Iowa Program is bottoming out

[Hay Man]

They are all leaving- I'd count on it.... at least Dix, Harding and Freeman, regardless what happens at HC. If you think anyone wants to be a part of the miserable product that is Iowa basketball, it's fan support, it's NIL package and current state of affairs....we're all in for a rude awakening.

And you know what? Good. This needs to be blown up.

I couldn't agree more. It just seems inevitable that wholesale changes all around the program are going to happen after the season.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

Someone could run to a different message board and say they read on Hawkeye Nation that multiple men's BB players are transferring. Until I see something from someone in the know, I will take this for internet rumor and message board speculation. I would be pretty surprised if any of these guys would make such a decision in the middle of the season. And, until they see how the HC situation works out, and what sort of NIL money may be coming there way due to the Court decision and other factors, why would they decide to leave already? Makes no sense.

To be clear, I am sure many Iowa players will consider leaving and maybe some do. That statement is probably true of every program in the nation right now. No one is safe. To post that the decisions have been made at this time doesn't pass the smell test.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

Tom Davis isn't getting quite the respect he deserves on here. It's starting to piss me off a little. I think you can make an argument that both he and Fran have been very good coaches. Iowa has been lucky to have both of them.

Since not all of us remember Davis' career that well, let's recall he was a head coach at two other P5 schools (unlike Fran). Davis took Boston College to a Sweet 16 AND Elite 8. And that he was in the rough and tumble Big East. Big boy basketball. Then he flipped coasts and had Pac-10 Stanford at .500 for four years. Coaching Stanford basketball in the mid 80s might have been a tougher job than Northwestern football at the time. Going .500 was impressive enough to be picked for a pretty damn plum job in 1986 - the University of Iowa.

People tend to fixate on Davis inheriting amazing players. That's all true, but I don't think you can say he underachieved those first couple years. He got players to buy into a new system and believe in him and each other. Not easy. You think Roy Marble and Ed Horton were a piece of cake to coach?

People seem to point out that Fran found gems like Garza and Murray. True, but don't forget Davis had a great eye for talent and was a hell of a coach. Ryan Bowen was a 6'9" tennis player from Fort Madison who other Big Ten schools weren't interested in. Davis saw the quickness and drive and dude goes onto a long NBA career. Or seeing Kent McCauseland's potential and putting him in position to lead the country in 3 point %.

What about seeing something in intramural player Darryl Moore and turning him into a Big Ten starter as a 6'2" forward. Or changing the offense right before the season started (can't recall if someone was academically ineligible?) so that 6'5" James Winters could be an effective center.

Davis' teams often were better than the sum of their parts. Maybe no better example than the team that lost Kingsbury in the offseason and Settles in November. Davis built what was left around Woolridge and led them to their best Big Ten finish over the last 45 years (to a cheating Minnesota, who vacated the title) and put a scare in #1 seed and national champ Kentucky in the second round.

Yeah, Davis' recruiting was hit or miss at times.

But we are talking about a guy considered the father of the modern full court press. Other coaches consider him a pioneer and innovator. He NEVER lost a first round NCAA game - 11-0 all time. Overall, he was 18-11 in the NCAA tournament, with two Elite 8 trips, and three Sweet 16 trips.

That's a pretty damn good legacy.

MIKE ... DROP!
Anyone trying to offer a debate between Fran and TD was born after 1990.