Can Drake keep Jenny Baranczyk?

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CYdTracked

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2006
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Grimes, IA
A few thoughts on the multiple topics covered in this thread so far...

Bigger schools definitely will come calling for Jenny soon. What we don't know though is if she is ready to take the next step or is comfortable with Drake for another season or 2 maybe. She is a WDM Valley grad so there is that local tie plus she is pregnant again so a job change in the middle of a pregnancy may not be ideal considering all the work that goes into getting situated with a new school, team, and recruits. Plus she hasn't really coached that long but she has done a great job in a short time. Just some circumstances to consider before you think she will bolt for the first bigger job with a better paycheck.

With the mess that the Drake athletic dept is maybe it is a good thing if Jeff Rutter doesn't get the full time gig because he seems like too good of a guy to have to suffer through the challenges that job has. Hopefully someone saw the work he did when he took over this year and another school interviews him for either another head coaching job or a top assistant somewhere.

As for what happens when Bill Fennelly retires I've always said the first call you should make is to Brenda Frese even if it seems like a long shot because why not shoot for a proven coach with ISU ties. The worst that can happen is she says no thanks and the best she says she has some interest in talking about the job. I'm not sold on just handing the reigns over to Billy. I'd be more comfortable with that ideal if he were to take a head coaching job somewhere and get his feet wet that way because he doesn't have much experience outside of Ames other than 2 seasons as director of basketball operations at Northwestern and a season as administrative assistant to the recruiting coordinator on Frese's staff at Maryland. ISU is probably one of the better jobs in the country that should attract some good and proven candidates when it eventually comes open so I hope they at least feel that they should be making a call to Frese because you want to go after top notch coaches that fit the mold of what this program is and she is one that would fit that very well and have the resources available to build it up even more than Bill has.
 
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