Woodbury offered by Kansas?

[Husky28]

and all of this discussion assumes that Woodbury is "top dog" on the recruiting list after we've got committments from two 6'10"+ palyers...

 

[RocketHawk]

I figure Sioux City owes us after they gave us Coughil and Wegher.

 

[olivecourt]

]I don't think it is much as saying F U to these guys. It might be sitting down with them and figuring out what needs to be done so that some of these kids can commit to Iowa.[/B] It might also be worth while to do some informal data gathering to see how they are presenting the Iowa program. Understand, I know the relationship is a two-way street. And it isn't even just AAU. Somehow Roy got a prime seat in the high school playoffs as well.

Basically, it looks a lot like out of state programs have better relationships across the board with these guys. Whether or not that is true, and if so, whether that is an issue with our college programs, the AAU programs, or a combination of both is really impossible to know.

In any event, it is something that is going to have to change for either in-state program to get real traction.

I know you're not suggesting this, but let's at least acknowledge that when this has happened in the past "what needs to be done" to get a kid to a certain school is that the AAU coach gets hired for some BS job-- running a camp, workout coordinator, etc. It's unethical even if it isn't always an NCAA violation.

Otherwise, I think you're complicating the simple. If you were an AAU coach, would you want to be known as the guy whose players got offers from in-state and mid-level D1 programs, or would you want to be known as the guy whose players got offers from the very top programs in the nation? I guarantee that 95% of these coaches are pushing kids to wait as long as possible and collect as many offers as they can, for the simple reason that it draws attention to the coach and the AAU team. More attention/prestige=better players and perhaps even a college coaching opportunity down the road. Obviously there are crooked AAU coaches who take things much, much further, but even for the honest ones you can't deny the temptation to encourage kids to go to the most "elite" program possible.

Finally, college coaches can't make anyone come to their school, and there's a limit to how they can entice them if they don't want to get in trouble with the NCAA. Whether or not Fran gets Woodbury isn't indicative of anything other than where Adam Woodbury wants to go to school. If Fran hadn't even been able to get him to consider Iowa, I would be concerned, but beyond that, I'm not sure what else he's supposed to do.

You can bring a girl to the dance and be a great date, but you can't make her go home with you at the end of the night. People have this funny way of making their own decisions.

 

[CAARHawk]

It is an interesting situation. Because these guys can't rely on guys like Barnes, Paige, and Woodbury coming around every year. The next possible one is Jok, but there is likelihood that Iowa will hit another stretch like that during Alford's term when there just wasn't good overall in-state talent.

So, while these guys are getting attention now, that attention is likely to dry up.

 

[AHawk1]

You don't know much about the current state of high school BBall recruiting if you don't know that AAU coaches yield massive influence in today's recruiting world.

CAARHawk, In a lot of cases you are correct. In the case of Martin Brothers and that U17 team, I can tell you Hank has no influence on those kids decisions. Have you ever met the guy? He is a awful communicator. These are pretty bright kids and families, they aren't going to him for advice.