Better to be lucky than...

[Hawkfnntn]

Look at where the program is now and how they've gotten here. Fran took over a program that was in need of a rebuild as bad as you could almost imagine. Now they are right on the precipice of doing some big time things. Here is where I think luck came in to play.

Jok. I know he's done but he's also a part of why the program is where it is now he helped win a lot of games. We got him due to him getting hurt in HS. If he'd have stayed healthy and been a top 10 overall recruit what were the odds he still ends up a Hawk?

Cook was a 4 star stud of a kid on the same HS team as a 1 and done kid that went to Duke. He probably should have been more highly regarded than he was yet Fran was able to get him.

Baer. Talk about a kid that falls in your lap not much else to say about him but he's huge for this program.

JBo. He was a fall back recruit. Call a spade a spade. Fran had swung and missed with a handful of other pgs so here comes JBo and all he does is have the best freshman season a pg has ever had at Iowa with the sky being the limit for what he'll do.

Pemsl, Another kid nobody was really after. Just an Iowa kid that'd been beat up in HS nobody wanted to go after a kid with beat up knees and all he did was show he more than belongs as a bruiser in the BIG.

Moss came from a heck of a HS in Chicago but yet had other D1 talent on his team so he didn't get to shine as much. I think his best days are ahead of him and he'll be a heck of a player.

McCafferys boys. I'll lump them together in that they both are highly regarded recruits that without their dad being the coach there's no chance they end up here.

Nunge, We are fortunate that Indiana is in the state of flux they are in. This is a kid they will absolutely cringe over everytime they see him doing well. How he wasn't highly recruited by them (and a heck of a lot more schools) I'll never know but we'll take him.

Garza. Here's a guy from the DC area. What if Georgetown makes their move and dumps JTIII earlier in the year and hires Ewing? Does he still come to Iowa with Ewing recruiting him hard to stay home? He'd have been a heck of a building block for their rebuilding. Yet he looks to be a big piece to our puzzle the next few years.

I have a great feeling about where the program is going. Fran deserves a boat load of credit for how he's done because every step along the way is how they've gotten here. I just also think there's been some good ole fashioned luck too and maybe the basketball gods are smiling down on Hawkeye hoops.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I think you make your own luck. Fran is relentless on the recruiting trail.

Identifying under the radar talent might be "lucky" the first time, but Fran has shown the ability to do it on a consistent basis, therefore I would consider it a skill. I think he and our staff are also really good at developing the players we do land.

On the flip side, had Fran been here a few years earlier we might have gotten Marcus Paige, Tyler Ulis and others. Imagine where our program would be and the types of recruits we'd be going after had that happened.

 

[koralakers]

Fran has MADE HIS OWN LUCK. He essentially had no luck coming to a program and fan base left-for-dead. Fran has done an amazing job resurrecting this program.

 

[InGoodCo]

I personally think his assistant coaches and the fact that he's kept them all in tact is a really underrated part of it all. Dillard, Francis and Speraw are 3 of the best asst coaches I can remember at Iowa. The biggest credit I give Fran is that he's made it a program.... a family atmosphere that is stable and welcoming to the players, fans and only has positive vibes at the very foundation. That's a huge contrast compared the how the inner workings of Alford's program was and what got even more toxic with Lick. That comes from the strong core of Fran and his assistants. I think it's also helped that his family is such a big part of everything. If you ever get the chance - go to game immediately when the doors open to a home or away game -so you can check out shoot around sometime. It's amazing to watch the comradery between everyone on the floor hanging out. The coaches visiting with the opponents and such. You see it and you get it. You get why this all works. I've been to several road games - and a lot times you can get a vibe about how much more confident and comfortable the Iowa team is vs their opponents just in the shoot around.

 

[BryceC]

I think there is some luck involved. I mean if he knew JBo would be this good, he probably would have offered him before the other PG's he missed on. I mean that's pretty lucky. Of course that happens at every school, but identifying those guys is part of the job and I think Fran is better than most.

I do think Fran is a good game coach. He's got his faults but he is like Ferentz in that he can really elevate the play of guys who are not as highly sought after. That's a great trait to have in your coach.

 

[PCHawk]

I think there is some luck involved. I mean if he knew JBo would be this good, he probably would have offered him before the other PG's he missed on. I mean that's pretty lucky. Of course that happens at every school, but identifying those guys is part of the job and I think Fran is better than most.

I do think Fran is a good game coach. He's got his faults but he is like Ferentz in that he can really elevate the play of guys who are not as highly sought after. That's a great trait to have in your coach.

I think Bohannon improved a lot over his last year of high school and by the time he got the offer, Fran knew he had good player.

Fran had also had some bad luck. He could have had Ulis if he would have blew up a little later. His last class under achieved because they lost all confidence in close games. The 3 years he had really good teams, the Big 10 was really good. One year the team was rolling really good and his son got cancer (that one is way more unlucky outside of basketball but it still affected the season). Tanking that year put extra pressure on last year's team not to tank and we all know how they handled pressure.

Think about that one. If Patrick doesn't get cancer, does that team finish strong. If that team finishes strong, does last year's team even get it in their heads that they might tank. And without it in their heads, do they finish strong. They obviously had the "here we go again" mindset every close game. Of course they got that mindset once they hit the top 10 again.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

I personally think his assistant coaches and the fact that he's kept them all in tact is a really underrated part of it all. Dillard, Francis and Speraw are 3 of the best asst coaches I can remember at Iowa. The biggest credit I give Fran is that he's made it a program.... a family atmosphere that is stable and welcoming to the players, fans and only has positive vibes at the very foundation. That's a huge contrast compared the how the inner workings of Alford's program was and what got even more toxic with Lick. That comes from the strong core of Fran and his assistants. I think it's also helped that his family is such a big part of everything. If you ever get the chance - go to game immediately when the doors open to a home or away game -so you can check out shoot around sometime. It's amazing to watch the comradery between everyone on the floor hanging out. The coaches visiting with the opponents and such. You see it and you get it. You get why this all works. I've been to several road games - and a lot times you can get a vibe about how much more confident and comfortable the Iowa team is vs their opponents just in the shoot around.

I totally agree with you on that assistants have a huge part in the success of a program. I would only nit pick by sticking up for ole Licklighter in this way. I think his style of play and lack of recruiting success were the major reasons for his downfall. Not winning and looking terrible doing it was the end all be all to him. I don't think he or his assistants had a toxic environment that was anything like what Alford had going on. I like Lick as a guy he's a nice enough fellow. He was just a terrible fit for the BIG and Iowa with his style and lack of being able to get good recruits.
That said I agree with your overarching point of how teams that get along top to bottom are just always going to have more success. They'll all go the extra mile for one another without batting an eye.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

I think there is some luck involved. I mean if he knew JBo would be this good, he probably would have offered him before the other PG's he missed on. I mean that's pretty lucky. Of course that happens at every school, but identifying those guys is part of the job and I think Fran is better than most.

I do think Fran is a good game coach. He's got his faults but he is like Ferentz in that he can really elevate the play of guys who are not as highly sought after. That's a great trait to have in your coach.

Exactly.... Or if any of the other PG recruits Fran was after prior to offering him had decided to come would there have even been a spot for JBo at all? Obviously if Fran new JBo would have had that kind of first season he'd have offered him way earlier and had him locked up. It sounds as though if Fran would have waited much longer on offering JBo Wisky may have... His brother had been in contact with Gard and fortunately they weren't high on him either and went with that Mohawk hair cutted kid instead...

 

[PCHawk]

Exactly.... Or if any of the other PG recruits Fran was after prior to offering him had decided to come would there have even been a spot for JBo at all? Obviously if Fran new JBo would have had that kind of first season he'd have offered him way earlier and had him locked up. It sounds as though if Fran would have waited much longer on offering JBo Wisky may have... His brother had been in contact with Gard and fortunately they weren't high on him either and went with that Mohawk hair cutted kid instead...

Like I said earlier, I don't think junior year Bohannon was worth a scholarship. It seemed like he really improved a ton after that and by the time Fran offered him, he knew he wanted him no matter what. If he would have landed a different point guard earlier, Dailey wouldn't be here right now but Bohannon would.

 

[UncleHawk]

Look at where the program is now and how they've gotten here. Fran took over a program that was in need of a rebuild as bad as you could almost imagine. Now they are right on the precipice of doing some big time things. Here is where I think luck came in to play.

Jok. I know he's done but he's also a part of why the program is where it is now he helped win a lot of games. We got him due to him getting hurt in HS. If he'd have stayed healthy and been a top 10 overall recruit what were the odds he still ends up a Hawk?

Cook was a 4 star stud of a kid on the same HS team as a 1 and done kid that went to Duke. He probably should have been more highly regarded than he was yet Fran was able to get him.

Baer. Talk about a kid that falls in your lap not much else to say about him but he's huge for this program.

JBo. He was a fall back recruit. Call a spade a spade. Fran had swung and missed with a handful of other pgs so here comes JBo and all he does is have the best freshman season a pg has ever had at Iowa with the sky being the limit for what he'll do.

Pemsl, Another kid nobody was really after. Just an Iowa kid that'd been beat up in HS nobody wanted to go after a kid with beat up knees and all he did was show he more than belongs as a bruiser in the BIG.

Moss came from a heck of a HS in Chicago but yet had other D1 talent on his team so he didn't get to shine as much. I think his best days are ahead of him and he'll be a heck of a player.

McCafferys boys. I'll lump them together in that they both are highly regarded recruits that without their dad being the coach there's no chance they end up here.

Nunge, We are fortunate that Indiana is in the state of flux they are in. This is a kid they will absolutely cringe over everytime they see him doing well. How he wasn't highly recruited by them (and a heck of a lot more schools) I'll never know but we'll take him.

Garza. Here's a guy from the DC area. What if Georgetown makes their move and dumps JTIII earlier in the year and hires Ewing? Does he still come to Iowa with Ewing recruiting him hard to stay home? He'd have been a heck of a building block for their rebuilding. Yet he looks to be a big piece to our puzzle the next few years.

I have a great feeling about where the program is going. Fran deserves a boat load of credit for how he's done because every step along the way is how they've gotten here. I just also think there's been some good ole fashioned luck too and maybe the basketball gods are smiling down on Hawkeye hoops.

Just listening to a podcast that continues the upward trajectory of the program. Wieskamp and Patrick McCaffery are being projected as McDonalds All Americas by some scouts who do ratings. A comparison of Patrick to Keith van Horne!