Defending Fran's recruiting

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PCHawk

Well-Known Member
I figured I would make a list of the players Fran recruited to make a case for why he is not a bad recruiter. Feel free to give your own opinions on each player. I'm not including the people who are no longer on the team.

White- pretty obvious he was a good pickup.

Olaseni- as much as he has improved and where we were as a program at the time. I would say he's about the best Fran could have hoped for.

Oglesby- he was a top 150 guy and a 3 point specialist which every team needs. I don't think iowa passes up on an in state guy like that, especially where we were as a program.

Woodbury- top 50 recruit. Obviously a good pickup.

Gesell-top 100 guy. Again I think at the time he was a no brainer.

Clemmons- you could definitely argue Fran could have found someone better here but again our program was in the tank at the time so hard to dog this pickup too much.

Jok- mr. basketball in Iowa and a great shooter. Also a huge ceiling but also a huge question mark on if he could reach that ceiling. I personally think it was a good gamble at the time, but the verdict's not in yet.

Uthoff- top 100-150 guy and a steal from Wisconsin. Good pickup.

Dickerson- fran needed immediate help and brought in the number 1 rated juco after missing on Ulis. Could have done better but circumstances out of his control happened and he brought in the best backup available.

Uhl- at this point he should have probably found better recruits but Uhl is starting to show signs of being better than his ranking.

Ellingson- again we needed a great 3 point shooter and we got 1. Also at this point Fran could have maybe found a higher rated player.

I think this year's freshmen is the first year where Fran probably should have recruited better. But it's also unfair to say that until the players get some more playtime. I really don't see any way Fran could have passed on or done better than the players we have. If we had a starting point guard that was playing like a top 100 recruit should play as a junior, and a lights out shooting guard that was playing like a top 150 recruit that was recruited as a shooter should be playing as a senior, we would not be worried one bit about Fran's recruiting right now.
 
Recruiting isn't always about the ones you get... the ones you failed to identify and or get are the key

Agree that you have to get the instate guys
 
I think the key is to keep in mind where we were when Fran started. Yes, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. Let's also keep in mind that Fran and staff had to do a fair about of establishing connections within the region. Recruiting is always a crapshoot, and some players haven't panned out. I agree JO was a must get.

Keep in mind that one of the very biggest beefs we had as a fan base was not closing the borders. We lost Paige and Uthoff, but got Uthoff back. Fran wasn't here long enough to have a real shot at these two out of high school. Fran has closed the borders by otherwise getting all of the top kids in Iowa. That they haven't panned out is a risk taken on every recruit.

Let's not take our frustration with kfootball out on Fran. Fran has struggled with getting the 6-8/9 240-250 type power player, but he still deserves our support and patience.
 
hwks1 said:
Recruiting isn't always about the ones you get... the ones you failed to identify and or get are the key

Agree that you have to get the instate guys
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I think one of if not the biggest skill a coach at iowa needs is the ability to spot underrated talent. I think that is Fran's strong suit and I think it will show with next year's class.
 
ArvadaHawk said:
I think the key is to keep in mind where we were when Fran started. Yes, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. Let's also keep in mind that Fran and staff had to do a fair about of establishing connections within the region. Recruiting is always a crapshoot, and some players haven't panned out. I agree JO was a must get.

Keep in mind that one of the very biggest beefs we had as a fan base was not closing the borders. We lost Paige and Uthoff, but got Uthoff back. Fran wasn't here long enough to have a real shot at these two out of high school. Fran has closed the borders by otherwise getting all of the top kids in Iowa. That they haven't panned out is a risk taken on every recruit.

Let's not take our frustration with kfootball out on Fran. Fran has struggled with getting the 6-8/9 240-250 type power player, but he still deserves our support and patience.
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I think a lot of the frustration is with what's going on in Ames. Fred came in with a plan and it worked better than most could have imagined. If we didn't have that to compare iowa too, people might not be so upset.
 
I haven't had time to read through all the threads since the ISU game. The issue is not Fran's recruiting. PCHawk laid it out pretty well. Fran has got the guys he should have, and has developed some under the radar guys. Next years class is a big step forward in the right direction.

Most posters don't understand basketball and just want to come to this board to spew their simple minded thoughts all over the place. As soon as they draw parallels to football, stop reading. Apples and oranges. If you think Iowa was better than ISU going into that game, or are going to contend for a B1G title this year, you might as well stop watching. Beat UNI and we are probably slightly ahead of expectations since we have the win @ UNC.

Go Hawks
 
Fran didn't come in and run players off...he started from the ground up. I like what he has done no need to defend what he has done. He has taken iowa from a laughingstock to the NCAA tournament.
 
I'm more worried about his Xs and Os.

the recruiting isn't going to get much better without winning.
 
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Bottom line - fran can't recruit above average out of state talent. Hoiberg can. The difference in talent, player by player, is remarkable. Fran prefers skinny gingers. Fred, not so much.
 
I hate to break the news to some of our fellow posters, but there is not a division 1 coach in college basketball that does not know about everything there is to know about x's and o's. Are you kidding me?
 
iowalaw said:
Bottom line - fran can't recruit above average out of state talent. Hoiberg can. The difference in talent, player by player, is remarkable. Fran prefers skinny gingers. Fred, not so much.
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I feel like White and Gabe are both above average talent. I think Uhl might be and Ellingson is definitely an above average shooter. I think in a couple years we won't look like an iowa team if you catch my drift. And I for one am pretty excited about that.
 
Three reasons why a program is successful:

1- Basic stellar talent recruited
2- Less than stellar talent recruited but developed
3- Talent is there/developed, and, X's & O's are appropriate

I'd argue lack of #1 has lead to #2, and #2 hasn't seen results IMO.
#3 not so sure about right now.
 
Fran can go after 4*/5* kids all day long, and if you're not winning you'll never get them....bottom line is you have to win with what you have to have kids give you any look at all.....He's not getting it done with what's on the court, and I don't give a rats a$$ what combination of kids you have.....we are probably in for some long days as the start of the B1G will soon be here....we need guards who can do something other than clank 3's, and dance around the perimeter like I've witnessed time and time again....get some cohesiveness on the court, get a little swagger, or chip on your shoulder and get after it....our kids look too scared at times, and it's extremely frustrating to watch....I don't care if we get beat by the ISU's of the world if the effort is there....we are the on a roller coaster at times, and we cannot seem to get off...we are up, then down, then up again.....we need shooters, we need heart, and we need a coach that will coach and stick w/7-8 kids that will get the job done....maybe Fran just needs to make some tougher decisions and sit kids down that aren't producing
 
PCHawk said:
I think a lot of the frustration is with what's going on in Ames. Fred came in with a plan and it worked better than most could have imagined. If we didn't have that to compare iowa too, people might not be so upset.
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I agree. But that is actually a reinforcement that Fran has locked down the top recruits, within the state. The Mayor isn't even trying to compete against Iowa for instate recruits. Having said that, Iowa needs to start beating ISU to maintain that in-state recruiting edge.
 
Seems to me that people want to give Fran all the credit for getting under the radar guys like White and Gabe but he gets a free pass on highly recruited guys that haven't worked out like Ogelsby and Mikey G.

Should wok both ways. And if he wants to tell fans how well Josh shoots in practice... Well that tells me it's mental and that's a coaches job to not only develop the talent physically, but mentally as well.

But in regards to recruiting, the next class excites me more than any previous classes.
 
ibahawkeye said:
Seems to me that people want to give Fran all the credit for getting under the radar guys like White and Gabe but he gets a free pass on highly recruited guys that haven't worked out like Ogelsby and Mikey G.

Should wok both ways. And if he wants to tell fans how well Josh shoots in practice... Well that tells me it's mental and that's a coaches job to not only develop the talent physically, but mentally as well.

But in regards to recruiting, the next class excites me more than any previous classes.
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The reason I give him a free pass on those 2 is because it's their shooting that is the reason they haven't worked out. He couldn't have forseen they would shoot so bad nor can he coach them into making shots.
 
doclee said:
I hate to break the news to some of our fellow posters, but there is not a division 1 coach in college basketball that does not know about everything there is to know about x's and o's. Are you kidding me?
Click to expand...

I really feel like it shouldn't even need to be explained why that's such an oversimplification.

There's a million different ways to implement things.
 
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