2019 Recruiting: Big Board

InGoodCo said:

With Cook, Garza and Wieskamp and a lot of the kids Fran is in on at the moment, it's hard to argue that he hasn't elevated the recruiting part of things for Iowa recently. Will it be enough? I dunno. But he is swinging big and that's what we want. He's landed a few, needs to land a few more. Unfortunately, last season, IMO was more of a result of him failing with recruiting with last years (and this years) Senior classes.
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I agree recruiting has appeared to tic up in recent periods, but the results need to come with it. The biggest issue was timing as after this season we will have graduated only 3 seniors over the last 3 years, and only one of them (Jok) was a high level player. That may work elsewhere but probably not at Iowa unless Fran starts hitting on a much higher number of his recruits.

The scary thing to me is if we have a so so year this year and Cook goes pro it is going to be very unfortunate to have a player of the caliber basically wasted away. With that said Cook does have his flaws that probably have been a part of the pain we have had the last few years.

Either way the time is getting tight for Fran. He won’t be able to land big time recruits if he doesn’t start having more success.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Heck yeah. Everyone gets on he and KF in the past for seemingly not going after the big fish. Well not only are we after some but in the running for a few. It'd be pretty awesome if we could have the stars all line up
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Hope so and I didn't mean to sound too negative, something we see from certain people on this site too much, but it'd sure be a shocker if he committed to Iowa with the other programs that have offered. But it only takes one to get the ball rolling I guess.
 
SteveGarvey1 said:
Hope so and I didn't mean to sound too negative, something we see from certain people on this site too much, but it'd sure be a shocker if he committed to Iowa with the other programs that have offered. But it only takes one to get the ball rolling I guess.
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He is paying his own way to visit Iowa so there must be interest.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
I agree recruiting has appeared to tic up in recent periods, but the results need to come with it. The biggest issue was timing as after this season we will have graduated only 3 seniors over the last 3 years, and only one of them (Jok) was a high level player. That may work elsewhere but probably not at Iowa unless Fran starts hitting on a much higher number of his recruits.

The scary thing to me is if we have a so so year this year and Cook goes pro it is going to be very unfortunate to have a player of the caliber basically wasted away. With that said Cook does have his flaws that probably have been a part of the pain we have had the last few years.

Either way the time is getting tight for Fran. He won’t be able to land big time recruits if he doesn’t start having more success.
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That's been my point all along. Last years senior class committed in 13 - in the midst of a 7 year NCAA drought. This years class committed in 14 - after Iowa got bounced in the first 4. 1. it's a testament to how Fran was able to get things turned around with out much to recruit too and 2. the classes after Iowa made the tournament in 14, 15 & 16 all seem much stronger.

I don't expect a so so year, but that's just me. I know that makes me stupid and I will be called names but that's not just me having blind hope - I have reason to believe that. Cook coming back, Jordan, Moss, Baer, Pemsl, Daily and Kriener all being upper class men and in the 3rd year of the program. Bringing in a top 150 recruit to be a back up PG. Garza being a star C in the making, he had an unprecedented year for a Freshman in the B1G that I think gets overlooked and also bringing in a 4 star wing who's Iowa's highest rated recruit in a decade. Add Nunge with another year and I think you have all the pieces to be pretty good. How good I dunno. But I for one have expectations and they aren't that of "well, its gonna be so so and Cook's time is gonna be wasted at Iowa". I expect a complete turn around season.

All that said, I still gotta see it. I am in the "show me" camp as well, but I expect it. That's MY expectations.
 
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Tierney said:
He is paying his own way to visit Iowa so there must be interest.
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No idea what his family situation is financially but there's no underselling that point... 5 star kids with all the options he's got won't just do that to be 'nice' Hopefully it'll be announced soon when he may do an official one and see what happens.
 
InGoodCo said:
That's been my point all along. Last years senior class committed in 13 - in the midst of a 7 year NCAA drought. This years class committed in 14 - after Iowa got bounced in the first 4. 1. it's a testament to how Fran was able to get things turned around with out much to recruit too and 2. the classes after Iowa made the tournament in 14, 15 & 16 all seem much stronger.

I don't expect a so so year, but that's just me. I know that makes me stupid and I will be called names but that's not just me having blind hope - I have reason to believe that. Cook coming back, Jordan, Moss, Baer, Pemsl, Daily and Kriener all being upper class men and in the 3rd year of the program. Bringing in a top 150 recruit to be a back up PG. Garza being a star C in the making, he had an unprecedented year for a Freshman in the B1G that I think gets overlooked and also bringing in a 4 star wing who's Iowa's highest rated recruit in a decade. Add Nunge with another year and I think you have all the pieces to be pretty good. How good I dunno. But I for one have expectations and they aren't that of "well, its gonna be so so and Cook's time is gonna be wasted at Iowa". I expect a complete turn around season.

All that said, I still gotta see it. I am in the "show me" camp as well, but I expect it. That's MY expectations.
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If Iowa can avoid the amount of injuries they had last year they will do pretty good this year.
 
InGoodCo said:
That's been my point all along. Last years senior class committed in 13 - in the midst of a 7 year NCAA drought. This years class committed in 14 - after Iowa got bounced in the first 4. 1. it's a testament to how Fran was able to get things turned around with out much to recruit too and 2. the classes after Iowa made the tournament in 14, 15 & 16 all seem much stronger.

I don't expect a so so year, but that's just me. I know that makes me stupid and I will be called names but that's not just me having blind hope - I have reason to believe that. Cook coming back, Jordan, Moss, Baer, Pemsl, Daily and Kriener all being upper class men and in the 3rd year of the program. Bringing in a top 150 recruit to be a back up PG. Garza being a star C in the making, he had an unprecedented year for a Freshman in the B1G that I think gets overlooked and also bringing in a 4 star wing who's Iowa's highest rated recruit in a decade. Add Nunge with another year and I think you have all the pieces to be pretty good. How good I dunno. But I for one have expectations and they aren't that of "well, its gonna be so so and Cook's time is gonna be wasted at Iowa". I expect a complete turn around season.

All that said, I still gotta see it. I am in the "show me" camp as well, but I expect it. That's MY expectations.
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I don’t disagree there are some reasons to be hopeful, I see some of them as well. Interesting you would bring up Connor’s recruiting ranking today after telling me nobody knows how good Pat will be yesterday and you can’t use recruiting rankings.

The problem for me is when I step back and look at this thing objectively I realize that nearly every fan base in the B1G is saying similar things about the group they bring back, and most of those guys they bring back beat the snot out of Iowa at least once if not twice last year. That’s where I get my pause when starting to think we are an NCAA lock.

For instance you mention Garza as a budding star, but there were two freshman centers better than him last year in Wesson and Fernando. Then you recall that Happ, Ward, and Watkins are all back and Haarms is getting his turn, at that point you realize that Garza is probably a middle of the pack center in the league. Again doesn’t mean I don’t like him or he doesn’t hold his own, just means plenty other teams have that or better. So Garza is middle of the pack at his position and a top 3 arguably top 2 player on our team. Something to think about when you look at our team, often I think we forget that many of these other teams recruit well and pull in transfer etc.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
I don’t disagree there are some reasons to be hopeful, I see some of them as well. Interesting you would bring up Connor’s recruiting ranking today after telling me nobody knows how good Pat will be yesterday and you can’t use recruiting rankings.

The problem for me is when I step back and look at this thing objectively I realize that nearly every fan base in the B1G is saying similar things about the group they bring back, and most of those guys they bring back beat the snot out of Iowa at least once if not twice last year. That’s where I get my pause when starting to think we are an NCAA lock.

For instance you mention Garza as a budding star, but there were two freshman centers better than him last year in Wesson and Fernando. Then you recall that Happ, Ward, and Watkins are all back and Haarms is getting his turn, at that point you realize that Garza is probably a middle of the pack center in the league. Again doesn’t mean I don’t like him or he doesn’t hold his own, just means plenty other teams have that or better. So Garza is middle of the pack at his position and a top 3 arguably top 2 player on our team. Something to think about when you look at our team, often I think we forget that many of these other teams recruit well and pull in transfer etc.
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Oh I agree, other teams are working hard and getting better. I absolutely believe last season was an aberration. I also believe that over seas trips hurt and often let the team put their guard down, especially for a Fran coached team. I think he burns em out sometimes. I expect a fresh legged and ready to roll team this year that will make you wonder how last year even happened. That's probably saying something about Fran I know, but I think his teams swing hard one way or the other, this year it's gonna swing hard the other way.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
I don’t disagree there are some reasons to be hopeful, I see some of them as well. Interesting you would bring up Connor’s recruiting ranking today after telling me nobody knows how good Pat will be yesterday and you can’t use recruiting rankings.

The problem for me is when I step back and look at this thing objectively I realize that nearly every fan base in the B1G is saying similar things about the group they bring back, and most of those guys they bring back beat the snot out of Iowa at least once if not twice last year. That’s where I get my pause when starting to think we are an NCAA lock.

For instance you mention Garza as a budding star, but there were two freshman centers better than him last year in Wesson and Fernando. Then you recall that Happ, Ward, and Watkins are all back and Haarms is getting his turn, at that point you realize that Garza is probably a middle of the pack center in the league. Again doesn’t mean I don’t like him or he doesn’t hold his own, just means plenty other teams have that or better. So Garza is middle of the pack at his position and a top 3 arguably top 2 player on our team. Something to think about when you look at our team, often I think we forget that many of these other teams recruit well and pull in transfer etc.
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I thought Luka Garza came on strong the last ten games or so. It will be interesting to see how good he will be next year after a year on the weights and focusing on defense. I don't think I'd trade him for someone else. Iowa had a lot of injuries last year and it would of been hard for any incoming freshman to adjust.
 
Tierney said:
I thought Luka Garza came on strong the last ten games or so. It will be interesting to see how good he will be next year after a year on the weights and focusing on defense. I don't think I'd trade him for someone else. Iowa had a lot of injuries last year and it would of been hard for any incoming freshman to adjust.
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I think Luka's our best player with the most upside on the whole team. But that's just me.
 
Tierney said:
I thought Luka Garza came on strong the last ten games or so. It will be interesting to see how good he will be next year after a year on the weights and focusing on defense. I don't think I'd trade him for someone else. Iowa had a lot of injuries last year and it would of been hard for any incoming freshman to adjust.
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Offensively, he is as good as any of the guys on the list, but there are two ends to the floor and his lack of footspeed can be an issue.
 
InGoodCo said:
Oh I agree, other teams are working hard and getting better. I absolutely believe last season was an aberration. I also believe that over seas trips hurt and often let the team put their guard down, especially for a Fran coached team. I think he burns em out sometimes. I expect a fresh legged and ready to roll team this year that will make you wonder how last year even happened. That's probably saying something about Fran I know, but I think his teams swing hard one way or the other, this year it's gonna swing hard the other way.
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The last time Iowa went on an overseas trip they shot to a top 10 ranking by non-conference. Not to mention Fran plays tons of guys and the overseas trip this year was a glorified open gym at the IC field house. Prior to 2016-2017 Frans teams didn’t swing much at all, they were on a nice upward trajectory improving slightly each year.

Again, we as Hawkeye fans can tell ourselves anything we want to make ourselves believe, I’ve been guilty of this before, then reality sets in. I could see a big bump this year, but I recognize a lot has to come together for that to happen.
 
InGoodCo said:
Oh I agree, other teams are working hard and getting better. I absolutely believe last season was an aberration. I also believe that over seas trips hurt and often let the team put their guard down, especially for a Fran coached team. I think he burns em out sometimes. I expect a fresh legged and ready to roll team this year that will make you wonder how last year even happened. That's probably saying something about Fran I know, but I think his teams swing hard one way or the other, this year it's gonna swing hard the other way.
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I have spoken with someone closely associated with the team that absolutely believes that trip had a negative impact on the season...for what it's worth.
 
InGoodCo said:
I think Luka's our best player with the most upside on the whole team. But that's just me.
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You just don't see players that slow much a lot to the upside in today's game. Show me where he did that consistently in games that were close and mattered and I'll change my mind.
 
InGoodCo said:
Oh I agree, other teams are working hard and getting better. I absolutely believe last season was an aberration. I also believe that over seas trips hurt and often let the team put their guard down, especially for a Fran coached team. I think he burns em out sometimes. I expect a fresh legged and ready to roll team this year that will make you wonder how last year even happened. That's probably saying something about Fran I know, but I think his teams swing hard one way or the other, this year it's gonna swing hard the other way.
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To be a D1 player you live and breathe basketball. Look closely at team speed and fundamentals and the truth comes out.
 
InGoodCo said:
I think Luka's our best player with the most upside on the whole team. But that's just me.
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I think he's a pretty solid player and will remain that but his lack of foot speed and athleticism makes me not put him in the category of having the most upside.
 
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