JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Before I begin breaking down the names of potential coaching candidates, I want to establish a few things.
First, you will see a lot of stories like this in the coming days. One thing to take into consideration is that there is a unique personality writing each and every article. Many of us will look at this through our own biases, if you will. So I’ll tell you what mine is right up front.
I want to see Iowa hire a coach that plays an up tempo brand of basketball. I have come to miss that quite a bit, and for the majority of my life as an Iowa basketball fan, that’s the style of play the Hawkeyes have employed. For those of you that were around for the Ralph Miller days, it’s what you saw, too.
Heck, go back to 1954: 70.8ppg
1955: 80.7ppg
1956: 77.7ppg
1959: 76.1ppg
1965: 83.7ppg
1969 & 1970: 84.4ppg overall, and one season over 100ppg in league play.
1987: 87.3ppg
1988: 93.6ppg (yes kids, that is not a typo)
1989: 89.6
None of Tom Davis’ 13 Iowa teams averaged below 72.3ppg. Since Davis’ last year at Iowa in 1998, just three Iowa teams averaged more than that, with none of them being by more than one full point per game.
So I feel as if I have a birthright as an Iowa fan to see exciting, up tempo hoops. Perhaps that makes me spoiled. Call it what you will, but I can’t be the only person that feels that way, and after talking with a few media members who are longer in the tooth that I am and were brought up in the Ralph Miller days, they feel a little bit that way, too.
There is a reason why Iowa was in the Top 25 in attendance nationally from 1978 (the year the NCAA started keeping that stat) until 1996, and that’s not because the Hawks were running the four corners.
So my list may be different from a lot of other lists you see, or perhaps a list you come up with, based on that starting premise.
Given all that, I gave a call to my friend Van Coleman of HoopMasters.com. I have known Van for a decade, and have known of him for over 20 years, dating back to the days when I used to subscribe to The Basketball Times.
I asked Van if he could help me research some of the up tempo names out there. Van gave me a list of 20 possible coaching candidates he sees for the Iowa job, and they were in various tiers. He did not prioritize any of them, nor did he prioritize the list of names I will include below. What I did was use the information he gave me and drew my own lines through coaches that I just didn’t see as being a fit for Iowa at this time. So none of the opinions expressed below are Van’s, they are mine and mine alone.
Normally, I’d go in reverse order and build up to the #1, but if you have been around the message boards lately, you know who my #1 is: Bruce Pearl, currently at Tennessee. The man has been a winner wherever he has gone. He learned how to coach the game under Tom Davis, and Pearl has Iowa ties. He had to spend nine years in the hinterlands of the game because he recorded a phone conversation with a prospect named Deon Thomas, where Thomas said Illinois was offering him improper benefits. Iowa turned those tapes into the NCAA. The NCAA hit Illinois with the ‘Lack of Institutional Control’ tag, something you do not want to see and one of the most severe penalties a program can get hit with in the post SMU Death Penalty era of the NCAA.
Dick Vitale and many others railed publicly against Pearl, and the man was basically blackballed from the profession. He went to Southern Indiana, down a division and kicked people’s teeth in. Then he went to UW-Milwaukee and had a lot of success, making it to a Sweet 16. Then he went to Tennessee where he has put that program on the men’s college hoops map.
Before Gary Barta hired Todd Lickliter, he at least made some type of contact with Pearl. Tennessee paid Pearl more money because of that. I am not sure if Barta’s interest was legit or just a bone he could throw to the fanbase that would have wanted him to at least contact Pearl. This time around, if I am Gary Barta, I put a blank piece of paper in front of Pearl and see what he writes on it. Then, you either say yes, or no thanks.
Having said this, I think it’s a longshot. He has a Lickliteresque buyout, which means Iowa would likely have to pay that on top of the $2.4 million it’s paying to Todd over the next three years, PLUS a salary that would be north of $2mil/year. How much north? Tough to say. Gary Dolphin said on 600 WMT Monday night that money will not be an issue with this coaching search. I hope he’s right, because then Iowa will have a chance with Pearl, because its going to take money for the man to leave something he has built in Knoxville…
That being said, he is still third fiddle on campus. Tennessee football is king down there, and former coach Buzz Peterson said while there he didn’t know if Vols fans knew they had a men’s basketball program. Then again, he was 61-59, so perhaps that was a part of the problem. He was also there when Tennessee football was doing much better on the field than it is right now. Pat Summit’s Lady Vols are #2 on the card, as they average more fans per game than the men do. However, Pearl does earn more than Summit, and he just got a new deal last April after Memphis came calling. There were unconfirmed reports that Memphis was willing to pay Pearl $3.25 million per year. Iowa won’t do that. If Pearl didn’t leave Tennessee for Memphis for that kind of money, what chance does Iowa have? Probably not much, but still, I want to know that Barta at least tried to go out and hit a home run. Who knows, perhaps Pearl would give Iowa an old employer discount…
COLEMAN’S TAKE ON PEARL: Tennessee – (Age 50) – 439-129 Overall / 122-44 at Tennessee with one D-II national championship, six NCAA appearances and three sweet sixteen appearances. Team averages 74.5ppg & he will play up tempo basketball. Great recruiter and coaching disciple of Tom Davis has proven he’s moved beyond to bring his system to a new level. Has recruited with best since arriving at UT including top ten classes in 2006, 2008, and 2010, just received commitment from top ten talent Tobias Harris…Perfect fit…Great promoter will sell program to fans!
Coming tomorrow morning: Numbers 2 thru 5 on my list.
First, you will see a lot of stories like this in the coming days. One thing to take into consideration is that there is a unique personality writing each and every article. Many of us will look at this through our own biases, if you will. So I’ll tell you what mine is right up front.
I want to see Iowa hire a coach that plays an up tempo brand of basketball. I have come to miss that quite a bit, and for the majority of my life as an Iowa basketball fan, that’s the style of play the Hawkeyes have employed. For those of you that were around for the Ralph Miller days, it’s what you saw, too.
Heck, go back to 1954: 70.8ppg
1955: 80.7ppg
1956: 77.7ppg
1959: 76.1ppg
1965: 83.7ppg
1969 & 1970: 84.4ppg overall, and one season over 100ppg in league play.
1987: 87.3ppg
1988: 93.6ppg (yes kids, that is not a typo)
1989: 89.6
None of Tom Davis’ 13 Iowa teams averaged below 72.3ppg. Since Davis’ last year at Iowa in 1998, just three Iowa teams averaged more than that, with none of them being by more than one full point per game.
So I feel as if I have a birthright as an Iowa fan to see exciting, up tempo hoops. Perhaps that makes me spoiled. Call it what you will, but I can’t be the only person that feels that way, and after talking with a few media members who are longer in the tooth that I am and were brought up in the Ralph Miller days, they feel a little bit that way, too.
There is a reason why Iowa was in the Top 25 in attendance nationally from 1978 (the year the NCAA started keeping that stat) until 1996, and that’s not because the Hawks were running the four corners.
So my list may be different from a lot of other lists you see, or perhaps a list you come up with, based on that starting premise.
Given all that, I gave a call to my friend Van Coleman of HoopMasters.com. I have known Van for a decade, and have known of him for over 20 years, dating back to the days when I used to subscribe to The Basketball Times.
I asked Van if he could help me research some of the up tempo names out there. Van gave me a list of 20 possible coaching candidates he sees for the Iowa job, and they were in various tiers. He did not prioritize any of them, nor did he prioritize the list of names I will include below. What I did was use the information he gave me and drew my own lines through coaches that I just didn’t see as being a fit for Iowa at this time. So none of the opinions expressed below are Van’s, they are mine and mine alone.
Normally, I’d go in reverse order and build up to the #1, but if you have been around the message boards lately, you know who my #1 is: Bruce Pearl, currently at Tennessee. The man has been a winner wherever he has gone. He learned how to coach the game under Tom Davis, and Pearl has Iowa ties. He had to spend nine years in the hinterlands of the game because he recorded a phone conversation with a prospect named Deon Thomas, where Thomas said Illinois was offering him improper benefits. Iowa turned those tapes into the NCAA. The NCAA hit Illinois with the ‘Lack of Institutional Control’ tag, something you do not want to see and one of the most severe penalties a program can get hit with in the post SMU Death Penalty era of the NCAA.
Dick Vitale and many others railed publicly against Pearl, and the man was basically blackballed from the profession. He went to Southern Indiana, down a division and kicked people’s teeth in. Then he went to UW-Milwaukee and had a lot of success, making it to a Sweet 16. Then he went to Tennessee where he has put that program on the men’s college hoops map.
Before Gary Barta hired Todd Lickliter, he at least made some type of contact with Pearl. Tennessee paid Pearl more money because of that. I am not sure if Barta’s interest was legit or just a bone he could throw to the fanbase that would have wanted him to at least contact Pearl. This time around, if I am Gary Barta, I put a blank piece of paper in front of Pearl and see what he writes on it. Then, you either say yes, or no thanks.
Having said this, I think it’s a longshot. He has a Lickliteresque buyout, which means Iowa would likely have to pay that on top of the $2.4 million it’s paying to Todd over the next three years, PLUS a salary that would be north of $2mil/year. How much north? Tough to say. Gary Dolphin said on 600 WMT Monday night that money will not be an issue with this coaching search. I hope he’s right, because then Iowa will have a chance with Pearl, because its going to take money for the man to leave something he has built in Knoxville…
That being said, he is still third fiddle on campus. Tennessee football is king down there, and former coach Buzz Peterson said while there he didn’t know if Vols fans knew they had a men’s basketball program. Then again, he was 61-59, so perhaps that was a part of the problem. He was also there when Tennessee football was doing much better on the field than it is right now. Pat Summit’s Lady Vols are #2 on the card, as they average more fans per game than the men do. However, Pearl does earn more than Summit, and he just got a new deal last April after Memphis came calling. There were unconfirmed reports that Memphis was willing to pay Pearl $3.25 million per year. Iowa won’t do that. If Pearl didn’t leave Tennessee for Memphis for that kind of money, what chance does Iowa have? Probably not much, but still, I want to know that Barta at least tried to go out and hit a home run. Who knows, perhaps Pearl would give Iowa an old employer discount…
COLEMAN’S TAKE ON PEARL: Tennessee – (Age 50) – 439-129 Overall / 122-44 at Tennessee with one D-II national championship, six NCAA appearances and three sweet sixteen appearances. Team averages 74.5ppg & he will play up tempo basketball. Great recruiter and coaching disciple of Tom Davis has proven he’s moved beyond to bring his system to a new level. Has recruited with best since arriving at UT including top ten classes in 2006, 2008, and 2010, just received commitment from top ten talent Tobias Harris…Perfect fit…Great promoter will sell program to fans!
Coming tomorrow morning: Numbers 2 thru 5 on my list.
