yards.
TT throws the ball all over the field, that probably had something to do with it Im guessing.
Maybe he just wants to play for a program that can beat Iowa State consistently.
I think it was a little more like Al Iverson, "PRACTICE? YOU MEAN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE?"
One of Kirks biggest down falls is not being able to tell the difference between a practice warrior and a game performer. Or just being to much of a stubborn ass to play the better players.
Derrick Willies was the most talented receiver since Clinton Solomon. Solomon had grade issues. Willies has had a lot of rough situation family issues throughout high school and it trickled into his collegiate career. At some point the kid has to do things for himself. We all hold our family close at heart, but we can't ruin our own lives trying to help them all the time. He wanted to come back to Iowa, but they didn't want him. He says he will go to Missouri after a year in Trinity CC in Texas, but when he gets noticed down there who knows what will come from it. I wouldn't be surprised to see him with a substantial offer list at years end. The guy dominated on an awful Burlington team for 3 year in high school(much like David Johnson at Clinton) and he did it at a position that requires the ball to be thrown to him before he can make the plays. Then he goes and dominates at Rock Island, which is a team that is similar to Iowa in that they love to run the ball.
PS- Potential future Derrick Willies is playing at Bettendorf currently. Suni Lane is only going to be a Junior next year and he is far better at football than basketball. He could be 6'3-6'5 by the time he is done in high school and the kid has mad skills. He is also playing in a program that loves to run the ball. Now that Bettendorf will have a entire new backfield they may pass the ball more though.
PS- Potential future Derrick Willies is playing at Bettendorf currently. Suni Lane is only going to be a Junior next year and he is far better at football than basketball. He could be 6'3-6'5 by the time he is done in high school and the kid has mad skills. He is also playing in a program that loves to run the ball. Now that Bettendorf will have a entire new backfield they may pass the ball more though.
Willies was playing just not as much as he wanted to. And if you watch the Purdue game there were at least two instances where he didn't know what he was supposed to do which resulted in Beathard throwing an incomplete pass. I have a feeling this was the norm with him. I remember the coaches saying that he had only learned one WR position which was Smith's. Probably an effort thing. Exactly why he didn't come back as well. he didn't want to earn it. I will be surprised if he ever does much at whatever school he ends up at.
Was that the same feeling you had when he caught the game winning TD against Ball St, another big yardage catch against UNI and the multiple big plays he made in the open scrimmages?
Seeing what he did in spring was great and showed his potential. Unfortunately sometimes kids never fully realize their potential.
He has talent there is no doubt about that but without the right attitude and work ethic it doesn't matter. I hope he can get it together and wish the kid all the best.
He may have been a head case or bad practice player but our program needs play makers badly so his loss was big.
I always see these comments about the one or two missed hot reads which may or may not been entirely attributable to him. No one mentions the 7 dropped passes including a TD by Hillyer in that game and attributes those mistakes to 'bad practice' habits on these other players part. It's just interesting how that works.
You are correct. I'm not sure he is going to JUCO now. He began school in January there, but following the TT commitment I think he is enrolling at Tech this fall. Not sure what that does with playing eligibility.
Willies is rated as the #25 Juco on the country and #8 WR... Leaps and bounds higher than he was rated coming out of high school, so you can attribute that to lack of knowing about him from recruiting aspect and proof that he has probably improved drastically. Players are always 1 injury away from missing a chance to be a starter in college. He proved he was talented enough to play with the mediocre WR core that Iowa has. I wouldn't be happy with my playing time either. The only WR's that deserved similar amounts of PT as him were Powell and Smith.
There's nothing in that link that said anything about Iowa not wanting him back. He was offered a chance to earn his way back onto the team but he chose to go another direction.
http://thegazette.com/subject/sports/willies-bullock-out-daniels-in-for-taxslayer-bowl-20141222
DECEMBER 22, 2014
Ferentz tabled that discussion, at least publicly, through the end of the season. During his radio show last week, Ferentz said the “ball was in Derrick’s court” on whether he wanted to return or not. The answer was no and now Willies, who caught four passes for 71 yards and a TD during this his redshirt freshman season, will transfer.
Ferentz said he spoke with Willies several times in December. The health of Willies’ father, Derrick Willies Sr., was mentioned by teammates as part of the reason Willies left. Ferentz was asked if Willies was offered a chance for a conditional return.
“We had a conversation about what I thought was fair,” Ferentz said. “Bottom line is, I think, he gave it some thought and decided he’s going to explore some other paths.”
DECEMBER 22, 2014
Ferentz tabled that discussion, at least publicly, through the end of the season. During his radio show last week, Ferentz said the “ball was in Derrick’s court” on whether he wanted to return or not. The answer was no and now Willies, who caught four passes for 71 yards and a TD during this his redshirt freshman season, will transfer.
Ferentz said he spoke with Willies several times in December. The health of Willies’ father, Derrick Willies Sr., was mentioned by teammates as part of the reason Willies left. Ferentz was asked if Willies was offered a chance for a conditional return.
“We had a conversation about what I thought was fair,” Ferentz said. “Bottom line is, I think, he gave it some thought and decided he’s going to explore some other paths.”
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