Woodbury offered by Kansas?

sportstalent said:
All the talk about how Woodbury is a lifelong Hawk fan really means nothing when it comes down to it. Nothing against Oglesby, but he didn't exactly have the offers on the table that he could not pass up, so going to Iowa to fulfill his dream really was a no-brainer.
What will get Woodbury to Iowa is Fran and if he goes to school looking specifically for an academic program.
Here is the kicker, being a coach I help kids get looked at, one girl that ended up taking an offer is set to go into nursing. The coach said to her that it is difficult to be in the nursing program by playing her sport and that she would probably have to go an extra semester. From my understanding of the academic discussion, he suggested that she go into something else, that way she could get into all her classes and not have to worry about certain aspects of the program. That type of recruiting goes on with coaches as well. The girl did go to the school and is going to take business classes, but also some nursing classes and is hoping to finish up her nursing at a four year school and play her sport as well.
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I tend to agree with this and the whole him being a Hawkeye fan not being a huge deal. But Miller seems to be laying the seeds of excuses if Woodbury were to go somewhere else. Iowa has consistently been in the top 3-5 with him since his recruitment began, so this would not be a huge upset if he picked Iowa.
 
CAARHawk said:
The problem is that everytime Iowa misses out on one, recruiting gets that much harder. All the younger guys in state get the message that Iowa is a second rate program. You know Paige is influencing Woodbury. Wouldn't be surprised to see it rub off on Gesell too. But I haven't seen enough of Gesell to know if he is one of these guys or more in the May, McCabe, and Ogelsby mold. The only vids I have seen of him show him finishing well below the rim.
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Would the reason recruits think Iowa is a second rate program have anything to do with the fact that Iowa IS a second rate program?
 
That's how I see it, Tm. It certainly seems to me that we will be back in the limelight under Fran. This incoming recruiting class is a very good start. Woodbury could be the spark to really get things going on the recruiting front.
 
jacknicholson said:
That's how I see it, Tm. It certainly seems to me that we will be back in the limelight under Fran. This incoming recruiting class is a very good start. Woodbury could be the spark to really get things going on the recruiting front.
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Exactly, and we need to get started somewhere so why not start with Adam.
 
tm3308 said:
I hope he doesn't read this post. Four appearances of his first name in three sentences? That's just borderline creepy, if you ask me :D
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Lol, Yep I'm a stalker! I work for big brother and we stalk everyone! :cool:
 
JRHawks5969 said:
Woodbury is a test on whether or not Fran can recruit. Let's hope Fran passes the test.
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I wholeheartedly disagree, for many reasons. The first being, Fran has signed two classes, the 2010 class worked out pretty good. The two best players on the team coming from it and now there is the 2011 class which we haven't seen on the floor.
Recruiting is not completely about how many stars a kid has or where he may come from, results are what passes the test or not...lets get serious.
 
sportstalent said:
I wholeheartedly disagree, for many reasons. The first being, Fran has signed two classes, the 2010 class worked out pretty good. The two best players on the team coming from it and now there is the 2011 class which we haven't seen on the floor.
Recruiting is not completely about how many stars a kid has or where he may come from, results are what passes the test or not...lets get serious.
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It's not so much a test of whether or not he can recruit. I think that Fran has demonstrated the ability to recognize undiscovered talent, and he's brought in several players who either fit or seem to fit that mold (Basabe, Cartwright, White, Hubbard). So that isn't what Woodbury's recruitment is testing.

What this recruitment COULD be a test of is Fran's ability to close on a high-level talent that is NOT undiscovered. His eye for talent comes in handy for the players who fall through the cracks. But it's different when EVERYBODY knows a kid has game. Beating Kansas and UNC is not the same as beating Penn State and Duquesne. I don't think that Fran failing to land Woodbury shuts the book on this subject, but it would probably count as a mark against him in many people's eyes.
 
It will also be a referendum regarding where Iowa stands with respect to their relationship with the local AAU coaches. Would love to see this become a 2 way street. All I see right now is Iowa serving them by takin their players without high major commitments, while they ship their quality players elsewhere. I mean seriously, Iowa can gain traction with Atlanta's top AAU program, but can't with Iowa's?
 
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CAARHawk said:
It will also be a referendum regarding where Iowa stands with respect to their relationship with the local AAU coaches. Would love to see this become a 2 way street. All I see right now is Iowa serving them by takin their players without high major commitments, while they ship their quality players elsewhere. I mean seriously, Iowa can gain traction with Atlanta's top AAU program, but can't with Iowa's?
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I don't think it is fair to say that the AAU coach pushes any of these players any direction. It would be one think if the players in question were from broken homes with no good male role model. There is no indication that either Page or Woodbury have that type of situation. I'm sure these decisions are being made by the player in question with feedback/help from the family.

For all we know Meyer's AAU coach was badmouthing Iowa, and Woodbury's coach could be an Iowa cheerleader. The kids go where they want to go many times, regardless of what the AAU coach wants.
 
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.
 
While it is always important for coachings staffs to establish solid relationships with not only local but regional AAU clubs, I do not think that anyone can say that Woodbury choosing KU over Iowa would be an indication that the current Iowa staff is not in good graces with those local AAU clubs. Clearly,as they indicated after lick left,they felt the Lick did not bother to cultivate that relationship,but on the other hand they have gone out of their way to praise the Fran staff for their approach to the AAU clubs in the state.

So, while having a good relationship with all the AAU clubs is critical,it does not guarantee anyone that they will land the top recruits. It just gives you a better shot.
And I agree that every AAU club is different,and kids orientation is different. While these clubs in Iowa are important, I really do not think they hold sway over their players like in some regions of the country. Just like I do not think street agents are as prevalent in Sioux City,Iowa as they are in Chicago or DC. I do think that Roy Williams and Bill Self have better relationships with Martin Bros. coaches than Fran...just bigger name schools that can supercede any AAU coaches influence.

You have to look at the inner-circle of any recruit closely before assuming that anyone is calling the shots. From what I hear the inner-circle of Paige and Woodbury include basically just family. Same with Harrison Barnes. Establishing good relationships with local and regional AAU clubs is important to Fran,but mainly to avoid having Iowa being eliminated from consideration immediately...you still have to close the deal against other programs who are also in good graces,or are powerhouses like UNC and KU.
 
CAARHawk said:
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.
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I will say it again. If the players are from solid families, then the player and families are making the decisions. Now if the players are from bad family situation, then I'm sure it is a MUCH, MUCH different situation.

Please try to comprehend I'm not saying your statement doesn't have it's merits in certain cases. I think it has 0.00000 to do with Woodbury and Paige who by all accounts have strong families. I think in these cases the players are going to go where they want to go, not where the AAU coach wants them to go.
 
It is not as much where the AAU coach wants the player to go, but the advice and information the coach provides the player and family. These guys are often associated with these families for years. Their opinions do work into the equation.

Yes, it is ultimately up to the player and family, but the way an introduction or how an AAU coach talks about a particular program will have an impact.
 
CAARHawk said:
It is not as much where the AAU coach wants the player to go, but the advice and information the coach provides the player and family. These guys are often associated with these families for years. Their opinions do work into the equation.

Yes, it is ultimately up to the player and family, but the way an introduction or how an AAU coach talks about a particular program will have an impact.
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Once again, I do not disagree. Now could you please point to your evidence that the AAU coaches have done anything at all to hurt Iowa's chances with Paige, Woodbury, or anyone for that matter? You are purely speculating that if we don't get Woodbury that the AAU coaches are somehow sabotaging Iowa's chances.

I usually like your posting, but this is a bit conspiratorial in nature. If you can actually point to things the coaches said or did that somehow show they are trying to direct kids away from Iowa, I would love to read/see it. Until then I think you are way off base saying we should say F U to the Iowa AAU coaches if we don't get Woodbury.
 
Pat Harty spoke with Woody's AAU coach yesterday and he reported that Woody does NOT have a Kansas offer.
 
tm3308 said:
It didn't used to be. And now we need an elite in-state prospect to stick around to really get the rebuilding effort off the ground.
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And New Jersey used to be one of the most desirable places on the planet to live. Things change, and Iowa isn't elite. Start winning games before you start expecting "elite in-state" players to take a leap of faith on you. You can't skip to the end right away. You need to win with b- players before you can attract the attention of As.
 
deanvogs said:
Once again, I do not disagree. Now could you please point to your evidence that the AAU coaches have done anything at all to hurt Iowa's chances with Paige, Woodbury, or anyone for that matter? You are purely speculating that if we don't get Woodbury that the AAU coaches are somehow sabotaging Iowa's chances.

I usually like your posting, but this is a bit conspiratorial in nature. If you can actually point to things the coaches said or did that somehow show they are trying to direct kids away from Iowa, I would love to read/see it. Until then I think you are way off base saying we should say F U to the Iowa AAU coaches if we don't get Woodbury.
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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. 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.
 
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