How does Barta not look at Jacobson?

[eccpanther]

Jake doesn't have a one game resume. he has won the MVC regular seasen and tourny titles. He has his teams ready for every NCAA game and played every team close if not won. He was a recruiter for McDermot and knows what it takes to win in the state of Iowa, Unlike lick and Steve-O. UNI's players are plenty athletic for thier league and I'm sure he would be able to recruit better athletes to come play in the Big 10.

He may not be my top choice but when Bruce Pearl turns us down he may be our best option.

He played squat for teams this year. UNLV good win, and Kansas best win in school history. But other than Old Dominion they played no one. My point to this I don't care about how many games they won, cause they were not good teams.

 

[HawkeyeRyno]

I don't believe that Alford is even an average basketball coach. I think that Todd Lickliter could have challenged for postseason play this year had he been able to effectively relay his message to the players, perhaps even compromising just a bit, and keep them on campus.

It's obvious that Jacobson has total respect and adherence from his UNI squad. They've methodically beaten their opponents time and time again this year. What Barta has to decide, should Jacobson agree to an interview, is whether or not Ben will be able to get his message across to perhaps more egocentric players and recruits that a BCS conference school needs to compete.

Everyone talks up his relationships with players and how Lickliter didn't have that. Let's not forget Jacobson has been involved with the UNI program for quite some time (an assistant to Mac before head coach). So his relationships with the players go back to their middle school/high school playing days. This was also the case for Lickliter at Butler when he was an assistant and then got the head coaching position. But then when you take a head coaching position at a different school, you start from scratch. This failed with Lick and the risk could be there with Jacobson. So don't get too caught up with "relationships" please.

 

[KGHawk88]

Not the right choice at all for Iowa. Let him continue to grow at UNI and stay there.

Iowa needs someone who can recruit first off, and knows what it takes to win in a BCS conference.

Easy, we just do not hire him. I really like him also, I am on record of being extremely leery of any mid-majors unless they have the established recruiting connections. I Dooley, Laven, Collins, Groce (even though a mid-major) a Forbes all have those connections.

The first route is to go an existing BCS coach, Drew, Dixon (my personal fav, for I think Wright is not a possibility) all have those connections. I just think with Lick we have been there and done that. Look at his team, he does not have the existing AAU connections to compete. He can coach the hell out of the game, but that is 25% of the battle getting the kids there is the major issue at Iowa. IF I was hiring at an established school I would look at Jake, because I think you get kids there with your name.

 

[championdrinker]

Everyone talks up his relationships with players and how Lickliter didn't have that. Let's not forget Jacobson has been involved with the UNI program for quite some time (an assistant to Mac before head coach). So his relationships with the players go back to their middle school/high school playing days. This was also the case for Lickliter at Butler when he was an assistant and then got the head coaching position. But then when you take a head coaching position at a different school, you start from scratch. This failed with Lick and the risk could be there with Jacobson. So don't get too caught up with "relationships" please.

Like I said in my post, that is what the interview process is for.

 

[eccpanther]

Jake doesn't have a one game resume. he has won the MVC regular seasen and tourny titles. He has his teams ready for every NCAA game and played every team close if not won. He was a recruiter for McDermot and knows what it takes to win in the state of Iowa, Unlike lick and Steve-O. UNI's players are plenty athletic for thier league and I'm sure he would be able to recruit better athletes to come play in the Big 10.

He may not be my top choice but when Bruce Pearl turns us down he may be our best option.

In fact the weak games could have kept them out of the tournament had they not got a auto bid.

 

[hawknut1]

Not the right choice at all for Iowa. Let him continue to grow at UNI and stay there.

Iowa needs someone who can recruit first off, and knows what it takes to win in a BCS conference.

Right, don't want him, the valley sucked this year, and Kansas had there head up there butt today. They had more trouble with UNLV , please!

 

[DDThompson]

He's not on the list. It's not his fault. It's the circumstances.

He's following Lickliter, a mid-major coach that demonstrated an inability to recruit and McDermott, a former UNI coach that has demonstrated an inability to beat anyone except Neb, Col, . . . and Iowa.

 

[eccpanther]

He's not on the list. It's not his fault. It's the circumstances.

He's following Lickliter, a mid-major coach that demonstrated an inability to recruit and McDermott, a former UNI coach that has demonstrated an inability to beat anyone except Neb, Col, . . . and Iowa.

I think that list is fine to stop at Nebraska and Colorado........

 

[DDThompson]

LOL. True.

But facts are facts.

 

[MeanDrunkR2D2]

Not the right choice at all for Iowa. Let him continue to grow at UNI and stay there.

Iowa needs someone who can recruit first off, and knows what it takes to win in a BCS conference.[/QUOTE]

Okay and if you don't have anyone who fits that criteria that wants to come to Iowa what do you do now?

Then you just stop having a basketball team if you cannot find a BCS level head coach that knows how to win or a great assistant to a coach who knows how to win in a BCS conference.

Now, since we are playing the game of "what if", what if we hired Jacobsen and he fell flat on his face and lost even more games than lickliter in 3 years? Would you still be talking about that great win he had with a senior laden experience team at UNI that beat Kansas?

Thanks, but no thanks. I'll take a top notch assistant at a BCS winner over Jacobsen in a heart beat.

 

[jshawks]

I wouldn't say Jake was my first choice as head coach, but I believe he would be successful in the Big 10, and I would be behind him 100%. I think he gets the style of play that it will take to win in the Big 10, and his recruiting relationships in Minneapolis and Chicago certainly wouldn't hurt us. Anyone thinking Jake is going to be at UNI much longer is just fooling themselves, and I would much rather have him on our side versus going to Minnesota if Tubby leaves.

 

[shonblatt]

I don't think Jake should be ignored as a candidate. He's proven a lot over the past two years, and I think he'd be successful at the major college level.

But at the same time, I'm not sure Jake is ready to move up a step AND rebuild a program, which is pretty much what is necessary at Iowa right now. Bringing Jake into this mess would probably take a bit longer to see results than a guy with established recruiting pipelines.

 

[UP6936]

To the people hooked on a return to the Tom Davis "style" "lose to Duke by 20 in the NCAA tourney" on a regular basis : what part of that UNI / Kansas game we just saw was boring to you? Name the exact Hour / Minute / Second.. of even 1.."boring" moment...

Go back years ago when UNI was not in this thing at all. Fast forward to now. UNI just beat #1 seeded and ranked team in the NCAA and let the entire way sans a few seconds at the very beginning.

Thats.. UNI...did this... .. U N I!!!

And your not interested in the coach that pulled that off?

Oooo k.

This was an NCAA Tournament, one-and-done, all chips on the table game. How many post-season tournaments do not have a certain level of excitement. It is the circumstances that are exciting, NOT the style of play!

Its the games in November, December, January and February that need jazzing up, and Jacobsen's style will not do that!

Yes, he's a heck of a coach, but he's not the only one out there. No more slow play! No more half-court play! I want the run and gun! I want full-court pressure defense! I want the Hawks to score 80, 90, even 100 points on a consistent basis.

We've done the half-court, slow play thing for the last two coaches. ENOUGH! Let's get the Hawks back to what they are supposed to be, high-flying and high scoring!

 

[HawkI101]

This was an NCAA Tournament, one-and-done, all chips on the table game. How many post-season tournaments do not have a certain level of excitement. It is the circumstances that are exciting, NOT the style of play!

Its the games in November, December, January and February that need jazzing up, and Jacobsen's style will not do that!

Yes, he's a heck of a coach, but he's not the only one out there. No more slow play! No more half-court play! I want the run and gun! I want full-court pressure defense! I want the Hawks to score 80, 90, even 100 points on a consistent basis.

We've done the half-court, slow play thing for the last two coaches. ENOUGH! Let's get the Hawks back to what they are supposed to be, high-flying and high scoring!

That style of play also allows teams like Evansville (last place) beat you because they keep it close with a slow down tempo. Jake is a heck of a coach I would take him but there are others out there I would take ahead of him.

 

[AZmess]

I'd take Jake in a heart beat but have heard that he wouldnt be interested.

I just disagree with everyone that don't think he'd be a good fit because of reasons that have ZERO to do with his actual ability but because of the failure of others.

 

[Rawkhawk73]

That style of play also allows teams like Evansville (last place) beat you because they keep it close with a slow down tempo. Jake is a heck of a coach I would take him but there are others out there I would take ahead of him.

Jacobsen pluses and minuses:

Pluses-
1. Excellent in game coach - shows great substitution patterns; ability to change tactics on the fly and when the matchups dictate
2. Great leader of men - players love him and love playing for him
3. Conveys an aura of confidence regardless of the situation (a la KF and in complete contrast to TL) - never too high or too low
4. Established recruiting pipelines in Minnesota and Illinois
5. Understands Iowa and the challenges it would represent

Minuses-
1. No history of rebuilding a program from scratch - inherited a solid, stable program
2. No history of consistently winning against top-level competition game-in and game-out
3. Never been an assistant or head coach at a BCS-level program
4. Assistant for only one head coach in his career - no chance to learn under different coaches

While the pluses are great and would be an upgrade from any pluses the previous coach had, the negatives are still too great and too many to take a chance given what we have just experienced from our previous two coaches. Had either SA or TL never existed at Iowa (and GM at ISU to a lesser extent), then our new coach would be a no-brainer. However, I think he still needs 3-4 more years of "polish" before he'd be ready to take over a program that presents as many challenges as Iowa's does right now. However, having said that, if none of our other major targets pan out, I will not have a huge issue in having him as a "fall back".