Harty: Is Fran still the man with the plan?

[LawVHawk]

http://hawkcentral.com/2014/05/07/pat-harty-is-fran-still-the-man-with-the-plan/?odyssey=obinsite

Pat mostly seems to have read the message boards, then put in calls to Van Coleman and someone else. Sort of a lazy effort, really, but moderately interesting if you bleed black and gold.

 

[SpecialKHawk]

Actually a pretty fair article not just a slam effort for effect.

That is the rub but there has been a long term feeling of 'next level' about this program that I am not sure is realistic when you add up all the factors in play.

Any analysis needs to answer the next question which is if not Fran THEN WHAT? Starting over is a risky proposition and could mean a completely different style of play. The next hire has to be a home run to overcome the disadvantages at play and what are the odds of that? Especially when you are trying to attract a home run after turning over or forcing out multiple coaches now. Does that not say it is an us problem and not a you problem to potential candidates?

 

[BILLBUCKNER]

How does Whichita KS attract top bb talent? If places like that can. Iowa can.. Look at ISU for gosh sakes. Granted Freddy has done it with retreads so far.But talented ones.

 

[JonDMiller]

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.

 

[JonDMiller]

How does Whichita KS attract top bb talent? If places like that can. Iowa can.. Look at ISU for gosh sakes. Granted Freddy has done it with retreads so far.But talented ones.

WSU has developed top talent. They didn't attract four star players. Hoiberg chose to go this route, and it has worked well...and he employs a style that is straight NBA analytics, and like it or not, those 'NBA connections' are heard by the kids

 

[LawVHawk]

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.

Davis did his best with Raveling's recruits. After that, it was a steady trip down the steps of Carver Hawkeye until TD was shown he door. Always wondered what could have been like with Raveling as the assistant coach in charge of recruiting with Davis as the head coach.

 

[wundergrape]

Davis did his best with Raveling's recruits. After that, it was a steady trip down the steps of Carver Hawkeye until TD was shown he door. Always wondered what could have been like with Raveling as the assistant coach in charge of recruiting with Davis as the head coach.

Davis was plagued by bad luck. He was a snowstorm in '93 and a bad back in '96 away from having a couple of monster teams.

 

[tm3308]

Davis did his best with Raveling's recruits. After that, it was a steady trip down the steps of Carver Hawkeye until TD was shown he door. Always wondered what could have been like with Raveling as the assistant coach in charge of recruiting with Davis as the head coach.

Steady trip down? They took a step back, but they hardly kept falling for the next 10 years. He hit the second round and plateaued, with a Sweet Sixteen trip at the end.

 

[Truthteller]

What kind of columnist would interview other analysts to make a point? If he had a shred of pride, he should be having them interview him, not the other way around. Not only that, but the article was wrong, soft and reliant on some boob who lives in Las Vegas to draw the conclusions.

The lazy a$$ should do the work himself.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Steady trip down? They took a step back, but they hardly kept falling for the next 10 years. He hit the second round and plateaued, with a Sweet Sixteen trip at the end.

Dude, you're like 12 years old so don't lecture a guy LawVHawk JD about the Tom Davis Era. The lasting legacy of the Tom Davis Era is the Bruce Pearl scandal that tainted Iowa's name for decades around Chicagoland. Alford landed Pierce from the burbs. I think Fran landed some public league kid which has got to be our first decent player out of Chicago bince Ronnie Lester.

 

[LASBUR]

Kevin Boyle ?

 

[LASBUR]

When you think back. Lute really did a heck of a job recruiting at Iowa, Stokes Paine Lohous Ronnie Special K Kenny A. Brookins Where Ralph Miller tapped the Juco route with Sam Williams, Brown and JJ

 

[wundergrape]

Dude, you're like 12 years old so don't lecture a guy LawVHawk JD about the Tom Davis Era. The lasting legacy of the Tom Davis Era is the Bruce Pearl scandal that tainted Iowa's name for decades around Chicagoland. Alford landed Pierce from the burbs. I think Fran landed some public league kid which has got to be our first decent player out of Chicago bince Ronnie Lester.

I'm an old person, and I agree with him 100%. Davis pulled Kenyon Murray out of Michigan, Chris Kingsbury out of Ohio, and Ray Thompson out of (inner belt suburban) Chicago. All huge gets. The lasting legacy of Tom Davis was steady, consistent teams that were plagued by bad luck and the unfortunate and undeserved scarlet letter that was Raef Lafrentz - who wouldn't have come to Iowa if Dean Smith was our coach.

 

[wundergrape]

When you think back. Lute really did a heck of a job recruiting at Iowa, Stokes Paine Lohous Ronnie Special K Kenny A. Brookins Where Ralph Miller tapped the Juco route with Sam Williams, Brown and JJ

Don't forget Chris Pervall, too. It worked for Miller, though...gotta give him that.

Also, Ralph scored with Vidnovic and Calabria too. Not sure how highly recruited they were, but they were big players for us, neither one a juco.

 

[LASBUR]

Yep, Dick Jenson, Some how he got Ben Magilmore after he was in the service. Anyone know where Huston Breedlove came from. He was the guy that did all the dirty work on Sam Williams teams

Don't forget Chris Pervall, too. It worked for Miller, though...gotta give him that.

Also, Ralph scored with Vidnovic and Calabria too. Not sure how highly recruited they were, but they were big players for us, neither one a juco.

 

[DesMoinesHawki]

I think most fans agree Fran got us over the hump of being respectable in basketball. And now, we want more. Next year if Year #5 for Fran and Co. Not making the NCAA tourney is Year #5 won't sit well with fans because they will consider that a step back. Yes, the conference is one of the best. Yes, our schedule is going to be tough ... but that is the name of the game in basketball. Good teams win. Good teams get the recruits ... Good teams develop players. And so after nine seasons of having a coach that never took us to that next level, it will be hard for fans to keep the faith if we never exceed 9 conference wins or 20-22 wins.

Fran had a lot to overcome when he first started because he was basically trying to sell a gallon of milk that had already expired. Iowa basketball had become non-relevant and to the 16, 17, 18 year olds he was trying to sell to ... well, how do you sell a program that had been average at best during their lifetime. But now he does have Iowa back on the map. And so missing on some of these recruits is to be expected.

An NIT bid next year would absolutely be disappointing. On paper, this team should not have tanked like it did ... and next year we have players who have played quality minutes. But after this year's historic collapse, I have learned to temper expectations. If we go the next two years with NIT appearances? Well ... then I think the conversation changes.

 

[tweeterhawk]

I think most fans agree Fran got us over the hump of being respectable in basketball. And now, we want more. Next year if Year #5 for Fran and Co. Not making the NCAA tourney is Year #5 won't sit well with fans because they will consider that a step back. Yes, the conference is one of the best. Yes, our schedule is going to be tough ... but that is the name of the game in basketball. Good teams win. Good teams get the recruits ... Good teams develop players. And so after nine seasons of having a coach that never took us to that next level, it will be hard for fans to keep the faith if we never exceed 9 conference wins or 20-22 wins.

Fran had a lot to overcome when he first started because he was basically trying to sell a gallon of milk that had already expired. Iowa basketball had become non-relevant and to the 16, 17, 18 year olds he was trying to sell to ... well, how do you sell a program that had been average at best during their lifetime. But now he does have Iowa back on the map. And so missing on some of these recruits is to be expected.

An NIT bid next year would absolutely be disappointing. On paper, this team should not have tanked like it did ... and next year we have players who have played quality minutes. But after this year's historic collapse, I have learned to temper expectations. If we go the next two years with NIT appearances? Well ... then I think the conversation changes.

How big does that late season swoon loom now? A seeded appearance in the tournament, at least one first-round win, might have helped Fran land some of these recruiting targets who are going elsewhere. Would sure like to know what the heck happened internally in that last month.

 

[LASBUR]

It happened. Something like that can destroy a locker room. Bad deal. I don't even know what a coach could do about it. You cant change how people feel about a betrayal

 

[RocknRollface]

I'm an old person, and I agree with him 100%. Davis pulled Kenyon Murray out of Michigan, Chris Kingsbury out of Ohio, and Ray Thompson out of (inner belt suburban) Chicago. All huge gets. The lasting legacy of Tom Davis was steady, consistent teams that were plagued by bad luck and the unfortunate and undeserved scarlet letter that was Raef Lafrentz - who wouldn't have come to Iowa if Dean Smith was our coach.

Davis pulled in some really good players but allot of very average ones from around iowa too.

Overall great teacher average recruiter.

I wish Fran's players had half the grasp of fundamentals Davis' did.

 

[RocknRollface]

How big does that late season swoon loom now? A seeded appearance in the tournament, at least one first-round win, might have helped Fran land some of these recruiting targets who are going elsewhere. Would sure like to know what the heck happened internally in that last month.

Theres no doubt in my mind that we land a couple of these guys if not for collapsing at the end.