What will it take

**Knownothing** · 07-19-2007, 09:26 AM

for Gmac to get into Chicago and get some of these super star athletes to come play. Oregon just snatched up 2 top 5 kids out of Chicago. It's 6 hours away and some West coast school is comming in and getting kid's from there. Bruce Weber can't recruit. So someone has to pick up the slack over there. Chicago always has ballers. Hopefully we can make some in roads over there and take some of these kids. I think it's frustrating me to see midwest kids going all over the US to play college basketball when we have a great program not to far from them .

**ISUonthemove** · 07-19-2007, 09:35 AM

It's hard to sell the program when you haven't proven anything yet. That first dance will help out a lot.

**jdoggivjc** · 07-19-2007, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by Knownothing

for Gmac to get into Chicago and get some of these super star athletes to come play. Oregon just snatched up 2 top 5 kids out of Chicago. It's 6 hours away and some West coast school is comming in and getting kid's from there. Bruce Weber can't recruit. So someone has to pick up the slack over there. Chicago always has ballers. Hopefully we can make some in roads over there and take some of these kids. I think it's frustrating me to see midwest kids going all over the US to play college basketball when we have a great program not to far from them .

I would be very picky about who I go after in Chicago - aka leave the thugs to someone else. I'm sure there's a lot of great talent there that don't have serious criminal backgrounds and I'm ok with going after them, but I don't want to bring in someone shady just to try to escalate the improvement GMac already is doing. I think the same could be said of the talent in Peoria - the talent is there, just be careful of who you go after. Actually, better advice yet - leave the recruiting to GMac. After one year of his work I'm already convinced he knows what he's doing.

**Knownothing** · 07-19-2007, 09:43 AM

leave the recruiting to GMac

Well there you have it folks. No more talk of recruiting.

THe whole point of message boards is to talk about crap we have no control over. It's also to speculate.

**brianhos** · 07-19-2007, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by Knownothing

Well there you have it folks. No more talk of recruiting.

THe whole point of message boards is to talk about crap we have no control over. It's also to speculate.

I thought the point of this message board was to talk about uniforms, Iowa tickets, religion, and politics. We are supposed to be talking about ISU?

**ISUChippewa** · 07-19-2007, 09:55 AM

I think a lot of it is about relationships. We (ISU) have just had way too damn many coaching changes (5 different basketball coaches in the last 14-15 years, I beleive) for any one of our coaches to really develop solid, lasting bonds with high school coaching staffs anywhere. Add that to the fact that since 2000-01, with the exception of a couple of decent years, we really haven't been much of a national player on even the regional, much less national scene. Oregon isn't much of a traditional hoops program, but they did make the Elite Eight this last season.

**jdoggivjc** · 07-19-2007, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by Knownothing

Well there you have it folks. No more talk of recruiting.

THe whole point of message boards is to talk about crap we have no control over. It's also to speculate.

Where you got that from my post I have no idea.

**BryceC** · 07-19-2007, 09:59 AM

Ernie Kent is also from the Chicago as well.

**d30fan** · 07-19-2007, 10:13 AM

We have to face the fact that, with few exceptions, it is always going to be hard to get kids that have seen the bright lights to come to Ames. I grew up in Iowa, left for 30 some years, and returned 8 years ago. I've lived in all four corners of our country, in addition to the middle. Last fall I arrived in Ames a little early for a game and decided to wander down town to see if some old haunts were still there. It really seemed crummy. I don't recall that it looked that way in the 50s, maybe my standards were different then. Small town kids from Texas might be impressed, if they haven't seen Austin. I hope you aren,t all offended, but it is a fact that all our coaches must deal with when recruiting big city kids.

**psycln11** · 07-19-2007, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by Knownothing

for Gmac to get into Chicago and get some of these super star athletes to come play. Oregon just snatched up 2 top 5 kids out of Chicago. It's 6 hours away and some West coast school is comming in and getting kid's from there. Bruce Weber can't recruit. So someone has to pick up the slack over there. Chicago always has ballers. Hopefully we can make some in roads over there and take some of these kids. I think it's frustrating me to see midwest kids going all over the US to play college basketball when we have a great program not to far from them .

Two words...

Lucca Staiger!!

But I hear what you're saying. Were were "looking" at several in the Floyd/Eustachy eras, but never closed the deal for some reason.

**isucyfan** · 07-19-2007, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by jdoggivjc

I think the same could be said of the talent in Peoria - the talent is there, just be careful of who you go after.

Hey now...I lived and worked in Peoria for 4 years. Are you saying I have questionable character? Them's fightin' words.

(It's beside the point that I have questionable character, by the way.)

**ISUonthemove** · 07-19-2007, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by psycln11

Two words...

Lucca Staiger!!

But I hear what you're saying. Were were "looking" at several in the Floyd/Eustachy eras, but never closed the deal for some reason.

We got Staiger before he was in Illinois. I believe Greg new about him for quite some time.

**jdoggivjc** · 07-19-2007, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by isucyfan

Hey now...I lived and worked in Peoria for 4 years. Are you saying I have questionable character? Them's fightin' words.

(It's beside the point that I have questionable character, by the way.)

Growing up in Davenport for most of my life I've always looked down at Peoria because:

1. Just the fact that it's south of Davenport makes it easier to look down upon..
2. Doesn't matter the sport, the Quad Cities dominates the I-74 series whether it's the Swing v. the Chiefs (Midwest League), the Steamwheelers v. the Pirates (Arena Football2 - which Peoria bailed on, by the way - I don't think they could take the heat that the Quad Cities were bringing

), and that domination will continue when the Quad City Flames (formerly the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights) smacks around the Rivermen (American Hockey League).

(note - this is all smack talk, some of it may be true, some exaggerated..)

**isucyfan** · 07-19-2007, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by jdoggivjc

Growing up in Davenport for most of my life I've always looked down at Peoria because:

1. Just the fact that it's south of Davenport makes it easier to look down upon..
2. Doesn't matter the sport, the Quad Cities dominates the I-74 series whether it's the Swing v. the Chiefs (Midwest League), the Steamwheelers v. the Pirates (Arena Football2 - which Peoria bailed on, by the way - I don't think they could take the heat that the Quad Cities were bringing

), and that domination will continue when the Quad City Flames (formerly the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights) smacks around the Rivermen (American Hockey League).

(note - this is all smack talk, some of it may be true, some exaggerated..)

I can't support Peoria too much...there are reasons we moved to Minnesota! However, we didn't think it was too bad living there. There are some pretty rough places there, but overall it's not horrible. I did hear that Ryne Sandberg is managing the Chiefs now...that's kinda cool, right? Plus, I was there when a young no-name whippersnapper named Albert Pujols was called up to the Cardinals from the Chiefs. I always thought it was unfortunate that his name sounded like Poo Holes, but I guess he turned out OK.

**PsychedClone** · 07-19-2007, 12:09 PM

The Chicago area is part of Coach Otzelberger's geographical recruiting territory. I know Coach TJ has spent a great deal of time there but competition is extremely tough. U of I is only one of many D1 basketball programs in the immediate area. Wisconsin, Marquette, DePaul, Loyola are all close by.

Let's not forget where Brackins was at the time he committed to ISU. He was at Boys to Men Academy in Chicago.