The Forgotten Years: The History of Wayne Morgan

[Al_4_State]

I'm not saying that Wayne Morgan has a better track record as a head coach than Greg McDermott.

I'm saying that he was 10x more successful at ISU.

There really is no arguing that fact, at all.

 

[Al_4_State]

Anyone else remember the game in Hilton (I think it was the year after the NCAA tourney) against Nebraska, and they had the big foreign guy (Maric, or something like that). They just kept feeding him the ball and he kept scoring, something like 40+ points that game. Ross Marsden was completely overmatched. That was a low point in the Morgan era.

Nebraska had a head-scratching victory over Morgan's NCAA team after they had tore off that huge run in conference play.

It might have been the final conference home game that year. It was a Sunday, and while sold out, it felt like the entire crowd was hungover (lord knows my buddies and I were) and the team looked the same way.

 

[swarthmoreCY]

McD would have been BLASTED for offering his son. Hindsight is great and all, but out of high school he wasn't considered any better than a mid-major talent. CF would have hung Greg from a tree if he "wasted a roster spot on his son". I remember the conversations about it.

Barnes was pretty much completely on him though.

He would have been blasted because it is a waste to use a scholarship on the coach's son, regardless of talent. There is no way around it. Hindsight is not needed to say McD whiffed on Barnes AND his son. It was just another indication of why McD was a complete failure here- he was never really committed. You have a son that is at least a Valley level player and you have been getting your *** kicked by Valley teams? He better be walking on to ISU. How the hell are you going to sell Barnes to ISU when you do not even want your son joining your program?

 

[swarthmoreCY]

I'm not saying that Wayne Morgan has a better track record as a head coach than Greg McDermott.

I'm saying that he was 10x more successful at ISU.

There really is no arguing that fact, at all.

Who has argued McD was more successful at ISU?

 

[Luth4Cy]

McDermott is a good coach who didn't work out here and is a much better fit for the likes of UNI or Creighton. I have a feeling he knows a lot of the mistakes he made here and would probably do better if given another chance in a major conference.

Morgan was an excellent recruiter but not a solid head coach. If I was a head coach he'd be on the top of my list when hiring assistants.

 

[Chitownclone2]

Agree. I have great memories of the WM years. Trying to forget the McDermott years though

 

[cyrocksmypants]

I'm not saying that Wayne Morgan has a better track record as a head coach than Greg McDermott.

I'm saying that he was 10x more successful at ISU.

There really is no arguing that fact, at all.

I don't think anyone has argued that this thread? But to say in the entirety of their careers (which it sounds many are claiming) that Morgan is a better coach than Greg is obviously an opinion blinded by the hatred gained toward Greg for his lack of success in his tenure here.

 

[MartyFine]

There's really no need to turn this into a GMac vs Morgan thing as far as who was a better coach. First off, it doesn't matter. Second, it should be pretty obvious based on their employment when not at Iowa State.

The coaching search in 2003 was an embarrassment. BVD was turned down by everyone and as it turned out most of his targets faltered over their next few seasons anyhow.

Morgan was a last ditch hire, but that wasn't his fault. His first team was actually loaded with talent...he just relied on freshmen guards. People forget too that Blalock really struggled through stretches that season. Had he and Stinson been a little more seasoned that should've been an NCAA team, by talent.

I'm assuming this series will get into it eventually, but his firing was ultimately necessary. And it is in no way comparable to the job status of McDermott and how Pollard handled that situation.

Yeah, we shouldn't evaluate their performances based on what they did at ISU. That would be crazy.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

Yeah, we shouldn't evaluate their performances based on what they did at ISU. That would be crazy.

Just as crazy as those judging coaching ability based ONLY on tier time at ISU right?

I get it, he failed miserably here and helped finalize the low point that was started with the Eustachy and Morgan scandals. I'm glad he's gone and Fred is here. But ******, the blinding hate some people have is absolutely ridiculous. Get over it already.

 

[cylove]

Anyone who thinks Morgan was a decent coach (as some have admitted already in this thread) are lunatics! There's a reason that he hasn't been offered another job since getting canned. With a roster of Stinson, Blalock, Carr, Homan, and Taggart going two games above .500 while being a preseason top 25 team shows how awful of a coach this dude was. He was one small step above McDouchemat.

Good to see you still never let facts get in the way of a good rant.

Homan, along with Staple, graduated the year before. Taggart was a top 35 recruit, but got sick in the preseason lost a bunch of weight, and never got on track. That team had all the inside presence of a donut. That was the main problem.

 

[cylove]

McDermott could coach as evidenced before and after ISU, he could not recruit and keep players. Morgan was the opposite, great recruiter who kept players happy, but a lousy head coach. I was surprised he didn't get hired as a assistant for his recruiting alone after being fired. Maybe his bitter scorched earth exit had something to do with that. He burned the program to the ground when he was forced out.

No he didn't. He told the players he was fired. He then told them if they wanted to leave, he'd help them find new schools.

Chewy came in and went all small school discipline on them. He screamed at Taggart for cursing during a drill the first day he met him. Greg benefited greatly from having Ben Jacobson as his assistant, and his son playing for him. See what happens now that Doug is gone.

 

[khaal53]

Yeah, we shouldn't evaluate their performances based on what they did at ISU. That would be crazy.

It's obviously a factor but compare their overall track records and tell me that Morgan has a superior resume to McDermott without lying.

 

[Al_4_State]

Who has argued McD was more successful at ISU?

There are a lot of people on this board who feel he did a better job than Wayne Morgan.

I think it's mostly because they got suckered into his "nice Iowa boy" persona.

 

[cylove]

Anyone else remember the game in Hilton (I think it was the year after the NCAA tourney) against Nebraska, and they had the big foreign guy (Maric, or something like that). They just kept feeding him the ball and he kept scoring, something like 40+ points that game. Ross Marsden was completely overmatched. That was a low point in the Morgan era.

Ross had stopped playing by then. It was Jiri that took the brunt of that performance

 

[Al_4_State]

I don't think anyone has argued that this thread? But to say in the entirety of their careers (which it sounds many are claiming) that Morgan is a better coach than Greg is obviously an opinion blinded by the hatred gained toward Greg for his lack of success in his tenure here.

I won't argue that Greg's had more success outside of ISU than Wayne.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I won't argue that Greg's had more success outside of ISU than Wayne.

I'm REALLY interested to see how Greg does without Dougie. You know, the same kid he didn't recruit to play at ISU.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

I'm REALLY interested to see how Greg does without Dougie. You know, the same kid he didn't recruit to play at ISU.

You mean that All American, first round pick that played for a mid-major? I wouldn't have too high of expectations, just as is the case for most mid-majors that would be in the same situation.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Greg will have a good few seasons, but outside of a few mid-major programs, most teams would struggle there.

 

[CyRp2013]

Interesting stuff. That whole situation was handled in the worst possible way by Bruce. Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that Larry probably had to go. But the coaching search was a cluster. A lot of people said no, before Wayne got the job. I wonder how serious he was about Wayne keeping his job no matter what...that would certainly be an issue with some head coaches.

I actually liked Wayne's NIT final 4 team the best. The NCAA tourney team was fun, but that was a bad, bad team until late January/early February. One of the top 5 worst moments in Hilton was leaving after that team lost to a bad Colorado team by quite a bit.

I'm convinced that the D1 scheduling thing played a fairly big part in Wayne getting fired.

Thankfully, we survived the dark days of Morgan and McDermott and came out on the other side with Fred. When we lose a game or two and everyone freaks out this year, remember where we were 5 short years ago.

They lost that game by 2 in OT after missing a tip-in at the buzzer but that was an awful moment regardless.

 

[Al_4_State]

They lost that game by 2 in OT after missing a tip-in at the buzzer but that was an awful moment regardless.

There were some absolute **** calls in that game.

IIRC, the student section was throwing their props and garbage on the court during that game.

 

[cyclones500]

They lost that game by 2 in OT after missing a tip-in at the buzzer but that was an awful moment regardless.

Here's a recap of that game. Yikes.

This paragraph provides a microcosm of the low-side of the Morgan era:

.... Colorado (9-7, 1-4 Big 12) pulled it out despite going scoreless the final 4:46 of regulation, committing 20 turnovers and shooting just 33 percent. The Buffaloes offset those sordid numbers with a 54-35 rebounding advantage, including 22 offensive rebounds that led to a 21-11 edge in second-chance points. .... "In the second half, it seemed we would play decent defense, get them to miss, but they kept rebounding the ball until they scored," Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan said.

(it's easy enough to find examples of the "high side," too, don't get me wrong.)