recruits will come once they see a few games

BSpringsteen

BSpringsteen

Well-Known Member
Recruits - especially top flight ones want to end up on Sportscenter and play on national tv.

Once they see the style of play, we are going to be in on a lot of conversations and start finishing them.

To get recruits who are considering other top programs to even listen to us at this point is impressive. Once they se how we play, it is going to get much easier.

This was a VERY encouraging start to say the least.
 
BSpringsteen said:
Recruits - especially top flight ones want to end up on Sportscenter and play on national tv.

Once they see the style of play, we are going to be in on a lot of conversations and start finishing them.

To get recruits who are considering other top programs to even listen to us at this point is impressive. Once they se how we play, it is going to get much easier.

This was a VERY encouraging start to say the least.
Click to expand...

Yup. This is why the people who come on here complaining about our recruiting drive me nuts. Trying to sell Iowa basketball over the summer was like a salesman trying to sell a product without being able to show the customer the product. You can get the customer's attention with some promises and projections, but in the end it's a big leap of faith to buy that product without seeing it in action. Same applies to Iowa's recruiting.

Now what you will see is that the fans will finally start showing up because people are getting excited about the possibility of Iowa basketball(the fans, to a point, were in the same position as the recruits earlier this summer). Now that they have gotten a sample of what they can generally expect from Iowa basketball, my guess is that we see Carver return to at least decent attendance levels by the end of the first month of the season. I'm not talking about consistent sellouts per se, but at least they won't be at embarrassing levels. It will be up to the team to perform to a decent level to keep that momentum up. But as long as we're not getting blown out on a regular basis(which I don't see happening), I think our attendance levels are finally on the mend.

So then when we start bringing in those 2012 prospects for some visits, and our coaches are able to actually sell Carver and the crowd, then we will see where this staff lies in their recruiting abilities. I think we are all going to be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
 
Agree with both posts. I've never understood why some people were down on recruiting at such an early stage. Fran can build a program, but recruits don't know what to expect even with game film from his past. Will it correlate to wins in the Big10? Can they have fun and play on a national stage? Can they make the NCAA tournament? Those are huge questions that the players simply don't have an answer to yet. The exhibition sounds like it was an awesome showcase and I can't wait to watch it tomorrow.
 
The most important thing with recruits is the relationship they build with the head coach or the main coach that is recruiting them and what kind of assurances they are getting from said coaches.

Pretty much every team bar Wisconsin and NW is playing this same kind of style so I'm not sure how much of a selling point the style of play can be.
 
hawkeye12345 said:
Agree with both posts. I've never understood why some people were down on recruiting at such an early stage. Fran can build a program, but recruits don't know what to expect even with game film from his past. Will it correlate to wins in the Big10? Can they have fun and play on a national stage? Can they make the NCAA tournament? Those are huge questions that the players simply don't have an answer to yet. The exhibition sounds like it was an awesome showcase and I can't wait to watch it tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Did you DVR it, or is it on again?
 
I agree. Even if Lickliter had won 20+ games per year, he'd have had more trouble recruiting players than if he had a more uptempo system. Players don't want to hold the ball for 30 seconds on offense, then throw up a three-pointer.
 
Winning will cure a lot of recruiting woes. However we'll REALLY need to keep kids home to help the effort.
 
As fans, we need to do our part. This is going to be the only year for 2012 recruits to see what playing is Carver is about. I'm sure the big guns will be making their decisions by next summer.

Wins & Losses aside. We need to start filling up Carver on a regular basis especially come the Big 10 Season.
 
TWR96 said:
As fans, we need to do our part. This is going to be the only year for 2012 recruits to see what playing is Carver is about. I'm sure the big guns will be making their decisions by next summer.

Wins & Losses aside. We need to start filling up Carver on a regular basis especially come the Big 10 Season.
Click to expand...

I agree, and for the first time ever I ordered a couple of the weekend packages the have. It is almost impossible for me to make it to IC from Des Moines on weeknights. So this package works out great for me.

It was such a breath of fresh air watching them yesterday as compared to the last 3 years that were boring as hell.
 
lol, yah I used to start to fall asleep last season watching the games on TV so I would occassionally go outside and watch my car rust just to get a little more stimulation before going back to the TV.
 
BSpringsteen said:
Recruits - especially top flight ones want to end up on Sportscenter and play on national tv.

Once they see the style of play, we are going to be in on a lot of conversations and start finishing them.

To get recruits who are considering other top programs to even listen to us at this point is impressive. Once they se how we play, it is going to get much easier.

This was a VERY encouraging start to say the least.
Click to expand...


I was thinking the same thing as I listened to the game. I too was very encouraged and am looking forward to everything Iowa basketball.
 
If somehow the Hawks could find a JUCO forward who was a Sam Young type that would go a long way to helping the recruiting issue. The main issue people have with recruiting is the obvious thinness in the front line. As it stands Iowa is not deep enough. When Cole leaves that only gets worse.

While recruits will mostly like the new style and attitude, that won't mean much if the team regresses in year two. Unless they can score a hit or two on the front line in the Spring it will be hard to compete next year.
 
TWR96 said:
As fans, we need to do our part. This is going to be the only year for 2012 recruits to see what playing is Carver is about. I'm sure the big guns will be making their decisions by next summer.

Wins & Losses aside. We need to start filling up Carver on a regular basis especially come the Big 10 Season.
Click to expand...

+1

Fran can run an exciting style but high schools kids want to play in front of huge and loud crowds, every football recruit has commented on the atmosphere in Kinnick, win, lose or draw the Hawks need to get Carver rocking again like the old days!!
 
The atmosphere in Kinnick in 2000 was dreadful. You could get 4 seats, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas for $40. Seriously. The reason the atmosphere is great is because of the play of the team.

I love this chicken and the egg argument, but I just don't think it is realistic. The team needs to start winning to draw fans.
 
CAARHawk said:
The atmosphere in Kinnick in 2000 was dreadful. You could get 4 seats, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas for $40. Seriously. The reason the atmosphere is great is because of the play of the team.

I love this chicken and the egg argument, but I just don't think it is realistic. The team needs to start winning to draw fans.
Click to expand...

I think there's a lot of truth to what you say, but I honestly believe that the boring style of play under Lickliter chased alot of fans away, who I'm hoping will now start coming back since we are running fast breaks, dunking, scoring points, etc. All of the losing didn't help either.

But did you notice how even right away in year 1 of the Lickliter era, that the attendance took a hit even thought we had a new coach? First thing I noticed was how utterly empty the upper rows were in Carver in Lick's first year in the non-conference games. We were losing attendance under Alford as the years went on, but it seemed to get that much worse once Lickliter was hired. My guess for that is because either A) The lightning rod that was Alford was gone, so anger was replaced with apathy or B) Fans just were not excited about the style of play, AND knew that the product on the floor wasn't going to be very good at first (and it never improved).

It definitely won't be an overnight process to fill CHA again, and winning will be necessary to complete the process (so I agree with you there), but I'll go ahead and predict an immediate bump in attendance strictly due to a fun style of play, especially since we just put triple-digits on the board the other day. Hopefully some people have taken notice, or will shortly.

My thought is that maybe attendance this year will be closer to what it was like at the tail end of the Alford era.. Not sellouts, but noticeably better than the last 3 years. I could be wrong, but that's my hope for this year, and I'm just speculating on all of this.

But to the point of the post, yes, a good crowd will definitely help impress recruits. Hard to excite anybody when your arena is dead..
 
Last edited:
The thing Iowa Basketball needs first and foremost is stability. With Fran and the Staff that was assembled this is a great start. The next step is to keep the players with eligibility remain in the program. The style of play and the type of coach Fran has been in his career, I don't see this as a problem. Next, no more Academic casualties or arrests, again, I don't see this as a problem.
Now, I have seen people pop off about recruiting and how Iowa is only getting mid-major talent, well, that is a fallacy. The problem has been keeping the talent on campus. The current underclassmen have talent, but the problem has been depth.
Ogelsby and White are two more talented players that will be at Iowa next year and I am very excited about that. Iowa will really only lack some more depth in the frontcourt when Cole graduates. It would be nice to see Iowa land a couple of big guys to provide depth and give Basabe some help. If that means JUCO, so be it. Iowa has had good luck with some JUCO guys in the past. With bringing in the two players already for next year, we lose one, but gain two so there is more depth coming into the program overall, which is needed. There are some guys out there that may be sleepers. The style of play will be attractive, but Iowa does need to win and I don't care by how many points. I am not saying finish above .500 in the first year, but do well outside of the Big Ten where they haven't had a lot of success. Expect Iowa to get beat on a regular basis in the Big Ten where 7 teams could go to the NCAA tournament, the best conference in all of Basketball. If Iowa hovers around or just below .500 and pull off a couple of upsets in the Big Ten, it will make recruits who may be on the fence take a leap of faith.
 
TWR96 said:
As fans, we need to do our part. This is going to be the only year for 2012 recruits to see what playing is Carver is about. I'm sure the big guns will be making their decisions by next summer.

Wins & Losses aside. We need to start filling up Carver on a regular basis especially come the Big 10 Season.
Click to expand...


The Franimal still has 2 schollies to give. He isn't going to give any more until the spring signing period.

There are still 2011 recruits to be had. Plenty. Once they see this team play, I think they will take notice. Looking at our roster (and how I see it shaking out), we need one decent big man for this next class. 2 would be nice. I don't see us playing a center that much, unless they can really run. That opens the door to a lot of recruits in the PF-C area.

One decent big, who can rebound, add another season to what we have already and we are tourney bound next season.
 
As a former student, I think the inconvenience of Carver is a huge factor in student attendance at games. This coupled with poor play is what doomed us the last few years. People would rather be doing things downtown or even studying than spend an hour on a bus full of people complaining about waiting on the bus. I went to all of the games that I was able to and it was almost more frustrating than watching the team play.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top