is reaching a critical stage. Last year Iowa was last in the league in recruiting, and 2014 is not good again so far. The Illini just picked up DJ Williams, who is a concensus top 30 recruit for 2015. Groce has brought in 5 top 100 recruits since he took the job 1.5 years ago. Izzo, Beilein, Matta, Groce,Crean all are kicking our butts in recruiting...and even Ryan,Miles,Collins and Painter are beating us. In a few years Iowa could have the least talent in the league the way it is going. Time to correct this now, before it is too late....or Fran will find himself in KF's shoes...on the hot seat. Recruiting is the lifeblood for both sports but even more in bb. This fanbase will turn on a coach in a heartbeat, so get it going, Fran...cuz I think you are a great coach.
Fran's recruiting
- Thread starter JHHawk
- Start date
I realize this thread is taking up space from more Fire KF threads, but why not let Fran in on the joy of the Iowa fanbase.
hawkfarmer
Well-Known Member
Are you seriously worried about last year's last place finish? On sheer volume alone (1 recruit) how do you expect to finish with a great rated recruiting class?
I agree that this year has not gone as well as hoped, I think a lot of that hinged on Ulis. Most of the teams you mentioned above though were not in the basement 2/3 years ago and have won or are winning currently. Groce is the exception, but Illinois has been decent in the past 5 years, plus they have Chicago so I expect them to recruit better.
Yes, Fran needs to do a better job getting talent, but hopefully winning will be a big help. Hopefully next year the recruiting takes a swing upward.
As a previous poster mentioned, last year was a class of one, and he was a strange case of a previously high ranked player getting hurt and falling off the radar.
This year has been disappointing, and Groce is kicking ***- I hate to admit.
The class of 2014 is a concern, hopefully a successful season will lead to a successful 2015 class.
Husky28
Well-Known Member
Let's see... Can you tell me the stars/ranking of our best two players? Hint: Neither were top 100 recruits. Oh btw... those two are followed by 2 recruits that were ranked as top 100 recruits... As others said, you have to win on the big stage before you're able to pull in the big recruits from outside the state. Talk to us about Fran's recruiting when he ends up in the cellar of the B1G...
Not fair, I don't get to use this excuse.
On Fran recruiting, who is going to support the Woodbury, Gesell, Clemmons class when they are juniors and seniors (along with Uthoff)? Right now, Iowa will have Jok, Ellingson, and Uhl. With what Iowa loses after this season, will they drop off significantly without much added production from the past couple classes? I think they still have the talent for the next two seasons, but the two year gap in landing a great recruit could cause problems for the future. Sure you can get two and three stars with "potential", but "potential" is not what makes a team elite and competitive for the long haul.
I suppose no one told the coaches the recruiting season was over....dammit.
GoHawks24
Well-Known Member
Jeebus... are you serious, or just trying to troll? EVERYBODY already knows exactly what you just laid out, Captain Obvious. You act like Fran is only giving 80% of his effort into recruiting.
homes
Well-Known Member
Do you think the Illini are up to their old tricks? Does anyone have any tape recordings? Too soon? Have I set back recruiting the Chicago area for another 20 years?
deanvogs
Well-Known Member
Ok, here is the deal. Signing a 4* guarentees you nothing. Signing a top 125 kids does the same. I'll take a White and Marble, over a top 125 kid in Ogelsby any day.
I realize that getting top 100 kids increases the chances of them performing to that level, but what we need is a kid from each class to PLAY and PERFORM like a 4*, not necessarily be a 4*. IE we have Marble in our SR class that is that kid. We have White in the JR class that is that kid (not the top 125 Ogelsby BTW). We have Gesell, Woody, and Uthoff in our So. class. We have Jok in our FR who I think will be someone who performs like a White and Marble. I am a bit worried about this class as I don't think Ellingson is a 4* type performer, but maybe Uhl is, he had a lot of good offers.
2015 will be a huge class for Fran though. That is the year he need to make his mark recruiting, and bring in a couple top 75 kids. That would put them on campus when Gesell, Woody, and Uthoff are SR. and give them an opportunity to get their feet wet, without having to carry the team.
Hopefully when they're juniors they will still have all the seniors to support them. As far as when they're seniors, I'm not to worried that they haven't filled the class that comes in in 2 years.
Linesetter
Well-Known Member
The scary thing is you know that the 2 new young coaches are going to get some talent due to their pedigree (Collins and pitino), Groce is freaking killing it recruiting, Izzo and Matta always get good talent, a moron could get recruits to Indiana, Nebraska has the best facility in the country to sell and it doesn't seem to matter who Wisconsin recruits.
All that adds up to a really tough league to compete in. If a team isn't keeping up by bringing talent in then it makes it tough
All that adds up to a really tough league to compete in. If a team isn't keeping up by bringing talent in then it makes it tough
MeatMan
Well-Known Member
here, OP, read this thread first. we all had it out here. there was another one too, if i can find it.
http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/...ghts-around-poor-date-recruiting-results.html
http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/...ghts-around-poor-date-recruiting-results.html
Fran has so many things going for him. He can boast about NCAA wins, immediate playing time, he can promise 40 minutes or close to it in this system, he stepped into an ideal situation with a winning program and established recruiting pipelines, he can count on being able to get less gifted students easily into the university, the climate is unmatched, and on and on and on.
Wake up people. He has increased the win total by 7 each of the last two years. He has built a solid team and has identified talent that fits and often excels in his system. When we lose a recruit I've yet to hear anything negative said about Fran or the coaching staff ....in fact it's just the opposite. He and his staff are busting their butts to get top talent and we've been in the top two or three on a bunch of kids that this entire board wanted. We could have some kids we'll love in two years in the fold that some are lukewarm on now.
Iowa is not automatically entitled to the kids we want. We have to compete with other programs and we're not always going to win. We've got 11 guys that deserve to see the court this year and they are fighting for minutes as we speak. Fran has them working together for team goals and it's probably not the easiest of sells to land kids when they can see quality depth ahead of them. If you're a big and see Gabe and Woody for two/three years, if you're a point and see Sapp and Mike for three years, a forward and see Aaron and JU for two years and you do any homework you'll see the board is in love with Jok. We know Josh saw significant time his freshman and sophomore years. Meyer has had a redshirt year and most kids that "don't have it" don't get redshirts.
I want more top recruits too, but before we throw Fran under the bus because he hasn't yet met our recruiting expectations for this year, lets all take a deep breath and remember where we were and that he is the Big Ten preseason choice for coach of the year. Sorry about the rant, but lets sing his praises not try to bury him.
Wake up people. He has increased the win total by 7 each of the last two years. He has built a solid team and has identified talent that fits and often excels in his system. When we lose a recruit I've yet to hear anything negative said about Fran or the coaching staff ....in fact it's just the opposite. He and his staff are busting their butts to get top talent and we've been in the top two or three on a bunch of kids that this entire board wanted. We could have some kids we'll love in two years in the fold that some are lukewarm on now.
Iowa is not automatically entitled to the kids we want. We have to compete with other programs and we're not always going to win. We've got 11 guys that deserve to see the court this year and they are fighting for minutes as we speak. Fran has them working together for team goals and it's probably not the easiest of sells to land kids when they can see quality depth ahead of them. If you're a big and see Gabe and Woody for two/three years, if you're a point and see Sapp and Mike for three years, a forward and see Aaron and JU for two years and you do any homework you'll see the board is in love with Jok. We know Josh saw significant time his freshman and sophomore years. Meyer has had a redshirt year and most kids that "don't have it" don't get redshirts.
I want more top recruits too, but before we throw Fran under the bus because he hasn't yet met our recruiting expectations for this year, lets all take a deep breath and remember where we were and that he is the Big Ten preseason choice for coach of the year. Sorry about the rant, but lets sing his praises not try to bury him.
lightning1
Well-Known Member
I will throw this out there for posters to think about but I don't care to defend it, so don't get bent at me. Fran runs the same style that Mr. Davis did, with a 10 deep roster and lots of players getting minutes. That style of play often doesn't attract top recruits because they don't want to share minutes. That said, I think Fran is a much more active recruiter than Mr. Davis was, so I hope Fran can keep the pipeline full, as well as keep the top talent in state. That's something Mr. Davis could not do.
I think Fran and Iowa would be better off in the long run, if he would adjust the minutes to around 26-30 per game for the starters.
This is simply my opinion, so take it for what it's worth...not much.
I think Fran and Iowa would be better off in the long run, if he would adjust the minutes to around 26-30 per game for the starters.
This is simply my opinion, so take it for what it's worth...not much.
