In State Recruiting?

jdk65

jdk65

Well-Known Member
After listening to Steve and Jon this morning I dont understand the importance of in state recruiting. When? Has either team been really successful with in state recruits? I think with the Hawk coachs we have chances of going where the real talent is and get players that can really play and make us successful faster. Yes we've had Brunner, Horner, Haluska... but alot of states have better every year than that. Lets go get'm where they are... dont settle for pretty good Iowa high school players.
 
If there are talented players in the state of Iowa, it's important for both Iowa and Iowa State to get them. 2012 is shaping up a potentially historic class in this state.

Steve and I agree that for both Iowa and Iowa State, it's important to get the best in your state...no question, and that's obvious. Where we disagree is that Steve believes Hoiberg is going to have a much greater 'in' with these kids because he is from Ames, played at Iowa State, etc. I think that will help. But I think that he'll still have to overcome the fact that the U of I is still the most favored nation in the state...and even though McCaffery is not from here, he'll still have that car with some of these kids. I could be wrong.

What would not be good, IMO, is if ISU started winning the majority of these in state head to head's...it will just make things a little tougher on Fran in the eyes of some, maybe shorten the honeymoon.

However, some kids might not go to either school...Paige from CR is already getting offers from far and wide.
 
just wondering how the Iowa kids compare on a yearly basis talent wise to other states we could recruit... Is a Joe Blow better in Iowa or from another part of the country... Rule #1 should be lets get the best we can, not " I better get the Iowa kids to make some people happy"
 
Harrison Barnes was the number 1 player in last years class
Marcus Paige is supposedly a top 25 player right now & the best pg
Woodbury will be a top 50 kid by the end of the summer
Peter Jok is supposed to be the next Harrison Barnes.

So to answer your question do we take the best kid in Iowa, maybe if he fits the system. Or do we take the best kid available which these kids are highly rated kids plus they are in our own back yard.
 
you bet if the they are rated this high and from here of course we go get'em.... Thanks for the reply. I just dont want us every year to think we have to take the best players from Iowa, because usually I dont think Iowa kids are as talented as maybe some other states we could hit...
 
I agree that Fran needs to get the best players he can get to Iowa. I think we can all agree based on the recruits that Fran is going after that you won't be able to accuse him of not going after players that are athletic enough to compete for Big Ten championships.

The 2011 class in Iowa is weak, and even the best players (Oglesby and Uthoff) wouldn't fit into what Fran is trying to build IMO. Neither of the two have that high-major athleticism that Fran is looking for.

The 2012 class however has some exceptional talent such as Staten (who just decommitted from ISU again), Paige, and Woodbury who I think would all fit into Fran's system very well. All except Staten have offers, so at least Paige and Woodbury could make the choice to play at Iowa.
 
I will point out that the best teams at both Iowa and Iowa St were made up primarily with out of state players. When you think of Iowa's most successful teams over the last 25 years, they were made up of out of staters. Whether it was Marble, Armstrong, Horton, Lohaus, etc. or the Earl, Barnes, Murray, Moses, etc. led teams, the common theme is that those teams were not comprised of Iowa kids and I would argue they were the most successful teams Iowa has fielded in the past 25 years. Same with Iowa States elite eight team under Eustachy that was led by Jamal Tinsley and crew. I don't believe that team was comprised of Iowa kids. Its ok to supplement with an Iowa kid like Lorenzen or Street, etc., and I'm sure there is exceptions, but there is no doubt in my mind for sustained success at the U of I or at Iowa St, both schools need to have rosters dominated by out of state players.
 
JonDMiller said:
What would not be good, IMO, is if ISU started winning the majority of these in state head to head's...it will just make things a little tougher on Fran in the eyes of some, maybe shorten the honeymoon.
Click to expand...

Would it matter if Fran was pulling better players from out of state and beating the Cyclones with them every year?
 
Reeon said:
Would it matter if Fran was pulling better players from out of state and beating the Cyclones with them every year?
Click to expand...

No, as long as he was having success in the Big Ten too. Patrick and you bring up a valid point...

The 1986-87 Iowa team is one of the best in school history. One of the best college teams to have never won a title.

And I think Al Lorenzen was the only scholarship player from the state of Iowa on the team. The Iowa team from a few years back with Horner, Haluska and Brunner, they are one of the winningest teams in school history...and those three are from Iowa..but that has been the exception, rather than the rule.

Lute's Final Four team probably had what, two Iowan's on scholarship? Hansen and Gannon

It makes sense to get the best player from the state if you can, but rarely has that ever spelled big success for Iowa or Iowa State, at least in my lifetime, as this state does not produce enough kids in the same or concurrent classes, to win titles.

Good stuff. Probably too much value being placed on this, but in the PR battle, that might be where it has more validity
 
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When Hoiberg was hired, I was talking to a friend of mine about the Iowa/ISU rivalry and how it would go with the new coaches. His son, who is a JR and being recruited in football, was standing there, and asked who ISU hired for their coach. Now, keep in mind, he's not a basketball player or an ISU fan, so that deserves some mention. But, he had no clue who Fred Hoiberg is. None. He'd never heard of him.

I think Hoiberg being an in-state coach, originally from Iowa and having played at ISU will have some effect. But the kids that he'll be recruiting were too little to remember seeing him play at ISU. I'd say the same thing if Iowa would have hired BJ. They both played too long ago to have name recognition with current HS ball players. It could have an effect on those kids parents, if they were ISU fans. But, I just don't see the huge bump that ISU fans seem convinced he'll have over McCaffery. I think he'll have an edge, just not to the degree it is being made out as.
 
It doesn't matter if you get in state kids or not, as long as they're the best you can get for your team. If Iowa has the #2 PG and you can get the #1 from somewhere else get the #1, but don't be mad if you get the #2. I think the consensus is get the kids that fit the best for your system and if the best kids from Iowa don't then don't take them. If Paige, Woodbury, and Jok are going to be as good as predicted, why do you need to go out of state. You go where the talent is, sometimes it's in Iowa and sometimes it's not. You can't just go ONLY Iowa players, that won't work, but don't say forget all Iowa players cause we can do better. Sometimes Iowa has the best, as it sounds like in 2012. It looks like in 2011 you have to go out of state and Fran is.
 
Knowing who Fred Hoiberg is isn't the issue. Fred can be illustrative of an Iowan who succeeded in college and then went on to the NBA. How much this helps him in recruiting talented Iowans is anyone's guess. I presume it will help but to what degree I have no idea.
 
The problem is, when's the last time Iowa or Iowa State actually got a top flight talent to stay in Iowa??? Would we be singing an entirely diffferent tune about keeping the in state recruits if Iowa was able to get LaFrentz, Hinrich and Collison? I think we would.
 
Add Harrison Barnes to your list, and some would say Bohannon.

It is important to keep your best players (when they truly are the best) in state.
 
Cydkar said:
Knowing who Fred Hoiberg is isn't the issue. Fred can be illustrative of an Iowan who succeeded in college and then went on to the NBA. How much this helps him in recruiting talented Iowans is anyone's guess. I presume it will help but to what degree I have no idea.
Click to expand...

I agree, but I can't tell you how many ISU fans I know that think his NAME will make it easy to get recruits in state. They all remember him playing, they don't realize a 16/17/18 year old kid doesn't.

As I said, I think he'll have an edge, for the reasons you state. He can sell that he is a native Iowan that made good. But his name won't do it, unless the kid he's after is a life long, die hard ISU basketball fan.
 
It is imperative to lock down the borders when the talent is here, but the problem is the big talent is often elsewhere. Some of my favorite former Hawkeyes were not from Iowa, and that doesn't bother me one bit. We need to be finding talent no matter where the kid resides. However, losing a top talent from the CR/IC area is more damning to the program than someone from LA spurning USC or UCLA. If the U of I can't be sold to the kids in its shadows, then we have problems.
 
Gravy hits the major issue.

It is difficult enough to get talent to come to Iowa City. When potential out of state recruits see EVERY top instate kid running like hell for out of state schools it makes our job MUCH more difficult to get those out of state recruits here.

We don't need every in state kid to stay. But if the cream of the crop consistenly leaves the state it hurts us, a lot.
 
Hinrich, Collison and LaFrentz were surrounded with great talent as well. That's my vision for Iowa, get the Collison and Hinrichs on board to supplement great out of staters. Certainly Iowa needs the no doubters from the state but for sustained success, Iowa needs out of state prospects.
 
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