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Penn U record setting opening

Roncuba65

Roncuba65

All-Conference
Aug 15, 2022
970
1,664
93
Hawklove said:
I like Fran. He’s a good man. He did a lot of charity work, ran a clean program, recruited good kids, uncovered some seriously underappreciated talent, and worked as hard on recruiting as any coach in the country. He also delivered some memorable wins at Iowa and, most importantly, pulled the program back from the abyss.
He wasn’t flawless. I didn’t care for the sideline tantrums, the perception of favoritism toward his sons, or, most obviously, the inability to get us past the first weekend of the Dance. That matters. Still, I remember how effusive fans were on other platforms when he was first hired, he felt like exactly what the program needed. Just as Ben is today.
In general, coaches should move on after a certain number of years. Lute Olson, Ralph Miller, and even George Raveling did it the right way. Dr. Tom has said more than once that he wishes he had left when he had the chance, on his own terms. I suspect Fran feels the same now.
Had he taken us beyond that first weekend even once or twice, the conversation around his legacy would be very different. But he didn’t. Still, as a lifelong Hawkeye, I’ll always root for him and consider him a great Hawkeye.
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I agree with the majority of this post. I also believe Fran tried multiple times to leave on his terms, no other big schools wanted him...
 
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BringBackBradBanks

All-Conference
Jul 19, 2022
763
1,690
93
Fran’s tenure can be summed up in a couple weekends in March. Taking Luka and Joe W to the game against Oregon in 2021 before forgetting to tell our guards where the game was (starting backcourt getting outscored 63 to 0 is still the craziest iowa sports stat).
Winning a Big Ten Tournament the next year in 2022 before just getting backdoored to death against a pretty bad Richmond team was another Fran Special.
 
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Hawklove

Senior
Jul 11, 2018
244
504
93
Roncuba65 said:
Im pretty sure he applied for the Notre Dame job when Mike Brey was fired/retired...
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I remember the ND search very well, and I respectfully think your information is inaccurate. Mike Brey wasn’t fired. He left on his own After a disastrous 2023 season despite two elite eight appearances just a few years earlier. Fran had just come off winning the B1G tourney in 2022, coaching Luka, Joe w, Keegan, and Kris, and had recently (2021) signed a contract extension thru 2027. So, although many ND fans thought he was a “no-brainer,” ND could nevermake the salary and the buyout work.
 
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Franisdaman

Franisdaman

Heisman
Nov 3, 2012
14,142
20,567
113
Hawklove said:
I like Fran. He’s a good man. He did a lot of charity work, ran a clean program, recruited good kids, uncovered some seriously underappreciated talent, and worked as hard on recruiting as any coach in the country. He also delivered some memorable wins at Iowa and, most importantly, pulled the program back from the abyss.
He wasn’t flawless. I didn’t care for the sideline tantrums, the perception of favoritism toward his sons, or, most obviously, the inability to get us past the first weekend of the Dance. That matters. Still, I remember how effusive fans were on other platforms when he was first hired, he felt like exactly what the program needed. Just as Ben is today.
In general, coaches should move on after a certain number of years. Lute Olson, Ralph Miller, and even George Raveling did it the right way. Dr. Tom has said more than once that he wishes he had left when he had the chance, on his own terms. I suspect Fran feels the same now.
Had he taken us beyond that first weekend even once or twice, the conversation around his legacy would be very different. But he didn’t. Still, as a lifelong Hawkeye, I’ll always root for him and consider him a great Hawkeye.
Click to expand...

Marg & I really appreciate this.

Thank you.
 
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Hawk-A-Doodle-Doo

Hawk-A-Doodle-Doo

All-Conference
Oct 1, 2001
792
2,234
93
Separated at Birth


and
 
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Hawkapottomos Rex

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2025
697
1,200
93
Hawklove said:
I remember the ND search very well, and I respectfully think your information is inaccurate. Mike Brey wasn’t fired. He left on his own After a disastrous 2023 season despite two elite eight appearances just a few years earlier. Fran had just come off winning the B1G tourney in 2022, coaching Luka, Joe w, Keegan, and Kris, and had recently (2021) signed a contract extension thru 2027. So, although many ND fans thought he was a “no-brainer,” ND could nevermake the salary and the buyout work.
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I doubt any Notre Dame fan wanted Fran
 
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Kceasthawk@77

All-Conference
Feb 2, 2005
2,147
3,900
113
BringBackBradBanks said:
Fran’s tenure can be summed up in a couple weekends in March. Taking Luka and Joe W to the game against Oregon in 2021 before forgetting to tell our guards where the game was (starting backcourt getting outscored 63 to 0 is still the craziest iowa sports stat).
Winning a Big Ten Tournament the next year in 2022 before just getting backdoored to death against a pretty bad Richmond team was another Fran Special.
Click to expand...
Yep. That 2021 tourney game against Oregon was the nail for me. We had plenty of talent on that team, (yes they were better at guard, but not 63-0 better) and if Luka hadn't gone off with a monster game, we'd have been run off the floor
 
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TampaHawkFan

TampaHawkFan

All-Conference
Aug 6, 2025
556
1,503
93
Kceasthawk@77 said:
Yep. That 2021 tourney game against Oregon was the nail for me. We had plenty of talent on that team, (yes they were better at guard, but not 63-0 better) and if Luka hadn't gone off with a monster game, we'd have been run off the floor
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Even then, that Oregon game wasn't exactly close. Not in the second half, anyway.

That game drove the nail most of the way in.. The Richmond game the following year drove that nail in the rest of the way and countersunk it quite nicely for good measure.
 
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TampaHawkFan

TampaHawkFan

All-Conference
Aug 6, 2025
556
1,503
93
Hawklove said:
I like Fran. He’s a good man. He did a lot of charity work, ran a clean program, recruited good kids, uncovered some seriously underappreciated talent, and worked as hard on recruiting as any coach in the country. He also delivered some memorable wins at Iowa and, most importantly, pulled the program back from the abyss.
He wasn’t flawless. I didn’t care for the sideline tantrums, the perception of favoritism toward his sons, or, most obviously, the inability to get us past the first weekend of the Dance. That matters. Still, I remember how effusive fans were on other platforms when he was first hired, he felt like exactly what the program needed. Just as Ben is today.
In general, coaches should move on after a certain number of years. Lute Olson, Ralph Miller, and even George Raveling did it the right way. Dr. Tom has said more than once that he wishes he had left when he had the chance, on his own terms. I suspect Fran feels the same now.
Had he taken us beyond that first weekend even once or twice, the conversation around his legacy would be very different. But he didn’t. Still, as a lifelong Hawkeye, I’ll always root for him and consider him a great Hawkeye.
Click to expand...
Fran was a solid hire. Dug us out of the Lickliter depths and made the program competitive. Some NCAA tournaments and won a few games.

He took the program as far as he was ever going to, though, and the results were starting to tail off those last few years.. It was time for a change. Probably time for the McCafferys, too.
 
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Hawksfor3

Hawksfor3

All-American
Dec 5, 2016
5,210
6,090
113
TampaHawkFan said:
Fran was a solid hire. Dug us out of the Lickliter depths and made the program competitive. Some NCAA tournaments and won a few games.

He took the program as far as he was ever going to, and the results were starting to tail off the last few years.. It was time for a change. Probably time for the McCafferys, too.
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Yes, it was time.
 
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Palmerhawk

All-Conference
Jul 3, 2025
1,634
3,151
113
Penn vs Rutgers tonite at 7 on BTN following Iowa game....just for old times sake.

I agree that it was time for fran to move on but I do appreciate the fast tempo offense and stars he created at Iowa with that offense.
The contrast to lickball was like a breath of fresh air for me.
Luka is probably near top of my all-time hawk team with Ronnie,Roy, JJ,Downtown and Andre.
 
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Rambler Hawk

Rambler Hawk

All-Conference
Oct 10, 2001
1,961
2,605
113
TampaHawkFan said:
Fran was a solid hire. Dug us out of the Lickliter depths and made the program competitive. Some NCAA tournaments and won a few games.

He took the program as far as he was ever going to, though, and the results were starting to tail off those last few years.. It was time for a change. Probably time for the McCafferys, too.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately the Brothers Murray bought him an extra 4-5 years in Iowa City. It was the proverbial Hail Mary recruiting gamble and he rolled snake eyes. 😎
 
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TampaHawkFan

TampaHawkFan

All-Conference
Aug 6, 2025
556
1,503
93
Rambler Hawk said:
Unfortunately the Brothers Murray bought him an extra 4-5 years in Iowa City. It was the proverbial Hail Mary recruiting gamble and he rolled snake eyes. 😎
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Yeah pretty much. JBo, Wieskamp, Murray's, Luka, etc. Those were good teams but their tournament failures also kind of sealed the deal for me that Fran was never going to have an NCAA Tournament run. If those teams couldn't win anything in the postseason, it wasn't going to happen.
 
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HawkBall23

All-American
Oct 6, 2001
4,564
8,632
113
I don't know what Pikiell's contract and salary (IE, buyout) situation is, but is there a chance he doesn't survive after this season?

He choked hard last year with the NBA talent on the roster and they look not good this season.
 
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StormHawk42

Junior
Nov 3, 2009
5,468
211
42
HawkBall23 said:
I don't know what Pikiell's contract and salary (IE, buyout) situation is, but is there a chance he doesn't survive after this season?

He choked hard last year with the NBA talent on the roster and they look not good this season.
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He peaked with Harper Jr and the other guard I can’t think of. They got bounced in the first weekend I know. Doesn’t feel like they’ll be back at that level soon especially with last year’s lousy outcome.
 
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HawkBall23

All-American
Oct 6, 2001
4,564
8,632
113
This game has to be a nightmare of memories for Fran.

Getting screwed a bit by B1G refs and losing on a nearly buzzer-beating 3.
 
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