JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
A few days back, I put together a list of coaches that I thought could be a good fit for the Iowa job. That list was not complete by any stretch of the imagination, nor was it anything more than my list. Everyone has one these days, and as I have said before, those lists are born out of our own personal bias we have for the type of basketball we want to see.
However, I think there are traits that will help make Iowa's next hire more successful than its last two.
First and foremost, recruiting has to be a priority and the coach that is eventually should probably be a pretty strong recruiter in his own right, in addition to putting together a staff of strong recruiters. Recruiting at Iowa is going to be the most important part of the job, because the program needs talent and it needs it consistently. You can say the same about any program, but it's been a while since Iowa has had the kind of talent on the floor good enough to win a Big Ten championship; I can think of just three Iowa teams in the past 21 years I could say that about. That right there is a drought, my friends...as is Iowa's regular season Big Ten title drought; since 1979 and counting.
Right now, given the state of the program and the injection of life it needs, I think it's more important to land a top flight recruiter than I do someone who is a wizard with the grease board. Both would be great, but unless you have amazing foresight, those types are already at jobs that will be tough to compete with.
Below is a list of names I am keeping tabs on. Names in RED are people that I think are some degree of long shot, either from their standpoint or Iowa's. Names in BLUE are people that I think are from a more likely pool of candidates Iowa can hire, and GREEN is somewhere in the middle and if you ask me tomorrow, their color code could change. Just because a name is in red does not mean Iowa should forget about it...not that this list has any real bearing on what Gary Barta is considering...it's just an educated guess, if you'll allow me to use that expression involving something so fluid as a coaching search.
Bruce Pearl: He's still my top candidate, and I hope Gary Barta will at least get a 'no, thank you' out of him before offering anyone else the job. Barta has likely been in an extensive due diligence mode for the first part of this week, as some of his candidates are likely getting ready to play in the NCAA tournament. Bruce Pearl would be one of those, as his Vols are a five seed.
Josh Pastner: The Memphis coach is a recruiting wunderkind, but the Memphis job has more appeal right now than the Iowa job...with the exception of being in Conference USA, and if Pastner has huge ambition, he might give the Big Ten school a look. Memphis went 23-9 and was left out of the NCAA tournament this year. That probably grates on him a little bit, I would think. But you have to wonder if he believes he can bide his time a little longer, especially with the nation's #1 recruiting class coming in next year, which would allow him perhaps a more high profile pasture to land in a few years down the road?
Buzz Williams: Marquette is in the Big Dance, and Williams has a chance to put more shine on his resume. Another good recruiter and also someone that is winning games in the best league in the nation and a guy that is recruiting players to the same type of climate he would deal with in Iowa City.
Scott Drew: Another coach in the Big Dance, whose team has a three seed, Baylor's highest in program history. I haven't heard much chatter about Drew other than from others in the media like me that really, really respect the job he has done at Baylor.
Keno Davis: Davis just received a commitment from a pretty solid player named Naadir Thorpe, and the word is that Davis told him he would not be going to Iowa. Well, it's easy to say that if you have not been offered the job and things change quickly in this business. But it's enough to knock Keno's color from blue to green on my index.
Tony Barbee: The UTEP coach can flat out recruit, and he has done it well for a long time. Seven years under John Calipari at Memphis and he has also put some real good classes together at a remote outpost like UTEP, regardless of the nice nickname of 'Sun City' (El Paso). His name picked up a lot of steam on Wednesday.
Steve Forbes: There is no doubt he wants the job. I believe he has numerous people trying to go to bat for him, although I don't know the weight their opinions hold in the mind of Gary Barta. If there is a tier of candidates that are on the backburner, someone you believe will be there if your first options don't come through, that's how I am viewing the Forbes candidacy right now. That is not an indictment of him by me; the guy can recruit and he's been doing it for quite some time. I think he could employ an entertaining brand of basketball. I just don't think his resume will be at the top of the stack, but neither was Kirk Ferentz's.
Kevin Stallings: He has done a nice job at Vanderbilt, but for whatever reason I was not excited about him three years ago and I can't get excited about him now. Depending on what you believe, and an open records request by the Cedar Rapids Gazette is pretty compelling, Barta had a $1.5 millon dollar offer out to him three years ago. Not sure what transpired there for Todd Lickliter to get the call at $1.25 mil per year, but that's what happened. I have to think that the Stallings window has closed, and it might be mutual.
Here are some other names I have seen on several search lists around the web, with my thoughts on their 'candidacy':
Lon Kruger: He is at UNLV. He is in his late 50's. He's coached at Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, the Atlanta Hawks and now with the Runnin' Rebels. I can't imagine that Iowa is the job he would want to be his last, or near his last. Too much work for a guy that has made his money and has access to far better talent in Vegas than he would in Iowa City.
Mark Few: Not sure why he'd pick Iowa at this time when he has had better offers in recent years and has turned them down to stay at Gonzaga?
Jamie Dixon: Rob Howe makes a good point in saying that his Pitt hoops team is so far down the list of sports priorities for fans in the Steel City that he could consider leaving.
Jay Wright: I have spent little time considering Wright, because I cannot imagine he'd leave Villanova for Iowa. However, he is in another pro sports town and he could pad his wallet with the right offer from Iowa. He is a proven commodity and would be a home run hire for the Hawkeye program, but I think that is a loooong shot.
B.J. Armstrong: His name popped up last night and as I said then, the over arching theme was that B.J. is willing to lend a hand to Gary Barta...he hasn't ruled out a coaching slot, but is likely more interested in an advisory role.
Paul Hewitt: Perhaps he has fallen out of favor at Georgia Tech because some of their fans feel he has plateaued?
Also, I am not spending much time on the Reggie Theus, Fran Fraschilla and Steve Lavin trails. I think if there was a time and place for them, it's either passed or it's not Iowa at this time.
Here are some time savers:
Brian Gregory: Dayton head coach, Tom Izzo tree, Izzo was not too pleased to see Iowa cut bait with Lickliter after just three years.
Chris Collins: He has threethings going for him; he played for Duke, he has been an assistant at Duke and his daddy is Doug. That's about all I see..Things haven't worked out so well for the Coach K Tree.
Ben Jacobsen: Great guy, hard worker, I respect the heck out of his team this year. But I have had enough of that style in Carver Hawkeye Arena. Barta does have UNI ties...but I hope he has given those to Goodwill.
However, I think there are traits that will help make Iowa's next hire more successful than its last two.
First and foremost, recruiting has to be a priority and the coach that is eventually should probably be a pretty strong recruiter in his own right, in addition to putting together a staff of strong recruiters. Recruiting at Iowa is going to be the most important part of the job, because the program needs talent and it needs it consistently. You can say the same about any program, but it's been a while since Iowa has had the kind of talent on the floor good enough to win a Big Ten championship; I can think of just three Iowa teams in the past 21 years I could say that about. That right there is a drought, my friends...as is Iowa's regular season Big Ten title drought; since 1979 and counting.
Right now, given the state of the program and the injection of life it needs, I think it's more important to land a top flight recruiter than I do someone who is a wizard with the grease board. Both would be great, but unless you have amazing foresight, those types are already at jobs that will be tough to compete with.
Below is a list of names I am keeping tabs on. Names in RED are people that I think are some degree of long shot, either from their standpoint or Iowa's. Names in BLUE are people that I think are from a more likely pool of candidates Iowa can hire, and GREEN is somewhere in the middle and if you ask me tomorrow, their color code could change. Just because a name is in red does not mean Iowa should forget about it...not that this list has any real bearing on what Gary Barta is considering...it's just an educated guess, if you'll allow me to use that expression involving something so fluid as a coaching search.
Bruce Pearl: He's still my top candidate, and I hope Gary Barta will at least get a 'no, thank you' out of him before offering anyone else the job. Barta has likely been in an extensive due diligence mode for the first part of this week, as some of his candidates are likely getting ready to play in the NCAA tournament. Bruce Pearl would be one of those, as his Vols are a five seed.
Josh Pastner: The Memphis coach is a recruiting wunderkind, but the Memphis job has more appeal right now than the Iowa job...with the exception of being in Conference USA, and if Pastner has huge ambition, he might give the Big Ten school a look. Memphis went 23-9 and was left out of the NCAA tournament this year. That probably grates on him a little bit, I would think. But you have to wonder if he believes he can bide his time a little longer, especially with the nation's #1 recruiting class coming in next year, which would allow him perhaps a more high profile pasture to land in a few years down the road?
Buzz Williams: Marquette is in the Big Dance, and Williams has a chance to put more shine on his resume. Another good recruiter and also someone that is winning games in the best league in the nation and a guy that is recruiting players to the same type of climate he would deal with in Iowa City.
Scott Drew: Another coach in the Big Dance, whose team has a three seed, Baylor's highest in program history. I haven't heard much chatter about Drew other than from others in the media like me that really, really respect the job he has done at Baylor.
Keno Davis: Davis just received a commitment from a pretty solid player named Naadir Thorpe, and the word is that Davis told him he would not be going to Iowa. Well, it's easy to say that if you have not been offered the job and things change quickly in this business. But it's enough to knock Keno's color from blue to green on my index.
Tony Barbee: The UTEP coach can flat out recruit, and he has done it well for a long time. Seven years under John Calipari at Memphis and he has also put some real good classes together at a remote outpost like UTEP, regardless of the nice nickname of 'Sun City' (El Paso). His name picked up a lot of steam on Wednesday.
Steve Forbes: There is no doubt he wants the job. I believe he has numerous people trying to go to bat for him, although I don't know the weight their opinions hold in the mind of Gary Barta. If there is a tier of candidates that are on the backburner, someone you believe will be there if your first options don't come through, that's how I am viewing the Forbes candidacy right now. That is not an indictment of him by me; the guy can recruit and he's been doing it for quite some time. I think he could employ an entertaining brand of basketball. I just don't think his resume will be at the top of the stack, but neither was Kirk Ferentz's.
Kevin Stallings: He has done a nice job at Vanderbilt, but for whatever reason I was not excited about him three years ago and I can't get excited about him now. Depending on what you believe, and an open records request by the Cedar Rapids Gazette is pretty compelling, Barta had a $1.5 millon dollar offer out to him three years ago. Not sure what transpired there for Todd Lickliter to get the call at $1.25 mil per year, but that's what happened. I have to think that the Stallings window has closed, and it might be mutual.
Here are some other names I have seen on several search lists around the web, with my thoughts on their 'candidacy':
Lon Kruger: He is at UNLV. He is in his late 50's. He's coached at Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, the Atlanta Hawks and now with the Runnin' Rebels. I can't imagine that Iowa is the job he would want to be his last, or near his last. Too much work for a guy that has made his money and has access to far better talent in Vegas than he would in Iowa City.
Mark Few: Not sure why he'd pick Iowa at this time when he has had better offers in recent years and has turned them down to stay at Gonzaga?
Jamie Dixon: Rob Howe makes a good point in saying that his Pitt hoops team is so far down the list of sports priorities for fans in the Steel City that he could consider leaving.
Jay Wright: I have spent little time considering Wright, because I cannot imagine he'd leave Villanova for Iowa. However, he is in another pro sports town and he could pad his wallet with the right offer from Iowa. He is a proven commodity and would be a home run hire for the Hawkeye program, but I think that is a loooong shot.
B.J. Armstrong: His name popped up last night and as I said then, the over arching theme was that B.J. is willing to lend a hand to Gary Barta...he hasn't ruled out a coaching slot, but is likely more interested in an advisory role.
Paul Hewitt: Perhaps he has fallen out of favor at Georgia Tech because some of their fans feel he has plateaued?
Also, I am not spending much time on the Reggie Theus, Fran Fraschilla and Steve Lavin trails. I think if there was a time and place for them, it's either passed or it's not Iowa at this time.
Here are some time savers:
Brian Gregory: Dayton head coach, Tom Izzo tree, Izzo was not too pleased to see Iowa cut bait with Lickliter after just three years.
Chris Collins: He has threethings going for him; he played for Duke, he has been an assistant at Duke and his daddy is Doug. That's about all I see..Things haven't worked out so well for the Coach K Tree.
Ben Jacobsen: Great guy, hard worker, I respect the heck out of his team this year. But I have had enough of that style in Carver Hawkeye Arena. Barta does have UNI ties...but I hope he has given those to Goodwill.
I would, but just don't have the intuitive creativity. That might be fun to see!
