That's why I was so bothered over the late season slide, and getting bounced in the play-in game. If Iowa keeps playing well, gets a 4 seed, goes to the Sweet 16 or beyond, does Fran land Atwood/Huff, and whoever else? And hence making next year and beyond better than they likely will be, keeping momentum going? I guess we'll never know the answer to that.
I just feel Iowa missed a great chance this year to make itself a hotter commodity in the eyes of recruits by melting down on the court. But not even making it to the "second" round, I wonder if that was even any better than being in the NIT. Sure could have used a tournament run to add a little more recruiting mojo.
Thing is, Iowa had already missed on their initial top targets by mid-November last season, when they signed with other schools....so the late season meltdown did not impact our prep signings. The spring signings would not have been necessary if we had landed Tyler Ulis, Jordan Barnett, and Malek Harris last fall.