Ahmad Wagner a Hawk

Yeah, the only criticism I have of him is that he needs a new editor for his vids. Who includes a missed free throw in one of them? But his FT form looks good and he does look like a better version of Basabe imo. Looks like a more natural shooter's form at least on FTs. Has really good hops and a large enough body already. Is K. Meyer (sp) the only recruit Fran's really whiffed on this point?

I would say that the JUCO transfer (Anthony Hubbard was his name, right?) that was previously in prison and didn't even see a minute on the court was a pretty big whiff. You could also say that Ingram was a whiff too.

That said, I don't have a major problem with Fran's recruiting up to this point. It's like some people think we're this sexy program that should be able to land top recruits. People need to get more realistic about what kind of program Iowa is and the level that we're at.
 
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I would say that the JUCO transfer (Anthony Hubbard was his name, right?) that was previously in prison and didn't even see a minute on the court was a pretty big whiff. You could also say that Ingram was a whiff too.

That said, I don't have a major problem with Fran's recruiting up to this point. It's like some people think we're this sexy program that should be able to land top recruits. People need to get more realistic about what kind of program Iowa is and the level that we're at.

Some people think Fran should have been able to parlay the one-two punch of Gesell and Woody into recruiting at a much higher level. It's not apparent to many of us that he has.

To the other Kool-Aid drinkers on here, don't dismiss what Groce is doing one state over. Illinois is going to be solid in a year or two.
 
Last negative post in this thread, I promise. This "highlight mix tape" definitely screams baller. ;-) love the missed free throws included. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztrT4Ze3JiA

Come to think of it, this is the first recruit in the Fran era that I've been down on. I just don't see it. I understood White, Basabe, Sapp, but this just has me puzzled. No way he plays in the B1G as a PF.

Already attacks the rim better than any Iowa player, definitely better than Woody or Gabe. This is the kind of player Ia needed to beet teams like Wisconsin. Think James Winters only bigger--Reggie Evans maybe.
 
http://www.landgrantholyland.com/20...ch-dartis-wagner-moyer-make-college-decisions

From article;

Strong and powerful, Wagner is the ultimate teammate, and is one of the more active post players in his class. Playing all 21 games for All-Ohio Red this summer, Wagner averaged 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds on 54 percent shooting. Helping lead Wayne to a regional semifinal appearance in 2013-14, Wagner averaged 13.8 points and 10 rebounds per game, while shooting over 60 percent from the field.
 
Lots of good things being said about him.

http://www.btpowerhouse.com/2014/8/11/5990757/big-ten-recruiting-roundtable

From article:

Fran McCaffery received a commitment from 6-7 small forward Ahmad Wagner. The Ohio product is unranked in the 247Sports composite, but is rated as a 3-Star prospect by Rivals. Wagner is a menace in the restricted area that will bring tremendous energy on the boards for the Hawkeyes. His offensive game is largely underdeveloped, but his mid-range is better than he's given credit for and he has a ton of room to grow. Wagner joins Brandon Hutton and Andrew Fleming in McCaffery's 2015 class, with two scholarships still available.
 

He didn't have a conditional offer. He probably did commit to Iowa before someone else did because he wanted to come to Iowa. I thnk Fran slept good last night and is pretty happy today. He probably has been on the phone with some of his other recruits today.
 
Fans who compare him to Jarryd Cole need to remember that Cole was a much higher rated recruit than Wagner...so I think it is difficult to make that comparison.

Looking back, it seems that Alford, despite not having the new facilities we have now, did recruit very well compared to Lick and Fran. SA managed to pull in 12 top 150 recruits in his first 7 years,with a number of top 50 guys like PP, Somerville,Reiner,and Smith. Lick and Fran are pretty similar in recruits they have landed.
 
Fans who compare him to Jarryd Cole need to remember that Cole was a much higher rated recruit than Wagner...so I think it is difficult to make that comparison.

Looking back, it seems that Alford, despite not having the new facilities we have now, did recruit very well compared to Lick and Fran. SA managed to pull in 12 top 150 recruits in his first 7 years,with a number of top 50 guys like PP, Somerville,Reiner,and Smith. Lick and Fran are pretty similar in recruits they have landed.

Haha, you don't make any sense.

How many combined seasons did Somerville and Smith play for Iowa? Who cares if SA got them to sign with Iowa? Most of them either washed out and transferred or werent developed under Alford and staff.

It seems like every year under Alford, Iowa was playing with about 8 scholarships players. If you want to throw out any similarities between Alford/Lick/Fran it should be the terrible job of player retention that was done by both Alford and Lick.

The only marquee name that Lick got in an Iowa uniform was Gatens and he would have been a Hawkeye if Satan was the head coach.
 
And Alford translated all his recruiting "prowess" into 1 NCAA win in 8 years. Anyone want to bet Fran is able to top that mark? I love all the talent evaluators.
 
I am not defending SA's coaching or record. Just his ability to close on kids that other schools wanted. Kentucky offered Somerville , who did become a very good player at Bradley.

I know everyone hates SA, but I am talking about pure recruiting prowess. Mr. Davis got some top guys, SA got a few, Lick got only Gatens, and now Fran has been killing himself to land a bunch of top 150 guys (20-25 by my count), only to come up short. Is it Iowa? I think so, even with our great new facilities, we cannot land these top guys that Fran spends so much time pursuing. ....not his fault, so I think it is a perception problem around the country of Iowa as boring corn-laden.
 
Haha, you don't make any sense.

How many combined seasons did Somerville and Smith play for Iowa? Who cares if SA got them to sign with Iowa? Most of them either washed out and transferred or werent developed under Alford and staff.

It seems like every year under Alford, Iowa was playing with about 8 scholarships players. If you want to throw out any similarities between Alford/Lick/Fran it should be the terrible job of player retention that was done by both Alford and Lick.

The only marquee name that Lick got in an Iowa uniform was Gatens and he would have been a Hawkeye if Satan was the head coach.

You are correct about the player retention under SA...it was horrible. So far, under Fran, we have only lost Hubbard, Ingram and Meyer.

I do not get why all these guys are passing on Iowa....Fran is a great coach.
 
You are correct about the player retention under SA...it was horrible. So far, under Fran, we have only lost Hubbard, Ingram and Meyer.

I do not get why all these guys are passing on Iowa....Fran is a great coach.


Need quality wins to make this a true statement. Fran has improved the team but has not gotten UI to the Big Dance and obviously hasn't won any games in that tournament. Need that step before recruits take notice.
 
You are correct about the player retention under SA...it was horrible. So far, under Fran, we have only lost Hubbard, Ingram and Meyer.

I do not get why all these guys are passing on Iowa....Fran is a great coach.

Looking at the guys Fran is going for now might be an indication of the problem as Fran currently sees it. Changing the athletes will change the culture and might make it more attractive for some of the types he's been missing on.
 
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Need quality wins to make this a true statement. Fran has improved the team but has not gotten UI to the Big Dance and obviously hasn't won any games in that tournament. Need that step before recruits take notice.

Iowa made the NCAA tourney last season.
 

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