One thing never talked about regarding Fran.....

SpiderRico

Well-Known Member
....but I think is the single biggest reason why he's been able to succeed at Iowa: He keeps his players.

Think about how many players were lost, total, in 11 years under Alford and Lickliter. It had to be somewhere around 35-40 players.

At a place like Iowa, who is never going to get the one-and-done guys or the early entry guys.....It's absolutely paramount that we identify under-the-radar talent, develop it, and keep them around thru their senior year.

Fran's ability to relate to his players and keep them around has allowed him to build the program over time and not feel like he's perpetually starting over every year.

Congrats to Fran, the staff and players for being able to shake off last year's fluke finish and get the program back on track. For the first time since Mr. Davis left, it truly feels like "we're back".
 


I think it all starts with the way he recruits. Woodbury said that when he went to UNC they did the whole 'fake starting lineup announcement', put his picture on their 4 jumbo screens and treated him like a rockstar. Fran sat with his family and watched Monday Night Football. He promotes a family atmosphere from day 1 and gets players to buy in to a team goal. Other schools inflate egos and make promises they know they can't keep.
 


Think about the recruits Fran got while under a complete rebuild and then compare that to the recruits he should get now that Iowa is a back to back NCAA tournament team with possibly back to back 1st team all big ten players.

He actually has a program to sell now and hopefully recruits are taking notice
 


Think about the recruits Fran got while under a complete rebuild and then compare that to the recruits he should get now that Iowa is a back to back NCAA tournament team with possibly back to back 1st team all big ten players.

He actually has a program to sell now and hopefully recruits are taking notice

It's too bad we're a football school though! :D
 


It's too bad we're a football school though! :D

Ha, even Kirk would snort at that at this point. Too many ebbs and flows and whatnot. It's obvious how much Fran's players love playing for him. It's why I get so irritated to hear talking heads like Wilbon try and paint him as a "miserable person". Yeah cause players would just love to play for a miserable coach...smh. He always has his players backs and never throws his players under the bus. He'll actually get the whole country to bad mouth him if it means it takes attention away from one of his players. I really like Fran and his I don't give a rip what you think style of coaching. He's passionate and as he gets better talent I believe he'll actually be the coach to get Iowa to the next level.
 


I think it all starts with the way he recruits. Woodbury said that when he went to UNC they did the whole 'fake starting lineup announcement', put his picture on their 4 jumbo screens and treated him like a rockstar. Fran sat with his family and watched Monday Night Football. He promotes a family atmosphere from day 1 and gets players to buy in to a team goal. Other schools inflate egos and make promises they know they can't keep.

Then they showed him a schedule and said these are the fake classes you can take.:cool:
 


I think it all starts with the way he recruits. Woodbury said that when he went to UNC they did the whole 'fake starting lineup announcement', put his picture on their 4 jumbo screens and treated him like a rockstar. Fran sat with his family and watched Monday Night Football. He promotes a family atmosphere from day 1 and gets players to buy in to a team goal. Other schools inflate egos and make promises they know they can't keep.

And promised him the starting position his entire career.. :)

I will be very disappointed if Gabe doesn't get the nod this weekend..
 


I think it's important to note. Especially when you look at Indiana under Tom Crean. The term "Creaning" is used for a reason. He recruits over and runs off his own players if he thinks he has a better one lined up. In some cases it works out, in others, like this year, it doesn't. And it will probably cost Tom Crean his job.
 


You noticed that when one player have down game another step up and it's always about team attitude. Like i said, I love the way Fred do his job. Each person is a equal team member , all , even assistant coaches are part of a equation. Fran holds each one as a equal part of solutions to problems.
I love this idea about Fran's way.
 




Can't blame the coach if the the 3rd string point guard dosent feel he can beat out the two ahead of him
 


With 600 transfers a year (or whatever the crazy number of D-1 transfers was), you can't hold a coach responsible for 1 here, 1 there. It's the coaches like Crean and Hoiberg that have 2 or 3 a year, that's giving the game a black eye.
 


Then they showed him a schedule and said these are the fake classes you can take.:cool:

LMAO!!!!! They probably already had his grades on the completed courses he had taken his freshmen year and a grade point average. :)
 






LMAO!!!!! They probably already had his grades on the completed courses he had taken his freshmen year and a grade point average. :)

Did they tie his GPA to points/rebounds as an incentive to make Academic All-ACC?
 




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