You post a lot and support the team, so I know you're well-informed. I'm not sure why you'd make a statement like this that is rather extreme.
The wins against top 5 teams this year alone? Even though it was up and down, there was an article in which BF said that was somewhat by design.
How many straight NCAA tourneys?
The team has not gone as far of late, but has also had tough draws in recent years. This year, we played Dayton tight, who went on to play UConn tight (for a half). Dayton also had 2 WNBA draft picks. To me, that is success on the court. The final coaches poll put us around #30, that says there was respect for what the team did this year.
All of this when recruiting took a dip and thus was done with less talent than we have now and coming in.
I said any REAL success. Yes, they beat some highly ranked teams, including Texas both home and away, but they also lost to some teams that they should not have lost to (Kansas twice, Texas Tech .....there was no consistency at all in their performance, imho. I think most ISU fans had a hard time understanding (and accepting) that a team that could beat Texas twice would also lose to Kansas twice.
I don't see where the recruiting has dropped off. In fact, I think in the last couple of years, it has been as good as almost any of BF's years here. I am concerned about some of the players who have left the program the last couple of years, with no real explanation given to the public, imo. Now, we are losing another one this year....who, let's be honest, was never really given a chance to develop. One who I think really wanted to be here. I mean seriously, she couldn't have gotten at least a few minutes in some of those early cupcake games? Playing in 2 games for a total of 5 minutes in a 31 game season.....who wouldn't want to transfer?
What I do see over the last couple of years is that many players are not developing much any more. I think Pop, Anna, and Hallie (out of necessity) were the last players that really improved much from year to year. I thought ISU was headed for great things when I first saw Brynn, Kidd, Nikki and others play, I thought.....man....ISU is really going to be strong in years to come......but it never materialized. OK......yes.....competitive......most of the time, but not always, but not as strong as I thought they would be by the time some of those players were seniors. In fact I would say some (Brynn) might have regressed, or at least stayed at the same level at best.
Yes, ISU fans expect more with success. Why shouldn't they? That is human nature. I hope that ISU fans never get to the point to accept mediocrity once they have reached success with a program. ISU fans support women's athletics probably as well as 95 percent of the rest of the schools in Division I. I see nothing wrong with expecting those programs to deliver a well above average product.