Rawkhawk73
Banned
Jon's article about his conversation with an anonymous D1 head coach caused me to step back a little and re-evaluate what our program really is. The bottom line is that we all, myself included, have an overinflated opinion of the Hawkeye Basketball program.
Look, I have the same memories everyone else has......Iowa v Georgetown to get to the Final Four, Ronnie Lester, Roy Marble, BJ, Horton, Settles, Gamble's shot at the buzzer to beat Oklahoma, wins against UConn, North Carolina, Duke, etc., upper division finishes, exciting Selection Sundays. I get all that and remember it too. The problem is, no one else outside of this state's boundaries knows or cares. Let me repeat: NO ONE CARES!!
Here's what they do know: No conference title in 30 years. No Final Four in 30 years. No practice facility....in fact we built a boat house for our freaking rowing team before a basketball facility. No fans at the games. Kicked our winningest coach in school history to the curb. Let the next coach leave without a fight to New Mexico where in 3 years he has them as a #3 seed. Fired the next coach in 3 years before even being able to establish his own players in his system. Folks, this is the perception of our program.
So while I'd give my left (or right, but not both) testicle to have Bruce Pearl here, he ain't coming. Neither is Gillespe, Lavin, Few, Drew, Turgeon or any other high major head coach of a currently successful program. Obviously Barta has to make those calls or he's not doing his job, but I really don't think he'll get anywhere with any of them.
So who can we get? Maybe an assistant at a high major program. However, if you were an assistant looking for his first gig, would you start with Iowa? Based on what's happened with the last 3 coaches, I don't know that you'd get someone to do that. Because they know if they fail, which carries a very high possibility because of the recent past, there might not be a second chance....at least for a very long time.
So where does that leave us? Well, I'm of the opinion that Keno Davis is still 5-8 years away from being ready to be HC of this program. However, I'm not going to take the road many of you are taking and just completely shut myself off from this possibility. He has great bloodlines. He has high quality, driven, successful assistants, and he plays a style the majority of this fanbase enjoys. The simple fact is, the pickings are going to be a lot slimmer than what the majority of you think they are going to be. We aren't who we think we are (to borrow a phrase from Denny Green) and I hope we're all prepared for a HUGE letdown.
Look, I have the same memories everyone else has......Iowa v Georgetown to get to the Final Four, Ronnie Lester, Roy Marble, BJ, Horton, Settles, Gamble's shot at the buzzer to beat Oklahoma, wins against UConn, North Carolina, Duke, etc., upper division finishes, exciting Selection Sundays. I get all that and remember it too. The problem is, no one else outside of this state's boundaries knows or cares. Let me repeat: NO ONE CARES!!
Here's what they do know: No conference title in 30 years. No Final Four in 30 years. No practice facility....in fact we built a boat house for our freaking rowing team before a basketball facility. No fans at the games. Kicked our winningest coach in school history to the curb. Let the next coach leave without a fight to New Mexico where in 3 years he has them as a #3 seed. Fired the next coach in 3 years before even being able to establish his own players in his system. Folks, this is the perception of our program.
So while I'd give my left (or right, but not both) testicle to have Bruce Pearl here, he ain't coming. Neither is Gillespe, Lavin, Few, Drew, Turgeon or any other high major head coach of a currently successful program. Obviously Barta has to make those calls or he's not doing his job, but I really don't think he'll get anywhere with any of them.
So who can we get? Maybe an assistant at a high major program. However, if you were an assistant looking for his first gig, would you start with Iowa? Based on what's happened with the last 3 coaches, I don't know that you'd get someone to do that. Because they know if they fail, which carries a very high possibility because of the recent past, there might not be a second chance....at least for a very long time.
So where does that leave us? Well, I'm of the opinion that Keno Davis is still 5-8 years away from being ready to be HC of this program. However, I'm not going to take the road many of you are taking and just completely shut myself off from this possibility. He has great bloodlines. He has high quality, driven, successful assistants, and he plays a style the majority of this fanbase enjoys. The simple fact is, the pickings are going to be a lot slimmer than what the majority of you think they are going to be. We aren't who we think we are (to borrow a phrase from Denny Green) and I hope we're all prepared for a HUGE letdown.
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