Are you more optimistic or less optimistic with the losses of Fuller and Larson?

HaydenHawk56

HaydenHawk56

Well-Known Member
Forgot for now who's fault it is for these guys leaving (whether it be the players themselves just wanting a change of scenery or the coaches not being able to sell the program for whatever reason).

In other words, since the hiring of FM and if your optimism for the program moving in the right direction was at a high point after listening to FM address the media (like I was), did your optimism take a step back after these player losses? Or, is the program moving in the right direction?

Personally for me, I think it took a temporary step back, but I think there is a lot of room to save face. For one, I hope when the rest of the assistant coaches are announced it will somehow be able to trump the bad news of this last week.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Forgot for now who's fault it is for these guys leaving (whether it be the players themselves just wanting a change of scenery or the coaches not being able to sell the program for whatever reason).

In other words, since the hiring of FM and if your optimism for the program moving in the right direction was at a high point after listening to FM address the media (like I was), did your optimism take a step back after these player losses? Or, is the program moving in the right direction?

Personally for me, I think it took a temporary step back, but I think there is a lot of room to save face. For one, I hope when the rest of the assistant coaches are announced it will somehow be able to trump the bad news of this last week.
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I was pretty darn excited after hearing Fran talk, but these two losses are big. Fuller was becoming a damn good player and finally had a system where he could use his athleticism. Larson was the only incoming recruit I was excited about getting because he had a lot of potential and seemed to be a Big Ten player.

I am worried that Fran is taking so long to assemble his class here now and is missing out on valuable time and momentum. He needs some movers and shakers quick. And for the love of god I hope he doesn't hire an inexperienced former player just to make a small portion of the fan base happy.
 
Woe is us; we have lost Kobe and MJ-NO!! Personally, I am more optimistic; we need scholarships to turn this around, Major talent upgrade is necessary, I think Fran is the guy that can do that, unlike Lick. Next year is probably a wash, but I would be very surprised if we are still a bottom feeder the following year.
 
Neither.

Anyone thinking that with the hire of a new coach all the players and all the recruits were going to stay with Iowa just didn't have realistic expectations. Fuller was gone if there wasn't a coaching change.

I saw Fuller's interview and I knew he was leaving Iowa if Lickliter stayed even though he said he would "probably" return. When anyone becomes mentally/emotionally detached from the team (or business or church or spouse or etc) it is extremely difficult and unlikely to reboot that attachment.

I don't think Fuller or Larson are a "Loss" for McCafferey. Fuller's departure goes on other shoulders and Larson is the typcial casualty of a coaching change. It would have been a "win" if Fuller had decided to stay and Larson is an unknown since there is no telling what kind of a player he is going to be at the D-I level.
 
I feel the same. I think Fran is a great hire and can't wait for basketball season.

I also think Fuller was gone either way and if Larson doesn't want to be a hawk so be it. This just gives Fran a couple more scholarships sooner to get players that want to be here and fit his system.
 
Less optimistic. With the hire of Fran I was more optimistic. With the loss of these two we will have a worse record next than we would have if Lick had stayed AND all of the players stayed.
 
Patience is kind of a balance between your ideal and reality and you never want to be patient to the point of complacency. You don't want to have the excuse that it's OK to be patient. You have to stay the course, stay steady, continue to do what is right and believe if you do that the tide will turn. - The late Todd Lickliter
... unfortunately it seemed as though it was to the point of complacency
 
With all hands on deck I was hopeful Iowa could fight for a .500 record...which basically means a rebuilding year. So its not the end of the world
 
The idea that we would not have lost any players would have been very misguided. I agree with other that Fuller was gone (Though I held out hope until the very end...) and Larson is an unknown at the D1 level (Again, I think that he could have been at the very least effective).

As for my level of emotion, I am still very much looking forward to watching FM rebuild this team, not to mention the assistant coaches that should be announced this week (Yes, I am guessing this will be the case).
 
IAJay said:
I am worried that Fran is taking so long to assemble his class here now and is missing out on valuable time and momentum. He needs some movers and shakers quick. And for the love of god I hope he doesn't hire an inexperienced former player just to make a small portion of the fan base happy.
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Jay, just because he has not named the rest of the staff does not mean that he hasn't already decided and informed them. In fact they (the new staff) are probably hitting the recruiting trails hard now and even when recruiting was closed.

Having not named them affords us a few luxuries and loopholes in the recruiting game.
i.e: recruiting during the dead period. (which just ended) Putting out feelers to other recruits currently in our unfortunate situation (coach was just terminated) without being directly tied to the Iowa program.

There are a few benefits of having not named your staff with reguards to recruiting.
 
I am more optimitic ... I understand losing these two (and hopefully that is it) is hard. Like Jon and so many have already stated losing AF was already in the works, give the new coach a chance to show who he could possibly bring in to fill those empty schollies...We all want instant gratification these days, lets just give it a tiny bit of time to work itself out. Who knows in a month or two we may be extremely happy these spots opened up
 
Optimistic. Its appears to be a good hire, one with a plan to succeed and previous experience to draw from. Players leaving is normal during a change, its part of the process, so lets be patient and see what we have by this time next year. I think the completion of the staff a big next step, then the fall recruiting class next.
 
If the losses were other players I would be more optimistic. Fuller and Larson are losses that only the most rose colored glasses could make look positive. That being said, this could all change with an announcement of the signing of a higher rated player.

I was interested in the comment about how not naming your assistants can be a way to circumvent recruiting limitations. I have thought that in a perfect world FM would tell prospective assistants, "You bring me good players now and we will talk."
 
Well we lost potentially our 2 best guys in the middle so if anybody says they feel good about that then they need a mental evaluation. We'll see who Fran recruits but as of right now we have Jarryd Cole and ?????? in the middle. This is devastating without replacements or amazing things from Andrew Brommer and Devyn Archie. No...this ain't good at all at least short term. Long term who the hell knows. No, sorry. This is terrible news.
 
Hard to say IMO. With scholarships opening up the new coach gets to recruit players that he wants and he does not have to coach Lickliter's recruits. I, nor anyone else, knows how good the new class of recruits would have been. Under Lickliter -- not very good. Under FM, who knows how they would have fit?

Fuller was gone regardless so that is a dead subject. So even had Lickliter remained he would have AGAIN lost his best player.

I say lets see how FM does. Its a little late in the year to begin recruiting. The new recruits after seeing how Iowa played last year might have been glad to see the coaching change just so they could get out of their commitments. Who knows, some of these guys might have been gone after a year of playing under Lickliter anyway!

So I am not going to get upset. Let FM recruit his players and let Lickliter fade into the woodwork where he belongs. I think his brain problems started a long time ago and affected him a great deal more than he admitted. Even his assistants were befuddled at the way the man acted. He had no business coaching a major division I school...
 
CAARHawk said:
If the losses were other players I would be more optimistic. Fuller and Larson are losses that only the most rose colored glasses could make look positive. That being said, this could all change with an announcement of the signing of a higher rated player.

I was interested in the comment about how not naming your assistants can be a way to circumvent recruiting limitations. I have thought that in a perfect world FM would tell prospective assistants, "You bring me good players now and we will talk."
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I am hoping that the last part of your post is accurate because that is what I am holding out hope for as well. I am just nervous that some of these hires are going to be busts like that previous coaching staff.
 
I think Cody would have done quite well under FM. Cody showed some impressive skill and athleticism.
I know he de-committed a while ago, but I think that Creekmur would have been a very good fit under FM, as well.
At the same time, they are also two players who come across as pretty cocky.
Even though I am less optimistic, I am still trusting FM's track record to turn this around and maybe make a few good moves this year.
 
Personally not too upset over these guys leaving. I am sorry but Fuller dominated lesser opponents. He could not do anything against "good competition." He was a great player this year, but I think the only reason he was so good, was because everyone else was terrible. I am sorry ( i love the hawks) but we were not good. He shot the ball more and was more aggressive against lesser opponents.

Larson I never really got watch in person, but judging by his decision making skills, he might of been a liability at Iowa. he could of gotten into some trouble and never panned out?

Overall I still believe in coach Fran to take us in the right direction. He is will get his players in here and he will be fine. Next year we will take our lumps and get beat. But i really look for him to get it going the following year.

I heard from someone there is some good news coming. Coach Fran might be plucking a few of his sienna recruits to Iowa, also possibly a transfer from sienna as well. So there might be some players getting offers here shortly!
 
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