Sources: Iowa to hire Drake's McCollum as coach
Iowa has agreed to hire Drake's Ben McCollum as its next men's basketball coach, sources told ESPN on Monday.
Iowa to hire Drake's Ben McCollum
- Thread starter rick64
- Start date
I'm wait and see on this one. For 2 reasons. Iowa literally had this guy when they hired Todd Lickliter. The guy was not just unsuccessful but he also played a style so ****ing boring they were putting TARPS up to cover the empty seats which culminated in the game that got him fired when a few thousand Orange Krush Illini fans trolled Iowa by shredding their coats to wear Orange Krush gear behind the Iowa Basket/closest to their bench and kicked Iowa's ass and Lickliter's response was "Did they pay?".
Guys like McCollum are analytically lauded when reality is they are not good defensively-they just play slow and limit possessions. We've seen this song and dance before and it doesn't/can't sustain in big time Basketball. Players don't want to play in it that system. For every guy who is a talented offensive player like that kid he took from D2 to Drake--you get abused defensively. For anyone who actually watched Drake play Texas Tech--Tech was getting any shot they wanted and making dunks/layups/3 ft shots the entire game. Reason the score wasn't lopsided was Drake would still run sets and slow the pace.
So an Iowa program that has a fanbase so miserable from Lickliter they hired Fran--and only reason attendance dropped during the McCaffery era was that he/family were overbearing and didn't have success on the court to put up with it. Man was there 15 yrs--went to 7 NCAA Tournaments and was 4-7 with 0 Sweet 16's. However...you add in that he/his wife were obnoxious beyond belief at their kids HS games locally, berating/swearing at officials and yelling at other kids, etc....you had his youngest just kill someone in a manslaughter situation where he sped up from behind 2 cars and switched lanes and killed a jogger and McCaffery's response was to say "It was unavoidable" and the kid was sent up to MN for an AAU Tournament the same week.
Now you are back to the Lickliter style--with only 2 candidates you wanted from Iowa (McCollum is from Iowa City) and a horse**** NIL situation. There's a reason he was at D2 for 16 yrs with that great success and Iowa jumped on a one year situation at Drake. Great year? Absolutely. Sustainable at the Big Ten/Power conference level? You tell me. Lickliter. Bennett Dad/Son. JT3. Etc......I'll say this will flame out as we've seen previously and could cost AD her job if they don't fill that arena.
Guys like McCollum are analytically lauded when reality is they are not good defensively-they just play slow and limit possessions. We've seen this song and dance before and it doesn't/can't sustain in big time Basketball. Players don't want to play in it that system. For every guy who is a talented offensive player like that kid he took from D2 to Drake--you get abused defensively. For anyone who actually watched Drake play Texas Tech--Tech was getting any shot they wanted and making dunks/layups/3 ft shots the entire game. Reason the score wasn't lopsided was Drake would still run sets and slow the pace.
So an Iowa program that has a fanbase so miserable from Lickliter they hired Fran--and only reason attendance dropped during the McCaffery era was that he/family were overbearing and didn't have success on the court to put up with it. Man was there 15 yrs--went to 7 NCAA Tournaments and was 4-7 with 0 Sweet 16's. However...you add in that he/his wife were obnoxious beyond belief at their kids HS games locally, berating/swearing at officials and yelling at other kids, etc....you had his youngest just kill someone in a manslaughter situation where he sped up from behind 2 cars and switched lanes and killed a jogger and McCaffery's response was to say "It was unavoidable" and the kid was sent up to MN for an AAU Tournament the same week.
Now you are back to the Lickliter style--with only 2 candidates you wanted from Iowa (McCollum is from Iowa City) and a horse**** NIL situation. There's a reason he was at D2 for 16 yrs with that great success and Iowa jumped on a one year situation at Drake. Great year? Absolutely. Sustainable at the Big Ten/Power conference level? You tell me. Lickliter. Bennett Dad/Son. JT3. Etc......I'll say this will flame out as we've seen previously and could cost AD her job if they don't fill that arena.
