Harrison Barnes Poll
- Thread starter HawkHater
- Start date
That is what I just said. Is it that hard to understand? Thank god I am not Fred Hoiberg or Harrison Barnes.
Honestly? It would be a hard decision. ISU had been through a lot less turmoil the few years preceding when Hoiberg came to ISU (he was brought in by Orr, who had been here for forever). Hoiberg was Mr. Basketball, but I don't think he was anywhere near a top 5 recruit, either, was he? It's not really apples-to-apples.
Again - I would love HB to come. I think Mac is going to do/doing fantastic things with the team, but there has been a lot of turnover and guys lost the last few years - Barnes just may not want to go to a school working on rebuilding. I don't think this is ANY reflection on Mac, as he has been recruiting Harrison hard.
I'm not saying that I think HB should go anywhere else - I'm just saying that he's obviously got to do what is best for him and his career.
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Everything I've heard about this subject is that McDermot is recruiting Barnes. Barnes likes ISU and the staff. I think the only issue is whether or not Barnes wants to play for us or a bigger basketball school. No one can predict what's in his head and what he is going to do.
Should Collison and Hinrich gone to ISU?
Top-notch kids should go to the place that suits THEM and THEIR goals best. I give Mac a 100% pass if he doesn't land HB.
j
Exactly! This is why no one can really blame Mac or the ISU staff if they don't land Barnes.
Or, some of us are seeing a big picture that has a different landscape than the one you're viewing.
Under your scenario, new powers could not rise -- such as Florida -- because fine players cannot develop at such institutions since every day they're playing against inferior teammates.
The idea is to get better by recruiting top-flight student-athletes. HB no doubt has a decent picture of how the ISU program is progressing and what its possibilities might be in coming years. If he and JD become Cyclones, and a couple of other outstanding players join up in the 2009 and 2010 classes to blend in with the program's upper-classmen, HB might like what he sees.
Or, maybe not.
I'm one fan, though, who won't this day concede that HB can't become the best that he can be in Ames. That's yet to be determined. And, playing in an outstanding conference such as the Big 12 will do wonders for his development, too.
One other thing that fans are not realizing is that recruiting at ISU is really hard. Orr said Hoiberg was VERY difficult to recruit. Tim Floyd in an interview said that recruiting OJ Mayo was easier than recruiting the 12th man at Iowa State.....
Coaching at ISU for basketball (and football) is one of the toughest jobs in the country and it's just plain tough to get 5 star talent...
Florida has a lot going for them: warm location, more desirable place to live, more funding, and amentities, etc. All Florida needed to go was get the right mix of recruits, but overall Florida gets all sorts of talent wanting to go there...
For ISU, we have to convice a majority of the people to go here, even those from Ames High.
Well, I can think of several examples of the "hometown star" deciding to turn down the big programs to play for the local university, but here's the best one:
He was the nation's top high school prospect.
The Big Ten university in his town was coached by a nondescript, not well-known coach who had gone 12-15 his first year.
This school had never enjoyed much basketball success.
Schools such as UCLA offered him scholarships.
This player decided to stay in the cold north, with an unproven coach, to play for a losing program in his hometown in front of family and friends and for a coach he trusted to turn it around.
The coach was Judd Heathcoate, the player was Magic Johnson.
The rest is history...
I wouldn't post something like this to make a point if you don't know what you are talking about. Both Collison and Hinrich were staying in the state of Iowa until coaching changes (Davis and Floyd).
Well sure. Pay him thousands of dollars and he is yours. You can't do that **** at ISU. Mayo had handlers. Those players are easy to recruit if you don't mind cheating
Immaterial they still left the state didn't they. I am VERY aware of the reality that they may have gone to ISU-but they didn't. Heck based upon the logic here they certainly should have gone to ISU without respect to the coach...they would have done just as well in the NBA draft if you would have been the coach-right? Why can't HB be afforded the same latitude as two other accomplished athletes?
Why is it nobody cares when a really academically gifted kid goes to Princeton, the AFA, or a myriad of other schools far superior to ISU? Because it isn't a failure of the Dean to get them...it is what the individual considers best for them. Get off Mac's nuts!
Facts are they(Hinrich and Collison) left and did quite well for themselves. Does anyone say they should have stayed. Does anyone think they would have been better off at ISU? Please find that person and have them post(besides you).
j
Michigan State had a NCAA Championship-ready team. They had 2 future NBA players on the team already... Magic was the final piece to contend.
Magic was also looking at academics as opposed to playing basketball professionally. Remember, the NBA wasn't as lucrative when Magic was playing college basketball so it isn't like he necessarily always wanted to be a pro basketball player.
Also, playing on a team with 2 future NBA players and practicing with them everyday probably helped Magic become a great player and made him the NBA player he ended up being.....
I realize the cheating and all of that. My point is that one of the top players in the nation wanted to go to USC and approached them before they approached him. USC is NOT a basketball school, but it is in LA, the weather is nice, and if you're a star you can kick it with celebs and stuff.
Even amongst cheaters, I'm sure there is some competition between schools.
My point is at the top programs and the programs with good locations, there is excess supply of players who want to go there. You get the pick of the pack... If you're ISU, you have to work extremley had just to get a 3 star player to commit.
Who are these two NBA players you're talking about? Greg Kelser, yes, was already there, and Michigan State was 12-15 with him as the star. I am not aware of another one. Jay Vincent, also from hometown Lansing, came in with Magic to play for Heathcoate. He was also very highly recruited.
Magic was being talked about as an NBA star while still in high school, and left for the NBA after his sophomore year. He was there to play basketball. He was never in danger of being named academic all-Big Ten.
As far as Magic being the "final piece" - he was THE piece. Michigan State was losing prior to his arrival, won two Big Ten titles and an NCAA title with him, and promptly has losing records again after he left.
Magic and Vincent would be like...Barnes and Dykstra.
