Connor McCaffery Receives One of Open Scholarships

1hawkeye1 said:
I'm not sure how to feel about this... why does the son of a man bringing home millions need a scholarship? Wouldn't it be better to bank it and use it for someone else? How does this work with baseball? Why doesn't he get a baseball scholarship instead?
I honestly don't understand how this works. Can someone school me on all this?
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My assumption is that Fran and Heller worked all the details out and agreed that the scholarship would come from the basketball team or out of frans pocket.

I don't have a problem with connor getting a scholarship. With the rate at which kids transfer for more playing time...might as well give it to a kid you know isn't going anywhere
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
Why does a millionare's son need a scholarship?
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I don't think it should be about 'need' The kid has earned it the same way many others have all over the country. He was a 4 star highly though of player in HS. Many schools would have taken him and given the same scholly to him. Lots of kids that come from well to do families have gotten and will continue to get them. If the kid earns/deserves one then good for them. I'm not taking anything away from a kid just because his parents can afford it.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I don't think it should be about 'need' The kid has earned it the same way many others have all over the country. He was a 4 star highly though of player in HS. Many schools would have taken him and given the same scholly to him. Lots of kids that come from well to do families have gotten and will continue to get them. If the kid earns/deserves one then good for them. I'm not taking anything away from a kid just because his parents can afford it.
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He would've got a scholly somewhere, but I don't know about a power 5 school. I don't care what ESPN ranks him. If you watch his film, or live, there is no way that he is 4 star talent. Even Fredricks kid looks to have more potential. Add that to trying to balance 2 D1 sports on top of full load of studies; I don't see it working out well.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
I wouldn't. Commies have a much worse record of mass murder
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Was referring to now. Ironically 2 of my best friends in this world are former Soviet Colonels. One was in charge of redoing Ton Son Nhut to Soviet standards. The other attributes the end of the Soviets to Beattles records being allowed. Neither were Party members. I know some though.

Something Americans dont get is that Soviets were enterprising people who used idiology to exploit. When the collapse happened the instant rich were largely collective managers and commies who were enterprising enough to steal collective assets.
 
SheagleHawk said:
He would've got a scholly somewhere, but I don't know about a power 5 school. I don't care what ESPN ranks him. If you watch his film, or live, there is no way that he is 4 star talent. Even Fredricks kid looks to have more potential. Add that to trying to balance 2 D1 sports on top of full load of studies; I don't see it working out well.
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Well since most ever school stayed away from recruiting him due to the obvious we'll never know the answer to this. He's a 6'5 ball handling combo guard. He isn't going to blow by anyone or be any better at defense than who we already have most likely I'll give you that. But I think he'll be a solid floor leader. I think when open he can knock down shots. He's a 4.0 student I think he's got the school work side covered. We'll see how the 2 sport thing goes. He's not even playing baseball this year just going through the practice motions for now and getting in his cuts. So he'll be playing hoops again before baseball competitively. I'm not writing him off until he gets a fair shake out there.
 
InGoodCo said:
He's worthy of one and could get one at other schools and there is room. Also plenty of wealthy scholarship players in every sport. Does Keyshawn Johnson Jr. need one? No, but he has one. Only 5 players can play at a time in college basketball, honestly, they don't 13 of them.
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I think it is a waste of scholarship that could be used on getting someone that we really need. He is going to be here anyway as long as daddy is coaching the team (and they can certainly afford it), so use the scholarship on someone you need.

It is just tactically and self-servingly foolish on Fran's part.
 
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hawkdrummer1 said:
I wouldn't. Commies have a much worse record of mass murder
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Truth.

The high officials in the Commie Party members were oligarchs.

The Chinese Commie Party boss is attempting to remove the olyg and put his mon in the archy.
 
This disappoints me not in the fact that Conner doesn't deserve a scolly (he does) Its more in the fact that I thought, by what I was reading, Fran was gonna do whatever it took to turn this thing around. I thought that meant saving the open scolly to bring in a grad student or juco guard. That now does not seem to be the plan and he's doubling down on the current team which may or may not have some of its most important cogs coming back. Even a healthy Conner and Weiskamp won't change Iowa's defense much. Maybe 2 or 3 more wins at max maybe less. Am I the only one that feels this way?
 
dahlhawk said:
This disappoints me not in the fact that Conner doesn't deserve a scolly (he does) Its more in the fact that I thought, by what I was reading, Fran was gonna do whatever it took to turn this thing around. I thought that meant saving the open scolly to bring in a grad student or juco guard. That now does not seem to be the plan and he's doubling down on the current team which may or may not have some of its most important cogs coming back. Even a healthy Conner and Weiskamp won't change Iowa's defense much. Maybe 2 or 3 more wins at max maybe less. Am I the only one that feels this way?
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Something tells me we'll win more than just 2 or 3 more from last year. You would think the team would be motivated to turn it around this year after face planting last season, if nothing else.
 
HaydenHawk56 said:
I think it is a waste of scholarship that could be used on getting someone that we really need. He is going to be here anyway as long as daddy is coaching the team (and they can certainly afford it), so use the scholarship on someone you need.

It is just tactically and self-servingly foolish on Fran's part.
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Let's just say that I agree with you and so does Fran. If Fran needs the room and has a guy he can bring in, he's going to do it. He has already floated around the idea when we were full coming into this year. I am sure he would do it in 19, 20 or 21 with either Patrick or Connor if there is a player that Fran wants. But facts are facts, there's open spots right now and there's likely going to be more. But back to point, Iowa doesn't need 14 scholarship worthy players, they need 6 or 7 B1G worthy players instead of the 4 or 5 they have. Also, how do you sell playing time to incoming recruits if you have a roster with 14 scholarship players? How do you keep everyone happy? The answer is, you don't and you have a cluster f like right meow.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Well since most ever school stayed away from recruiting him due to the obvious we'll never know the answer to this. He's a 6'5 ball handling combo guard. He isn't going to blow by anyone or be any better at defense than who we already have most likely I'll give you that. But I think he'll be a solid floor leader. I think when open he can knock down shots. He's a 4.0 student I think he's got the school work side covered. We'll see how the 2 sport thing goes. He's not even playing baseball this year just going through the practice motions for now and getting in his cuts. So he'll be playing hoops again before baseball competitively. I'm not writing him off until he gets a fair shake out there.
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The idea that he won't be good at defense is pretty much based entirely on his pigmentation. We haven't seen enough of him playing healthy at a college level to know if that is true or not. He is long, he is fairly sturdy, and he seems to be a smart basketball player. From his success as a multi-sport athlete, I am guessing he has good hands. Those 4 things combined give you a pretty good head-start on being a solid defender.

Elite quickness certainly helps to be a good defender, but it is not a prerequisite, nor is it a guarantee. Using the NBA as an example, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and James Harden are all below-average defenders with good quickness. Jamal Crawford has been one of the most dangerous off-the-dribble players his entire career, but he has always been a bad defender.

On the flip side, Ricky Rubio has been one of the best perimeter defenders in the league his entire career because he is smart, has good hands, and is long. Marc Gasol won a defensive player of the year with middle-of-the-pack athleticism. Draymond Green's dominance on defense has little to do with quickness and much to do with strength, intelligence, and attitude.

Basically, that is a long-winded way to say I will wait and see if Connor is a good defender or not.
 
CP87 said:
The idea that he won't be good at defense is pretty much based entirely on his pigmentation. We haven't seen enough of him playing healthy at a college level to know if that is true or not. He is long, he is fairly sturdy, and he seems to be a smart basketball player. From his success as a multi-sport athlete, I am guessing he has good hands. Those 4 things combined give you a pretty good head-start on being a solid defender.

Elite quickness certainly helps to be a good defender, but it is not a prerequisite, nor is it a guarantee. Using the NBA as an example, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and James Harden are all below-average defenders with good quickness. Jamal Crawford has been one of the most dangerous off-the-dribble players his entire career, but he has always been a bad defender.

On the flip side, Ricky Rubio has been one of the best perimeter defenders in the league his entire career because he is smart, has good hands, and is long. Marc Gasol won a defensive player of the year with middle-of-the-pack athleticism. Draymond Green's dominance on defense has little to do with quickness and much to do with strength, intelligence, and attitude.

Basically, that is a long-winded way to say I will wait and see if Connor is a good defender or not.
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Pigmentation? It would have to do with his mentor/coach. Generally speaking a player as bad fundamentally at shooting isn't going to be fundamentally strong at other aspects.

He has good court awareness, good passing, and length.
 
HawkGold said:
Pigmentation? It would have to do with his mentor/coach. Generally speaking a player as bad fundamentally at shooting isn't going to be fundamentally strong at other aspects.

He has good court awareness, good passing, and length.
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Are you honestly trying to say a player who is not a good shooter is not likely to be a good defender? Because there is a boatload of anecdotal evidence to torpedo that position. Shooting is a technical skill. Defense is about awareness. They can both be coached, but they have entirely different underlying factors.

And his primary mentor/coach through his high school time was Steve Bergman, a future Iowa HOF coach who is known, above all, for being fanatic about defensive intensity and fundamentals. Up until the last year, it has not been Fran's job to coach his son, he has had other things to take care of.
 
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The season ended 6 weeks ago for Iowa. And the National Championship game was over a week ago. So it's not like Fran gave Connor a scholarship the day the season ended.

My guess is Fran had a very short list of guys he would consider for next year. They weren't interested in us. Or we vetted them and decided they weren't the right guys. We do still have an open scholarship if an elite talent suddenly puts Iowa at the top of their list.

And I think Connor deserves a scholarship...even if it means we can't add someone else. He is a D-1 talent and should receive the same treatment as other D-1 talents.
 
CP87 said:
Are you honestly trying to say a player who is not a good shooter is not likely to be a good defender? Because there is a boatload of anecdotal evidence to torpedo that position. Shooting is a technical skill. Defense is about awareness. They can both be coached, but they have entirely different underlying factors.

And his primary mentor/coach through his high school time was Steve Bergman, a future Iowa HOF coach who is known, above all, for being fanatic about defensive intensity and fundamentals. Up until the last year, it has not been Fran's job to coach his son, he has had other things to take care of.
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No, that's not what I said, or at least meant. Good defenders are usually good at fundamentals (OK Kevin Boyle wasn't). I didn't say he wasn't a decent shooter. His fundamentals are terrible at shooting. Generally if your shooting fundamentals aren't good at shooting they aren't going to be good in other areas. Shooting is a lot of mental.

Why would anyone expect Fran's son to be fundamentally sound at Defense?
 
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