McCaffery Adds Michigan Point Guard to the Fold

[tweeterhawk]

Actually I don't think John is playing ball anymore.

Very possible. That was taken from dad's entry in Wikipedia but don't see him on the Marian roster for this year. Father and son have sort of disappeared from public view. No images of Lick from when he was named at MU(O) and he doesn't appear to have a coaching staff bio page; little Lick's video has been removed from the Marian site.

Creepy, I know ...

 

[bkim24]

Bawinkel was cut by Huggins at West Va. when he took that job, and Devan went to an illinois juco. He did not have high division one offers out of the juco when Lick jumped on him. But at least he started. Davis and Archie did not even start for their juco teams when lick jumped on them.

When you look at the guys who are not legacy or committed to Iowa when Lick arrived(Marble,Cole,Gatens,Kelly,May,Peterson) you are not left with much talent brought in by Lick. Tucker,Brommer,Fuller,Bawinkel,Davis,Archie,McCabe,Payne....ouch.

I think you should include Larson and Brust when talking about Lick recruits.

 

[IAJay]

If I remember correctly BigD, you were a staunch Lackluster supporter up until the end on Hawk Central boards. Lots of people on that board were delusional in their thinking that BicLighter just needed more time. I apologize if I am wrong.

Most of this board was comfortable giving Lick one more year with his "superb" class of Marble, Brust, Larson, and McCabe.

Those same people are now also the most vocal in support for Fran. Apparently it is all or nothing for some of these guys. Hopefully they realize that the world isn't black and white some day down the road.

 

[IAJay]

True enough. I really think that Fran knows what he wants though. I would be a little worried if he were targeting these guys in the spring (cause he couldn't get his top targets). Yet these are the kids he wants. There are plenty of good kids that slip past the BCS conference teams, and Fran isn't scared to offer a kid he knows will be good, just because others don't see it. Reminds me of our football staff somewhat.....

I do agree on the timing of the offers argument. I am forever tainted by Lick though and likely will be forever no matter how many Basabe's and Cartwright's Fran finds in the rough.

I don't like the football arguments at all though. They are completely different beasts. A miss on a recruit in basketball stings a lot more than it does in football. You really just can't compare the two.

 

[storminspank]

Most of this board was comfortable giving Lick one more year with his "superb" class of Marble, Brust, Larson, and McCabe.

Those same people are now also the most vocal in support for Fran. Apparently it is all or nothing for some of these guys. Hopefully they realize that the world isn't black and white some day down the road.

I was ok with giving Lick one more year. Wasn't exactly excited how he was shown the door. But incredibly happy where the Iowa program is right now. The staff itself is just incredible. The way the run the program, the interactions with players/family, etc... just amazing. Iowa is lucky to have this staff.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Most of this board was comfortable giving Lick one more year with his "superb" class of Marble, Brust, Larson, and McCabe.

Those same people are now also the most vocal in support for Fran. Apparently it is all or nothing for some of these guys. Hopefully they realize that the world isn't black and white some day down the road.

I wouldn't say "most" of this board was comfortable giving Lick another year.. I'd say the majority wanted him gone after year 3, with a handful of Lick defenders still left. The displeasure was pretty vocal out here. But I would wager Lick's supporters are probably the same segment of people that think every recruit is a program changer no matter how lightly recruited they are, etc. Like the guy who thought Olaseni could average a double-double this year. And that is NOT a knock on Olaseni. I'm just making this point: Let's see how these guys look their first year or two on campus before judging them one way or the other, or heaping too many expectations on any given recruit. Let's not write anyone off, either.

That said - If Basabe & Cartwright are an accurate representation of Fran's ability to evaluate talent, then I'm giving Fran's recruiting the benefit of the doubt until I'm proven wrong.

It doesn't hurt my opinion of Fran's recruiting either that he's just signed two 4* players this summer, and most of his other recruits were also recruited by other high-major schools. We weren't getting that with Lick, who didn't land a single 4* recruit in 3 years, with the exception of Larson.

 

[JHHawk]

Yes, Larson and Brust were also signed by Lick.

As for the fanbase sentiments toward Lick by the time we lost that BTT game to Michigan 18 months ago? I would say it was at minimum 75-25% in favor of Barta's action...and probably more like 90-10. I think most fans were just concerned that Barta would not bite the bullet ,fire him and pay out the balance of Licks contract.
When he took that bold move, Hawk fans were jubilant. I know of no Hawk fan who was upset,personally. I guess he had a few defenders,but not many.

Spank, I guess Lick and Tucker were your blind spots,everyone has a few.

 

[IOWA2012]

Bawinkel was cut by Huggins at West Va. when he took that job, and Devan went to an illinois juco. He did not have high division one offers out of the juco when Lick jumped on him. But at least he started. Davis and Archie did not even start for their juco teams when lick jumped on them.

When you look at the guys who are not legacy or committed to Iowa when Lick arrived(Marble,Cole,Gatens,Kelly,May,Peterson) you are not left with much talent brought in by Lick. Tucker,Brommer,Fuller,Bawinkel,Davis,Archie,McCabe,Payne....ouch.

You could probably call Bawinkel a 'legacy' too. I believe both of his parents, or at least his mom, graduated from Iowa.

 

[mbchawk]

Clemmons is a very good get by Fran. Quotes from a Big 10 recruiting analyst on another site about Clemmons:

Iowa is getting a lockdown defending point guard in Clemmons. He reminds me a lot of former Michigan State point guard Travis Walton.

Clemmons is one of the best defenders I've ever watched at the high school level.

The 2012 recruits are going to play a big role in making Iowa's basketball program sucessful again.

 

[jacknicholson]

Clemmons is a very good get by Fran. Quotes from a Big 10 recruiting analyst on another site about Clemmons:

Iowa is getting a lockdown defending point guard in Clemmons. He reminds me a lot of former Michigan State point guard Travis Walton.

Clemmons is one of the best defenders I've ever watched at the high school level.

The 2012 recruits are going to play a big role in making Iowa's basketball program sucessful again.

Fran is setting the stage for team that is very strong defensively, Clemmons and Ingram excel on D and will make it very difficult for the opponents to get the ball to half court where the trap on both sides of the line will cause many turnovers. If they do break the press and trap, they must contend with Olaseni and Woodbury waiting under the basket to reject their pitiful advances. We are going to have a very exciting team to watch very soon, and the recruits will certainly be watching also.

 

[MisterLucky]

Some fans may look at things as either black or white, but judging from your posts, IAJay, you must see everything as gray. It's really a shame that Coach McCaffery is recruiting all of these mediocre players without first getting your approval. Obviously he is just throwing crap at a wall and seeing what might stick. And as far as Clemmons coming in to be a back up, I seriously doubt that is what he has in mind. In fact, I read an interview with him in which he said he was looking forward to playing with Gessell and thought they could both occupy the floor at the same time. I truly doubt that this staff would recruit a kid just to come in as a back up and I don't care what other schools had offered him. If Coach McCaffery wants this kid, he obviously sees someone that will help the program. Until he starts putting Lick-like players on the floor, I am going to have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

[jacknicholson]

Good post, MrLucky, I noticed that quote by Clemmons and really liked what he had to say, especially that Mike is a better shooter and he, Clemmons, will get more assists. Love it when players are proud of their assists, maybe the most important aspect of a point guard. Fran is arranging things his way and not wasting a single scholarship. He doesn't want players who will sit on the bench. I do believe he wants every player to contribute in a certain way. Everyone will contribute. I gots to like it.....

 

[BigD]

If I remember correctly BigD, you were a staunch Lackluster supporter up until the end on Hawk Central boards. Lots of people on that board were delusional in their thinking that BicLighter just needed more time. I apologize if I am wrong.

No, I was never impressed with the butler way. By the end of year two I had seen all I had to. Now you probably are referring to Israhawk who was very supportive of Lickliter all the way to about the halfway mark of Lick's third Big Ten season. By the end of the season even Isra could take it anymore and conceded Lick needed to go. I had even posted that I was going to put up billboards in Iowa City calling for the coach's and AD's resignation. I was serious about it and had planned on spending multiples of tens of thousands of dollars to do it. You definitely had me confused with some one else.

 

[IAJay]

I was ok with giving Lick one more year. Wasn't exactly excited how he was shown the door. But incredibly happy where the Iowa program is right now. The staff itself is just incredible. The way the run the program, the interactions with players/family, etc... just amazing. Iowa is lucky to have this staff.

I will never forgive you for supporting Lick one more season. I agree with your sentiment about loving where the program is right now. I knew after Lick's first full off season/ first recruiting class that Iowa was in for the Barry Collier treatment. He just didn't understand how to coach at the big time level.

Fran is the complete opposite of Lick. Fran loves to recruit, he is fiery, he was not afraid to hire other experienced coaches for his staff. Basically he was the anti-Lick which is why he has me so fired up. Fran is going to make Iowa very good no matter what it takes to get there, and I love that about him. Fran is running Iowa like a big time program, and the culture shock is so extreme right now because Lick ran it like a low level mid major. Like you said, Fran has a very good plan and it is great to see rather than floating along hoping for some sort of miracle.

1977, you are probably right about the support %'s. I just let the vocal minority get to me because I knew they were so horribly wrong. After Lick got rid of Freeman that was the beginning of the end. My friends and myself would play against the team at the FH and we were able to make these games pretty even battles. Things like that should never happen at a Big Ten school, but they did because the complete lack of athleticism on those teams. Long story short, your post was spot on there.

 

[IAJay]

Some fans may look at things as either black or white, but judging from your posts, IAJay, you must see everything as gray. It's really a shame that Coach McCaffery is recruiting all of these mediocre players without first getting your approval. Obviously he is just throwing crap at a wall and seeing what might stick. And as far as Clemmons coming in to be a back up, I seriously doubt that is what he has in mind. In fact, I read an interview with him in which he said he was looking forward to playing with Gessell and thought they could both occupy the floor at the same time. I truly doubt that this staff would recruit a kid just to come in as a back up and I don't care what other schools had offered him. If Coach McCaffery wants this kid, he obviously sees someone that will help the program. Until he starts putting Lick-like players on the floor, I am going to have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

See, that doesn't make sense at all. I love where Fran is taking the program and like that he is getting the players that he wants now instead of the spring. But there is some gray when a couple of the recruits weren't coveted enough by any other BCS level program in America. I admit that I am still haunted by the ghost of Lick recruiting which makes me a bit jaded on the issue.

People keep posting things about how great each recruit is, and that is what may make me a bit gray. Has there ever been a negative write up of a player on these recruiting sites? There is nothing wrong with stating that some of these guys are being recruited with the plan that they will be energy players off the bench.

That said the two lowest rated recruits in the class, Ingram and Clemmons, both add the biggest need to the team. That is athleticism in the back court.

 

[CGHawk]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Fran's game plan to be uptempo and run the floor? Aren't these guys supposed to be almost constantly sprinting? I don't care who the starter is... If that is the style that Fran wants to run... Both the starter and the backup should be getting a decent amount of playing time. If you want to outrun the other team... you need to have fresh legs on the floor and having depth is important. Having players that are interchangeable at multiple positions works perfectly for that style of play.

Point being--Starter or not, you will get playing time if you deserve it.

 

[NewMexHawk]

Maybe Fran got another BJ Armstrong from Michigan...

 

[ssckelley]

I was ok with giving Lick one more year. Wasn't exactly excited how he was shown the door. But incredibly happy where the Iowa program is right now. The staff itself is just incredible. The way the run the program, the interactions with players/family, etc... just amazing. Iowa is lucky to have this staff.

I agree with this. I thought Iowa was going to give Lick 1 more year but looking back on it I am glad they did it as who knows how much further this program would have been set back had they not pulled the trigger. Lick got taken care of as Iowa paid him a lot of money to not coach.

I have to admit when I heard McCaffery was going after Clemmons it had me scratching my head. After all no other major program was even considering Clemmons and that is rare. But now that he has committed I will cheer for him like i do any other Hawk and hope whatever Fran seen in this kid shows up on the court.

 

[Husky28]

I agree with this. I thought Iowa was going to give Lick 1 more year but looking back on it I am glad they did it as who knows how much further this program would have been set back had they not pulled the trigger. Lick got taken care of as Iowa paid him a lot of money to not coach.

I was at this point as well, at least until the last 2-3 weeks of his tenure... at that point, I felt like there was something amiss and was beginning to feel like a change was needed.

 

[IAJay]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Fran's game plan to be uptempo and run the floor? Aren't these guys supposed to be almost constantly sprinting? I don't care who the starter is... If that is the style that Fran wants to run... Both the starter and the backup should be getting a decent amount of playing time. If you want to outrun the other team... you need to have fresh legs on the floor and having depth is important. Having players that are interchangeable at multiple positions works perfectly for that style of play.

Point being--Starter or not, you will get playing time if you deserve it.

Did you ever watch his good Siena teams? The starters got the truckload of the minutes. I don't understand the need for someone to say every single recruit will see big minutes in his time at Iowa.