Along with the assumption that DeVries would want to leave for Iowa too. That seems like a minor detail that's not exactly a given. Many seem to think it is. Timing is everything and I don't know if it'd be just so simple as the Iowa job is open and he's offered it that he'd jump for it. He's gotten himself a good gig. He's off to a good start there. I for one don't think it's a forgone conclusion that he'd leave that after 1 yr. But maybe and we'll probably find out one way or the other.
Fry, I am a Fran fan, but the banging on Mr. Davis is a bit much. Yes, he inherited his best team from Raveling and damn near made it to the Final Four. That just tells me he was a better bench coach than a recruiter. Yes, he liked to golf and I do believe Fran was more of a grinder. But, Mr. Davis had a long career and consistently got the Hawks to the Dance. He played an exciting brand of basketball and attendance was a lot better under him than Fran. I get that is not all Fran's fault. That said, Mr. Davis was more fan friendly than Fran. Fran is very cerebral and quick, but he aint warm and fuzzy. Mr. Davis was huggable. You know that is the truth.
If you were WV would you hire a midmajor coach who contractually told you he preferred to be at another school whose coach was in his 60s and whose attendance was being doubled by the women's program? Come on.
Dang I hadn't heard that. Being offered that by the school after 1 yr (hell not even after it's smack dab in the middle of his first yr) is the school acknowledging that they have 1. A hot commodity on their hands and 2. that they underpaid him to start with. I can see their fan base feeling that type of way over it all. The dots all connect to that he'd like to be Iowa's coach. I'm just not so sure the timing of everything with the financials being what they are will be conducive to making that happen. But maybe...
That sort of thing I would think only happens with coaches that have some clout to them. For lack of a better example say Alford woulda put that into his contract for being able to go to Indiana (obviously he never seemed to have that ambition) while he was at Iowa, NM or any of his stops since.
There is no way $300 million would go to renovations whatsoever. Liestikow’s article even says “tens of millions."
I just think people compare Davis and Fran not considering that the environment was 100 times easier during Davis’ run. No NIL to contend with, recruiting was way easier and more regional (even before NIL).
I agree with this post, with the caveat that the brand of ball Mr. Davis played would probably not be as successful in the modern BTen. Back in the day, Iowa could count on a handful of BTen wins because of their press alone. Northwestern would literally have trouble crossing midcourt vs the Hawks on most possessions. Those days are long gone: every school has quick, athletic PGs and athletes, which is why so few teams press anymore -- you're as likely to give up an easy basket as get a turnover.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Big Ten basketball in the 1980s and early 90s was shark infested waters.
I'm with you KC. I like both Fran and Davis. I think they've actually had remarkably similar tenures. If you remove the first 2 or 3 years for each (which you could argue they weren't completely responsible for), I think it is really difficult to figure out who was better.
I laughed when I saw that too. 400 million? You could implode Carver, and rebuild it twice for that. She wants to take out the top 10 rows and make "luxury" boxes. Fry, we could knock that out with some day workers in a 3-day weekend!
I agree, but every coach in their respective eras played under the same rules and conditions. The tournament size has roughly stayed the same for both eras. NIL has only been a thing for two years so that is not a fair excuse. Conference expansion has not really been a big thing until this season. The reality is that Mr. Davis had modest to good tournament success and Fran has not. Like it or lump it, March Madness success is how most MBB coaches are judged. Fran has to own that. He has had many chances and has not gotten past the first weekend.
Their tenures are remarkably similar except for tournament success. That's like saying, both of those chicks are equally pretty except one of them has a really ugly face and the other does not.
Have you been to Kinnick in the past few years?
