.

Again, this is hindsight. Gessel and Woodbury were big recruits that just about any D1 program would have taken.

Definitely... ISU wanted Woodbury so bad they never even offered him and Gessel was offered by GMAC and not perused by Fred.
 
unless there is something out there I haven't seen the Jok stuff is hindsight. I have a hard time seeing ISU pursue him, assuming the recruiting violation hadn't happened. He was Fran's plan C, one of his very few recruiting wins was blind luck.
 
Again, this is hindsight. Gessel and Woodbury were big recruits that just about any D1 program would have taken.


I think the more interesting question is his much better those Iowa players would have turned out under the coaching of Fred and prohm.
 
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Again, this is hindsight. Gessel and Woodbury were big recruits that just about any D1 program would have taken.

I can promise you ISU did not want Adam Woodbury. John Waggoner is a big recruit do Iowa and ISU want him right now?
 
I remember Johnny Orr describing the type of players he needed to win. Johnny then said there were not many of those to be found in Iowa. (I cleaned this up a bit from the way Johnny actually said it).

My Favorite one from Johnny on Iowa Kids.

*Paraphrasing*

"There were 5 kids from Iowa we wanted, 3 came to Ames, 1 couldn't make it into school, and the other one went to Iowa, which is like not getting into school?
 
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I find that really hard to believe. Woodbury was a top recruit and ISU would have taken him if he wanted to be a Cyclone.

Pretty sure that is true, there was a ruckus here when it all shook out. Fred wanted runners that could shoot. Let's be honest here, neither were his strong points. With that said, every fanbase's m.o. is to say "we didn't want him" when a kid goes somewhere else.
 
I can promise you ISU did not want Adam Woodbury. John Waggoner is a big recruit do Iowa and ISU want him right now?

I think Iowa wants Waggoner. KF made an in home visit last week. But I don't follow some of that stuff as much as others do. I could be wrong about Iowa's involvement and interest.
 
ISU would have taken Gatens, Gesell, Woodbury, Uthoff, Jok, Wieskamp and the younger McCaffery if the situation presented itself.
It would have been interesting to see how these players developed with different coaching.
 
I can promise you ISU did not want Adam Woodbury. John Waggoner is a big recruit do Iowa and ISU want him right now?
Woodbury had a nice offer sheet, including Wisky and North Carolina, but you really didn't know with Gessell as he committed as a sophomore. Did either of them do any developing while at Iowa...everyone knows the answer to this one...and it continues (or doesn't) today.
 
I think Iowa wants Waggoner. KF made an in home visit last week. But I don't follow some of that stuff as much as others do. I could be wrong about Iowa's involvement and interest.

He's not a take for Iowa or ISU right now and he's a "big recruit" like Woodbury was
 
He's not a take for Iowa or ISU right now and he's a "big recruit" like Woodbury was

He isn't nearly as big of a recruit as Woodbury. Woodbury was a top 50 player overall and Waggoner is another three star.
 
He isn't nearly as big of a recruit as Woodbury. Woodbury was a top 50 player overall and Waggoner is another three star.

A top 50 recruit in basketball is not even close to the same as a top 50 recruit in football.
 
You keep saying this...

Gatens - Yes
Jok - Absolutely
Uthoff - No doubt

Woodbury and Gessell?

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Here's the thing I remember about Jok. His injury in high school was BAAAAD. Before that he was on track to be one of the best HS prospects to come out of the state of Iowa. After the injury it seemed like his best bet might be playing in the Valley.

ISU wanted him before the injury. Despite the odd violation, they might have taken him after, but I don't think anything was guaranteed at that point. I don't think anyone knew if he would make it back to form or not. Look at his stats from his first two years at Iowa, when he was still getting his legs back under him. 4.4 pts per game as a frosh and 7 points a games as a soph.

Luckily for Fran he recovered and made a huge impact as an upperclassman. But I still don't think he was a good as he could have been before he got hurt.
 
A top 50 recruit in basketball is not even close to the same as a top 50 recruit in football.

Did he ever play like a top 50 recruit once he got to college? No. Fred always had an eye for talent and you can see why he didn't jump at the chance to recruit Woodbury.
 

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