Show me a year ISU had five 4* players on their team. That's what ISU has next year, and they're all back the following year as well.
Recruit Lists v2.0
- Thread starter SvrWxCy
- Start date
That's an absurd way to measure recruiting. Completely meaningless. If we had 4 4 stars in one year ranked at #50, 51, 52, and 53 that list would be the same. Just going off the top recruit of the class doesn't prove anything. We are recruiting with them.
Maybe if RV doesn't get ****** off and move to Vegas we get him, and all of a sudden the narrative is gone. In reality, whether we got RV or came in 2nd because of his handler, it doesn't change how good our coaches are at recruiting. It's just how it goes. You put yourself in the best position possible and sometimes you get a bad break, and sometimes you get a couple.
I spent about 5 minutes looking at stuff; I never claimed it was a thesis. I'm using recruit ranking is a rough proxy for the recruiting attention players are likely getting.
Furthermore, that's really my point. I don't feel like we should be 'recruiting with' schools like Maryland, NC St, Xavier, Arkansas, USC, Illinois, Cal. We should be straight up out-recruiting those schools. I didn't include Seton Hall here because them landing Whitehead was obviously super shady.
And I agree; if we start landing 5* McD AA the narrative is gone, and I'll be as happy as anyone about that. Until then, I think my point is valid. I'm not claiming the staff doesn't recruit good players, etc. etc. Only that it sure seems like Iowa State's success on the court has outpaced its HS recruiting success.
Last edited:
This debate is just stupid. Our guys can recruit. We have a Mr Basketball and 3 other 4 star players with him. Think about it like this too, if you count our transfers, Royce White was a 5 star player, Korie Lucious, Chris Allen, Jameel McKay, and Anthony Booker(Yes, this is true) were 4 star players, while Babb, Nader, McGee, and Hogue, were 3 star players. I think I'd take this. Throw in the 4 star players we already have and this is decent work by our coaching staff.
No doubt, I'm sure things will pick up.
We were talking about HS recruiting only. No one is debating our success luring transfers here. Kane was inarguably one of the top transfers last season. Royce as well. We just haven't gotten any recruits of Royce's caliber (rating wise) through HS.
Not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers here. Just seems like if you look at team recruiting rankings, a number of schools with less going for them have been doing better. This is obviously greatly affected by the Vaughn saga, of course, and I expect it to sort itself out in the end.
Also, not saying our guys can't recruit. Just that it seems more recruits should be buying into it.
Last edited:
So they can't recruit high school players yet they have Niang, Custer, SDW, Morris, Thomas, and Niang that were all ranked recruits and Long who has turned out to be a good find.
Fortunately Hoiberg talked long and hard with Tim Floyd and one of the big take away points was that you'll probably never be able to land the type of HS talent that you want in Ames. I think that's part of the reason why Fred went so hard into the transfer market and the biggest way we've upgraded our talent. For guys like Georges and Monte who can see the big picture, ISU is a great choice.
Unfortunately, ISU will never get the guys who are easily impressed by the big name schools or that are located in flashy cities.
Our approach will likely always have to be creative with transfers and jucos, and hopefully we can land 1-2 really selective, high quality HS recruits each year to build the foundation.
You have absurd expectations. There are 350 schools, odds are 20 schools every year are going to get a big prospect who is close to home that we couldn't have gotten. It just doesn't work the cookie cutter way you think it does.
The 20th best team doesn't have the #20 class every single year. It's variable.
And Matt A going toe to toe and beating out UNC, Duke, Arizona, and all the other heavy hitters means that we are competing with those schools you want to compete with. You just can't predict when a lesser school will have a crazy advantage that you can't beat out.
The sad truth is that half of the prospects probably just hear "the state of Iowa" and immediately cross us off their list. Right off the top. These kids don't know jack about our location and don't care. They want to go somewhere that is flashier.
This year will have more I an impact on recruiting than the previous two years bc ISU wasn't on the national stage the whole season before but this year they were being talked about all year an had lots of publicity and multiple all Americans.
The previous two years while good didn't really separate ISU from other major conference schools who had similar years.
The previous two years while good didn't really separate ISU from other major conference schools who had similar years.
I agree. While I'm proud of our state and our university, most recruits don't have that upbringing to even have a second thought about being recruited to any school in "Iowa". Some probably do cross us off their list immediately. I, too, think it will always be an uphill battle. Which just makes me even more impressed with what Fred has done when building our teams.
If Calhoun can make Storrs a destination for top recruits then Hoiberg can make Ames a destination
Same old argument: we need more blue chip high schoolers than one a year to compete with the Joneses in IC than picking up fifth year or transfers or jucos "I hardly knew you" guys from eastern US. The good news on the latter is once they are in the fold they will probably finish their careers in Ames.
There are a lot more prospects on the East Coast though.
Of course Hoiberg can do it, but it takes time and sustained success. UConn has like 3 or 4 national titles in the past 20 years.
Not much happening in either Storrs or Ames. But atleast Storrs is within a couple of hours of New York City and boston. Ames is within a couple of hours of .... Iowa City. We're never going to be able to sell location. But we have Fred, Hilton magic, great fans etc.
It should also be mentioned that this past year, any incoming freshman were looking at the realist situation of sitting the next two years due to the depth Fred has built with the highly rank freshman that were here and the transfers waiting in the wings. RV was the exeption and the reason the staff prioritized him. The other HS prospects ISU was associated with chose to go to other simular level programs with more of an immediate opportunity for early playing time. Which is a choice many of us in the same situation would have made. I am sure it helped with Monte and Matts recruitment knowing Lucious, McGee, Babb, Clyburn were graduating just before the were coming on campus.
As such, next years post recruits will see Niang and McKay entering their senior year thus I expect better success in that class (of course pending any transfers this year).
As such, next years post recruits will see Niang and McKay entering their senior year thus I expect better success in that class (of course pending any transfers this year).
Apples and oranges. I'm not sure how many 4-5*'s there are within a 4 hour drive, but I bet its 15-fold compared to Ames.