HawkeyeMike23
Banned
The upside of this gamble was never worth the risk. Hubbard was never going to be a program changer, but Fran went after him like he was and it bit him in the ***.
Safe to say withrawing Glover offer a mistake?
- Thread starter DuffMan
- Start date
Not really. If I close my eyes and run into traffic, I don't need to by a physic to know the likely result.
Hubbard was trouble as a kid, went to jail as a young man, and since leaving jail has been picked up twice for driving without a license and had charges brought against him before being dropped.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
Unless his departure involves legal trouble, then his past has NOTHING to do with what's going on now. If it's grades? Plenty of "good" kids struggle with academics in college. If it's a lack of chemistry with the players? Again, that can happen with any recruit.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Iowa could not have both for scholarship reasons. If Iowa would have signed Glover and Payne stayed...they would have only had one open scholarship for the 2013 class. As it stands right now they could have as many as four or as little as 3.
For whatever reason, it didn't work with Hubbard and it doesn't really matter to me what the reason was. The Iowa program was left in shambles and very little overall talent and depth. If Fran can keep all his freshman in the program, he won't have to keep scrambling to fill open scholarships. Build with the freshman and add a difference maker from the JUCO ranks, that is what he was trying to do, it is a set back and Glover would have had little impact on this team. With the state of PSU's roster, if he doesn't start that speaks volumes.
For whatever reason, it didn't work with Hubbard and it doesn't really matter to me what the reason was. The Iowa program was left in shambles and very little overall talent and depth. If Fran can keep all his freshman in the program, he won't have to keep scrambling to fill open scholarships. Build with the freshman and add a difference maker from the JUCO ranks, that is what he was trying to do, it is a set back and Glover would have had little impact on this team. With the state of PSU's roster, if he doesn't start that speaks volumes.
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alexzelada
Guest
The Domer speaks.
Chad, if Iowa's future with Fran is that the only talent we can recruit is that with a prison history then we are ****** as a program. The truth is part of the job description of being a coach at Iowa is to find kids who can play BBall and have a clean track record. I know you feel that's asking too much, but you are dead wrong.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
Who said Hubbard was our ONLY option? He wasn't. But he obviously came off as a changed man (and he very well may be). Fran wouldn't have recruited him otherwise.
Obviously, I would prefer it if all of our players had clean records coming in. We took a chance, and it didn't pan out. That happens all the time in college basketball. But people around here are completely unwilling to look past Hubbard's prison sentence. For all that anyone knows, his criminal record/nature (if that's how you prefer to see it) is totally irrelevant to his departure.
But continue to take things to the extreme, and assume that we are going to become a team that would fit in with the California Penal League.
BTW, my name isn't Chad.
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alexzelada
Guest
Who said Hubbard was our ONLY option? He wasn't. But he obviously came off as a changed man (and he very well may be). Fran wouldn't have recruited him otherwise.
But continue to take things to the extreme, and assume that we are going to become a team that would fit in with the California Penal League.
BTW, my name isn't Chad.
Chad, in a short while your post count will exceed Jon Miller's on this website. You have internet-OCD. That is a mental illness. Do us all a favor and discover what a girl is.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
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alexzelada
Guest
Chad, if he wasn't our only option, then Iowa should've gone with the other options. You're sabotaging your own argument, which you've done in several threads.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
Fran made the call that he felt comfortable with. It's easy to criticize in hindsight. He felt comfortable with Hubbard's character, and felt he was a better player than the other options that we had. I think it's probably best if he doesn't turn away players who fit THAT description.
tweeterhawk
Well-Known Member
It was a mistake, in both hindsight and foresight. Point guards are like running backs at Iowa -- you can never have too many, as we've (sadly) discovered. There is no reason this staff should have stopped recruiting Glover. Hubbard was a risk in many ways; there was a 50-50 chance he would have made it to the end of his second year. Barring some late find of a stud center, we needed an additional guard.
hawkeyemark
Well-Known Member
It seems reasonable enough to me to consider not signing Glover a mistake. I thought we needed a point guard in this class before Cully Payne announced his plans to transfer. I don't fault Fran for taking the gamble on Hubbard and agree with Jon's comment that he could have helped speed up the re-building process. But it seems shortsighted to me to put all of our eggs in that basket. I like Fran's aggressiveness but it cost him a little here. It will hurt us going into the season after next with potentially two freshman at the point and no experience at that position.
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Fran put a lot into Hubbard, but the player that they truly lost on in hindsight and foresight was Cezar. Then to top it off, Iowa made no real push to get Washpun until after they were spurned by Cezar. The last viable option available was Hubbard and it is reasonable to think Fran had to put a ton of time into him due to his past.
I am not here to second guess Fran because I am not. Getting in so late on some PG's is why Iowa put so much time into Hubbard. Realistically, he was not the number one option and most of the quality soon to be freshman PG's had already signed.
Since Iowa has no talent, I will get railed for the next comment. Iowa has some good young players. The problem at Iowa right now is the state of the program when Fran took over and Iowa has also missed out on some players that don't want to play for a program that has been awful, can't blame them. Iowa's young players will continue to develop and Fran will get some better players, at Iowa when the perception of the program has been what it is for over a decade, it isn't going to happen overnight.
If there is a major defection of players after year two, then Fran and Iowa are doomed, but all indications are the players love to play for Fran. That will go a long way in the end. When the players believe in a coach, they will work that much harder for that coach and the work they put in will pay dividends. Iowa doesn't need an infusion of talent, kids play D1 basketball because they have talent, Iowa needs players with high athleticism and solid basketball skills who will get better after every game. This is a rough time for Iowa basketball as the cupboard was pretty much left about as bare as it could be.
hawkeyemark
Well-Known Member
sportstalent, great post that I fully agree with. Thanks for taking the time to write that. Fran misplayed his hand in regards to the point guard situation but he doesn't strike me as a guy to make the same mistake twice and we will recover. Despite our disappointment in losing Hubbard we have some really good things happening with our basketball program. The tide will turn but it will likely take longer than most of us want it to or have patience for.
