How can Iowa get these recruits?

H

HawkeyeNTexas

Well-Known Member
I was watching Illinois vs Texas last night and also some of the KSU game and was simply amazed by the athletes on each of the teams. First of all, it's amazing that a team like KSU can get those types of athletes. They have really been a team on the rise the past several years and have great recruiting classes.

You take a look at Iowa under TL, Alford, and Tom Davis and you really have to go back to Tom Davis's team of BJ, Marble, and Horton to really find a solid team of athletes at Iowa. And yes, I know their are other years where Iowa had a "good" team under Davis and even Alford, but their were really no dominant players on the teams. As we all know, Davis took Iowa to the NCAA tourney year after year, but I think towards the end of his career fans became tired of Iowa getting no farther than the Sweet 16. Looking back now, we would all take the sweet 16 in a heartbeat these days.

The book has yet to be written on Fran and what type of athletes he can bring in, but what will it take to get these types of athletes to come to Iowa? Let's be honest, the fastest way to the NBA is not through Iowa. Why did Harrison Barnes go to UNC? Easy answer if you ask me. I wouldn't go to Iowa or Iowa State either if I was that good. The question is, how do we change that and get guys like that to commit?
 
If you build it, they will come. The key to getting studs is to win with lesser talent. There are exceptions to this, but they normally happen with teams who are in areas with larger talent pools.

Being a stellar recruiter helps also. The Davis team you named was inherited by Mr. Davis. Raveling was a good recruiter. I admit I am young enough to have remembered seeing the team a little, but not aware enough to know whether there was a lot of hype for that team building up before the season.

For those who have been around longer, was there a lot of hype and expectations in the pre-Rivals/Scout Star Ratings era? Was recruiting as front and center as it is now, as far as fan interest is concerned?
 
HawkeyeNTexas said:
I was watching Illinois vs Texas last night and also some of the KSU game and was simply amazed by the athletes on each of the teams. First of all, it's amazing that a team like KSU can get those types of athletes. They have really been a team on the rise the past several years and have great recruiting classes.

The book has yet to be written on Fran and what type of athletes he can bring in, but what will it take to get these types of athletes to come to Iowa?
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I don't think we'll be doing the sorts of things that Kansas State does to get athletes. There are tons of rumors about their recruiting that I'll let you read about on your own, but the big stat is that their APR is 900, which sounds high because of the scale, but three years in a row below 925 will get you sanctioned. I guarantee we are not looking Kansas State as a model for our recruiting. Wisconsin would be a much better example.
 
The first step is to play a more exciting brand of basketball.
Not a slow-it-down (Lickliter), learn hundreds of half-court plays (McDermitt), style of ball.

Tell the recruits that we're going to get up and down the court, we're going to run, shoot, dunk, and play fast. That will get you athletes. From there, adapt your philosophy to your players.

If nothing else, you'll get the crowd back into it to watch exciting basketball.
 
Player development also plays a key role in this. Iowa basketball is still a ways away from attracting a recruit on the level of Harrison Barnes so the big way to get that level of talent is to develop the guys you invest in. Having a system in place, letting guys learn, gain experience in it, etc. Look at the football team. Ferentz did alot with little "talent" ratings-wise, but developed and grew what he had. It's a shame Iowa/ISU bball was in such disarray, because a guy like Barnes could have been worshipped in Iowa if he had stayed in state. From what I've read/heard he's a really classy guy and hopefully will rep the state well when he goes pro next year.
 
I think Iowa should be more worried about recruiting against the likes of ISU and UNI's before they worry about teams like this that have inherent advantages that Iowa will never have. CBB is not nearly the same as it was even 10 years ago it is even more of a business than CFB. If your not willing to get dirty and take chances and your school isn't UNC, Duke, Florida, OSU, AZ, etc. then your going to be a non-factor for years to come. The rich are only going to get richer in CBB.

Illinois is Illinois, national champs, perennial Sweet 16 team. probably the second or third most storied program in B10 history, rabid fan and booster support.

Texas is texas, insane facilities and money, its in texas, and now a perrenial sweet 16 team with NC aspirations more years than not, and money.

KSU is an anomaly, but they have the best recruiter as a head coach, take chances on some character issues guys, okay with one or two and dones coming in, and they are in the Big 12 which is one of the top 3 bball conferences every year and NBA scouts watch heavily game in and game out.
 
It starts by coming up with a solid foundation in terms of coaching and style of play. Once you have that you insert the players as the coach sees fit. You don't need a team full of Harrison Barnes' to win. You need a team full of role players that fit the system. You do all of this the fans will come back and when they come back Iowa will be much more attractive.
 
goods10 said:
Did Butler have "superstars" last year when they made the NCAA championship game? I don't think so.
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Well they had Howard who is still there, probably twice as good as any player Iowa has now, also the Horizon 2008 POTY, and then they had Hayward who was a superstar all of last year and is now in the NBA and getting minutes, 2009 POTY in Horizon.

Butler was pre-season top 10 last year. They weren't that big of a surprise. You don't get that nod unless you have at least 1 superstar.
 
AaronBriggs said:
For those who have been around longer, was there a lot of hype and expectations in the pre-Rivals/Scout Star Ratings era? Was recruiting as front and center as it is now, as far as fan interest is concerned?
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I was pretty young back then too, and there weren't internet message boards so I really had no way to follow that type of thing back then, but I seem to remember there being alot of hype and excitement around us getting Roy Marble. Armstrong, Horton, etc. I can't say for sure.

I agree with another poster that said if you aren't one of the big programs, and you aren't in a heavily populated state, you are going to remain irrelevant if you aren't a good recruiter, and/or don't take a few chances when recruiting. Not to minimize the impact of a good coach, but these guys aren't miracle workers - they need good personnel to put on the floor.
 
Iowa needs to get lucky and find a kid like Ronnie Lester(very underrated out of HS) or Wes Johnson(ISU..was hurt his last year in HS) or someone like that.

It is harder for recruits to remain undiscovered these days with the AAU exposure in the summers and the internet.

Or, we could have a recruit whose father or mother played at Iowa like the Stokes girl, who went for the alma mater.

Texas just seems to be able to re-load every year. Thompson and Joseph were highly ranked players out of Findlay Prep who Barnes wooed to Texas. Is it Barnes or Austin that lures players in?
 
clicheusername3 said:
I think Iowa should be more worried about recruiting against the likes of ISU and UNI's before they worry about teams like this that have inherent advantages that Iowa will never have. CBB is not nearly the same as it was even 10 years ago it is even more of a business than CFB. If your not willing to get dirty and take chances and your school isn't UNC, Duke, Florida, OSU, AZ, etc. then your going to be a non-factor for years to come. The rich are only going to get richer in CBB.

Illinois is Illinois, national champs, perennial Sweet 16 team. probably the second or third most storied program in B10 history, rabid fan and booster support.

Texas is texas, insane facilities and money, its in texas, and now a perrenial sweet 16 team with NC aspirations more years than not, and money.

KSU is an anomaly, but they have the best recruiter as a head coach, take chances on some character issues guys, okay with one or two and dones coming in, and they are in the Big 12 which is one of the top 3 bball conferences every year and NBA scouts watch heavily game in and game out.
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Bizarre.

As openers, Illinois has NEVER won a National Championship in basketball--either men or women, or in Football...and probably never will. (in the modern era, until Alford & Lickliter ran our program into the ground, the Hawkeye men had a slight edge on the Ilwhinney in head-to-head competition, the same number of Big Ten titles, more NCAA appearances & more NCAA tournament wins. And while the Iowa women rank with Ohio State & Purdue in BT wins, championships, NCAA tournament appearances, in thirty years Illannoy women have shared ONE BT title. And in the modern era, Hawkeye football has more wins, more titles, more top finishes, more bowl wins.

If you want to talk about BT hoops winners, why on earth mention Illannoy instead of Michigan State...or in the is decade Wisconsin.

As for Texas, like Illinois they have never won a national championship either. Fewer NCAA tournnament appearances, fewer NCAA tournament victories, fewer Final Fours than Iowa.

If you are going to talk about the Big 12, why not talk about the Big6-Big 8-Big 12 school that has actually won national championships--Kansas (the only other Big 12 school that ever won was Oklahoma once).

Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma--not exactly a list of high school hoops hotbeds. More like the state of Iowa actually.

The name that OUGHT to catch your attention here is Wisconsin. Unlike an academic cesspool like KS State or an institution with considerably lower admissions requirements and standards like Kansas or Oklahoma, the University of Wisconsin draws from a relatively small recruiting base and like Iowa has to find kids who can get admitted under more stringent terms--and still wins.

But back when Iowa was winning under O'Connor, Miller, Olson & Davis, Wisky was fighting Northwestern to escape last place in the BT ear after year. The explanation is quite simple: when Iowa was hiring Alford, the Badgers brought in Bo Ryan.

We are now at a point where it may take some time for us to learn whether Fran McCaffery is Iowa's hire of a Bo Ryan equivalent.
 
IMO. Fran has tons of things going for him. Got old players and coaches involved. The energy is off the charts which frankly Iowa needed bad. Iowa will be exciting team to watch. ISU, UNI had blips that is great for them neither one his a successful program. Fran and Company put Iowa back as successful program.
 
HawkeyeNTexas said:
You take a look at Iowa under TL, Alford, and Tom Davis and you really have to go back to Tom Davis's team of BJ, Marble, and Horton to really find a solid team of athletes at Iowa. And yes, I know their are other years where Iowa had a "good" team under Davis and even Alford, but their were really no dominant players on the teams. As we all know, Davis took Iowa to the NCAA tourney year after year, but I think towards the end of his career fans became tired of Iowa getting no farther than the Sweet 16. Looking back now, we would all take the sweet 16 in a heartbeat these days.
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Tom Davis had NOTHING to do with those guys coming to Iowa. Let's get that straight. He was the beneficiary of George Raveling's ability to recruit.
 
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