JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Another day on the phones talking with numerous people and a few more trails to consider….
As I posted back when we first started this searching process, I called my friend Van Coleman and asked him if he could put together a list of names of uptempo coaches for me. At the time, tempo was high on my personal checklist as it relates to the Iowa job, given the peach basket era we just came out of. Since then I have backed off of that a little and have leaned more towards recruiting experience and strength being a high priority for me, with tempo certainly a bonus.
One of the names that I panned when I received that non-hierarchical list from Van is a name that I probably should have paid a little more attention to, and that is the name of Lorenzo Romar.
Romar is the coach at Washington and has a strong recruiting background. He plays an uptempo brand of basketball and his team is in the Sweet 16 right now. However, the primary reason I didn’t consider him is because he is also a Washington alum.
The last day or so, I have been hearing more and more that Gary Barta might have a coach on his list that is a tad discontented where he is currently employed. The first name that jumps out at me when I think of that aspect, along with Barta’s comments that money was not going to be an issue for the right candidate and that Iowa would probably love to make waves with this hire to reignite the program as much as possible, is Jamie Dixon of Pitt. He certainly fits the profile to be successful in a league like the Big Ten, as he has been successful at Pitt.
My backing of my edict of tempo has something to do with the Big Ten, in general. While I think Bruce Pearl could come in and change the paradigm of the league, I don’t know how many other coaches could do that. Keno Davis might have a shot if he had the kind of staff that could recruit at a high level, and he has done a decent job with that at Providence. I still think that if Keno got the call from Iowa, he’d take the job.
But outside of those two and the style they employ, ‘uptempo’ may just be a fancy word.
Michigan State wants to run, but teams send one player to the offensive glass and the rest back to clog up transition. Unless you are playing a full court, full pressure game, it’s tough to change gears in a league like the Big Ten where so many teams want to clutch and grab. Michigan State has blended speed and power and the job Izzo has done in this league when so many try to slow them down is remarkable. Some nights, teams do slow them down, but more often than not, the Spartans dictate the terms.
However, most schools can’t recruit like Tom Izzo does at Michigan State. Ohio State has done that under Thad Matta. Illinois has recruited well, but they can’t break out of the grind it out tempo, either. Matt Painter’s team this year was full of racehorses, but they were forced to play possession by possession basketball at times.
So give me a guy that has recruited at the highest levels and knows what those shark infested waters are like, and a guy that knows he can’t field a team of 98-pound weaklings in this league, and that is probably the more logical choice.
Dixon fits that bill, and he is not perfectly content at Pitt.
Now back to Romar…
The reason I should not have dismissed him out of hand is because he and Gary Barta have crossed paths before. Before taking over as Wyoming’s AD, Barta was the Associate AD at Washington. In his final year in Seattle, Barta was a part of the administration that hired Romar. I would suspect Barta will put out feelers to Romar, if he has not already done so. He may get told no, which seems most likely given Romar’s ties to Washington and his current success there. But still some food for thought as I keep hearing that Barta’s ‘A’ list is going to consist of coaches that have led programs, and high major programs at that.
As I posted back when we first started this searching process, I called my friend Van Coleman and asked him if he could put together a list of names of uptempo coaches for me. At the time, tempo was high on my personal checklist as it relates to the Iowa job, given the peach basket era we just came out of. Since then I have backed off of that a little and have leaned more towards recruiting experience and strength being a high priority for me, with tempo certainly a bonus.
One of the names that I panned when I received that non-hierarchical list from Van is a name that I probably should have paid a little more attention to, and that is the name of Lorenzo Romar.
Romar is the coach at Washington and has a strong recruiting background. He plays an uptempo brand of basketball and his team is in the Sweet 16 right now. However, the primary reason I didn’t consider him is because he is also a Washington alum.
The last day or so, I have been hearing more and more that Gary Barta might have a coach on his list that is a tad discontented where he is currently employed. The first name that jumps out at me when I think of that aspect, along with Barta’s comments that money was not going to be an issue for the right candidate and that Iowa would probably love to make waves with this hire to reignite the program as much as possible, is Jamie Dixon of Pitt. He certainly fits the profile to be successful in a league like the Big Ten, as he has been successful at Pitt.
My backing of my edict of tempo has something to do with the Big Ten, in general. While I think Bruce Pearl could come in and change the paradigm of the league, I don’t know how many other coaches could do that. Keno Davis might have a shot if he had the kind of staff that could recruit at a high level, and he has done a decent job with that at Providence. I still think that if Keno got the call from Iowa, he’d take the job.
But outside of those two and the style they employ, ‘uptempo’ may just be a fancy word.
Michigan State wants to run, but teams send one player to the offensive glass and the rest back to clog up transition. Unless you are playing a full court, full pressure game, it’s tough to change gears in a league like the Big Ten where so many teams want to clutch and grab. Michigan State has blended speed and power and the job Izzo has done in this league when so many try to slow them down is remarkable. Some nights, teams do slow them down, but more often than not, the Spartans dictate the terms.
However, most schools can’t recruit like Tom Izzo does at Michigan State. Ohio State has done that under Thad Matta. Illinois has recruited well, but they can’t break out of the grind it out tempo, either. Matt Painter’s team this year was full of racehorses, but they were forced to play possession by possession basketball at times.
So give me a guy that has recruited at the highest levels and knows what those shark infested waters are like, and a guy that knows he can’t field a team of 98-pound weaklings in this league, and that is probably the more logical choice.
Dixon fits that bill, and he is not perfectly content at Pitt.
Now back to Romar…
The reason I should not have dismissed him out of hand is because he and Gary Barta have crossed paths before. Before taking over as Wyoming’s AD, Barta was the Associate AD at Washington. In his final year in Seattle, Barta was a part of the administration that hired Romar. I would suspect Barta will put out feelers to Romar, if he has not already done so. He may get told no, which seems most likely given Romar’s ties to Washington and his current success there. But still some food for thought as I keep hearing that Barta’s ‘A’ list is going to consist of coaches that have led programs, and high major programs at that.
