No doubt. Questioning how ISU is in that discussion is natural.
At this point, much as we love it, ISU is definitely not a better program, and Cronin's track record is a lot better than TJ. There's some real homerific work going on in that guy's post.
I'll make the most generous reading of the post that I can in that coaches and program's reputations can oscillate up and down nowadays far quicker than at any point in the past. Look at Louisville. They were on or at least near a tier with the true blue-blooded programs of the sport (e.g., Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Duke, UNC, etc.) not too long ago. Now they suck. What happened 5+ years ago matters less than ever.
On the flip side, UCLA is having a rough season this year but has not sucked much in recent memory. They've been 71, 18, 10, and 4 on Torvik the past four years and finished with a Final Four, two Sweet Sixteens, and as a (projected) #11 seed in the tournament that we lost to COVID. Even then, I don't see a lot of losses on the schedule for UCLA that you would consider truly dreadful and inexcusable. Their schedule is hard...
Marquette
Gonzaga
Villanova
Ohio State
Cal St. Northridge
Maryland
Oregon
All of those are P6 peers save Gonzaga (who is an obvious special case) and Cal St. Northridge. Even then, they're #175 on Torvik, which is far better than any of the cupcakes the Cyclones have feasted on.
I wonder how we would have done against that slate. It's not like we distinguished ourselves against VT and A&M in Orlando, though we did turn around and piledrive Iowa (bad) and DePaul (worse).
Either way landing Milan was and is a coup.