Iowa State Recruiting Areas

I

IAJay

Well-Known Member
I just saw this tweet from @davetelep

DaveTelep
Iowa State visitors this weekend: Georges "The Boston Bouncer" Niang, Nkereuwem Okoro and Naz Long, a Canadian. Boston, NYC, Canada.

Iowa State seems to be hitting the east coast pipe line pretty hard in these upcoming classes (more than just these three). I kind of hoped that Fran would have made this a point of emphasis when he started recruiting to Iowa when he first arrived. Someone on the staff obviously has a connection to the ATL area but everything else seems to be Iowa or scattered across Big Ten land.

I am not slamming the '12 class or anything with this post. I am just trying to see what people think of his overall strategy in recruiting to Iowa? Is it what you expected? Do you like it? Other thoughts? It seems like the kid who ended up at Clemson (Coleman) was the last East Coaster that Iowa had a lot of interest in and that was when Fran first arrived. Lay down yours thoughts my people as I am jacked that it is finally hoops season.
 
The closer to home you can find good recruits,the better. Lets see what the retention rate is on the east coast recruits that ISU is bringing in before celebrating their success too much. Maybe it works,maybe not. We do have Olesani from England,which is not in the midwest. The East coast is a recruiting territory for the Big East,ACC ,A-Ten,and beyond. Pretty picked over,maybe.
 
I care more about the recruits than the area. In his first class he brought in Basabe, his second class he brought in top 150 Josh O, along with an athletic but raw big and an intriguing Aaron White, while his 2012 class features two top 100 kids.

Practically speaking, will it be easier to maintain Midwest recruiting connections for the Iowa staff, sure, but they'll go to where they feel they need to.
 
ISU has been getting NYC talent for a few years now. The key is keeping them there.

Agreed that the basis for recruiting should be in your own back yard and keeping Roy Williams away from the state.
 
obviously its a good deal if you can recruit more than just your home state. that said, you get the best recruits wherever you can get them. heck, if you could just focus on Chicago, you could fill out a great team. diversity helps in that it gives you more options, not necessarily better players.
 
OK, I was not critiquing the staffs recruiting approach or saying ISU is doing it better. I was just wondering how others have progressed in their thinking of the staffs recruiting tactics. I personally thought Fran was going to load Iowa up with a lot of athletes from day 1. That has happened a bit, but he has gone after a different type of player than I originally expected.

The only reason I was hoping he would mine the east coast a bit more would be for reasons like Basabe. I feel like there are more athletic sleepers in the region than the midwest but time will tell.
 
I really like that the staff is not limiting themselves to one particular area. They're branching out and trying to find the best players they can no matter where they're at. Already they have gotten guys from NY, Cali (by way of Texas), Ohio, Iowa, London (by way of Kansas), Nebraska, Indiana, Michigan and Georgia. All while upgrading the overall athleticism and length of the team. That's impressive to me.
 
big10fan said:
obviously its a good deal if you can recruit more than just your home state. that said, you get the best recruits wherever you can get them. heck, if you could just focus on Chicago, you could fill out a great team. diversity helps in that it gives you more options, not necessarily better players.
Click to expand...

This, in fact I would rather have the staff recruit the Chicago area more than the East coast.
 
Based on reading the Clone boards, there is no way that Iowa's 2012 class can match theirs based, not on player ratings, but on player's offers. Gessell can't match the lofty status of any of their recruits based on the level of the schools that had offered him.
 
I see what IAJay is saying. I have to admit I assumed our recruiting would have more of an east coast flavor to it when Fran came on board. But to be honest, I like the strategy the staff is using now. They're not limiting themselves to any region. They are just going after the best possible players.

I don't really care too much about winning recruiting titles against ISU. They seem to be doing fine on the recruiting trail the same way Iowa is. I'm more interested in being competitive in the Big 10 again.
 
ISUFB said:
we all know iowa's is going to be higher... whoopdy doo... doesn't mean anything til they play a game.
Click to expand...

Everyone knows that it only matters when the team you cheer for is higher! Your class sucks = "Stars don't matter"
Your class is hyped (over, usually) = well our class was rated higher than yours!

Stop talking sense around here you're ruining my fun game!

booya.gif
 
Iowa's class better be higher ranked...it's bigger. Next year ISU's better be ranked higher.

All assuming that the players live up to their respective rankings. We all know that once they get to campus is what counts.
 
TritonHawkeye said:
Will see who's class is higher ranked. Ours or ISUcks.
Click to expand...

Well thanks for ruining the thread. It is amusing that you go around calling people trolls.

I really don't care about Iowa State but their staff has been there the same amount of time and are in the same state. I am sorry if that is too much for people to handle. The point wasn't comparing the quality of either class.

Big ups to the one guy who actually answered the question.
 
I get sick of people posing to be something they're not.

Wouldn't surprise me if you posted on an isu board with a different screen name.

I guess only Jon might know since he works with the developers that manage both boards....
 
Last edited:
I could give a lick about where the mayor flashes his stellar NBA resume. Far more impressed by the fact that Fran has been able to recruit and sign talented kids who are buying into his program and want to play at Iowa. In the long run I think that will pay higher dividends than trying to assemble a squad of cast-offs, misfits and athletes recruited from far-away urban areas.
 
Here are my two cents on this. It is my honest opinion that Iowa does not need to go East. It has been a good thing to see Iowa get back home and back to some older recruiting areas like Michigan. Also, I love the fact that the staff is hitting the Atlanta area, lots of very good players that rarely stay home, or in-state for that matter.
Moving forward if Iowa can stay away from Indiana, it will be a blessing...oh yeah, forget Minnesota unless one can pluck Tyus Jones...there hasn't been too much luck in those states since Davis has left. I am going to hold my thought on Ohio hoping Aaron White becomes the player that he is capable of being.
One state and not area it would be nice to see Iowa get back to is Illinois...not saying just Chicago here, the state of Illinois, there are a lot of good players outside the Chicago area and in that area that are undervalued and become great mid-major players with supreme athleticism.
Seeing what the staff has done to date; one has to be impressed. The talent has been upgraded as well as the athleticism of this team. Iowa is bringing in Top 100 kids as well as some developmental players, how the latter develop is what makes or breaks a program. It has been a while since a lower rated player that Iowa has gotten has really developed into a player, pre Fran era.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top