One Of McCollum’s Assistants Is…





If he is half as good of an assistant coach as his brother was a player, then he will be one hell of an Iowa assistant coach.

I actually have read an article or two on this Hawkeye connection. I just figured everyone was aware of the connection.

Actually Josh is one hell of an coach. This coaching staff is going to be one of the best in college basketball. Coaching up our players will not be in question.

If these guys can recruit……….. to borrow an old football phrase ……….. “whoa nelly”

Deepest respects to the memory of Tyler.
 


Very small world. I'll be curious what happens to Gatens. I'd be surprised if he wanted to follow Fran out east. He was at Bens press conference that lends me to think he'd prefer staying on. So how they hit it off will be interesting as all get out to me.
 


Hawkfnntn said:
Very small world. I'll be curious what happens to Gatens. I'd be surprised if he wanted to follow Fran out east. He was at Bens press conference that lends me to think he'd prefer staying on. So how they hit it off will be interesting as all get out to me.
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For him, I'd think if he believes in Ben, a couple good seasons would set him up very nicely to take a look at HC opportunities of his own.
 




JoeyLabasForPresident said:
For him, I'd think if he believes in Ben, a couple good seasons would set him up very nicely to take a look at HC opportunities of his own.
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How old is Matt he's not 40 yet is he? I'm sure he's got aspirations of being an HC down the road. I'm not sure how soon it may come he might have to do what Ben did and go to D2 or lower level to land one. Tough to say what Matt wants long term. Short term I'd guess he wants to stay in IC where his family is for awhile longer if he can.
 


Sounds like Gaten will not be on staff. Wouldn't have expected any staff holdovers given McCollum's background is already Iowa and Missouri.
 


I will share my Matt Gatens story (I think I have shared it before). I remember watching him play West High when he was a senior at City. He was obviously a skilled perimeter player, he could have spent much of the game hunting 3-pters or doing fancy dribbling around the perimeter. He did none of that stuff. He planted himself on the block, and he brutalized West High with post-ups, offensive rebounds, and FTs (I think he shot about 20 in that game). I always appreciated that...don't be fancy, just do what needs to be done to give yourself the best chance of winning. It doesn't surprise me that he is a good coach.
 


I hope to hear some news on a
couple of returning players or new players coming to Iowa through the portal.

I am certain that Ben is going to try to get the best he can regardless of having to build from the ground up. He knows success needs to be as quick as possible to get the students and fans reengaged and attending the games.
 


BigD said:
I hope to hear some news on a
couple of returning players or new players coming to Iowa through the portal.

I am certain that Ben is going to try to get the best he can regardless of having to build from the ground up. He knows success needs to be as quick as possible to get the students and fans reengaged and attending the games.
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Ask and ye shall receive. That was quick

www.hawkcentral.com

Iowa basketball: Drake transfer Cam Manyawu commits to Hawkeyes

Another former Drake Bulldog has committed to play for Ben McCollum at the University of Iowa.
www.hawkcentral.com
 


Hawkfnntn said:
Very small world. I'll be curious what happens to Gatens. I'd be surprised if he wanted to follow Fran out east. He was at Bens press conference that lends me to think he'd prefer staying on. So how they hit it off will be interesting as all get out to me.
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That is certainly promising
 






Sounds like Iona's fired coach is coming aboard. Remember him? Native Iowan, led Farleigh Dickinson to a big upset a couple years ago. That's huge in my opinion - adding a legit head coach to the staff.

I doubt there is any chance this happens, but if I'm McCollum, I make a run at Ben Johnson too. He's a bright young coach who has also sat in that main chair. And a great recruiter dialed into Minneapolis and bordering states.

Would he have any interest? At first I thought no way. But McCollum would be a good coach to be exposed to for your next career move. Make that connection, Iowa has some success, and he'd be out there as a head coach candidate again. Might be a nice change of pace compared to being a head coach at a lower level right now.
 






Gatens would have been the natural hold over and it would have happened immediately to try and claw back any of the existing players that had put into the portal. When he wasn't named an assistant right away, I could see the writing on the wall there. McCollum doesn't have much of a relationship with Gatens and the rumblings are he is a good coach, but not a Connor McCaffrey type. I am very happy with the staff. Hand selected guys usually work out better than a mixture of holdovers and new. We needed a total change, IMHO.
 


NorthKCHawk said:
Gatens would have been the natural hold over and it would have happened immediately to try and claw back any of the existing players that had put into the portal. When he wasn't named an assistant right away, I could see the writing on the wall there. McCollum doesn't have much of a relationship with Gatens and the rumblings are he is a good coach, but not a Connor McCaffrey type. I am very happy with the staff. Hand selected guys usually work out better than a mixture of holdovers and new. We needed a total change, IMHO.
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And to be real the only players we had worth trying to keep talent wise we landed 1 of 4... Dix only has 1 yr left to play He woulda fit perfectly with Ben but he played for a huge discount for 3 yrs so it was time for him to find a bag. Be it Gatens, Ben whomever there was no amount of convincing him that shoulda changed his mind he deserved to get paid. And he got to do so while going closer to home. There's no competing with all that.

Freeman and Harding just weren't coming back regardless. Freeman was gonna chase the bag and had decided that quite awhile ago and Harding wasn't a fit with Ben anyway.

Sandfort woulda been nice to have kept but he isn't physical and didn't play a lick of defense (hence only being a partial fit to Bens system) So I don't consider that as big of a loss as some might. I think we're getting other guys that can shoot and spread the floor just as well as he can but also play D and rebound better.

Koch the one we ended up keeping has 4 yrs to play with sky is the limit potential. I'd say we came out as fine in that regard as we realistically coulda. The program needed to be gutted and that's exactly what happened.

Would it have been nice to have kept Gatens? Absolutely I was championing for it to happen. Seemed like a no brainer from my couch. But Ben sits in the big chair with the big desk not me. I feel bad for Gatens cause I'm sure he wanted to stay. But that's the nature of the bizz as they say. He'll be fine I suspect he'll land on his feet somewhere soon enough.
 
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I don't blame BM for wanting his own guys on his taff.

I think most of us feel, I know I did, that Gatens was hoping to be the heir apparent to Fran as HC someday. I don't blame him. But BM didn't need that baggage hanging over his head.

One holdover is good, and he got that with Kyle. A nice, innocent fit.

I like the makeup of the new staff.
 


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