In retrospect Marcus Fizer
- Thread starter Nuts4Cy
- Start date
The guy was a great cyclone on the hardwood.
Seemed to be a good guy
Now is a youth minister helping children
Degree or no degree he can be in my ISU hall of fame. I bet Johnny would say he should be up there.
Seemed to be a good guy
Now is a youth minister helping children
Degree or no degree he can be in my ISU hall of fame. I bet Johnny would say he should be up there.
Retiring a player's jersey isn't, or at least shouldn't be, just about their performance on the court. It's fashionable to laugh at the idea of "Student Athletes" these days but for something like this that ideal should be maintained. If we're not going to do that then screw it, contract the program off to the NBA D-league and have done.
Any set of requirements should include at least four basic criteria: athletic performance, academic achievement, devotion to the University, and good character. Graduating, even if it happens years after a player leaves competition, should be the minimum expectation of academic achievement.
Honestly, if Fizer would just do that one thing I'd be at the front of the line to see his jersey hung. He undeniably meets anybody's athletic performance expectations for retirement. His sticking at ISU through the coaching change and for his JR year meet my expectation for devotion to the University. His current activities pass the good character test. The only thing holding him back, in my mind at least, is an ISU Degree.
He will but what Georges will never do is sniff being a top 3 pick in the draft. I love the guy, in 2 years he's already one of my all time favorite Cyclones but to compare their NBA potential (at this point) is not even close to the same thing.
I never knew about the house burning down so I need to be in the NBA thing. I always wondered why he left when he did because we returned almost everything from a conference regular season title, conference tourney title, and Elite Eight run. Strong case for Top 3 preseason ranking and the team was great again in the regular season.
But this raises another question...is it about their ISU impact or the potential to be a pro? Melvin is a prime example. He is on my Mt Rushmore of ISU bball....devoted, academic all american, stuck with it, stat stuffer, on winning teams, Big 12 POY, etc.....didn't get drafted.
The whole jersey retiring thing is tricky.....because the game does change. My great uncle was on the team that won the the last regular season championship in 1945 (prior to the Fizer teams)...and after the games he had to sweep the bleachers. He obviously was a great cyclone....but not the same as a starter on a conf. champ team now.
Jack Trice did not graduate. Every student and person has unique circumstances to their life that send them on their journey. I think it ISU's duty to take a look at the whole picture rather than to make a list of check boxes to be named great.
Greatness can be defined in a lot of ways.
Greatness can be defined in a lot of ways.
Get his son here and I would imagine Marcus's incentive to finish his degree would elevate and become a priority. That would be the nice bow to his story.
Granted, this conversation occurred about 13 years ago at a Bulls pre-season luncheon, but I asked him specifically if he will be sending his kids to Iowa State to play basketball and he said "most definitely".
I would say one thing that is sort of important that Fizer and company did even though they lost that Michigan State game.
They showed it is possible to win a National Championship in basketball at Iowa State. I mean that team was absolutely amazing. It wasn't that they made the elite eight, it was how they just dominated teams. Everyone knew that MSU game was for the title. ISU would have mopped the floor with everyone that was left.
Before that, I am not sure I ever really thought it was possible to win an NCAA title. Sweet 16 of course or a deep run, but that really made me think it was possible and it could happen in my lifetime.
It may be just me, or that I am about the same age as Marcus. But I feel like the expectations have been elevated since then which is a good thing, even though there were some horrible years after that. Basketball went from a good program with a Sweet 16 run once every 10 years to...this can be a national power with the right coach, it can actually happen. Before that, yeah we had a lot of good teams, but I never felt prior to that that a national title was possible. Now I do.
They showed it is possible to win a National Championship in basketball at Iowa State. I mean that team was absolutely amazing. It wasn't that they made the elite eight, it was how they just dominated teams. Everyone knew that MSU game was for the title. ISU would have mopped the floor with everyone that was left.
Before that, I am not sure I ever really thought it was possible to win an NCAA title. Sweet 16 of course or a deep run, but that really made me think it was possible and it could happen in my lifetime.
It may be just me, or that I am about the same age as Marcus. But I feel like the expectations have been elevated since then which is a good thing, even though there were some horrible years after that. Basketball went from a good program with a Sweet 16 run once every 10 years to...this can be a national power with the right coach, it can actually happen. Before that, yeah we had a lot of good teams, but I never felt prior to that that a national title was possible. Now I do.
If you don't see why comparing Jack Trice, who ****ing died as a student, to Marcus Fizer isn't completely inappropriate, then you have no hope.
Was using an extreme example to make a point regarding a previous argument. Try reading the whole post in context moron.
