Joshua Lewis Chooses Hawkeyes

BigD said:
Anyone know how the 2025 class ranks within the conference?

Thanks Rob for posting this article
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Iowa can't compete in the NIL world.

Fran: Hold my beer.

This kid is highly ranked. Has to be one of the best prospects the program has landed in the modern recruiting era.

Joshua Lewis has a composite rating of 0.9814 on @247Sports

This makes Lewis the 2nd highest-rated prospect EVER in Iowa MBB history:
1. Tyler Smith - 0.9831 (end career at TENN)
2. Joshua Lewis - 0.98143.
3. Joe Wieskamp - 0.9793
 
The coaching staff doesn't seem to be recruiting like Fran is hanging it up and there has to some sort of assurance given to these kids that Fran plans to be here next year. Or.... would Sherman Dillard be a potential HC for Iowa, as I know he's the lead recruiter on a lot of these guys.
 
What's really crazy to me is how insane high school sports are in Texas and Florida.

Imagine being the 11th ranked guy nationally at your position and only being ranked 11th in your state overall.

I'd love to see the number one ranked HS football team in Florida absolutely piss pound Dowling 137-0. Oops...did I say that out loud?
 
InGoodCo said:
The coaching staff doesn't seem to be recruiting like Fran is hanging it up and there has to some sort of assurance given to these kids that Fran plans to be here next year. Or.... would Sherman Dillard be a potential HC for Iowa, as I know he's the lead recruiter on a lot of these guys.
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Are you suggesting a Lisa Blunder type move here? Fran steps away with assurances that his top assistant gets the gig.

Does Fran have enough leverage to make a power move like that?
 
InGoodCo said:
The coaching staff doesn't seem to be recruiting like Fran is hanging it up and there has to some sort of assurance given to these kids that Fran plans to be here next year. Or.... would Sherman Dillard be a potential HC for Iowa, as I know he's the lead recruiter on a lot of these guys.
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Sherm is 68 so he's older than Fran. But he was HC at Maryland back in the day. Maybe an interim solution? Maybe he serves a shot.
 
I'd love to know more about why this kid chose Iowa. Like is he up to date on Iowa's current situation? He clearly had other options. There's schools that woulda fired Fran in season after just last game with where we are. Between what many fans and local media all seem to think the writing is on the wall after this yr this is it for Fran. His buyout is doable and once I'd heard that it could be paid being stretched out over 3 yrs then for sure it's a doable thing. Fran won't just walk away cause there's no reason for him to just leave that 4 plus million on the table I think it is after April 1st I'd seen is what it'd be.

So Lewis reopened his recruitment due his coach dying and now he's committed to a school who's coach is 1 foot out the door to being fired. It sounds like he's a hell of a player and anyone would be fired up to get him. But he's not like Danny Manning or Christian Laettner good to the point where Beth won't keep Fran on just so this kid doesn't inevitably reopen his recruitment again. Surely she isn't that short sighted. This program needs blown up. Not a Fran 3.0 type of situation. Way too much fan apathy for that.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I'd love to know more about why this kid chose Iowa. Like is he up to date on Iowa's current situation? He clearly had other options. There's schools that woulda fired Fran in season after just last game with where we are. Between what many fans and local media all seem to think the writing is on the wall after this yr this is it for Fran. His buyout is doable and once I'd heard that it could be paid being stretched out over 3 yrs then for sure it's a doable thing. Fran won't just walk away cause there's no reason for him to just leave that 4 plus million on the table I think it is after April 1st I'd seen is what it'd be.

So Lewis reopened his recruitment due his coach dying and now he's committed to a school who's coach is 1 foot out the door to being fired. It sounds like he's a hell of a player and anyone would be fired up to get him. But he's not like Danny Manning or Christian Laettner good to the point where Beth won't keep Fran on just so this kid doesn't inevitably reopen his recruitment again. Surely she isn't that short sighted. This program needs blown up. Not a Fran 3.0 type of situation. Way too much fan apathy for that.
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We just have no idea what Fran is planning to do, or what Beth thinks. But he's selling these guys something and maybe our NIL isn't in the shape we all think? His recruiting over the last few years have been an uptick IMO, at least from a star standpoint and we're landing recruits from FL and pulling kids out of the University of Miami? Like, it doesn't add up to a coach on his way out, it looks like a coach who's decided he needs to change the way he recruits to compete with quickly growing athletic league with West Coast teams like USC, Oregon and UCLA coming in.

These kids absolutely have to know the environment they are going into, it's well on display every week.
 
In watching his announcement video he made it pretty clear that one key for him was that the coaches and players really made him feel welcome, Iowa nice so to speak. Some kids want to play in a good, nurturing environment. That's what I sensed anyway. Who knows what the coaches are telling him about coaching stability, that's the X factor.

An interview I read with Jackson Stratton comes to mind. He said that some people don't think enough about the fact that the school they choose is where they will be spending every day of their life in the foreseeable fukture and it's important to to like and respect the people you will be spending your time with. That's really important to some people and maybe Josh found what he was looking for at Iowa?
 
InGoodCo said:
We just have no idea what Fran is planning to do, or what Beth thinks. But he's selling these guys something and maybe our NIL isn't in the shape we all think? His recruiting over the last few years have been an uptick IMO, at least from a star standpoint and we're landing recruits from FL and pulling kids out of the University of Miami? Like, it doesn't add up to a coach on his way out, it looks like a coach who's decided he needs to change the way he recruits to compete with quickly growing athletic league with West Coast teams like USC, Oregon and UCLA coming in.

These kids absolutely have to know the environment they are going into, it's well on display every week.
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Yeah none of us are mind readers. Just reading tea leaves. It seems like things have gotten just out right untenable though. Unless this team flips a switch and makes a run to get them into the tourny and then to Sweet 16 how could they bring him back? We've reached Licklighter level apathy. 5k fans or so in the stands routinely doesn't cut it for Iowa. It just shouldn't. Between what's happening short term this season along with the big picture status of where the program is I just don't see how they can run it back with Fran next yr. But that doesn't mean they won't..

It'd be pretty negligible for a kid to commit somewhere and not have done their homework... That said a kid from Fl who didn't grow up an Iowa fan and didn't keep up with anything about the program beyond what Iowa's coaches have been telling him while recruiting him I could see him having a glass half full way of looking at it with only half the picture. Hell a recruit of his stature may have an agent he probably should. So that'd literally be his job to do.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Yeah none of us are mind readers. Just reading tea leaves. It seems like things have gotten just out right untenable though. Unless this team flips a switch and makes a run to get them into the tourny and then to Sweet 16 how could they bring him back? We've reached Licklighter level apathy. 5k fans or so in the stands routinely doesn't cut it for Iowa. It just shouldn't. Between what's happening short term this season along with the big picture status of where the program is I just don't see how they can run it back with Fran next yr. But that doesn't mean they won't..

It'd be pretty negligible for a kid to commit somewhere and not have done their homework... That said a kid from Fl who didn't grow up an Iowa fan and didn't keep up with anything about the program beyond what Iowa's coaches have been telling him while recruiting him I could see him having a glass half full way of looking at it with only half the picture. Hell a recruit of his stature may have an agent he probably should. So that'd literally be his job to do.
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Also, something to chew on here right? Who knows what the conversation is in the background. Maybe Beth has been like, "Fran we need you to compete, win games and bring people back to the stadium, or are you close to retiring?" and Fran has pushed back with "I think I could coach another 5 years but in oder to do that, I need more administrative assistance, better marketing and more money from our NIL initiative in order to compete".

Hence, why you've seen more recent success on the recruiting trail and in the portal. Maybe Beth is like "Fran, we know we can't compete with the way things are, but you are a proven winner and we are committed to making your final years at Iowa the absolute best. We know you are doing the best with what you have?"

I don't know... but that's like possible I guess?

Beth is currently fundraising for Carver renovations. How do we know that the actual real big donors aren't in favor of keeping Fran? Maybe they've already committed to giving him better resources and NIL funds and maybe those are tied to Fran remaining at Iowa?

Honestly I don't know, I just could see some scenarios that we might not be privy to driving this.
 
InGoodCo said:
Also, something to chew on here right? Who knows what the conversation is in the background. Maybe Beth has been like, "Fran we need you to compete, win games and bring people back to the stadium, or are you close to retiring?" and Fran has pushed back with "I think I could coach another 5 years but in oder to do that, I need more administrative assistance, better marketing and more money from our NIL initiative in order to compete".

Hence, why you've seen more recent success on the recruiting trail and in the portal. Maybe Beth is like "Fran, we know we can't compete with the way things are, but you are a proven winner and we are committed to making your final years at Iowa the absolute best. We know you are doing the best with what you have?"

I don't know... but that's like possible I guess?

Beth is currently fundraising for Carver renovations. How do we know that the actual real big donors aren't in favor of keeping Fran? Maybe they've already committed to giving him better resources and NIL funds and maybe those are tied to Fran remaining at Iowa?

Honestly I don't know, I just could see some scenarios that we might not be privy to driving this.
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Your guess is as good as mine. Say Iowa loses to PSU tonight Beth could can him on the way home from it. Or she could fire him at the end of the season. Or he could step away himself (highly unlikely to the point I shouldn't have even brought that up) Or they could bring him back next yr. All of which is possible and the only part of those things that'd surprise me is if he's brought back next yr.
 
InGoodCo said:
Also, something to chew on here right? Who knows what the conversation is in the background. Maybe Beth has been like, "Fran we need you to compete, win games and bring people back to the stadium, or are you close to retiring?" and Fran has pushed back with "I think I could coach another 5 years but in oder to do that, I need more administrative assistance, better marketing and more money from our NIL initiative in order to compete".

Hence, why you've seen more recent success on the recruiting trail and in the portal. Maybe Beth is like "Fran, we know we can't compete with the way things are, but you are a proven winner and we are committed to making your final years at Iowa the absolute best. We know you are doing the best with what you have?"

I don't know... but that's like possible I guess?

Beth is currently fundraising for Carver renovations. How do we know that the actual real big donors aren't in favor of keeping Fran? Maybe they've already committed to giving him better resources and NIL funds and maybe those are tied to Fran remaining at Iowa?

Honestly I don't know, I just could see some scenarios that we might not be privy to driving this.
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I've had the misfortune to have met Brent Feller (the dude in the hoodie that travels with the team and is always half stepping on the court/screaming at refs...his ex wife is the one who bore a striking resemblance to 90s-era Ozzy Osbourne), and I would not be surprised in the least if he paid that bill to get Lewis all by himself. The guy is pretty much a weirdo at the level of John DuPont was with wrestling without all the murder and paranoid schizophrenia.
 
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