Omaha

[Zstatman]

Do we have any guesses on what Omah's market value is? Is he worth the $150k and new car that Nebraska has allegedly offered Chucky Hepburn?

I don't remember us ever having a courtship with Omaha while he was doing all his high school wonderings. Anybody know why we didn't recruit him then? Why would that have changed?

 

[eyekwah]

Anyone on here old enough to remember that time when Ames high had McDermott, Barnes and a couple other guys who played D-1 ball and when thinking about whether a high school team could beat Lickliter's dogshit team you had to really wonder about that Ames team? I'd be surprised if he doesn't go to WV.

People close to ISU believe you are right.

 

[Fryowa]

Yeah this Fran being in limbo land is a real thing... It's almost as if he's a lame duck. His contract says he's not but pretty much everything else you rattled off does. What's he hanging on for another yr? 2 tops? It almost feels like the band aid needs ripped off for the program to go forward. Feels like keeping him is just delaying the inevitable and that could be a bottoming out. Hopefully not Lickliter bad but all it takes is one yr for things to go off the rails.

I wish Goetz would have a serious sit down with him. Ideally him walking away would be best. Sooner then later. Beth doesn't want to fire him and doesn't have a good enough reason to really do so. So the ball is in Frans court pretty much.

Obviously everything I mentioned was total conjecture on my part. I have no clue what Fran plans on doing. That's just how I'd feel as a parent, and probably what I'd use against him in recruiting.

 

[Fryowa]

I wish Goetz would have a serious sit down with him. Ideally him walking away would be best. Sooner then later. Beth doesn't want to fire him and doesn't have a good enough reason to really do so. So the ball is in Frans court pretty much.

The bigger donors also have a lot of influence over these kinds of things.

 

[Teddy]

With Iowa not in the NIL mix and Fran being a prime target for negative recruiting right now, I don't see anyone substantive committing here until the portal dust has settled. But, like the rest of my life, I'm probably wrong.

As a parent myself, there's no chance I'd tell my son to even entertain talking to Iowa the way things are if he had opportunities elsewhere, no matter how small.

- 64 year old coach coming off a disappointing season

- Said coach on the record many, many times saying he hates the college sports environment right now.

- One son leaving the program and the final one confirming he won't play in IC. Lot's of reasons for both of those things, but the optics are what they are.

- Multiple other players transferring

- Very minimal NIL opportunities

Iowa basketball isn't in a good place at present. I like Fran a lot, but the program has seen better days.

But it's seen a lot worse days too.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

The bigger donors also have a lot of influence over these kinds of things.

Sure do. Do you feel like there's the apatite amongst those folks to pony up to pay Fran to leave early? I don't. It took the football boosters (maybe some are the same?) quite awhile to get to where they'd finally had enough of BF embarrassing the entire program to force a change there. And besides that it seems like there's just a ton of apathy with hoops compared to football.

 

[PCHawk]

I'll these reasons not to go to Iowa. I gotta wonder if any of them matter even a little bit in this new NIL era. I wouldn't be surprised if it's 100% about the money for 90% of recruits.

 

[okeefe4prez]

With Iowa not in the NIL mix and Fran being a prime target for negative recruiting right now, I don't see anyone substantive committing here until the portal dust has settled. But, like the rest of my life, I'm probably wrong.

As a parent myself, there's no chance I'd tell my son to even entertain talking to Iowa the way things are if he had opportunities elsewhere, no matter how small.

- 64 year old coach coming off a disappointing season

- Said coach on the record many, many times saying he hates the college sports environment right now.

- One son leaving the program and the final one confirming he won't play in IC. Lot's of reasons for both of those things, but the optics are what they are.

- Multiple other players transferring

- Very minimal NIL opportunities

Iowa basketball isn't in a good place at present. I like Fran a lot, but the program has seen better days.

Iowa basketball is right now in such a precarious spot that if I had a kid who was good enough to play D-1 hoops my usual caveats about going to Northwestern or Standford ahead of Iowa would still apply but I would also have to think long and hard about much smaller non-Ivy schools like Davidson, Rice or Miami of Ohio as preferred over Iowa. At least as of right now. It's not good.

 

[Fryowa]

Do you feel like there's the apatite amongst those folks to pony up to pay Fran to leave early? I don't.

I don’t think the major donor scene cares enough about basketball to do something like that. And even if they did the job would have to be attractive enough to make it worth it. I don’t see an up-and-comer coach looking to build a program wanting to come to a school where he couldn’t get NIL help. You’d have the deck stacked against you from the start.

 

[Fryowa]

But it's seen a lot worse days too.

It’s not Lickliter bad and I’d take today’s program over Alford’s sleazy house any day. But it’s still not good.

 

[Teddy]

It’s not Lickliter bad and I’d take today’s program over Alford’s sleazy house any day. But it’s still not good.

Just making the tournament puts a school in the top 20%, raw numbers. Winning a game puts you in the top 10% of teams.

Iowa might be able to do better but what's not good about making the NCAA 7 times in a decade, especially if it's in chunks like 5 in a row (qualifying).

There is no guaranty that a new coach would do better. You've seen what happens when a much higher level of good leads to change in pursuit of better. We are just Iowa. We are a small and very unimportant basketball program. Statistically, most coaching changes fail.

 

[Hawkboys]

3 tackles again, no call before the charge

 

[Hawkfnntn]

I don’t think the major donor scene cares enough about basketball to do something like that. And even if they did the job would have to be attractive enough to make it worth it. I don’t see an up-and-comer coach looking to build a program wanting to come to a school where he couldn’t get NIL help. You’d have the deck stacked against you from the start.

Yeah I agree. I bet there's apathy amongst them too... Which means it puts Goetz in a tough spot. How ballsy of a move would it be if she were to fire Fran? Remember he's not 'her' guy. It'd be a heck of a preemptive move and I don't see her doing it. But I could see her sitting down with Fran and laying it all out there and seeing if he might want to leave. Just knowing that the AD that didn't hire you is half pushing you out for a guy in his shoes might be enough for him to jump the rest of the way. Who knows.

 

[Zstatman]

I don't see Fran getting fired at this time. He did the things he needs to have a pretty good team next year, he played the frosh a good number of minutes, he has two good freshmen coming in next year, Dix will be a junior, Payton a senior so if he can get 1-2 good transfers, they could be competitive. If Goetz did fire him she would have to pay him several million to walk him out the door.

And, I don't see Fran leaving. He's got it made even if not everybody loves him.

 

[Zstatman]

And, an interesting hire by Drake, Ben McCollum, born in Iowa City. Maybe he goes after Omaha? It will be interesting to see what kind of talent he can bring in quickly. He evidently can coach, 4 national titles at NW Missouri in D2.

 

[longtimer]

With Iowa not in the NIL mix and Fran being a prime target for negative recruiting right now, I don't see anyone substantive committing here until the portal dust has settled. But, like the rest of my life, I'm probably wrong.

As a parent myself, there's no chance I'd tell my son to even entertain talking to Iowa the way things are if he had opportunities elsewhere, no matter how small.

- 64 year old coach coming off a disappointing season

- Said coach on the record many, many times saying he hates the college sports environment right now.

- One son leaving the program and the final one confirming he won't play in IC. Lot's of reasons for both of those things, but the optics are what they are.

- Multiple other players transferring

- Very minimal NIL opportunities

Iowa basketball isn't in a good place at present. I like Fran a lot, but the program has seen better days.

We are not always on the same page but I am totally with you on this post except that I am not as enamored with Fran as you. That being said Fran is facing an almost impossible situation with his age the status of the program and lack of NIL support. There was a day when a coaching change could restart the program like Ralph Miller or Lute did. Maybe not possible anymore without big sums of money to buy players. I don't mind players making money with their success but buying players is just nuts. In any event I hope Fran decides to call it quits. I expect maybe not this year but next year

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Omaha Biliew is 6’7 200 lbs. and is raw, with a ton of athleticism, so the comp for Iowa fans will be Tyler Smith. Can Fran immediately flip him into a 12 and 5 guy(points/rebounds)? If you are Fran, do you go after a 4 or 5 in the portal, knowing what you have in Freeman/Dembele coming back?

Just saw he committed to Wake Forest and Steve Forbes. It doesn't seem like Fran even tried with him... Frans got feelers out for lots of other guys though.

 

[Teddy]

At first I thought this would be a great find for Iowa. Then I thought he did nothing at Iowa State, less productive than Ladji. So if he's a 4, his game will conflict with Ladji and the 4* Chris Tadjo. If he plays 3, and I don't know if he could play small, he conflicts with our best player Py, 4* & top reserve Pr and 4* freshman Cooper Koch.

He may be a tweener that just doesn't work in college. He's probably too short and too skinny to play inside. Omaha is skinny and lacks speed, quickness and mobility, and a shot to play outside.

When Iowa didn't offer immediately, I think there may be a third and intangible problem. We have Omaha's HS teammates on roster. Maybe they provided Fran with some negative feedback and Omaha brings some bad energy with him. Or, its an NIL problem. Iowa's complete lack of an offer to an in-state kid, with HS teammates already on the roster points to a different disqualification.

 

[Gander Hawk]

I'm not getting all the Fran angst. He's recruiting well and typically his teams finish in the top half of the league. He won the BiG tourney just a couple of years ago. Purdue hadn't performed well in March until this past year with a lot better players than Fran's.

 

[Fryowa]

At first I thought this would be a great find for Iowa. Then I thought he did nothing at Iowa State, less productive than Ladji. So if he's a 4, his game will conflict with Ladji and the 4* Chris Tadjo. If he plays 3, and I don't know if he could play small, he conflicts with our best player Py, 4* & top reserve Pr and 4* freshman Cooper Koch.

He may be a tweener that just doesn't work in college. He's probably too short and too skinny to play inside. Omaha is skinny and lacks speed, quickness and mobility, and a shot to play outside.

When Iowa didn't offer immediately, I think there may be a third and intangible problem. We have Omaha's HS teammates on roster. Maybe they provided Fran with some negative feedback and Omaha brings some bad energy with him. Or, its an NIL problem. Iowa's complete lack of an offer to an in-state kid, with HS teammates already on the roster points to a different disqualification.

It's why I never get hyped about recruits. I think it's great when we get higher ranked guys obviously, but you never know when any of them are going to work out and it tends to be a crap shoot. Foster is an example...people lost their minds when he signed with ISU and said the sky was falling but he's never started a game in 3 years with 2 teams and has character issues that go beyond the assault allegations he was cleared of.

Nwankpa is another one. Now before anyone starts shooting flamethrowers my way, I'm not saying the kid isn't a good player or has character issues. Not at all. I'm just saying the hype he got when he was being recruited doesn't fit the results yet. Maybe it will eventually, maybe it won't. And that's not his fault, it's the fans' fault.