Best Case / Worst Case

[hawkIhoops]

Best Case: McCaffrey has been waiting to offer Washpun pending Payne's announcement, verification of academic standing and his belief that he has a high ceiling. He is confident we are going to get another guard, so Washpun can be an energy guy off the bench, learn the craft from Cartwright and (insert name). Olaseni and Hubbard OR (insert name) are leaning our way, so we have a big and a scorer /slasher on the way. This may not be the optimal outcome, but one ( I think) most of us could live with.


Worst Case: We are flaming out with the other guards and this is a fallback offer to ensure we get somebody. It seems unlikely we are in the mix for any high school kids at the guard spot, as Washpun would be competing for their minutes. We have to get a big, so one of the remaining two spots has to / should address this need, leaving one scholarship. With the prospects of a true freshman being our backup PG, do we use the last spot to get a juco at the guard spot, or continue our pursuit of a wing / slasher like Hubbard?

Despite my desire to start drinking at 9:00 AM, I will patiently wait out the next few days and trust that McCaffrey and staff are executing a strategic plan vs. scrambling.

 

[CAARHawk]

It has looked like scrambling the whole time with this staff. Reaching for kids far and wide and not even remotely connecting with anyone in the more local hotbeds, like Chicago. We thought Lick was bad in Chicagoland, but this staff has raised it to a whole new level.

Time to dump Sherm and bring in someone with some true midwest recruiting moxie. It worked for Webber, it can work for us.

 

[Hawkstrat]

It has looked like scrambling the whole time with this staff. Reaching for kids far and wide and not even remotely connecting with anyone in the more local hotbeds, like Chicago. We thought Lick was bad in Chicagoland, but this staff has raised it to a whole new level.

Time to dump Sherm and bring in someone with some true midwest recruiting moxie. It worked for Webber, it can work for us.

It always makes me sad how stupid some Iowa fans are.

Yes, let's dump Dillard because Iowa has a couple of rides that aren't filled yet.

 

[RocketHawk]

I am guessing you are always a half empty glass, kind of person.

 

[CAARHawk]

It is NOT because Iowa has five scholarships to give between now and November. It is because Iowa is not even remotely connected to the primary areas of talent in the Midwest.

Players and recruits are talking about liking Francis. Current players are talking about how Speraw is helping them on the court and in practice. Have you heard one word about Sherm? Also, he was the guy who was supposed to have the AAU connections, but there has been nothing from that front, particularly in the Midwest where he was located. Seriously, if we don't get a foothold in the local areas of talent in the Midwest this team is sunk.

So, if a change needs to be made, like Webber made, which turned recruiting around for him completely, of anyone Sherm is the likely candidate. So...

 

[TritonHawkeye]

Personally I am glad this staff looked west instead of east last year for a PG....

 

[Hawkstrat]

"Have you heard one word about Sherm?"

Dillard was Aaron White's primary recruiter.

 

[hawkIhoops]

We seem to be the only team in in major college basketball that has hired assistants with 0 recruiting relationships for the past 10+ years. I am not looking to point a finger at anyone, but the scrutiny is valid IMO. Speraw comes in (allegedly) with Florida relationships...no results. Dillard (allegedly) had relationships in Texas....no results. Francis gets a pass IMO, as has been mentioned by multiple recruits as someone they have connected with. I don't know which assistant has "recruiting" in their job description, but I would assume all three do.

Let's be honest, Basabe came with McCaffrey, end of story. Cartwright was a diamond in the rough who exceeded expectations. Take either guy of the current roster and there is far less optimism for the future of Iowa basketball. We have a major talent deficit that needs to be addressed and if recruiting doesn't improve, somebody has to go into the volcano as a sacrifice. This isn't Lickliter's staff of rookie assistants we are talking about.

 

[JHHawk]

It is NOT because Iowa has five scholarships to give between now and November. It is because Iowa is not even remotely connected to the primary areas of talent in the Midwest.

Players and recruits are talking about liking Francis. Current players are talking about how Speraw is helping them on the court and in practice. Have you heard one word about Sherm? Also, he was the guy who was supposed to have the AAU connections, but there has been nothing from that front, particularly in the Midwest where he was located. Seriously, if we don't get a foothold in the local areas of talent in the Midwest this team is sunk.

So, if a change needs to be made, like Webber made, which turned recruiting around for him completely, of anyone Sherm is the likely candidate. So...

I get your angst over the apparent lack of midwest recruiting ties...and I agree to a point. Now,that said, be aware that Chicagoland and Illinois as a whole is very thin in the 2012 class...just a down year,so that could explain some of our focus elsewhere. I have heard that Iowa is in on Darius Paul,Brandon Paul's younger brother, a 6'8'' small forward who is a 2012 recruit out of Warren,Il.
Iowa also was nosing around the pg from Brooks HS,Chicago, Mike something.
So,I do think Iowa is on the scene in Chicagoland,but just no great fits this year,as most of the top guys locked up early this year,and next year is just not great. The 2013 class,however,looks to be one of the best ever...so that is where we need to focus.

 

[JHHawk]

We seem to be the only team in in major college basketball that has hired assistants with 0 recruiting relationships for the past 10+ years. I am not looking to point a finger at anyone, but the scrutiny is valid IMO. Speraw comes in (allegedly) with Florida relationships...no results. Dillard (allegedly) had relationships in Texas....no results. Francis gets a pass IMO, as has been mentioned by multiple recruits as someone they have connected with. I don't know which assistant has "recruiting" in their job description, but I would assume all three do.

Let's be honest, Basabe came with McCaffrey, end of story. Cartwright was a diamond in the rough who exceeded expectations. Take either guy of the current roster and there is far less optimism for the future of Iowa basketball. We have a major talent deficit that needs to be addressed and if recruiting doesn't improve, somebody has to go into the volcano as a sacrifice. This isn't Lickliter's staff of rookie assistants we are talking about.

You cannot simply dismiss Basabe's recruitment since he came with Fran,right? Fran has recruited the east coast for a decade and Basabe is part of that territory.
I get what you are saying,but lets be fair here.
Cartwright was a Speraw connection.
Meyer is probably a Speraw connection with the Atlanta Celtics from his days at UCF.
Speraw did go into Whitney Young HS and get two young players in AJ Rompza and Marcus Jordan,so he does seem to know Chicago.
Francis is our east coast man,also.
And yes, Sherman Dillard has AAU contacts,apparently,so I hope that does yield some fruit. Might have been integral in the Cesar recruitment,which was a miss,but a close miss,of a top 60 player we got in late on.
I know that fans are hyper-sensitized to the critical role of assistants in recruiting with our recent problems in that area,so I have no real issue with examining it,when the spring recruiting is done...but lets not jump the gun just yet ok?

 

[Mac50702]

It is NOT because Iowa has five scholarships to give between now and November. It is because Iowa is not even remotely connected to the primary areas of talent in the Midwest.

Players and recruits are talking about liking Francis. Current players are talking about how Speraw is helping them on the court and in practice. Have you heard one word about Sherm? Also, he was the guy who was supposed to have the AAU connections, but there has been nothing from that front, particularly in the Midwest where he was located. Seriously, if we don't get a foothold in the local areas of talent in the Midwest this team is sunk.

So, if a change needs to be made, like Webber made, which turned recruiting around for him completely, of anyone Sherm is the likely candidate. So...

Sherm brought you aaron white and almost Cesar. If you didnt notice this program is a piece of S*** right now and its going to take a miracle worker to turn this around. The chances of landing Cesar when we were going against a 20 win team with some of the best facilities in the world were slim. I was surprised we got him to come in for a visit in the first place.

So stop whining about no connections when this staff is in their first year here and they are at least doing something the previous staff wouldnt do which is get off their *** and work their *** off.

 

[Hawkstrat]

We seem to be the only team in in major college basketball that has hired assistants with 0 recruiting relationships for the past 10+ years.

What are you talking about?

 

[2xer]

We seem to be the only team in in major college basketball that has hired assistants with 0 recruiting relationships for the past 10+ years. I am not looking to point a finger at anyone, but the scrutiny is valid IMO. Speraw comes in (allegedly) with Florida relationships...no results. Dillard (allegedly) had relationships in Texas....no results. Francis gets a pass IMO, as has been mentioned by multiple recruits as someone they have connected with. I don't know which assistant has "recruiting" in their job description, but I would assume all three do.

Let's be honest, Basabe came with McCaffrey, end of story. Cartwright was a diamond in the rough who exceeded expectations. Take either guy of the current roster and there is far less optimism for the future of Iowa basketball. We have a major talent deficit that needs to be addressed and if recruiting doesn't improve, somebody has to go into the volcano as a sacrifice. This isn't Lickliter's staff of rookie assistants we are talking about.

I'm going to try and follow your logic here. If you take off the only two players this staff have signed that have reached campus, there would be less optimism. And you are using this to discount the staff's ability to recruit. Holy circular logic, Batman.

 

[MJSCK]

It has looked like scrambling the whole time with this staff. Reaching for kids far and wide and not even remotely connecting with anyone in the more local hotbeds, like Chicago. We thought Lick was bad in Chicagoland, but this staff has raised it to a whole new level.

Time to dump Sherm and bring in someone with some true midwest recruiting moxie. It worked for Webber, it can work for us.

No offense, Caar, but I believe Sherm was also responsible for Kyle Meyer. So if he has brought in White and Meyer, I think we've got to give the guy a little credit. Moreover, we really have no idea on who's responsible for targeting these guys. For all we know, Sherm is the one who found Cartwright, got Cezar to visit and spotted Hubbard.

I'm frustrated right now, like you, but this staff has 1,000,000 % more street cred than Lickliter's band of hooligans. Let's see what they can do before we start running them off.

 

[GravyJones]

 

[SirJamaLot]

Takes time to develop solid relationships with aau programs, Iowa is not kansas or kentucky, turning around the basketball program is not going to happen overnight, The fan base is impatient and frustrated but I really feel Fran and staff have the best plan since Raveling and Lute to get this program back to respectability again, unfortunately our fan base expects miracles instead of small gains.

 

[hawkeye2188]

I'm not worried. If this staff strikes out in 2012, I may be a little worried.