Harty: Is Fran still the man with the plan?

JonDMiller said:
Harty mentions the Raveling years and part of the Davis era for great recruiting. Davis' 'great recruiting' was here and there and threadbare, hardly consistent. Raveling did the best at bringing in talent, but that said...well, I will just leave that alone except to say it probably wasn't sustainable ;)

It has been, and always will be, tough to recruit to Iowa. You will always miss on more of your targets than hit on them. WIth Ulis, it was bad luck...some mega kid chose SMU over Kentucky, which then sent off some dominoes that led them to offer Ulis.
Click to expand...

Agreed, Iowa has to have a coach that can coach and has an eye to be able to develop kids that can fly under the radar. Fran started off in a sinkhole and has been trying to fill it since he got to Iowa. The one thing I can say is that no matter when Fran is gone, the program is now back on track and the coach following him my reap the rewards more than Fran himself.

Iowa is a terrible place to recruit top talent, but it is possible to snag a few, I like that Fran has no fear in recruiting and is shooting for the top level talent. It shows confidence, but it also provides some insight into what type of player he covets. If he strikes out, then he attempts to get players in the same mold, if they are there. Fran has done a tremendous job since he has gotten to Iowa and I expect to see Iowa get more players like Hutton to Iowa. There has been a major upgrade in talent since Fran has gotten to Iowa, now it needs to develop, the program is in great shape.
 
Iowa needs the quality of players Fran seems to be going for... even though he's not reeling many of them in. Iowa needs a legitimate 4 so Iowa can have some defense other than the post position.
 
HomerChampless said:
A favorite for you, yes. But does that mean he was any good?
Click to expand...

There is a gaping canyon between "great" and "not ANY good". I didn't get to see Boyle play, but I'd be willing to bet the house that he fell someone in that canyon. Lute wasn't Lickliter, so if a guy was good enough to play for the kind of teams Lute had, he had to have some kind of value on the floor. You didn't get to play just by showing up.
 
Kevin was a starting guard on the 1981 gold medal World Univ. games. Sr. year Iowa MVP, S.I. elite Defensive team. Jr. year 1st team all big ten. So year 2nd team all BT, Fr year 3rd team all BT Homer I think I would just quit talking.
HomerChampless said:
A favorite for you, yes. But does that mean he was any good?
Click to expand...
 
JonDMiller said:
He's doing alright
Click to expand...


There can be no doubt about that, Fran is getting it done quite nicely.....


Boyle was a heady player who was essential to the team. Sort of a Kenyon Murray type player. Lot of what he did didn't show up in the stats.....

Northwestern fans and players hated him for going to Iowa.....

Friend saw him and Krafcisin in the men's room at the Who concert in DM at Vets....

:rolleyes:
 
jacknicholson said:
There can be no doubt about that, Fran is getting it done quite nicely.....


Boyle was a heady player who was essential to the team. Sort of a Kenyon Murray type player. Lot of what he did didn't show up in the stats.....

Northwestern fans and players hated him for going to Iowa.....

Friend saw him and Krafcisin in the men's room at the Who concert in DM at Vets....

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...


Fran is to savvy and hard working not to be successful at Iowa. He has laid a pretty good foundation and now all he has to do is build upon it. Iowa basketball is going to look a lot different in a couple of years.
 
Tierney said:
Fran is to savvy and hard working not to be successful at Iowa. He has laid a pretty good foundation and now all he has to do is build upon it. Iowa basketball is going to look a lot different in a couple of years.
Click to expand...

I must agree with you and Sportstalent, Tierney. Enjoy posts from both of you.....

:rolleyes:
 
“The bottom line is you recruit 150 guys and you end up with three,” McCaffery said. “Some of them, we’ll eliminate. Some will eliminate us. And some, we’ll go right down to the wire with and we’ll come in second.”

This is one of the many reasons I love Fran. It's all about the big picture. It reminds me of his quote from a couple of years ago when he said "I never panic."
 
WindsorHawk said:
“The bottom line is you recruit 150 guys and you end up with three,â€￾ McCaffery said. “Some of them, we’ll eliminate. Some will eliminate us. And some, we’ll go right down to the wire with and we’ll come in second.â€￾

This is one of the many reasons I love Fran. It's all about the big picture. It reminds me of his quote from a couple of years ago when he said "I never panic."
Click to expand...

Well that's just not true, we only ended up with one last year.
 
Fran is still the man. Despite his volcanic eruptions and lack luster recruiting. We've gone from being a total embarrassment to middle of the pack in a decent conference. 2015 is key for Fran. He needs to get us into the NCAAs and win a couple games. I would say anything short or Sweet 16 will be a disappointment.
 
hawkforlife9 said:
Fran is still the man. Despite his volcanic eruptions and lack luster recruiting. We've gone from being a total embarrassment to middle of the pack in a decent conference. 2015 is key for Fran. He needs to get us into the NCAAs and win a couple games. I would say anything short or Sweet 16 will be a disappointment.
Click to expand...

Prepare to be disappointed. I want Fran to succeed but next year could be rugged, as Jon pointed out in a centerpiece article on the home page a few weeks ago. We lose Marble's points in a year we play tougher out-of and in-conference competition. Depending on who steps up, 2015-16 could be a more dynamic year for Iowa hoops. I think April 2016 will be a make or break month for Fran.
 
LawVHawk said:
Prepare to be disappointed. I want Fran to succeed but next year could be rugged, as Jon pointed out in a centerpiece article on the home page a few weeks ago. We lose Marble's points in a year we play tougher out-of and in-conference competition. Depending on who steps up, 2015-16 could be a more dynamic year for Iowa hoops. I think April 2016 will be a make or break month for Fran.
Click to expand...

I think as a fan base we need to stop with the 'if this does not happen by such and such a date then' comments. We are not and never have been a blue blood basketball program. We have some strong challenges to continually overcome and there is not a lot of room for upward mobility in our conference.

Fran has us right on course to take a long view. By this I mean we are solid now and should be able to compete for a 4-8 spot in the B1G most years. Some years that will mean NIT others NCAA. We will graduate good players each year but fill in with a couple of new comers with potential or who can play. Then every so often we catch lightning in a bottle and have a super year. Slowly we upgrade our recruits a notch.

Enjoy it and stop thinking we are something we are not only to end up in a real bad spot by making a rash decision due to over heightened expectations. We need some long term stability now more than anything.
 
SpecialKHawk said:
I think as a fan base we need to stop with the 'if this does not happen by such and such a date then' comments. We are not and never have been a blue blood basketball program. We have some strong challenges to continually overcome and there is not a lot of room for upward mobility in our conference.

Fran has us right on course to take a long view. By this I mean we are solid now and should be able to compete for a 4-8 spot in the B1G most years. Some years that will mean NIT others NCAA. We will graduate good players each year but fill in with a couple of new comers with potential or who can play. Then every so often we catch lightning in a bottle and have a super year. Slowly we upgrade our recruits a notch.

Enjoy it and stop thinking we are something we are not only to end up in a real bad spot by making a rash decision due to over heightened expectations. We need some long term stability now more than anything.
Click to expand...

I doubt if the players or coaches think the way you do. Iowa is going to be a good team next year, and as hard as the coaching staff works they will only get better.
 
Mr. Davis sure had some nice things to say about Hoiberg. On Murph &Andy. Wonder what he really thinks of coach because he seemed to dodge any direct praise when asked about the Iowa program. like it or not The Dr .Tom yrs. is where the measuring stick lies with many fans.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top