Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Why Fran McCaffery is the Iowa basketball coach we need plus Iowa football recruiting updates

Episode Date: July 28, 2021

With the official announcement of Iowa Hawkeye athletic coach extensions, there is more hysteria surrounding Iowa basketball head coach Fran McCaffery and what he has done to deserve an extension. I would argue a lot and we break it all down here before getting into recruiting talk and the latest on realignment.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to a Wednesday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and as a reminder, tomorrow is the live NBA Draft show. NBA Draft GOAT Chad Ford, Locked On NBA Draft host Raphael Barlow, and Locked On NBA host John Corrales will be live this year covering the NBA Draft. It's Locked On NBA Draft 2021

brought to you by Built Bar. Get local experts analysis on each pick, follow Locked On NBA on YouTube today, and watch our live coverage on July 29th at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. And on today's show, we are going to be breaking down several key things, talking a little bit about Fran McCaffrey. There was the extension. Obviously, that sparked some interesting responses, although the extension we kind of knew about already.

We also got some interesting recruiting news and want to talk a little bit about Joe and Luca in the draft. And then we also are going to be talking realignment. We're going to kick it off first with kind of the odds and ends within recruiting and some of the storylines we're going to be talking about over the next couple of days. First and foremost, Joe and Luca are both going to be waiting to hear their names anxiously tomorrow night at the NBA draft. And unfortunately, I will not be able to break down my reaction on Friday.

We will not have a show Friday morning. We will be back on Monday. We will have a show tomorrow, though, doing a little more NBA draft preview, but we are not going to be recording for Friday. I'll be out of town and going to take the time to spend some time with my family. So that's the big thing there. Joe and Luca, though, should be the first two Hawkeyes to be drafted since Aaron White. That is going to be excited. One of them is going to be both them should be as well. There's an outside chance Joe does go in the first round, but more than

likely Joe in the early part of the second Luca in the middle part of the second. I do believe both those players, though, could be NBA players and will be contributors at the NBA level. We'll get a little bit more in detail tomorrow on Joe and Luka, but very exciting stuff for the Iowa basketball team. And that is going to be a big draw for people that are looking at

the Iowa basketball program and Fran McCaffery and trying to decide whether or not they want to play for the Hawkeyes. When you can produce two guys like that. Now, Joe Luca are both you know top 100 recruits but Joe has developed into a marksman from the three-point line now granted he was a great three-point shooter in high school but Joe has really continued to develop his game to become an NBA level player Luca became a two-time All-American, and we're going to talk about that as well when we talk about Fran,

but that was not necessarily expected for an odd-shaped kid out of D.C. So we're going to talk again a little bit more about that, but thought that was kind of interesting. On the football recruiting front, or actually let's continue with basketball real quick. Josh Dix, an in-state kid, the number one ranked basketball player in state has set an official visit date of september 3 through the 3rd to the 5th for the indiana game and kyle nickel a four-star forward also has an official as well as iowa basketball continues to try to recruit the class for the 2022 class after getting desante bowen on the NFL front, Iowa, or on the football front,

Iowa did land a linebacker in the class of 2024, 6'3", 200-pound Cam Buffington, currently unrated but grew up a Hawkeye fan. He is the second commitment in the class of 2024. As we have seen with the class of 2022, it has not really gone the way many fans have expected. However, we've given you a lot of reasons to think and chew on that. But we've already made a pretty big jump in the class of 2024. I think we're one of the only classes with two recruits or two commits in that class of 2024. So really starting to develop the 2023 and 2024 classes already. One person we did miss out on is Mack Markway, an Iowa legacy tight end recruit,

four-star tight end recruit out of St. Louis, who did commit to Florida. He had Iowa in his top seven, but never really made, there wasn't a lot of buzz around the Iowa program, unfortunately, but he does commit to Florida, which is, again, nothing we can control at this point. And then, again, on the football front, there is a crystal ball in for four-star running back jay-z and patterson a kid out of florida who iowa just

recently really went hard after he is getting a lot of love from the hawks and at this point i would expect him to end up in an iowa hawkeye uniform that's kind of the expectation crystal ball is at six he really enjoyed his visit liddell betts has been hammering hard on him to come to Iowa. And although he has a lot of offers, a lot of the schools haven't really been as heavily recruiting him as of late as we would have expected. And then finally, before we get into our first break, before going into Fran McCaffrey and why he does deserve that extension and then getting into realignment talk. The Iowa athletic program was recently ranked third in the entire nation. Now that's pretty amazing. At one was Alabama, at two was Oklahoma. The way they judge this is kind of heavily weighted on certain teams.

So there's 2.5 times as much emphasis on Florida. There is 2.0 times as much emphasis on men's basketball compared to women's basketball. And there are, I believe, two wildcard spots as well. The Iowa Hawkeyes finished with 463.25 points to get into third. The football team had 146 points to that. Men's basketball 100, women's basketball 64. Wildcard spot won 100, 64 wildcard spot 100 and wildcard spot 263 which i can only assume is wrestling for that 100 so we're going to get more into that as

well on tomorrow's show talking a little bit about what that means why iowa has been successful and just trying to appreciate just how great the iowakeye athletic program was this past year, whether it was tennis, um, you know, soccer, making a run, the field hockey team, uh, getting to the final four, even baseball being right in until the end in terms of getting into the tournament, Iowa Hawkeye athletics just put together one of the most dominant seasons in the history of Iowa Hawkeye athletics, and it was a lot of fun to watch. So we're going to talk about that on tomorrow's show as well. Coming up on segment two, we're going to get into the Fran McCaffrey talk. I broke down the last several coaches for the Iowa Hawkeyes

just to give you a perspective of where Fran sits in terms of those coaches. And I'm talking about some big-time guys here, Lou Olson. We're going to be talking about Tom Davis. All those guys and where Fran McCaffrey compares. So that's coming up on segment two of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Before we get to that, though, I do want to tell you about BetOnline.ag, the fastest and the easiest way to bet on all of your sports action. BetOnline.ag covers all of your sporting needs, including the MLB, UFC, Olympics,

preseason NFL, and college football. All of it you can get at BetOnline.ag covers all of your sporting needs, including the MLB, UFC, Olympics, preseason NFL, and college football. All of it you can get at BetOnline.ag. So before the next pitch or the next snap or the next Olympic event, head over to BetOnline.ag on your laptop or mobile device and check out all the great sporting news, sign-up bonuses, and contest information they have today. Don't sit on the sidelines anymore. This is your chance to get into the game as teams prep for the runs, to the playoffs, or for that gold medal. And again, you can get a free account at BetOnline.ag. And when you get that free account, you can also get a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit when you use the promo code LOCKEDON, that's L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, at BetOnline.ag to

get that 50% welcome bonus. BetOnline.ag, your online sportsbook experts. BetOnline.ag, your online sportsbook experts. All right, y'all, we are back for segment two of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Lockdown Sports Network. And as I said before, going into the break, there were extensions handed out. And although we knew a little bit about Fran McCaffrey's extension, it does bring up a lot of controversy. I saw several people posting, why does Fran deserve an extension?

Well, here is my attempt at arguing that. I broke down the last seven head coaches for the Iowa basketball team. Fran McCaffrey, Todd Licklider, Steve Alford, Tom Davis, George Raveling, Lou Olson, and Dick Schultz. I broke it down by win percentage, conference win percentage, Big Ten titles, Big Ten regular season titles, NCAA tournament appearances, their highest, I didn't actually get into that part, sorry, their farthest NCAA tournament appearance, NBA players, and consensus All-Americans. When you break it down like this, it becomes a bit more clear just how good Fran McCaffrey has been. I even took out that first season for Fran McCaffrey because I felt like that was a bit of a ridiculous... I mean, Todd Licklider had the worst,

literally the worst winning percentage since 1896 for Iowa basketball. And Fran McCaffrey to take over the program after that had a hefty rebuilding phase in that regards. So I thought it'd only be appropriate to compare his 10 seasons without that first season as opposed to 11 seasons. When you look at winning percentage, Fran McCaffrey is third among those seven head coaches

with a 6.08 winning percentage just behind Lou Olsen and Tom Davis. The conference winning percentage. Let me break that down real quick for you. Fran McCaffrey also third right behind Tom Davis. He's a 5-32. Tom Davis had a 5-43. And Lou Olsen a 5-49. There's only been one coach in the last nearly 40 years who has won a Big Ten tournament title.

That is Steve Alford. He's won two. No other coaches. Not Lou Olsen. Not Tom Davis. Only one of those coaches won a Big Ten regular season title. 10 tournament title that is steve alfred he's won two no other coaches not loot olsen not tom davis only one of those coaches won a big 10 regular season title that was loot olsen ncl by tournament appearances we have tom davis at nine we have loot olsen at five and fran mccaffrey at five as well steve alfred at three so i think if steve alfred maybe goes an extra three seasons, maybe he gets those, but

for now, he will never surpass Fran McCaffrey, who has five. When you look at the farthest these teams reach the NCAA tournament, that's where it gets a bit more interesting. That's where people probably get the bit, you know, get on to Fran McCaffrey the most. The farthest he has gone is the second round. Steve Alford also

only went to the second round. Lute Olsen made it to the final four. Tom Davis made it to the Elite Eight. George Raveling made it to the first round. Dick Schultz and Todd Leckleiter didn't make it at all. Now you look at development and I thought this was really interesting. Iowa definitely had some more NBA players

earlier on. It's a much different game now than it was back in the 80s and 90s, especially when it comes to the NBA draft as well. But Tom Davis had 12 NBA players. Lou Olsen had five. Fran McCaffrey has had three.

More than likely to have five after tomorrow night. Steve Alford had three. George Raveling had eight, actually. I thought that was really interesting. And when you look at Steve Alford and his three NBA players, two weren't even his recruits. They were guys at the very beginning of his career. Fran McCaffrey has the most consensus All-Americans out of this entire group.

He has three. Two from Luka, one from Jared Uthoff. That's pretty impressive. So you can see the development that Fran McCaffrey has done. I think what's more impressive is the fact that Iowa is doing this without or Fran McCaffrey is doing this without the best facilities just a couple other things in regards to this again I'm a very pro Fran guy he has done a phenomenal job of developing players he's done a great job of bringing in players despite having again some of the worst facilities in the Big Ten.

The University of Iowa is not a tradition-rich basketball program. It's not a Blue Blood. It's not a Kentucky. It's not like Iowa is typically just going for lower recruits. They are trying for the top recruits, and they are struggling to get them. For example, look at some of the recruits in that class of 2022 that Iowa has been really heavy on. All of a sudden, they get offers from UNC and Duke. Well, people are just giving up. People just assume they're going to go to Duke and UNC because of that tradition-rich history. Luka Garza was an exception in terms of talented players out of state.

Otherwise, a lot of these kids that are coming to Iowa that are big-time players grew up Iowa Hawkeye fans. Joe Wieskamp, top 100 kid, grew up an Iowa Hawkeye fan. Patrick McCaffrey, his dad is the coach. Keegan Murray and Chris Murray, those two, they weren't high-level recruits, but they were Iowa Hawkeye fans for a very, very long time. Now, in regards to the NCAA tournament,

that is probably the biggest knock on Frank McCaffrey, the fact that Iowa Now, in regards to the NCAA tournament, that is probably the biggest knock on Fran McCaffrey, the fact that Iowa hasn't gone far in the NCAA tournament, especially after a season like this past season where they were the number two seed. They have had some really unfortunate luck, but that's also what makes the NCAA tournament so much fun. Oregon was literally a perfect team to play Iowa, and they were hot from the three-point line.

They ran, they got out there fast, they could break Iowa down off the dribble, and they were shooting the ball, lights out, that hurt Iowa. Iowa just didn't have it in them, struggling with injuries as well. And against Tennessee, they almost came back. If they finish that comeback against Tennessee, we could be talking about a different perspective or perception of Fran McCaffrey at this point, if they make it to the Sweet 16 in that season. Now again, several guys have been sent to the NBA by Fran McCaffrey, and he'll be sending

two more tomorrow. And I think what he's done from finding guys and developing them is truly underrated. Look at Keegan Murray. Keegan and Chris were not rated. People were pissed off that Iowa would extend them scholarship offers prior to them joining the Hawks. Now, people couldn't get enough of Keegan Murray, and people are very excited about Chris Murray. Fran McCaffrey has an eye for talent, and he has the ability to develop that talent

and continue to build off of whatever they bring to the program. He knows what he needs for that program. And honestly, I think this upcoming season will show just how good of a coach Fran McCaffrey truly is. He loses Luka. He loses Joe. Those are big-time losses. He loses C.J. Frederick. What is Iowa going to do to come back from that?

They lose Jack Nunji. They have a young team, but a very athletic team that I think could solve a lot of the defensive woes Iowa has struggled with, while also still providing an offensive spark. I believe this upcoming team is going to be more in line with what makes a successful NCAA tournament team when shooting is not there. Iowa has been a phenomenal shooting team, but when the shooting goes away, Iowa doesn't have a lot to pick itself up off the ground outside of LUCA, or at least it hasn't the last couple of seasons. This year, though, I think this team is going to get out in transition.

They're going to be athletic. They're going to be able to stop passing lanes. There's a lot of size and a lot of athleticism among some of those main guys that are going to be playing. Keegan, Patrick, Chris. You look at those guys and you get very excited. Tony Perkins was incredibly good on defense.

With Jordan Bohannon being primarily a spot-up shooter, that's going to be huge with Joe Toussaint running the point. I think in more time, Joe Toussaint is going to be better. We saw that first season. I really liked what I saw from Joe Toussaint. Last year, I felt like he was forcing a lot of things in limited minutes. But nevertheless, I think this upcoming season is going to show

how valuable Fran McCaffrey is to the University of Iowa. And again, while I would like to have seen more winning, I would have liked to have seen the Iowa basketball team get further in the NCAA tournament. I have talked to a lot of Iowa basketball team get further in the NCAA tournament. I have talked to a lot of Iowa basketball players, past and present, and every single one of them has nothing but glowing

things to say about Fran McCaffrey as a coach, as a human, as a mentor, and they believe that he is the guy to continue leading this Iowa basketball team. Fran McCaffrey represents the program so well, and I think his passion for the community and for giving back to the University of Iowa is unparalleled. An amazing, amazing coach.

And I personally love Fran McCaffrey as our head coach. Now, I know there's probably a lot of you sitting here thinking, wow, Fran McCaffrey is terrible. I hate Fran. If that is the case, let me know. I'd love to hear why. Give me some reasons why, some factual reasons. If you're going to go on the tournament tangent, I understand. It's just a way to look at it.

I think the NCAA tournament has a lot of luck involved in that. And at a certain point, he will crack through. It just hasn't happened to this point. That's my belief. Obviously, everyone who doesn't believe in that has a completely different belief. So let me know your thoughts. I'd love to hear that. But I am a big France supporter and I'm very excited that he is going to be here through 2028. Coming up on segment three, we're going to talk more realignment. I know we've talked a lot about it, but more news came out

and my perspective has changed a little bit on the Iowa State Cyclone. So we're going to talk about that on segment three. Before we get to that though, Bilt Bar is the best tasting protein bar on the market today. It is the protein bar that tastes just like a candy bar. It comes in nine delicious flavors plus the occasional limited time flavor. They got something for everyone, sweet, salty, and fruity. And all these bars are covered in 100% chocolate. It is my go-to bar every single morning, whether it's after a workout or just a little mid-morning snack. I always grab myself a Built Bar. I actually have three boxes right behind me in my office just in case I need one.

Built Bars are not only delicious though, they're also healthy for you. Between 17 and 18 grams of protein, between 130 and 180 calories in each bar, four to five grams of sugar in each bar, and only four to five grams of net carbs in each bar. These bars will get you through the day with their deliciousness and their health benefits as well. And they are also the protein bar of the USA track and field team. So if they can do it, or they can use them and it's good for them, why would you not want to get your hands on a built bar today? So go to builtbar.com and use the promo code locked 15. That's That's L-O-C-K-E-D-1-5. And you'll get 15% off your first order. Use the promo code LOCKED15 for 15% off at BiltBar.com.

All right, y'all. We are back for our third and our final segment of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Lockdown Sports Network. And we are back talking realignment. Oklahoma and Texas officially filed to leave the Big 12 and join the SEC as late as 2025. I say as late as because that's when the contract ends, but I highly doubt they stay until 2025.

That would be a little bit ridiculous. I bet they try to get out within the next year. We also heard that Iowa, or not Iowa, but the Big Ten is only choosing AAU schools. Now why that is important, and that's something that people kind of assumed, but we weren't completely sure. Now why that is important, I've been hammering the table to go get Oklahoma State. to go get Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State is not an AAU program. So my hopes and dreams of what I thought would be an under-the-radar grab in Oklahoma State, off the table.

Oklahoma State is not going to be joining the Big Ten, it sounds like, anytime soon. I've also changed my mind a little bit on Iowa State. Before, I was like, well, Iowa State is an up-and-coming program. It gets rid of a non-conference game. But now I'm thinking, what if Iowa State just doesn't go to a Power 5 program? What if they do drop to a smaller group of five conference?

It would be kind of unprecedented, but it's not completely out of the picture. It's, it's, it's a possibility. And in that regard, what if Iowa says we don't feel like playing them anymore? Let's just get rid of that rivalry because now it's not that much better than playing in Northern Iowa. In that case, it's a no win situation for Iowa. I was not thinking enough outside the box, and I really didn't think that there was a chance

that Iowa State didn't end up in a Power 5 conference, but with the way realignment is happening, there's only so many teams that can go somewhere, and Iowa State, for a conference to want Iowa State, you are really betting the farm on that they are going to pick it back up in basketball and they are going to be a consistent team in football. Now, they do have, you know, they sell out their stadium and they have great alumni support.

But overall, they don't bring that much to the market, especially in the Big Ten. much the market, especially in the Big Ten. People aren't clamoring to get a fourth of the Iowa market when looking at teams and saying, oh, maybe we get Iowa State. They're actually not that well set up to try to make a play at going to a major conference again. This could really hurt Iowa State. And there's no reason why we need to extend a handout or any favors from a Big Ten perspective. We don't need to add Iowa State.

My thought was simply, it would make sense if Iowa State is going to go to a power conference, let's at least add them to ours. And let's get rid of them as a non-conference game. Also, I was placing a bet on the upside of that program under Matt Campbell. But there's also the thing, if you put a nail in that coffin, they could just never come back. They could go to a small conference and they could never come back again. Not never come back, but just unlikely to continue the rise of that program. So that was something I just didn't think about in my personal opinion, and I apologize for that. So that to me was a bit interesting from a realignment perspective.

The fact that the big 10 is really only looking at a you programs that pretty much gets us going to the PAC 12 again. And I agree. Why not shoot our shot and see what we can get. Again, I don't think we should try to be competing necessarily at the sec from a football perspective, but just trying to get quality programs like a Stanford, like a USC. Even a UCLA would be a big name type of team that could come over and make an impact.

The issue we're going to have is travel, but when you think about Nebraska all the way to Rutgers, is it really that much different than from Iowa or Nebraska going to UCLA, USC, etc.? It's going to cost a bit more in travel, but it could bring a lot more in exposure for the entire conference if you add a Stanford, a USC, a UCLA, teams like that. I also think it's worthwhile saying Colorado should be a part of this discussion. I think Colorado fits a little bit better in geographically. Oregon would be a ton of fun. They have a ton of support. That would be a lot of fun to see Oregon in the

conference as well. So there's a lot that's going to be happening. The first dominoes officially fell though. There's rumors at first. Those rumors are no longer rumors. They are ingrained. In fact, Oklahoma and Texas are trying to leave. They have been accepted into the SEC. And what is next? Your move, Kevin Warren. I don't trust you, but I hope you know that you need to be proactive and make a move soon. You cannot be on the outside looking in as realignment happens. You cannot be left at the end of the table without any food. You need to be able to go out there and get your teams or at least shoot your shot to see what you can do for the Big Ten. If you don't, you have no reason to be at the helm of the Big Ten. You should not be the president of the Big Ten. So that's my thoughts there. Coming up tomorrow, we're going

to be getting into the NBA a little bit more. We're going to be talking about Iowa and the fact they are a top three program in the entire nation for all sports, which is a lot of fun. And we'll get you some more content covering the Iowa Hawkeye Athletics is all coming tomorrow. And a reminder, we will not be here on Friday morning because I am going to be on a short getaway. We'll be back the following week. Before we leave, though, just a reminder to check out the live NBA Draft show.

NBA Draft GOAT Chad Ford, Locked On NBA Draft host Rafael Barlow, and Locked On NBA host John Corrales will be live this year covering the NBA Draft. It's Locked On NBA Draft 2021 brought to you by Bilt Bar. Get local expert analysis on each pick. Follow Locked On NBA on YouTube today and watch our live coverage on July 29th at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Again, thank you all for tuning in. I appreciate the love and the listenership.

If you like the show, give us that five-star review. If it's your first time listening, subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast app. Have a phenomenal Wednesday. And as always, Hawkeye Nation, let's go Hawks.