Lack of high major D1 talent in DM

**Steve** · 03-04-2008, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by frontrangeclone

Linn-Mar went over to Omaha to play Central a few weeks ago and lost by a point... not to say LM would have won but they had a game go OT the night before and had a 5 hr bus ride to Bugaha, and they didn't have Gibbs... I do think some Sioux City teams play Omaha metro teams as well.

I am befuddled by the lack of talent out of DSM as well. Maybe the kids are distracted by all the "big city" things one can do in DSM, whereas in the smalltowns, kids just play hoops or wrassle from the moment they can walk?? One would think the largest metro area in a given state would have the most talented teams in all sports, but I guess not. Growing up in eastern Iowa, I watched the Mississippi valley conference have a lot of good athletes go through in football, hoops, and womens basketball as well.

For those who are interested, see the OWH link about the Central Linn-Mar game. Central jumped out to a huge lead and then held off a L-M rally down the stretch. Central is ranked about #3 in NE and is led by it's backcourt including a guard headed to Creighton. They don't have much of an inside presence and have lost to a couple of area teams who are more well-rounded this year.

Omaha.com Sports Section

**kralon20** · 03-04-2008, 10:46 AM

Here's a thought. How many NBA players from Iowa stayed here and raised families? I suspect that genetics has a lot to do with it. If you're a big time talent on the court, you end up relocating to an area w/ an NBA team.

**Aclone** · 03-04-2008, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by kralon20

Here's a thought. How many NBA players from Iowa stayed here and raised families? I suspect that genetics has a lot to do with it. If you're a big time talent on the court, you end up relocating to an area w/ an NBA team.

Bobby Hansen?

The Des Moines metro schools have been in a talent free fall, in both football and basketball, for a very long time--twenty years or more. Too many dropouts, lots of other problems keeping the kids involved. Budget cuts that hashed youth programs. There are people attempting to remedy that nowadays, but it'll take time.

**frontrangeclone** · 03-04-2008, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by Aclone

Bobby Hansen?

The Des Moines metro schools have been in a talent free fall, in both football and basketball, for a very long time--twenty years or more. Too many dropouts, lots of other problems keeping the kids involved. Budget cuts that hashed youth programs. There are people attempting to remedy that nowadays, but it'll take time.

It's interesting b/c I think in the last 20 yrs, the overall talent coming out of the entire state has improved dramatically, but the DSM area lagged behind. Perhaps if Drake can sustain this success and become a new Creighton it can spur more interest amongst DSM youth?? Just speculating. I do think that the roots of improving talent in Iowa started when ISU and Iowa started to have great seasons in the 80s and started to be on tv all the time, it spurred a generation of us dreamers who wanted to suit up for the Clones or Hawks one day (of course 99.8% of us had those dreams crushed when we realized we we D-III talent at best...

)...

**BryceC** · 03-04-2008, 12:08 PM

The thing is that the metro schools don't really produce a lot of D1 football talent either. It's just not a hotbed of anything really.

**cybsball20** · 03-04-2008, 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by BryceC

The thing is that the metro schools don't really produce a lot of D1 football talent either. It's just not a hotbed of anything really.

It all boils down to very poor youth programs, especially in Basketball and Football. Someone, or some company needs to step up and make it so more kids can afford to play. It would probably make more business sense then putting your name on a stadium...

**jahfg** · 03-04-2008, 12:12 PM

A lot of the DM schools struggle to get their best athletes actually on the court/field.

**weR138** · 03-04-2008, 01:15 PM

Des Moines has a fairly large metro area, around 500k or so. Why is that the area produces VERY little D1 high major talent? It's seems all talent comes from small town Iowa or out east. The only D1 high major kids I can even remember all played at Iowa:

Out east huh? Ever heard of Kirk Heinrich(KU) Ben Jacobson(UNI) or Nate Funk(Creighton). All were starters on D1 teams that went to the tournament. All are from Sioux City. Brennan Cougill(Heelan) has accepted an offer to play at Iowa and he's junior this year.

**RocktheDome** · 03-04-2008, 05:02 PM

I have noticed that in basketball the best teams are generally from the east.

This year the top teams are undoubtedly Iowa City High, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Davenport Central, and Linn-Mar. In fact the Mississippi Valley has been pretty dominant the past 5 years or so. Linn-Mar alone has produced an unbelievable about of D1 talent (kids playing at Wisconsin, Indiana State, Wyoming with recruits to Drake and Gonzaga).

But the thing that seems odd to me, is that the actual Des Moines schools (East, North, Roosevelt, Lincoln) are usually never that good in sports in general. Sure a certain school will have a break out year, but year in and year out they are never that outstanding. The suburb schools (Ankeny, Urbandale, WDM Valley, Dowling, etc.) are generally pretty outstanding along with the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City schools. The same could be said with Waterloo schools. East and West aren't very good generally, but Cedar Falls is. Is this a money issue? With the suburban schools having more wealth and resources than there city counterparts? That leaves one wondering why the Cedar Rapids schools are competitive, seeing as CR is the only city really comparable to Des Moines in Iowa.

I could be totally off, but as someone from eastern Iowa I never really notice the Des Moines schools being consistently competitive. It would be interesting to see what you guys think.

**weR138** · 03-04-2008, 05:59 PM

<Is this a money issue? With the suburban schools having more wealth and resources than there city counterparts? That leaves one wondering why the Cedar Rapids schools are competitive, seeing as CR is the only city really comparable to Des Moines in Iowa.>

The evidence would suggest that it is indeed a money issue. In my neck of the woods Heelan dominates the SC public high schools as a 3A vs. 4A's. In fact, Heelan's toughest competition by far is 3A Harlan. Perhaps beyond money is a sense of community. Suburbs by their nature are smaller than the metro's they're attached to. Does that make them inherantly more close knit and thus more competitive against other communities and schools? The answer to your question probably lies in a Sociology Thesis or Disertation.

**CycloneWarrior** · 03-04-2008, 06:06 PM

One of the problems is there is a lack of AAU teams. Most kids play baseball or wrestle. But some kids are talented enough just get overlooked by big schools which is too bad.