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KJ gets contract extension

SouthJerseyCy said:
Yes, I do change my tune and that's exactly my point. Why not wait and see where we are when it counts?

To the contrary...what if we fall flat and everyone goes 0-2 or 1-2? Was it a mistake then?
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I'd be more inclined to agree with you if this extension was for more than 2 years. As it stands, this extension essentially tells KJ to **** or get off the pot. It lets the recruits know that he's still going to be around for him, but that he's being evaluated. Buying him out of 1 year if the team turns to garbage next year is pennies right now. It gave KJ enough length of rope to hang himself at ISU, without ISU being strung and stuck. As I've said before, I'm fine with this move because of the length, and the progress shown this last half of the season. If we start out as bad next year as we did this year, I think a probe for interest is going to start early on, and KJ knows it.
 
I agree with the contract extension. There has been improvement on the mat, although not against elite competition. But all I ask for is improvement, and we have seen that. And KJ brought in Nickerson, which I think was a great move.

Like everyone here, I will watch nationals with a lot of interest, and will see how far the team has come this year.

I wish I was more enthusiastic about recruiting, but good coaches find talent that others miss. We'll see how KJ is doing on that front next year.

So, I am happy to give him another two years - but I think we all know that KJ will be expected to deliver. It was too early to make a change now, but 2 years from now gives him plenty of time to show what he is capable of.
 
psyclone51 said:
I agree with the contract extension. There has been improvement on the mat, although not against elite competition. But all I ask for is improvement, and we have seen that. And KJ brought in Nickerson, which I think was a great move.

Like everyone here, I will watch nationals with a lot of interest, and will see how far the team has come this year.

I wish I was more enthusiastic about recruiting, but good coaches find talent that others miss. We'll see how KJ is doing on that front next year.

So, I am happy to give him another two years - but I think we all know that KJ will be expected to deliver. It was too early to make a change now, but 2 years from now gives him plenty of time to show what he is capable of.
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Time will tell I guess. I agree with Judoka that the landscape has changed and we can no longer compete just because we are ISU. I'm worried that two more years will continue to slide us down the pecking order.

Like I said, I'm more upset at the timing than anything. I just don't know why it couldn't have waited 2 weeks and do an evaluation after Nationals.
 
SouthJerseyCy said:
Like I said, I'm more upset at the timing than anything. I just don't know why it couldn't have waited 2 weeks and do an evaluation after Nationals.
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Might have been for recruiting, since guys who didn't commit in the fall are making their decisions now.

Might have also been since our nationals team finish is highly dependent on a guy who just lost his dad to cancer. If Gadson has a bad tournament we'll have a bad team finish. And I don't think that could be pinned on KJ anymore than Sorenson spraining his ankle last year. Not that people haven't been blaming him for that.
 
Judoka said:
Might have been for recruiting, since guys who didn't commit in the fall are making their decisions now.

Might have also been since our nationals team finish is highly dependent on a guy who just lost his dad to cancer. If Gadson has a bad tournament we'll have a bad team finish. And I don't think that could be pinned on KJ anymore than Sorenson spraining his ankle last year. Not that people haven't been blaming him for that.
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Being in the area Gadson is from, I see him using it more as fuel for the NCAAs than it distracting him.
 
Tre4ISU said:
I suppose you could bring in a new coach, have another exodus and do this all over. That would get em'
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Well finishing in the 20s isn't getting anyone either. I don't think we would have seen a "mass exodus" from the program if KJ would have been replaced. It isn't like he'd get hired by another major school...ever...and take them with him.
 
No school can complete simply because of who they are. But a school like ISU with a rich tradition and (yes) still strong support comparatively can be a winner with a quality coaching staff. We don't have one. 4 years into this tenure and we are still no where.

BTW, Iowa has 2 starters from PA and one each from IL, ID, CO and DE. It's called recruiting--we aren't limited to just Iowa.
 
NEICyFan said:
No school can complete simply because of who they are. But a school like ISU with a rich tradition and (yes) still strong support comparatively can be a winner with a quality coaching staff. We don't have one. 4 years into this tenure and we are still no where.

BTW, Iowa has 2 starters from PA and one each from IL, ID, CO and DE. It's called recruiting--we aren't limited to just Iowa.
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Serious just quit. You have no clue what it takes to rebuild from the ground up. Do everyone a favor and never post on this message board again.
 
SouthJerseyCy said:
I just don't know why it couldn't have waited 2 weeks and do an evaluation after Nationals.
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Judoka said:
Might have been for recruiting, since guys who didn't commit in the fall are making their decisions now.
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Bingo. The signing period starts April 17.

KJ was hired two weeks after it started, and ended up doubly SOL. The fall signees already in the fold bolted, and the spring signees that could have replaced them were already gobbled up.
 
Judoka said:
Here's the top 10 states in number and percentage of total qualifiers. Based on where the wrestlers went to high school.

PA - 52 - 15.8%
OH - 32 - 9.7%
NJ - 24 - 7.3%
NY - 23 - 7.0%
CA - 17 - 5.2%
IL - 17 - 5.2%
MI - 16 - 4.8%
IA - 15 - 4.5%
MO - 13 - 3.9%
CO - 10 - 3.0%
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Any idea much the NJ number is skewed because of Blair?
 
Judoka said:
Here's the top 10 states in number and percentage of total qualifiers. Based on where the wrestlers went to high school.

PA - 52 - 15.8%
OH - 32 - 9.7%
NJ - 24 - 7.3%
NY - 23 - 7.0%
CA - 17 - 5.2%
IL - 17 - 5.2%
MI - 16 - 4.8%
IA - 15 - 4.5%
MO - 13 - 3.9%
CO - 10 - 3.0%
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Current B1G territory bolded. Too late to add them up accurately, but that's 7 of the top 8 states for HS recruiting. Talk all you want about building talent up, but the bottom line is that this is where all of the blue chip recruits come from. Same as why all of the most successful schools in football come from the south, because that's where the talent is.

Sure, there are anomalies to each situation. Look at Nebraska's past in football (although not relevant recently). Iowa wrestling recently. But the landscape is changing to where athletes are more focused on one sport, and subsequently better at their sport. The level of talent is higher. I would take today's PSU roster against many dominant Iowa rosters of the past, simply because of the technicality of the athletes. They are truly experts in the sport, better coached, better experienced. Yes, guts and whatever you want to call it plays a part. But the talent pool has shifted to the east, and there are a lot better wrestlers out there than there ever have been (overall). Exceptions like Gable, Sanderson, Cejudo, etc. will happen. But overall, that is the talent pool.

I hate to admit it, but ISU is put in a position where they have to "coach them up" to be successful. I'm not sure if it can happen based on geography and/or recruitment. KJ's "Olympic Training Facility" experiment has proved lukewarm at best, at least based on the fact that there have been few top caliber recruits brought into ISU since his hire. I knew who KJ was, but then I'm 32. A top kid out of high school would rather wrestle for Sanderson, or at least stay at home (in the East coast in most cases), than for a guy his dad told him about. I think Iowa will remain a *kind of* exception for the short run, because of the history and because Brands has a younger name. But in the next 20 years, wrestling at the top level will shoot east, and we will be on the sidelines because of geography alone.
 
SouthJerseyCy said:
Yes, I do change my tune and that's exactly my point. Why not wait and see where we are when it counts?

To the contrary...what if we fall flat and everyone goes 0-2 or 1-2? Was it a mistake then?
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I'm here to gladly eat my crow. Great tournament and great decision. Moreno, Weatherman and Gadson are a solid foundation and should be highly ranked next year. Need to add a few more pieces (little Moreno) and get some development from Finch and Meeks....we might have an outside shot at top 10 next year.
 
SouthJerseyCy said:
Many apologies! I see we are tied for 10th now, so I guess that was an incredibly stupid comment. :rolleyes:. What would you say is an optimistic goal next year? Top 5?
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I will say top 10 is what we should be capable of, with the chance at top 7 if we can get guys to score some bonus points on the top side of the bracket. Top 5 would be a little stretch with the likes of PSU, OK state, Iowa, Minn, Mizz and even what oregon state is turning out for guys. But who knows after how we pulled a complete 180 this year and the work ethic we seem to have along with the drive it might not be that long of a stretch to try and crack the top 5, I know I would be a happy happy camper. Posibbly get 5 AA's with some 3rd/5th place finishes and a guy in the finals.
 
We lose 10.5 points of our 41.5 points with Gibson leaving. I think we can make those up with the seniors graduating at 165 and 197 leading to Gadson and Moreno probably getting higher up on the podium. But 174 and 184 really don't lose many seniors to graduation, so I'm not sure how much higher we can assume Tanner and Boaz will climb. So we'll need to see big improvements at the lower weights to qualify and score us at least a handful of points. Hopefully with another year under Nickerson, and with Finch/Goettl having Larson/G Moreno to push them, we'll see the improvements that we didn't see this year at those weights.

It also depends what the overall landscape looks like. If there are 3-4 totally dominant teams it will be easier for us to place higher, as those teams will eat up a lot of points and AAs rather than the points being spread around to a lot of programs.

Assuming everyone stays healthy and eligible I'd tentatively say we should be looking to break back into the Top 10 next year. Top 5 would be a big stretch.
 
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