to those who dont trust fran..

[SirJamaLot]

ummm... welcome to NCAA athletics?

I remember reading this board after year of Lick and there were people who were saying the same thing about him, and they got railed on in much the same way. Were they wrong? Just because Fran has your trust right now, doesn't mean he'll still have it if he has another eleven win season. And it doesn't make you a bad Hawkeye fan to be cautious, ask questions, or even change your mind. It's a fluid situation.

I have to disagree: Fran has connected better with the fan base than either alford or lick did, Secondly his style is much more fun to watch than either alford's or licks. thirdly he has brought in cartwright and baasbe who are better than anyone lick brought in, and lastly his staff is better than lick's hands down. Give it time this program hit rock bottom under lick and will not turn overnight!

 

[rodg12]

Love the Fox News / MSNBC types on this board. If it is NOT ALL GREAT you are a hater. Don't bring up any possible negative issues. SSHSHHSHSHhhh we don't want to hear it! I am covering my ears, I am covering my ears...

Seriously people, relax! Just because someone raises concerns does not mean they are only negative.

Look at the positive things I have said.

1) White is going to be a serious contributor.
2) He and Basabe are going to be basically unstoppable at some point in the Big Ten.
3) Cartwright emerged as the type of leader the younger players needed.

Here are the wait and see areas.
1) Meyer has time to grow into his body more, moves very well for a kid that looks to be really big by the time he stops growing and has a nice looking shot. But, at this point he is not done developing physically and although he plays on the Celts, he doesn't come close to matching the talent of the kids that really make that a top program.

2) Ogelsby has a very smooth shot. He also has a fairly quick release. But, he is still pretty streaky and doesn't particularly look like a guy who is going to be able to create his own shot in the Big Ten. If you watch his videos, most of his makes are not defended.

Here are the needs improvement areas.
1) Need to find a way to make a connection with Chicago and other strong midwest pipelines. Fran did not hire a coach with these connections and signs are they are not doing much to develop them. This was a huge oversight and is a very important sign. If a member of the current staff cannot get these relationships going, a change will need to be made. Fran's previous turnarounds were in NC and NY. Those areas have way more talent that can slip through the cracks than Iowa. So, you need to widen the local base to the nearby areas where players can slip through the cracks. This will work way better in the long run than chasing kids in areas where you won't logically be able to start a pipeline to IC.

2) Need to be able to get kids to give verbal commitments. You have 6 scholarships to give between now and November. The attention you have to pay to all the kids limits the attention you can pay to future classes. The successful teams are not recruiting the very limited number of spring commits, they are going full bore for fall and beyond.

3) Not being able to close deals on areas of immediate need. After next year there will be no PG and no experienced C. Even this year the C position is questionable at best. Now Katenda and Olaseni can change that immediately. However, this was EXACTLY the problem with Lick and the reason we saw little Lick on the court. What if Cartwright gets hurt? What if Brommer racks up his usual bevy of fouls?

But, the O'Reilly factor or Rachel Maddow crowd won't see the positive AND negative things I have said. They will just cherry pick what they want.

This is well stated. The only thing I'll quibble with a little is improvement area #1. If he can establish an east coast pipeline with his NY/NJ contacts, it becomes moot. He already got Basabe. Say he gets Carter then pulls in the big fella from New Hampshire. That'd be 3 kids from the NE is 3 years. Granted, that's a couple big ifs at this point. However, as the football team has shows, it's possible to get those NE kids on campus. Hopefully Fran's (and Francis's) NE contacts help us make this happen for basketball as well.

 

[hawkIhoops]

But, the O'Reilly factor or Rachel Maddow crowd won't see the positive AND negative things I have said. They will just cherry pick what they want.

I think you make some valid points, but if you take out the positive AND negative things, there isn't anything to comment on. Not sure why Rush got left out of this thread, possibly a Geraldo reference would have been nice as well.

 

[JHHawk]

I am ok with a robust debate on Iowa bb.
Most of us on here are hardcore Hawk bb fans,so in the end,we all want the same objective..the return to greatness for the Iowa bb program.

I think cautious optimism should be allowed as well as valid criticisms.
Right now, I think Caar has some valid observations about the midwest recruiting approach,but still too early to make real conclusions.
I was a proponent for hiring Rodell Davis,Proviso East alum,Iowa alum...but he is still with Keno Davis at Providence...but, I admit I have not heard of any Chicago area guys heading to Providence,so who knows which guy is the magic solution to solving our Chicagoland recruiting woes?
Maybe former Davis guys are still poison over here after the Deon Thomas deal.
Also, I have to say that it does take some time,more than 12 months,to develope a pipeline from most hotbeds,that would already yield committed recruits.
These chicago kids did commit very early this year,as did many top 150 kids overall...
Illinois had their 2011 class pretty much committed by last Sept. That was a mere 5 months after Fran arrived at Iowa.
Now, 2012 is considered a weak year for recruits in Illinois,but I know that Iowa is recruiting Anthony Beane,rated as high as the #2 player in the state,so lets see how it plays out....

 

[CAARHawk]

Really good points about how early the Chicago guys committed this year. That can't be debated. Just would like to hear a little more action regarding the future in that area. Also, I must admit, I have a bias against one of the assistants. Didn't like the hire at the time and still don't. But I should temper that a bit, because there really isn't enough data to go on.

 

[TritonHawkeye]

My concern centers on a couple things 1) Almost no focus on the Midwest hotbeds of talent. Chasing kids all around the country does not build relationships. It is an all or nothing method. 2) Fran's prior connection pipeline with guys he and (I guess) Speraw were previously recruiting has seemingly dried up already. Katenda is still in the picture, but the talk is that the ship may have sailed on that one.

But I don't think Fran needs to be brining in 4 star guys at this point. It is perfectly fine to be focusing on athletic 3 star types that have room to grow. But, at some point, you want to start developing likely pipelines.

California and Atlanta are NOT likely pipelines to IC.

How do you view picking up or offering scholarship to some kids that are part of the best AAU teams in Iowa? Won't that help form future relationships?

 

[WindsorHawk]

P.S. - I trust Fran...for now. 2011 class is going to be middle of the Big 10 (best case scenario)....gotta bring it for 2012. Can't expect to compete bringing in 3 star players with a couple offers when the top half of the league is bringing in 4 and 5 star guys.

Really? I have to respectfully disagree. This is exactly what Kirk does and FB is doing pretty well.

 

[CAARHawk]

Really? I have to respectfully disagree. This is exactly what Kirk does and FB is doing pretty well.

For the millionth time. Don't compare football recruiting to basketball recruiting. It is not apples and oranges. Really very, very silly.

That being said, there are big differences in 3 stars. Some are guys with little upside who are polished. Others are raw with room to grow.

 

[ICbornNraised]

Wow…these haters make me sick. How can you get on Fran for who he’s recruiting. I’m sure he is trying damn hard to get the best people he can (a lot harder than Lick). You have to understand that we are Iowa. We are now a football school (and wrestling), and basketball is bottom of the barrel in the Big Ten. This is not the 80’s, not the 90’s. No 18 year old kid thinks we have a tradition of basketball. Nobody cares. They know we are a football school. Fran is starting from scratch. The guy has the odds stacked against him. I don’t think he will fail, at least not without a hell of a fight(unlike Lick).

 

[smoot27]

Wow…these haters make me sick. How can you get on Fran for who he’s recruiting. I’m sure he is trying damn hard to get the best people he can (a lot harder than Lick). You have to understand that we are Iowa. We are now a football school (and wrestling), and basketball is bottom of the barrel in the Big Ten. This is not the 80’s, not the 90’s. No 18 year old kid thinks we have a tradition of basketball. Nobody cares. They know we are a football school. Fran is starting from scratch. The guy has the odds stacked against him. I don’t think he will fail, at least not without a hell of a fight(unlike Lick).

A couple things, how can you assume Fran recruits harder than Lick? That sounds like subjective personal opinion rather than objective evidence. Other than Fran bringing in Basabe and getting Cartwright at the last minute, we haven't really done anything big in the recruiting dept yet. It's still early so the jury is still out, but to say he's a fighter and Lick wasn't really isn't an objective analysis. Actually Lick's last recruiting class was rated much higher than Lick's so far this year. The major criticism of Lick's recruiting was that he didn't do much outside Iowa and the Midwest. Fran doesn't seem to be doing much differently this year. It's too early to write Fran off at this point, but he doesn't deserve much praise yet either. I was excited after the Basabe commit last year and thought we would have a lot more success this year now that he's had more time to recruit and isn't scrambling. The results haven't been overwhelming.

 

[smoot27]

Really? I have to respectfully disagree. This is exactly what Kirk does and FB is doing pretty well.

Actually we get a decent number of 4*'s in football. Secondly, basketball is a game dominated by talent being that only 5 players are on the court at a time. It's also easier to scout basketball talent than football because football players tend to change size and position a lot more frequently (Gallery, Clark, etc...). Football and baseball require more balanced rosters and don't necessarily need elite prospects to compete well. Look at the best teams in the country year to year in basketball. UNC, Duke, Ohio St., Pitt, Kentucky, Uconn are pulling in 4 and 5 star talent left and right. It's much more rare for teams with 3 star recruits and below to compete well each year.

 

[HawkPhreek]

P.S. - I trust Fran...for now. 2011 class is going to be middle of the Big 10 (best case scenario)....gotta bring it for 2012. Can't expect to compete bringing in 3 star players with a couple offers when the top half of the league is bringing in 4 and 5 star guys.

Yeah stars mean so much Iowa football can never compete. The star thing is over rated.

 

[JugadorHawk]

I trust Fran. I don't trust the vocal minority that is obviously envious of the experiment in Ames is not patient enough to allow this staff to build this program from the ground up. I suggest that the few of you that complain about recruiting and progress should pipe down and let Coach McCaffery and the gang do their thing. They've only been here one year!

 

[homes]

Criticism is fine, but I submit it's too early to level criticism at Fran. Heck, this recruiting class isn't even done. I think that anyone reasonably watching this year's team will recognize they were a much better basketball team at the end of the year than at the start. And by much better, I mean relative to the rest of the Big Ten teams. That's the basis upon which I've chosen to judge Fran's work at Iowa, to date, not on the prospective success of a bunch of kids who may or may not come to Iowa and who haven't even played one minute of Div. I basketball.

 

[muskienks]

One major thing I see in Fran that we have not had since Lute or Davis is that he has as history of being able to turn programs around. Alford did it to some extent in Missouri, but Lick started with a successful program at Butler and maintained it. From the looks of what their current coach is doing, perhaps he was not even the one who was making the team a winner.

 

[HawkI4eva]

My concern centers on a couple things 1) Almost no focus on the Midwest hotbeds of talent. Chasing kids all around the country does not build relationships. It is an all or nothing method. 2) Fran's prior connection pipeline with guys he and (I guess) Speraw were previously recruiting has seemingly dried up already. Katenda is still in the picture, but the talk is that the ship may have sailed on that one.

But I don't think Fran needs to be brining in 4 star guys at this point. It is perfectly fine to be focusing on athletic 3 star types that have room to grow. But, at some point, you want to start developing likely pipelines.

California and Atlanta are NOT likely pipelines to IC.

So I rarely decide to write on these things but when I see stupid comments like this I have to. If you hadn't noticed Fran and his staff have been to more then there share of games in the midwest especially Iowa, so to say that he is not recruiting here and setting up recruiting lines is just stupid. How many from the state of Iowa is he recruiting? Quite a few! Also, the upgraded talent in the midwest seems to want to go south to UNC, so would you like him to continue soley here and get turned down and not have back up areas to recruit. All the top programs have talented recruits and project recruits from all over the country. You have to recruit the country, there are kids everywhere that get overlooked. Just be happy we have a coach that is so dedicated to this program that he is will to go anywhere to help us find better talent. I guess you better call coach Ferentz too and tell him to stop recruiting Dematha in Maryland, cause that didnt work out for us at all! That has created a pipeline has it?

 

[Husky28]

So I rarely decide to write on these things but when I see stupid comments like this I have to. If you hadn't noticed Fran and his staff have been to more then there share of games in the midwest especially Iowa, so to say that he is not recruiting here and setting up recruiting lines is just stupid. How many from the state of Iowa is he recruiting? Quite a few! Also, the upgraded talent in the midwest seems to want to go south to UNC, so would you like him to continue soley here and get turned down and not have back up areas to recruit. All the top programs have talented recruits and project recruits from all over the country. You have to recruit the country, there are kids everywhere that get overlooked. Just be happy we have a coach that is so dedicated to this program that he is will to go anywhere to help us find better talent. I guess you better call coach Ferentz too and tell him to stop recruiting Dematha in Maryland, cause that didnt work out for us at all! That has created a pipeline has it?

Be careful!! You just compared FB and BB recruiting! It just doesn't compare! Couldn't resist!

 

[atxhawk]

I like Bryce...he's a good distributor and floor general...but people are acting like he was an All American last year. Kid took the most shots of anyone on the team and shot 39% from the floor and 27% from 3 point range. Kid absolutely shot us out of a number of games. I guess I look at more than assists when I evaluate game.

TJ Ford did this at Texas and was an All-American.

Season GP MPG PPG FG% 3FG% FT% APG RPG BPG SPG
2002-03 33 33.6 15.0 40.1 26.5 82.0 7.7 3.9 0.2 2.0

 

[hawkIhoops]

Lots of opinions on this topic and despite our differences, at least we are interested in Iowa hoops again.

Personally, I am a bit concerned about the inability (thus far) of the staff to close the deal with a PG for next year (high school or juco). PG has been a need since the staff arrived and landing a PG isn't like landing a 7 footer with post moves and range to 15 feet. We have an offer out to Washpun that he might very well spurn if TN offers, leaving us where exactly?

Our best big prospect is Olaseni, who by all accounts is defensive guy with limited offensive skills. I would love to have him don't get me wrong, but does a rotation of Brommer, Archie and Olaseni help our scoring woes? So that leaves us with the third spot that, IMO, has to go to someone that can put the ball in the hoop in a variety of ways. Hubbard, Glover, other names out there, but plenty of competition and nobody with their arm in the air yet.

I am not freaking out, just stating that I have some concerns at this stage of the game. Washpun, Katenda or Hubbard and Olaseni would be certainly be a good class, so I will reserve judgment until next week.

 

[BigD]

Don't forget the JC player who just won a national championship in their division. I think his name is Jackson or something like that. He would bring some much needed scoring from the guard position. He would be a great pickup and at least give Cartwright a descent backup and give us replacement for the year after Cartwright's eligibility is used up. In two years we and the rest nation could be referring to the starters as the Jackson five. Lol, I know it's all speculation at this time, but it's fun to think about.