Kirk Speraw Named to Coaching Staff

I am truly excited about this hire. FM has shown that he is a leader. It is not every coach that would hire a former head coach as an assistant. FM obviously has a great deal of confidence in himself as a manager.

This is super exciting and our future is looking brighter. Now, bring in some recruits and I will be ready to watch some Iowa BB next season!
 
This is an amazing hire. To have an assistant head coach (presuming that is the title that Kirk will have) with his kind of experience will be HUGE!! I'm really excited to see how the rest of the staff shakes out. I'm still rooting for Horner to be the GA, if he is willing to take that position. If he would take the GA position I really think it would be a steal. I feel that he is 100% D1 assistant coach material right now. What he lacks in coaching experience he makes up for with his work ethic, passion, intelligence, and ability to connect with his players. The players at Grandview absolutely loved him. He was a very valuable asset on that staff.
 
FreddyBrown said:
That's a very good observation.
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It really is. The fact that Coach Fran has enough confidence in his own abilities that he can bring in a guy with more experience than himself speaks volumes. I think we have a true Leader on our hands.
 
One additional thing I like about this hire is that it appears we have a head coach and an assistant who truly want to be Iowa Hawkeyes.
 
Solid hire by Fran. Speraw is an experienced coach, who knows Iowa,the midwest and is from Sioux City, a hotbed for Iowa bb talent of late.

He did recruit two Whitney Young players last year (AJ Rompza,and Marcus Jordan) so he knows the Chicago Public league at least a little.

With Francis covering the east coast,and Speraw covering Iowa, I would like Fran to consider Tracy Webster to cover Illinois and Chicagoland...if you read the reaction from Chicago area HS and AAU coaches and talent evaluators like Joe Hendricksen of the Suntimes...new DePaul coach Oliver Purnell messed up by not retaining Webster.

If Fran did hire Webster, he would have immediate entree into a number of top recruits in the chicagoland area...in my opinion.

Of course, Webster would be a good hire only if he connected with Fran...so if he takes a pass, I understand...but still, we need another recruiter on this staff,imo. Speraw is more of an x's and o's guy,which is great.
 
I can't believe how geeked I am for basketball season, especially when I take into account that football season's still 4 months away AND Iowa's still not going to be "that" good in hoops...but on April 23, 2010, I don't even care about that part...
 
A tremendous hire! I'd like to see a Bowen come in to complete the staff. I think he would do some nice work with the bigs.
 
Hooper said:
It really is. The fact that Coach Fran has enough confidence in his own abilities that he can bring in a guy with more experience than himself speaks volumes. I think we have a true Leader on our hands.
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Is the insinuation here that any of our recent coaches have been wary of hiring someone who can take the focus off of them or their hair? I don't think that's very nice.;)
 
Another home run! This makes 3 for 3 on the coaching staff. That being said, I have no idea why it is so important that we hired a former Hawkeye. Speraw is a great hire for all of the reasons in the op release.....with Lute's seal of approval one of the most significant.
If we're going to keep hoping for more former Hawk assistants, I would hope Mr. Davis's tree is where we look. In a sense, if you consider how many coaches have adopted Mr. Davis's teachings in some form, I think it would be harder to find one that isn't connected to him than one that is.

I love this hire!!!!! Congratulations Coach Mc and Coach Kirk!
 
AWESOME! It's like getting a better Mitch Bongarongu (sp?), plus he is a former Hawkeye. BONUS!
 
CalvaryHawk said:
Is the insinuation here that any of our recent coaches have been wary of hiring someone who can take the focus off of them or their hair? I don't think that's very nice.;)
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No not at all. But I think it is fairly obvious that the most recent 2 coaches surrounded themselves with yes men. Alford even going so far as to bring in his own father as the top asst. Lickliter to a lesser extent, but his assts were young and very inexperienced.
 
Hooper said:
No not at all. But I think it is fairly obvious that the most recent 2 coaches surrounded themselves with yes men. Alford even going so far as to bring in his own father as the top asst. Lickliter to a lesser extent, but his assts were young and very inexperienced.
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Lickliters staff was a disaster. Fran's staff is shaping up very nice. Hopefully Rodell Davis is next to come on board. That would be huge
 
FreddyBrown said:
Spanky, I see pluses in experience (largely successful experience), and contacts in Iowa, Chicago, and the Southeast, including the jucos. He seems to be well liked and well respected, and of course is an Iowa guy.

Having said all that, tell me why you think he is a great hire. (This is intended to be a softball question, I'm not arguing or inviting a debate.)
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With Speraw on board, it's basically like Iowa has two head coaches. Speraw's name was tossed around for different HC positions while he was down in Florida.

Iowa born, Iowa raised. Iowa BB player. Iowa assistant coach.

Has had his team, where he was the head coach, in the NCAA tourney more times in the last 6 years than Iowa.

Loves Iowa. Bleeds Black and Gold.

Experienced guy, knows the ins and outs of college basketball, there will be ZERO on the job training for Speraw. Iowa has had some issues in the past with assistants learning on the job.

He's a Hawkeye. Always was, Always will be.

Connects very well with players, students, fans, et al.

Did I mention he is an "Iowa guy" ;)

I'm just so damned happy that Iowa Basketball is going to start FEELING like Iowa Basketball again. We haven't had for well over a decade. We are getting Iowa people on staff, Iowa people involved. That's big for me.

Also, this:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kblnS2WpvcI"]YouTube - Kirk Speraw: "Who wants some?!"[/ame]
 
Hooper said:
No not at all. But I think it is fairly obvious that the most recent 2 coaches surrounded themselves with yes men. Alford even going so far as to bring in his own father as the top asst. Lickliter to a lesser extent, but his assts were young and very inexperienced.
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I know, just saying what you said without saying it.:)
 
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