Thinking back on Hawkeye basketball history, it seems to me that many of the players we fondly remember were Upper Midwest guys. Or maybe my memory is fading with age??
But most of the glory years seemed to have players from Michigan (Marble, Armstrong), Illinois (Lester, Gamble, Horton, Payne), Ohio (Kingsbury), Minnesota (Lohaus, although he played his high school ball in Arizona) and of course most of the good ones stayed in state to play (Settles, Lockingbill, Bowen, Hansen, Street). Now granted some of the best were also lured in from out of the area, the main cores of the era we all wish for were from the Midwest.
While recruiting is more nationwide today than it perhaps was back then it seems to me that one of the main things the new coach will need to have is deep ties to the Upper Midwest. Of the names being bantered about, who might best fit this mold? Who has been successful creating connections and relationships in the area?
But most of the glory years seemed to have players from Michigan (Marble, Armstrong), Illinois (Lester, Gamble, Horton, Payne), Ohio (Kingsbury), Minnesota (Lohaus, although he played his high school ball in Arizona) and of course most of the good ones stayed in state to play (Settles, Lockingbill, Bowen, Hansen, Street). Now granted some of the best were also lured in from out of the area, the main cores of the era we all wish for were from the Midwest.
While recruiting is more nationwide today than it perhaps was back then it seems to me that one of the main things the new coach will need to have is deep ties to the Upper Midwest. Of the names being bantered about, who might best fit this mold? Who has been successful creating connections and relationships in the area?
